AP English Language and Composition 1.1 Comprehension

...the 5th will be sleeping on the couch tonight. No way to go about this other than to read

the answer choices one by one, and do our best to interpret the text...

Starting with A -- "art is very rarely a lucrative or even practical pursuit."

Whatever our personal feelings on the subject, and no matter how much we may think our local

street performer is a genius who is one day going to bring us all together in peace and harmony...

...our speaker states pretty clearly in paragraph 4 that he believes this to be true.

So it's not the "EXCEPT" we're looking for... "Only individuals with particular personalities

are drawn to artistic endeavors..."

Ah... here's our answer. In the beginning, the speaker says that we're all born with

artistic tendencies...

...so it can't be personality-specific.

Just to be sure, let's look over the remaining options...

C -- "The desire to create art is an innate, though often latent human quality."

Well yeah... that would go along with the whole "born with artistic tendencies" thing...

D -- "The legacy of an art form can last for centuries."

Yeah, he implies this, too. Just because art isn't practical doesn't mean it can't be responsible

for the creation of a legacy... and one with some staying power...

Finally, E -- "art can be an expression of a range of feelings, not merely positive ones."

Anyone who's ever talked to an artist can tell you that. They're not generally the most...

upbeat of individuals, generally speaking.

But yeah -- our speaker holds a similar opinion.

So our answer is B.

Artfully done.