Questions 16-30 are based on the following passage.
The following paragraphs may or may not be in the most logical order. Each paragraph is numbered in brackets, and question 29 will ask you to choose where Paragraph 2 should most logically be placed.
Ghost Signs
Paragraph 1
Q16 Seeing remnants of outdoor advertisements from a bygone Q17 era, they are called "ghost signs." I search for them on city streets, in town squares, and along country roads. Some are weather-beaten billboards; others are faded murals painted years ago on the sides of old buildings. Whatever words Q18 remain Fruiterer...Apothecary...Gramophones...Pan-Handle Coffee -are often barely legible, pale fragments of yesterday's consumer culture Q19 should strike me as silly or sad. After all, there they are: advertising Q20 products and businesses that no longer exist. Yet, they themselves survive without Q21 apology, with instead, their simple claims and complex colors. The contrast draws me in every time.
Paragraph 2
I collect ghost signs. Not the signs themselves, but photos of them. Q22 Driving home from school one, chilly October evening, my collection got its start. I had made the same drive countless times before, but I had never noticed the sign.
Paragraph 3
Then there it was, an ad for "Joe's Café," perched atop a metal pole, which Q23 was upright under a cape of kudzu vines. Maybe it was the way the Q24 setting sun's illumination of the yellowing plastic. Maybe it was the small hole, Q25 a clue to vandalism or of a hailstorm. Q26 Instead, something about the sign touched me. I pulled over. In the twilight, I got out of the car, snapped a picture with my phone, and sent it to some friends. I vowed to return with my camera to better capture the forlorn, luminous beauty of my discovery. Since that dusky evening, I have been happily haunted by ghost signs.
Paragraph 4
Once in a while, I take a friend with me on my searches. People who know of my fascination will point me to where they think they have seen a ghost sign. Favorite finds include an ad for sliced bread, one for a "modern" motel, and yet another forfountain pen repair services. As fun as it is to have company, my best hunts have been Q27 solitude trips. I appreciate the beauty of ghost signs more when Q28 I like the signs, am alone.