Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Full-Length Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
In 1948, Ross Lockridge's novel Raintree County led the best-seller lists and was chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. The 1,060-page narrative, set in nineteenth-century Indiana, unapologetically aspired to be The Great American Novel. Sadly, it was the only book Lockridge would write. After his death that same year, the novel sank into obscurity, though a film adaptation starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift was released in 1957.
The author mentions the best-seller lists and the Book-of-the-Month Club primarily to emphasize Raintree County's:
Answer Choices
- A: limited readership
- B: enduring appeal
- C: commercial success
- D: artistic aspirations
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The references to Raintree County leading the best-seller lists and being selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club are both clear indicators of its initial popularity and widespread commercial success. These facts are not used to comment on the book's lasting legacy, nor do they suggest a limited audience, and while the book may have had artistic goals, these specific details are meant to show how well it sold.