Question: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Many drivers say the large digital billboards flashing ads every few seconds along Bay Area freeways are just too bright and too distracting. And they may be right. A Swedish study published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention concludes that digital billboards hold the gazes of drivers longer than two seconds. Previous studies have shown that anything that takes a driver's eyes off the road for that length of time increases the risks of a crash. "This study proves what is common sense when it comes to digital billboards," says Mary Tracy, president of Scenic America, a national nonprofit group that seeks to limit billboards. "Bright, constantly changing signs on the sides of roads are meant to attract and keep the attention of drivers, and this study confirms that this is exactly what they do." The Federal Highway Administration allowed digital signs for the first time in 2007 after concluding they did not pose a significant danger. But a follow-up report is pending and could be released this year. California has no law banning the billboards, and is one of 39 states that allows them. "We would need to review more research, so it's too early to call for a ban," says Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association. "There is a role for digital messaging, such as conveying urgent information and other safety messages." There are more than 1,800 digital billboards nationwide, more than double the number five years ago. While no data indicate an increase in accidents due to the Bay Area signs, many drivers are opposed to them. "Monstrosities" is what Merlin Dorfman of San Jose calls them, while insurance agent David Whitlock says he has found them a major distraction. "They're much too bright at night," he says. "When the advertisement switches from a bright color to a darker one, your eyes cannot adjust fast enough, and you end up losing sight of the roadway." Officials with sign companies could not be reached for comment, but Bryan Parker, an executive vice president for... Question: What do we learn from the text? Answer:
OPTIONS:
- Scenic America is an organization that is in favor of digital billboards.
- Drivers in the Bay Area are against the digital billboards.
- California has banned digital billboards.
- There were about 1,800 digital billboards nationwide five years ago.
Answer: Drivers in the Bay Area are against the digital billboards.

Question: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: A little stream flowed down from a high mountain far, far away through many villages and forests, until it reached a desert. The stream then thought, "I've been through countless obstacles. I should have no problem crossing this desert!" But when she decided to start her journey, she found herself gradually disappearing into the mud and sand. After numerous tries, she found it was all in vain and was very upset. "Maybe it's my destiny ! I'm not destined to reach the vast ocean in the legend, " she murmured sadly to herself. At this time, a deep voice came, saying, "If a breeze can cross the desert, so can a river." It was the voice of the desert. Unconvinced, the little stream replied, "That's because a breeze can fly, but I can't." "That's because you stick to what you are. If you're willing to give it up, and let yourself evaporate into the breeze, it can take you across, and you can reach your destination," said the desert in its deep voice. The little stream had never heard of such a thing. "Give up what I am now and disappear into the breeze? No! No!" She could not accept this idea. After all, she had never experienced anything like it before. Wouldn't it be self-destruction to give up what she was now? "How do I know if this is true?" asked the little stream. "The breeze can carry the vapor across the desert and release it as rain at an appropriate site. The rain will form a river again to continue its course," answered the desert very patiently. "Will I still be what I am now?" asked the little stream. "Yes, and no. Whether you're a river or invisible vapor, your inner nature never changes. You stick to the fact that you're a river because you don't know your inner nature," answered the desert. Deep down, the stream vaguely remembered that before she became a river, it was perhaps also the breeze that carried her halfway up a high mountain, where she turned into rain and fell onto the ground and became what she was now. Finally the little stream gathered her courage and rushed into the open arms of... Question: In the text the writer compares the stream to _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- the Truth
- the courage
- the course of life
- the obstacles in life
Answer: the course of life

Question: Read the following article and answer the question. Article: Language as a System of Symbols Of all systems of symbols , language is the most highly developed. It has been pointed out that human beings, by agreement, can make anything stand for anything. Human beings have agreed, in the course of centuries of mutual dependency, to let the various noises that they can produce with their lungs, throats, tongues, teeth, and lips systematically stand for certain happenings in their nervous systems. We call that system of agreements language. There is no necessary connection between the symbol and that which it stands for. Just as social positions can be symbolized by feathers worn on the head, by gold on the watch chain, or by a thousand other things according to the culture we live in, so the fact of being hungry can be symbolized by a thousand different noises according to the culture we live in. However obvious these facts may appear at first glance, they are actually not so obvious as they seem except when we _ to think about the subject. Symbols and the things they stand for are independent of each other, yet we all have a way of feeling as if, and sometimes acting as if, there were necessary connections. For example, there are people who feel that foreign languages are unreasonable by nature: foreigners have such funny names for things, and why can't they call things by their right names? This feeling exhibits itself most strongly in those English and American tourists who seem to believe that they can make the natives of any country understand English if they shout loud enough. Like the little boy who is reported to have said: "Pigs are called pigs because they are such dirty animals," they feel the symbol is inherently connected in some way with the things symbolized. Question: Language is a highly developed system of symbols because human beings _ . Answer:
OPTIONS:
- have made use of language for centuries
- use our nervous systems to support language
- have made various noises stand for any events
- can make anything stand for anything by agreement
Answer:
can make anything stand for anything by agreement