"Hassan and Ahi are going to Howard University in D. C.," Rameck commented, "but their folks have a little cash." He fell silent.

"I think it would be cool to go into business," Sampson said, "You know, become an entrepreneur and own some big company." He sounded a little vague.

"What kind of business is there around here except for drugs and crime?" George asked bitterly.

"Show business!" Rameck told him. "We can be rap stars!"

"Yeah, right. You need money even to do that," Sampson told him.

Sampson drove the other two home then, their hopes and dreams left in the starlight.

What causes the friends to believe that their dreams are too difficult to achieve?

their lack of talent
their lack of success
their lack of money
their lack of determination

Read the following excerpt from "the city without us" by alan weisman: almost every other compound in nature contracts when frozen, but h20 (water) molecules do the opposite, organizing themselves into elegant hexagonal crystals that take up about 9 percent more space than they did when sloshing around in a liquid state. pretty six-sided crystals suggest snowflakes so gossamer it's hard to conceive of them pushing apart slabs of sidewalk. which statement best describes the effect of the metaphor on the excerpt's meaning? o a. it likens h2o molecules to hexagonal crystals, which are actually larger than people imagine. o b. it makes the frozen crystals seem like friends to the city to contrast with what a deceitful foe they are. o c. it compares the sloshing liquid to a river of water able to push apart the sidewalk o d. it compares the frozen crystals to delicately lacy snowflakes having an unexpected strength (apex)