Item 2 Read the excerpt from "President Obama's Third Annual Back to School Speech.”

"So I want all of you to set a goal to continue your education after you graduate. And if that means college for you, just getting into college is not enough. You also have to graduate. One of the biggest challenges we have right now is that too many of our young people enroll in college but don’t actually end up getting their degree, and as a consequence -- our country used to have the world’s highest proportion of young people with a college degree; we now rank 16th. I don't like being 16th. I like being number one. That’s not good enough. So we’ve got to use -- we’ve got to make sure your generation gets us back to the top of having the most college graduates relative to the population of any country on Earth."

What argument does President Obama make in this excerpt?

The United States is failing because it currently has fewer college graduates than it used to have.

Being the best at everything is the only thing that matters in college.

It is important for the country that more young people graduate from college.

Students should plan to graduate from college if they cannot find jobs right after high school.

Read the excerpts from part 3 of "an occurrence at owl creek bridge." a rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled him! the cannon had taken a hand in the game. as he shook his head free from the commotion of the smitten water he heard the deflected shot humming through the air ahead, and in an instant it was cracking and smashing the branches in the forest beyond. *** a whiz and rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his head roused him from his dream. the baffled cannoneer had fired him a random farewell. he sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest. *** as he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon—then all is darkness and silence! what function does the motif of the cannon serve throughout the story? the cannon continually pushes farquhar to continue his journey through his dream and back to reality. the cannon encourages farquhar to investigate whether his escape was a dream or reality. the cannon reminds farquhar that time is subjective and encourages him to move quickly in order to reach his home. the cannon represents farquhar’s romantic dream that he escaped his execution and will return home.