II. Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions:

TEXAS

A Texas middle school is under fire after students say they have been banned from speaking Spanish in class. The students say their principal announced the rule last month over the intercom. Inside the walls of Hemptead Middle School, a language controversy is brewing. “There’s one teacher that said, “If you speak Spanish in my class, I’m gonna write you up,” 8th grader Tiffani Resurez says. Four students say their principal’s announcement – banning them from speaking Spanish in class – has given teachers and fellow students a hall pass to discriminate. “She was like, “No speaking Spanish.” She told me that. I was like, “That’s my first language.” She said, “Well, you can get out,” fellow classmate Yedhany Gallegos says. A letter sent home by the superintendent says, “Neither the district nor any campus has any policy prohibiting the speaking of Spanish.” The four students feel that the statement from the superintendent has not been made entirely clear that their school. “People don’t want to speak it anymore and don’t want to get caught speaking it because they’re going to get into trouble,” 6th grader Kiara Lozano says. Parents, like Cynthia Zamora, believe the school is not getting to the root of the problem. She wants to know why the “No Spanish” announcement was ever made in the first place. “I was very surprised that she would even go to such lengths,” Zamora says. Many students at the school grew up speaking Spanish at home, and they say it often comes as second nature when they’re talking to each other at school. “I’m not scared. I’m gonna keep speaking my language. That’s my first language, and I’m gonna keep doing it,” Lozano said. The principal has been placed on paid administrative leave while the district investigates. A spokewoman for Hempstead Independent School District has released a statement saying, in part, “The district is committed to efficiently and effectively resolving this matter with as little disruption to our students and their learning environment as possible.”

In the passage, the word “root” is closest in meaning to _______.

• A. 
  solution
• B. 
  cause
• C. 
  ground
• D. 
  time