Reading Comprehension 
从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个最佳答案。
     Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is an examination that American high school students take before they go to college. The SAT is open to anyone who pays a $25 fee, and parents are having their kids take it at younger and younger ages—for practice, and for a chance to get into programs for gifted children at universities like Johns Hopkins. More than 172,000 students in the eighth grade or lower took SAT or ACT college entrance exams last year, up 19% since 1996.
     Donna Coughlin, who is in charge of the SAT in Winnetka, Illinois, says the wave in young test takers makes for a terrible day. Young kids ask endless questions, do more restlessness, need more bathroom breaks and are more apt to throw up(呕吐).
     Much of the SAT's material isn't taught until high school, so younger children often score poorly. Critics say giving the test so early weakens the confidence of insecure kids and creates competitive students who focus not on learning but on mastering standardized tests.
     Those who favor early testing say it allows bright students to see how far beyond grade level they are, so their learning can be adjusted. And some bright kids enjoy the challenge. "It gives them terrific experience at test taking“, says Susan Grant, whose son first tried the SAT in the sixth grade and now attends Harvard.
     There's even a practice run for young test takers. To join "gifted" programs, students in grades 3 through 6 can take an ACT designed for eighth-graders. It's not for my kids, though. They have cartoons to watch, CDs to play, childhoods to live.