Getting a Good Night's Sleep  

Have you ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 2:00 a.m.? Have you kicked the blankets off to the floor from tossing and turning? Many longtime suffers of Insomnia know these situations all too well. As many as 17% of Americans find the restful break of sleep hard to achieve.

Lack of sleep affects intellectual abilities at work or school by causing a deficit in memory, attention, and concentration which in turn creates a feeling of irritation or depression. Chronic insomnia can result from a medical illness, a psychiatric condition, or from sleep apnea, a condition where an individual actually stops breathing during sleep. Sleep hygiene, developing good sleep habits, and non- pharmacological therapies such as herbs and spices are some solutions to Insomnia.

There is no need to live with insomnia, so contact a physician and get a good night's sleep!

When the author wrote this passage, he/she intended

Safe Driving

The most important factor in any highway safety program is the responsible citizen-driver: YOU. Since you are a consumer, drive a car, vote, and pay taxes, you are a power to be considered. Your voice can Influence legislation at the federal, state, and local government levels. You can insist on better roads and safer cars by being a consumer advocate.

Your attitude about driving affects your making safe driving decisions while on the road. Your immediate concern, however, should be to drive safely in a property Inspected car, wear a safety belt, and never mix liquor with driving.

What is the best meaning of the word "advocate" as used in the fourth sentence of this paragraph?

Phobias

"Don't be afraid." Sounds simple, but for some people it's not. Having the normal maction of being scared or frightened helps you to survive threats of all kinds, both physical and verbal. Most mild fears are outgrown during childhood; however, severe fears, called phoblas, are extreme and unreasonable. Phobias cause out-of-control feelings such as sickness, headaches, ulcers, and high blood pressure. Specific phoblas center around things, activities, or situations while people with social phoblas feel anxiety over social settings where they fear embarrassing situations.

Another type of phobia called panic disorder causes people to sweat, tremble, or even faint due to overwhelming panic which may occur at any time. By talking, breathing deeply, and visualizing, a person can gain control over debilitating phobias

According to the passage, which of the following are types of phobias? 

The ebb and flow of laughter and silence fills the room as four old friends gather to engage in a round of Bridge playing.
For the beginner, Bridge can be complicated, but with time, effort, and a good teacher, even the novice can become proficient.
Composed of two main parts, bidding and playing, Bridge requires the player's undivided attention. The dealer deals the entire deck of playing cards evenly between the for players, with each person receiving thirteen cards. In the bidding portion of the game, the four suits of cards in the deck are ranked highest to lowest as follows:
spades, hearts, diamonds, and finally clubs. However, during play all the suits of cards are considered equals, and they go from highest to lowest from the ace being high to the two cards being low. The highest number of tricks wins. A trick is one card played by each player for a total of four. After the lead player lays down his/her card, the other players follow suit, if possible. The highest card within the four "same suit" cards played wins the trick and picks up all four cards. if a player cannot follow suit, he/she plays any card, but to make the game more interesting and challenging, one suit is named a trump suit which means that if a player plays a card from the trump suit, it always wins the trick. If two cards from the trump suit are played, the highest card within the trump suit wins the trick. obviously, the team with the most tricks wins the hand.

The passage implies that

White Elephant
 

Centuries ago, in the country of Siam, now known as Thailand, it was the custom of the rulers that displeased them by giving the offender a white elephant. Because the animal was could not be made to work as other elephants did, but still had to be fed hundreds of pounds of fruit and cared for in the most lavish style. The recipient could not give the elephant to anyone else, as it was the ruler, who would be greatly displeased should the recipient not receive the gift graciously or care for in a grand style. This monetary burden could be a major liability to the recipient and in many cases they became impoverished.

This is the origin of the term "white elephant" as it is used today to denote an unwanted gift. The way of gift exchange played during the holiday season is an offshoot of this. In this game, everyone brings, and the gifts are exchanged by drawing numbers and picking a gift in turn. The second person can choose or steal the first one. It is all in good fun, and people enjoy giving silly gifts and "stealing" someone else’s gift.

What is the meaning of the word "impoverished" in the first paragraph?