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 questions.

In the 1960s, The Beatles were probably the most famous pop group in the whole world.  Since then, there have been a great many groups that have achieved enormous fame,  so it is perhaps difficult now to  imagine  how  sensational  The  Beatles  were  at  that  time.  They  were  four  boys  from  the  north  of England and none of them had any training in music.  They started by performing and recording songs by black Americans and they had some success with these songs. Then they started writing their own songs and that was when they became really popular. The Beatles changed pop music.  They were the first pop group to achieve great success from songs they had written themselves. After that it became common for groups and singers to write their own songs. The Beatles did not have a long career. Their first hit record was in 1963 and they  split up in 1970. They stopped doing live performances in 1966 because it had become too dangerous for them – their fans were so excited that they surrounded them and tried to take their  clothes as souvenirs!  However, today some of their songs remain as famous as they were when they first came out. Throughout the world many people can sing part of a Beatles song if you ask them.

The word “they” is closest in meaning to