Q: Oliver is a cat. He has a sister called Spike. Oliver and Spike like to play outside. They chase bugs in the backyard. When they get tired, they sleep in the sun. They don't like to go outside when it is raining. On rainy days Oliver and Spike sit in the window. They watch the rain through the window. Oliver is big and has grey and white fur. His nose is pink. Spike is small and has grey fur. Her nose is the same color as her fur. Spike is round. Oliver is tall. Oliver likes to eat. He worries when there is no food in his bowl. Spike likes to roll in dirt. Sometimes she is smelly. At Christmas time they like to play with the Christmas tree and presents. Oliver climbs the Christmas tree and breaks ornaments. Spike plays with the presents and unwraps them with her claws.

1. Oliver
2. play outside
3. They chase bugs
4. watch the rain through the window
5. Spike
6. Yes

Numbered questions:
1. Who is a cat?
2. what does he like to do?
3. what else?
4. What else does he like to do?
5. What's his sisters name?
6. Do they get tired?

Q: "I left Tangier, my birthplace, the 13th of June 1325 with the intention of making the pilgrimage to Mecca... to leave all my friends both female and male, to abandon my home as birds abandon their nests." So begins an old manuscript in a library in Paris-the travel journal of Ibn Battuta.

Almost two centuries before Columbus, Ibn Battuta set off for Mecca, returning home three decades later as one of history's great travelers. Driven by curiosity, he journeyed to remote comers of the Islamic world, traveling through 44 modern countries, three times as far as Marco Polo. Little celebrated in the West, his name is well known among Arabs. In his hometown of Tangier, a square, a hotel, a cafe, a ferry boat, and even a hamburger are named after him.

Ibn Battuta stayed in Mecca as a student for several years, but the urge to travel soon took over. In one adventure, he traveled to India seeking profitable employment with the sultan of Delhi.On the way, he described his group being attacked in the open country by 80 men on foot, and two horsemen. "We fought... killing one of their horsemen and about twelve of the foot soldiers... I was hit by an arrow and my horse by another, but God in his grace preserved me... ". In Delhi, the sultan gave him the position of judge, based on his _ study at Mecca. But the sultan had an unpredictable character, and Ibn Battuta looked for an opportunity to leave. When the sultan offered to finance a trip to China, he agreed. IbnBattuta set off in three ships, but misfortune struck while he was still on the shore. A sudden storm grounded and broke up two ships, scattering treasure and drowning many people and horses. As he watched, the third ship with all his belongings and slaves (one carrying his child), was carried out to sea and never heard from again.

After a lifetime of incredible adventures, Ibn Battuta was finally ordered by the sultan of Morocco to return home to share his wisdom with the world. Fortunately, he agreed and wrote a book that has been translated into numerous languages, allowing people everywhere to read about his unparalleled journeys.

1. 1325
2. three decades later
3. 44
4. three times as far
5. yes
6. Tangier
7. unknown
8. studied
9. work with the sultan of Delhi
10. no
11. 80
12. two
13. one
14. God
15. judge

Numbered questions:
1. When did IBN Battuta leave for Mecca?
2. When did he return?
3. How many countries did he go through?
4. Compared to Marco Polo, how far did he travel?
5. Is he famous with Arabs?
6. Where was he born?
7. On what date?
8. What did he do while in Mecca?
9. What did he hope to do in India?
10. Did he have a peaceful journey?
11. How many men attacked him on foot?
12. How many horsemen?
13. How many horsemen were killed?
14. Who did he think preserved him?
15. What job did he get in Delhi?

Q: Almost two decades ago, a parlor game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" became an unlikely grass-roots phenomenon among movie buffs and foretold today's social web of online connections.

Maybe the only one who was not amused by the game was Kevin Bacon himself.

"I was horrified by it. I thought it was a giant joke at my expense," said the prolific actor Saturday during a talk at the South by Southwest Interactive festival here. "I appreciate it now. But I was very resistant to it (at first)."

The game, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, requires players to link celebrities to Bacon, in as few steps as possible, via the movies they have in common. The more odd or random the celebrity, the better. For example, O.J. Simpson was in "The Naked Gun 33" with Olympia Dukakis, who was in "Picture Perfect" with Kevin Bacon.

Inspired by "six degrees of separation," the theory that nobody is more than six relationships away from any other person in the world, the game was dreamed up in 1994 by Brian Turtle and two classmates at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were watching "Footloose" on TV when it was followed by another Kevin Bacon movie, and then another.

"It was just one of those lightbulb moments," said Turtle, who joined Bacon onstage at SXSW. "It was like, 'This guy is everywhere! He's the center of the entertainment universe.' "

After it spread among their friends, Turtle and his co-creators, Craig Fass and Mike Ginelli, managed to get booked on Jon Stewart's then-MTV show to explain the game.

1. Kevin Bacon
2. "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"
3. "six degrees of separation,"
4. 1994
5. Brian Turtle
6. Yes
7. two classmates
8. Albright College
9. Reading, Pennsylvania
10. Craig Fass and Mike Ginelli
11. not at first
12. he appreciates it
13. Almost two decades

Numbered questions:
1. what is the inspiration of the game?
2. what is the name of the game?
3. what inspired that game (other than kevin bacon)?
4. when was the game invented?
5. who thought it up?
6. did anyone help him?
7. who?
8. where did they go to school?
9. where is that?
10. what are the names of the two class mates?
11. did kevin bacon like the game?
12. how does he feel about it now?
13. how many years has the game been in existence at the time of the article?