It was a hot summer afternoon; I think I was 12. It was too hot too cook in the kitchen, so Mom decided we'd grill hot dogs & stuff outside. But we needed some things so Dad was elected to go to the grocery store. This turned out to be a big production; Dad was trying remember what all was needed without writing a list, and Mom kept adding things even as he was trying to leave. Finally, he got in the car and drove off. Mom & I had just turned around and sat down at our picnic table when all of sudden here was Dad pulling back into the driveway. He'd apparently just driven around the block & came right back. Mom & I looked at each other and smirked- she was thinking the same thing I was: "what'd he forget this time?" But then Dad got out of the car.. and on his face was the look. In my young life, I'd never seen that look before, but it chilled me to the core and I just knew something bad was coming. Mom knew it too; the smirk quickly left her face as Dad came over and said.. "Mom.. I hope I heard this wrong.. but on the radio they said a woman drowned at the lake.. I hope I'm wrong, I barely caught the name, but I think they said it was your sister.." The cookout was forgotten; we went inside & started making phone calls, and unfortunately it was indeed my aunt. She & her family had gone swimming to cool off; apparently she'd gotten a cramp or something and gone under while nobody was looking, and by the time she was missed it was too late. To this day, my Mom is miffed at some family members that we had to find out that way (she was pretty close to this sister so she feels someone should've called before it got on the news) but as for me, I will never forget that look on my Dad's face. Question: The author believes the dad was === The answer to the above question is

OPTIONS:
- The dad was likely indifferent
- not enough information
- The dad was likely happy
- The dad was likely upset

Answer: The dad was likely upset

My best story is about Santa Claus. A mall Santa had a heart attack at work and was rushed to the Emergency Room in full cardiac arrest. Let me explain that a person playing Santa is generally a certain age (white beard) and body type (round) that is predisposed to cardiac disease. We did everything we could but ultimately our efforts were futile. The mall Santa rode his sleigh into the great beyond. A mother, there to visit another patient, was insistent that her 78 year old son be allowed back to visit his grandmother. We had a strict 12 year old age limit visitation policy. I was called to speak with her. "Why do you have such a stupid Draconian policy?" She insisted. "The Emergency Room is no place for a child ma'am. Besides, the germs and infections he may be exposed to, there are things he may see or hear that a child would have a hard time processing," I explained. "Like what?" She argued. "Well, there are people in pain moaning," I answered. "And drunks cursing at the staff. It's a tough place." "He's fine," she insisted. "I think I know how to parent. I don't need you to worry about what my son is able to handle." I caved in and allowed her back. As we passed the room with the dead Santa, a tech exited and opened the curtain. Her child looked in and saw Santa's lifeless body, ET tube sticking out of his throat, boots still on but costume cut to shreds and strewn across the room. The child lost it! "Mom, Santa Claus is Dead!" He cried. "I'm not going to get anything for Christmas." "Why would someone open the curtain?" The mother demanded. "I warned you," I said. "That's why we have a 12 years and above visitation policy." She was not happy. Come to find out the child had his picture made with that very Santa a few days prior. Very ironic. Question: When did Santa's heart attack occur? === The answer to the above question is

OPTIONS:
- before his shift at the mall
- not enough information
- after his shift at the mall
- during his shift at the mall

Answer: during his shift at the mall

We gave Tiger swimming lessons in our plastic wading pool. I taught the kitten the way Pa taught me: I threw him into water where he could not stand, and I watched, ready to grab him if he went under. Tiger did not thrash desperately like me. He merely paddled urgently for the edge of the plastic pool with his head high and his thin legs churning. Little Bit said, "Dog paddle," and we all laughed. "Tiger paddle," I said, and we all laughed some more, even Jordy. That was probably when Ma noticed the kitten swimming lessons and stopped them. Our swimming lessons happened in two places. When Pa took us, we went to Hawkins Springs behind Mrs. DeLyons' Fountain of Youth Motor Hotel. When Ma took us, we drove to Mermaid Springs State Park, where we would sometimes meet Mr. Drake. I liked Mermaid Springs better because I felt safe there. Ma could not swim, so she never made me jump off a dock into deep water, and she always insisted that I wear an orange styrofoam cylinder on my back like a skindiver or spaceman. Ma usually sat on a towel on the grass near the beach, reading a magazine or a book while tanning her legs. Every now and then she would call to us not to go too far or not to splash each other. When she wore her one-piece red swimming suit, she would come in up to her waist, then lower herself to her shoulders, being careful not to get her hair wet. On the rarest occasions, she would wear a swimming cap and float on her back in the shallow water. Often she stayed in her shorts and shirt, adding sunglasses and removing shoes as her concession to summer and the beach. Question: How long were the lessons probably going for? === The answer to the above question is

OPTIONS:
- not enough information
- ten minutes
- one hour
- two hours

Answer: one hour

For active people, regular training is as important part of maintaining and increasing fitness. About the only real downside to regular exercise is the transient toll it takes on the body after a hard training session. The pain and soreness after training needs sufficient time to recover from before another hard session can be performed. A very plausible theory pushed for many years is that the post-exercise oxidative stress in the body is the primary cause of the muscle damage and fatigue experienced. If you could reduce this oxidative stress, then it would allow quicker recovery, and then more time spent training. What this theory ignores though is that oxidative damage is a natural part of how the body adapts to stressful exercise, allowing the body to repair and grow stronger to allow higher levels of performance in the future. A small scale study has previously found that trained and untrained individuals who dose up on antioxidant supplements impair important exercise training adaptations such as improved insulin sensitivity and production of oxidative stress defence proteins. Now researchers have extended this study by looking at the effect of antioxidants in trained female runners, and published their findings in the European Journal of Sports Science. Twenty-three well trained female runners took part in three separate 3-week training blocks where they took either 1 gram of vitamin C, blackcurrant juice, or a placebo drink for each of the training blocks. Each of the dietary interventions involved drinking a similar volume of fruit drink of a total of half a litre per day split over the morning and evening. The training performance of each runner was carefully measured at the beginning and end of each 3-week treatment period. The runners stuck to a set training schedule which allowed a more accurate assessment of any changes in performance over the training period. Question: What do many people think causes muscle damage and fatigue in the body? === The answer to the above question is

OPTIONS:
- eating too many carbs before a run
- post-exercise oxidative stress
- not enough information
- eating too much fat before a run

Answer:
post-exercise oxidative stress