Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Pet owners are being encouraged to take their animals to work , a move scientists say can be good for productivity , workplace morale , and the well-being of animals .

A study found that 25% of Australian women would like to keep an office pet . Sue Chaseling of Petcare Information Service said the practice of keeping office pets was good both for the people and the pets . "On the pets' side , they are not left on their own and won't feel lonely and unhappy," she said . A study of major US companies showed that 73% found office pets beneficial , while 27% experienced a drop in absenteeism .

Xarni Riggs has two cats walking around her Global Hair Salon in Paddington . "My customers love them. They are their favorites ," she said . "They are not troublesome . They know when to go and have a sleep in the sun ."

Little black BJ has spent nearly all his two years "working" at Punch Gallery in Balmain . Owner Iain Powell said he had had cats at the gallery for 15 years . "BJ often lies in the shop window and people walking past tap on the glass ," he said .

Ms Chaseling said cats were popular in service industries because they enabled a point of conversation . But she said owners had to make sure both their co-workers and the cats were comfortable .
1. Who is encouraged to bring companions to work?
2. Why?
3. How can it help the animals?
4. Have any studies been done?
5. Where?
6. Anywhere else?
7. Any notable stats in that one?
8. Any anecdotal evidence?
9. WHat seeems to be a popular animal un businesses according to these stories?
10. DO the patrons like them as much as the business owners?
11. Why?
12. Are the kitties well behaved?
13. But are there any concerns about pets in business places?
14. Who brought up that point?
15. Who is she?
16. IS she in favor of pets at work?

Numbered answers:
1. Pet owners
2. its's good for productivity , workplace morale , and the well-being of animals .
3. they won't feel lonely and unhappy
4. yes
5. Australia
6. the US
7. for companies 73% found office pets beneficial , while 27% experienced a drop in absenteeism .
8. yes
9. cats
10. yes
11. because they enabled a point of conversation
12. yes
13. both their co-workers and the cats were comfortable .
14. Sue Chaseling
15. She works for Petcare Information Service
16. yes

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
(CNN) -- Edgar Hernandez didn't expect to learn that he was pre-diabetic at age 16.

When his mother burst into tears at the doctor's office, it hit him hard. He was 370 pounds and couldn't stand to look at himself.

It was tough being a fat kid, but things became unbearable in high school. Edgar was seeing a therapist for depression symptoms. He was frequently bullied in gym class. Kids would point at his "fat wobbling everywhere," especially as he struggled to keep up.

"I tried my best to ignore it. But there were times when I just gave in and started crying," said Edgar, who lives in a suburb of St. Louis and is now 18.

Everyone in his family had a weight problem; his parents developed type 2 diabetes in their forties. But Edgar was the biggest.

"He would eat two really big burritos or sandwiches a day, packed with cheese, sour cream, a lot of bread, butter," his older brother Mario said. "He would be watching TV, playing video games."

After receiving the sobering blood test result at the doctor's office, Edgar went home and cried. And then something new happened: He owned up to his weight problem.

"It was time to stop blaming others for my choices and make a choice to take responsibility," he said.

He dried his tears, threw on his jacket and began jogging. He only got about half a mile before he stopped and threw up.

That was a year and a half ago. Edgar, who is 5-foot-9, went on to drop nearly 200 pounds. He now weighs 185 pounds. He has traded his double-XL shirts and size 48 pants for medium T-shirts and 33-inch pants.
1. How much did Hernandez weigh?
2. What was he diagnosed with?
3. What did his mother do in the doctor's office?
4. Was he treated well in school?
5. What was his reaction to the bullying?
6. Where does he live?
7. Do his parents have a disease?
8. What is it?
9. How old were they when they were diagnosed?
10. WAs evereyone in his family overweight?
11. Is he the smallest?
12. What's his brother's name?
13. Is he older than Edgar?
14. Did Edgar stop blaming others?
15. How tall is he?
16. How much does he weigh now?
17. What size shirt does he wear now?
18. And before?
19. What size pants now?
20. And before?

Numbered answers:
1. 370 pounds
2. depression
3. burst in to tears
4. No
5. Ignored or cried
6. suburb of St. Louis
7. Yes
8. diabetes
9. in their forties
10. Yes
11. No
12. Mario
13. Yes
14. Yes
15. 5-foot-9,
16. 185 pounds
17. medium
18. ouble-XL shirts
19. 33-inch pants.
20. size 48

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Moscow (CNN)More than 1 million historic documents have been destroyed in a fire at one of Russia's largest public libraries, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

The Russian emergency situations ministry says 147 firefighters struggled for 25 hours over the weekend to put out the blaze in the main library of the Institute for Research Information on Social Sciences in Moscow.

The fire, which ripped through the library Friday evening, destroyed 2,000 square meters (about 2,400 square yards) of the building and caused part of the roof to collapse, according to an official statement. The Russian emergency situations ministry said the fire was particularly hard to put out because of the high temperatures, narrow passageways and the risk of the building falling down.

Moscow's emergency ministry said the temperature inside the rubble of the library remains high and that there is still a threat that the building could collapse.

Vladimir Fortov, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the fire, which destroyed 15% of all the documents in the library, reminded him of the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

"It's a major loss for science. This is the largest collection of its kind in the world, probably equivalent to the Library of Congress," Fortov told the agency. "It contains material that you can't find anywhere else and all the social science institutions use this library. What has happened here is reminiscent of Chernobyl."

The institute's director, Yuri Pivovarov, told Tass that he fears the building cannot be restored.
1. Did the firefighters struggle?
2. How many were there?
3. How long did they work on putting it out?
4. Who is Vladimir Fortov?
5. Why was it so hard to extinguish?
6. What other major disaster is this event being compared to?
7. When did that happen?
8. Can the building be fixed?
9. How big was the library?
10. Where was chernobyl located?
Numbered answers:
1. yes
2. 147
3. 25 hours
4. president of the Russian Academy of Sciences
5. high temperatures, narrow passageways and the risk of the building falling down
6. Chernobyl
7. 1986
8. no
9. 140000
10. Ukraine