Answer the questions at the end based on the text.

Yu Pengnian is an 88-year-old real estate Chinese businessman. He amassed a fortune of $1.3 billion dollars during his career but instead of keeping the money and living like an emperor, he decided to give it all away. All of his fortune will be spent on helping poor Chinese students get a better education.

And Yu isn't the only super-rich person in China who has this spirit of giving. Chen Guangbiao, a Jiangsu recycling tycoon, has given millions of dollars to charity and promises to give all of his money to charity when he dies.

Yu and Chen are among the many businessmen who have become prosperous during China's economic rise. An American business magazine, Forbes, estimates that there are 117 billionaires in China and hundreds of thousands of millionaires. What sets Yu and Chen apart from the rest, though, is their tremendous generosity(,) when it comes to donating money to charity.

Last week Bill Gates and Warren Buffett came to Beijing. Gates and Buffett, two of the world's richest men, are also the world's biggest philanthropists. They invited fifty of China's richest people to have dinner with them and talk about the spirit of giving. At first, only a few people accepted their invitation. It seemed some of the invited guests were afraid that Buffett and Gates were going to pressure them into giving their wealth to charity.

A lot of people are angry at the billionaires who are not willing to give away their fortunes. They _ hem for being miserly and not caring about the poor and the less fortunate. But I think this criticism is wrong. A gift, any gift, should come from the heart. Instead of criticism, these reluctant billionaires should be encouraged to follow the examples of Yu Pengnian and Chen Guangbiao. Encouragement is always a better strategy than criticism. As we say in English, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

1. Who came to Beijing last week?
2. How many billionaires are there in China?
3. Gates and Buffett invited fifty to do what?

Numbered answers:

A: 1. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett
2. 117
3. to have dinner with them and talk about the spirit of giving.

Question: American sign language has an interesting history. Although there have always been deaf individuals in America, the history really begins in 1817. Before 1817 deaf people communicated by using "home signs". Gestures were individually created and used within the home for simple communication. There were no schools or formal sign language training for the deaf.

So, why was 1817 an important date? Well, the story begins with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet met his neighbor's daughter Alice Cogswell. Alice was the young deaf daughter of Dr. Mason Cogswell from Hartford, Connecticut. Gallaudet began teaching Alice to read and write a few simple words. Excited by the success Dr. Cogswell encouraged Gallaudet to establish a school for the deaf. Cogswell raised the money and Gallaudet traveled to Britain to learn the methods used there. However, the schools refused to share their instructional techniques and methods.

While in London, there happened to be a demonstration of the French method of deaf education. Britain was using an oral method of instruction; however, the French method used signs. Gallaudet was fascinated with the method and was able to meet with the instructor, Sicard, and his two deaf pupils, Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc. Sicard agreed to teach Gallaudet his method and Gallaudet went to Paris to learn French signs. After a while, Gallaudet wished to return home and convinced Clerc to go with him and help him establish the school. The trip home was a 52-day voyage during which Clerc taught Gallaudet French signs and Gallaudet taught Clerc English.

On April 15, 1817, Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet established what is currently known as the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. The opening of the first school for the deaf can be viewed as one of the most important events in current deaf culture. 1. When did the sign language begin?
2. How did deaf people communicate before that?
3. What were those exactly?
4. Why couldn't they just take a class on it?
5. Who was Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet?
6. Was he successful?
7. What did he do after that?
8. What happened while he was over there?
9. What method did Britain use?
10. What was different about the French?
11. What did he think about it?
12. Who did he meet there?
13. Was there anyone else?
14. Who?
15. Were they instructors also?
16. Who were they?
17. Was he able to learn their method?
18. Where?
19. Did he go back to Ameria after that?
20. How long did that take?
21. Did he ever start a school?
22. When?
23. Where? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. 1817
2. by using "home signs"
3. Gestures were created and used within each home.
4. There were no schools or formal training
5. He met his neighbors daughter Alice and taught her to read and write.
6. Yes
7. He traveled to Britain to learn their methods but they refused to share.
8. There was a demonstration of the French method
9. Oral method
10. They used signs.
11. He was fascinated.
12. The instructor Sicard
13. Yes
14. Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc
15. No
16. his two deaf pupils
17. Yes
18. Paris
19. Yes
20. 52 days
21. Yes
22. On April 15, 1817
23. in Hartford, Connecticut

Q: Charles Dickens is often thought of as one of the greatest British writers. February 7 marked the 200th anniversary of his birthday. Yet for many, his language is old-fashioned and his stories often improbable. So why do so many people know and read Dickens today?

One reason is the British government's insistence that every child studies a Dickens novel at school. Alongside William Shakespeare, Dickens is on every English literature school reading list.

His stories, though often long by today's standards, are great moral tales. They are filled with colorful characters.

Earlier this month, a ceremony was held in Portsmouth, where Dickens was born. Prince Charles said at the ceremony, "Dickens used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social justice... His characterization is as fresh today as on the day it was written."

His books stand out from many other writers because of his insight into human nature. Dickens, like Shakespeare, tells us truths about human behavior. They are as true in the 21st century as they were to his readers in the 19th century.

Readers have returned to Dickens' books again and again over the years to see what he has to say about their own times.

No surprise then that it was Dickens whom Britons turned to during the economic crisis in the last couple of years. Dickens helped them make sense of a world that was rapidly falling apart. The BBC adapted one of his less well-known novels, Little Dorrit, into a popular television drama that introduced many Brits to the novel for the first time. A dark story about greed and money, it was the perfect illustration of bad times.

As long as Dickens's novels have something to say to modern audiences, it seems likely that he will remain one of Britain's best-loved writers.

1. Charles Dickens
2. No
3. Yes
4. the 7th
5. Portsmouth
6. a ceremony was held
7. Yes
8. Prince Charles
9. Yes
10. Little Dorrit
11. No
12. greed and money
13. Yes
14. The BBC
15. television
16. No
17. a drama
18. England

Numbered questions:
1. who is the story about?
2. was he alive 300 years ago?
3. Was his birth in the month that follows January?
4. on what day?
5. where was he born?
6. what happened there recently?
7. did anyone prominent attend?
8. who?
9. was one of his works mentioned?
10. which one?
11. does it have an upbeat plot?
12. what is it about?
13. has it recently been reinterpreted?
14. by who?
15. in what medium?
16. was it a dark comedy?
17. what was it?
18. where is the Dickens from?