Problem: CHAPTER VI

A CIRCULATING LIBRARY

After supper that night, Bab and Betty sat in the old porch playing with Josephus and Belinda, and discussing the events of the day; for the appearance of the strange boy and his dog had been a most exciting occurrence in their quiet lives. They had seen nothing of him since morning, as he took his meals at the Squire's, and was at work with Pat in a distant field when the children passed. Sancho had stuck closely to his master, evidently rather bewildered by the new order of things, and bound to see that no harm happened to Ben.

"I wish they'd come. It's sundown, and I heard the cows mooing, so I know they have gone home," said Betty, impatiently; for she regarded the new-comer in the light of an entertaining book, and wished to read on as fast as possible.

"I'm going to learn the signs he makes when he wants Sancho to dance; then we can have fun with him whenever we like. He's the dearest dog I ever saw!" answered Bab, who was fonder of animals than her sister.

"Ma said--Ow, what's that?" cried Betty with a start, as something bumped against the gate outside; and in a moment Ben's head peeped over the top as he swung himself up to the iron arch, in the middle of which was the empty lantern frame.

"Please to locate, gentlemen; please to locate. The performance is about to begin with the great Flyin' Coopid act, in which Master Bloomsbury has appeared before the crowned heads of Europe. Pronounced by all beholders the most remarkable youthful progidy agoin'. Hooray! here we are!"
1. Who viewed the new boy as a good book?
2. Speaking of him as a book, what did she want to do?
3. Who was on the porch?
4. What were they doing?
5. What were they chatting about?
6. What had them stirred up?
7. What was his name?
8. Did he show up alone?
9. What was with him?
10. Did he have a name?
11. What was it?
12. Why was he staying right with Ben?
13. Was he protecting Ben?
14. Where were Ben and Sancho?
15. What time of day was it?
16. What had Betty heard?
17. What did Babs want to figure out how to do?
18. Did she love animals less than her sister?
19. Who was playing on the gate?
20. What was in the middle of the iron arch?
Answer: 1. Betty
2. to read on as fast as possible.
3. Bab and Betty
4. playing with Josephus and Belinda
5. the events of the day;
6. the new boy
7. Ben
8. no
9. a dog
10. yes
11. Sancho
12. yes
13. yes
14. at the Squire's,
15. sundown
16. something bumped against the gate outside;
17. how to make Sancho dance
18. no
19. Ben
20. the empty lantern frame.

Problem: Why Are Pig Farmers Still Using Growth-Promoting Drugs?

It's one of the most controversial practices in agriculture: feeding small amounts of antibiotics to animals in order to make them grow faster. But what if the drugs don't even work very well? There's some good evidence that they don't, at least in pigs. They used to deliver a boost in growth, but that effect has disappeared in recent years or declined greatly. The reason for this is interesting and even paradoxical. Researchers think the antibiotics used to work by suppressing low-grade infections. In recent years, however, pork producers found other ways to accomplish the same thing through improved hygiene . As a result, the drugs have become largely superfluous -- yet many farmers still use them.

To understand how this happened, you have to step back in time, says Steve Dritz, a specialist in pig nutrition at Kansas State University. Sixty years ago, when antibiotics were new, "people started treating animals, and feeding [the antibiotics], and finding that they had increased growth rates and feed efficiencies," he says. Nursery-age pigs, for instance, grew 12 to 15 percent faster with antibiotics. The animals also needed less feed to reach full weight. Other studies showed similar results in chickens and cattle. In the 1980s, a new set of studies found similar effects. So the growth-promoting effects of antibiotics became standard practice among meat producers.

Fast forward to the 1990s. Dritz was starting his career as a scientist at Kansas State University, and pork production was changing dramatically.

Previously, pigs were born and raised in one barn or in several barns close together. This meant infections could easily pass from one generation to the next, the way that kids share germs between their friends on the playground and their parents at home. Under the new system, when piglets are weaned, they move to a whole different place. That new site is carefully scrubbed and free of disease.

Craig Rowles, who runs a large swine operation in Carroll, Iowa, shows me one such room. There's not a piglet in sight. "This room just got completely washed and disinfected, and now it's going to sit here and dry for a while," he says.

A whole group of pigs will come in here together, and later they will move out together to yet another site. "That group of pigs will stay together until they go to market," Rowles says.

The groups are kept strictly separated from each other. If workers move between the groups, they first have to change their boots.

When farmers adopted multisite production, it cut down on disease -- and pigs actually grew faster.
1. what are they feeding to the pigs
2. what were they used for at first
Answer: 1. antibiotics
2. unknown

Problem: Rabbi Moses ben Maimon ( "Moseh ben-Maymon"; "Musa bin Maymun"), commonly known as Maimonides (; "Maimonides"; ), and also referred to by the acronym Rambam (, for "Rabbeinu Moseh ben Maimon", "Our Rabbi Moses son of Maimon"), was a medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician. Born in Cordova, Almoravid Empire (present-day Spain) on Passover Eve, 1135 or 1138, he worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Morocco and Egypt. He died in Egypt on December 12, 1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias.

During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Jewish law and ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen, and although Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, there were also vociferous critics of some of his writings, particularly in Spain. Nonetheless, he was posthumously acknowledged as among the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, and his copious work comprises a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship. His fourteen-volume "Mishneh Torah" still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. He is sometimes known as "ha Nesher ha Gadol" (the great eagle) in recognition of his outstanding status as a "bona fide" exponent of the Oral Torah.
1. What caronym is Rabbi Moses ben Mairmon referred to?
2. What was he one of the most prolific and influential scholars of?
3. During what time?
4. Where there any critics of his writings?
5. Where were they from?
6. Where was he born?
7. On what Eve?
8. What 14 volume work of his still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law?
9. What did he work as in Morocco and Egypt?
10. Why is he sometimes called "ha Nesher ha Gadol" (the great eagle)?
Answer:
1. acronym Rambam
2. the Torah
3. the Middle Ages
4. yes
5. particularly in Spain
6. in Cordova
7. on Passover Eve
8. Mishneh Torah
9. rabbinical arbiters
10. in recognition of his outstanding status as a "bona fide" exponent of the Oral Torah