Q: The territory that now constitutes Tajikistan was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the city of Sarazm of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, and was later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including the Oxus civilization, Andronovo culture, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Achaemenid Empire, Sassanian Empire, Hephthalite Empire, Samanid Empire, Mongol Empire, Timurid dynasty, and the Russian Empire. As a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan became an independent nation in 1991. A civil war was fought almost immediately after independence, lasting from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, newly established political stability and foreign aid have allowed the country's economy to grow.

Tajiks began to be conscripted into the Soviet Army in 1939 and during World War II around 260,000 Tajik citizens fought against Germany, Finland and Japan. Between 60,000(4%) and 120,000(8%) of Tajikistan's 1,530,000 citizens were killed during World War II. Following the war and Stalin's reign attempts were made to further expand the agriculture and industry of Tajikistan. During 195758 Nikita Khrushchev's Virgin Lands Campaign focused attention on Tajikistan, where living conditions, education and industry lagged behind the other Soviet Republics. In the 1980s, Tajikistan had the lowest household saving rate in the USSR, the lowest percentage of households in the two top per capita income groups, and the lowest rate of university graduates per 1000 people. By the late 1980s Tajik nationalists were calling for increased rights. Real disturbances did not occur within the republic until 1990. The following year, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Tajikistan declared its independence.

Answer the following questions:
1. Were there other cultures in Tajikistan?
2. Any example?
3. What period was that?
4. Did others showed up later?
5. Any example?
6. Who used to rule the area?
7. Did they stay with them?
8. What happened?
9. Which year?
10. What happened to them just after that?
11. Which year?
12. Did they recover from that?
13. What helped them in that?
14. What was their role in the Soviet Army?
15. After war who tried to industrialize the place?
16. Who addressed their plight next?
17. In which years?
18. How they fared compared to other Republics?
19. What was their savings ranked in the 80s?
20. After which year they declared independence?
A: 1. yes
2. Sarazm
3. the Neolithic and the Bronze Age
4. yes
5. Buddhism
6. the Soviet Union
7. no
8. the breakup of the Soviet Union
9. 1991
10. A civil war
11. from 1992 to 1997
12. yes
13. political stability and foreign aid
14. 260,000 citizens fought in World War II
15. Stalin
16. Nikita Khrushchev
17. 195758
18. poorly
19. the lowest in the USSR
20. after 1990
Q: Fox Broadcasting Company (often shortened to Fox and stylized as FOX) is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. The network is headquartered at 20th Century Fox studio on Pico Boulevard in Century City of Los Angeles with additional major offices and production facilities at the Fox Television Center in nearby West Los Angeles and Fox Broadcasting Center in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is the third largest major television network in the world based on total revenues, assets and international coverage.

Launched on October 9, 1986 as a competitor to the Big Three television networks (ABC, NBC and CBS), Fox went on to become the most successful attempt at a fourth television network. It was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 1849 demographic from 2004 to 2012, and earned the position as the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 200708 season. Fox and its affiliated companies operate many entertainment channels in international markets, although these do not necessarily air the same programming as the U.S. network. Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U.S.-based Fox affiliate, either over-the-air or through a pay television provider, although Fox's National Football League telecasts and most of its prime time programming are subject to simultaneous substitution regulations for cable and satellite providers imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to protect rights held by domestically based networks.

Answer the following questions:
1. Where is Fox headquartered?
2. On what street?
3. Does it have other buildings in L.A.?
4. Where?
5. What kind of buildings?
6. Does it have buildings outside of L.A.?
7. In what state?
8. True or False: The Fox Broadcasting Center is in Queens.
9. What city is it in?
10. And what neighborhood?
11. Is Fox a Big Three network?
12. Is it a reasonably prosperous competitor?
13. Name one of the Big Three.
14. And another?
15. How does Fox stylize its name?
16. Are Canadians usually able to watch a Fox affiliate?
17. Do Fox's international channels air the same content as U.S. channels?
18. How many channels does Fox have?
19. How many exactly?
20. Which demographic favored Fox in 2004?
A: 1. Los Angeles
2. Pico Boulevard
3. Yes
4. West Los Angeles
5. Major offices and production facilities
6. Yes
7. New York
8. False
9. Manhattan
10. Yorkville
11. No
12. Yes
13. ABC
14. CBS
15. FOX
16. Yes
17. Not necessarily
18. Many channels in international markets
19. unknown
20. The 1849 demographic
Q: Should Children Be Allowed to Get Bored? Children need time to stand and stare. They should be allowed to get bored to that they can develop their ability to be creative. Children are expected by their parents to be reading a textbook all the time. However, research shows that it may _ the development of their imagination, while boredom can give them opportunities to develop creativity. Boredom is often linked with loneliness, but a writer named Meera Syal said boredom had helped here in developing her mind. She told researchers about her childhood. Having few things todo, Syal often talked with her neighbors. She also tried to do things like learning to bake cakes. "But importantly, I Thought and wrote a lot, because I was bored," Syal said. She kept a diary, filling here time with short stories and poems she made up. Grayson Perry, an artist, grew up in a family with little money. He enjoyed himself by making up stories, drawing pictures for his stories and reading many books in the library. Bored but free, he spent hours looking out of the window, watching the changing clouds and seasons. Perry filled up his free time with what he liked. He became creative, because he could think freely. Dr. Belton is an expert on the effects of emotions on learning. "Boredom could be an uncomfortable feeling," she said. "But some young people cannot deal with that boredom creatively. So sometimes they may break a classroom window, or drive a car out for a mad race." Usually, when children have nothing to do, they would turn on the TV, the computer, or the phone. Their time on these things has increased, yet they need to have time to think about their experiences through play or just watching the world around them. It is this kind of thinking that can inspire the imagination. On the other hand, the TV or phone may cut short the thinking process. That can be harmful to the development of creativity. "For developing the ability to be creative," Dr. Belton advised, "perhaps we need to stand and stare, and stay off-line from time to time."

Answer the following questions:
1. What is the point of the article?
2. What are the positive aspects of boredom?
3. Who says this?
4. Does she have personal experience?
5. What did she do when she was bored?
6. What else?
7. What should one do when they are bored?
8. Does anyone else share her beliefs?
9. Who?
10. What does he say?
11. What did that do for him?
12. Is boredom good for everyone?
A:
1. Should Children Be Allowed to Get Bored
2. they can develop their ability to be creative
3. a writer named Meera Syal
4. Yes
5. Syal often talked with her neighbors
6. learning to bake cakes
7. unknown
8. Yes
9. Grayson Perry
10. Perry filled up his free time with what he liked
11. He became creative
12. Yes