Jon's back ached. Frost had come early this year and the ground broke like stone. Jon had spent eight seasons breaking this ground to plant spring's crops and every year it got harder. Sweat beaded on his brow and he felt his cotton shirt stick to his skin under his coat. Jon took off his soft-brimmed hat and wiped his forehead. He examined the hat as he let his breath return. The hat had kept the burning sun and beating rain off his head for as long as Jon owned the farm. He wore it every day. It had been a gift given to him on the day he married Alasandra but he could not remember who gave it to him. Jon put it back on his head and pushed the tiller deep into the stubborn earth. Daven ran over the hill and down the cart path leading to their small cobblestone house. The boy had only left a short while ago and he held no sack with the bread and cheese his mother had told him to buy. Jon furrowed his brow. The boy continued to run and soon the wind carried his cry to his father's ears. "Papa! A carriage is coming! Two horses!" Jon's furrowed brow remained. Surely the boy meant a cart from a neighboring farm. No carriage made it out this far. "It's from the city! A soldier drives it!" Jon felt ice water flow over him. He turned to the house. "Sandra! Get the musket out of the pantry!" Jon saw his wife's face appear at one foggy window. Jon gestured wildly at her. "Get it!" They were too late. As Daven reached Jon, the black carriage already approached. A single figure sat on the bench, guiding the two brown horses down Jon's path. How long was Daven running for? - not enough information - A few days - A few minutes - A few hours
A few minutes

The rate of incarceration in the U.S. is the world's highest, leading to what many lawmakers and policy analysts say is a nationwide imprisonment epidemic. But the beginning of the end of that epidemic started Tuesday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, told VOA. A bipartisan prison reform bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a 360-59 vote "strikes an opening blow against the overcriminalization of the nation," Jeffries, one of the bill's co-sponsors, said. U.S. President Donald Trump said "the strong bipartisan vote paces the way for action by the Senate." Last week, Trump endorsed the bill at a White House summit on prison reform, saying, "Our whole nation benefits if former inmates are able to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens." If the bill reaches the president's desk for a signature, it would provide $50 million in funding for five years to provide job training, education and substance abuse treatment for prisoners as well as a number of quality-of-life measures aimed at reducing chronically high rates of recidivism among former inmates. But the contentious issue of criminal justice reform has split Democrats and Republicans within their own parties, possibly jeopardizing the bill's chances of passage as it heads to the U.S. Senate. In a letter to colleagues last week, Democratic Senators Kamala Harris, Dick Durbin and Cory Booker joined two House Democratic colleagues, Representatives John Lewis and Sheila Jackson Lee, in saying the bill could not be implemented effectively and could possibly lead to prison privatization. Jeffries told VOA many of the arguments against the First Step Act "were anchored in falsehoods." He added the legislation passed today "is a first step towards eradicating the cancer of mass incarceration" a move also welcomed by many House Republicans. "Rather than allowing the cycle of crime to continue, this legislation takes a practical, intelligent approach to rehabilitation," House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Republican... When would the reform bill probably reach the president's desk? - not enough information - After hearing the opinions of the opposition. - After the U.S. House of Representatives vote. - After the Senate vote.
After the Senate vote.

The White House said Monday that President Donald Trump "doesn't believe any of these accusations" made by adult film actress Stormy Daniels that she had a one-night affair with the future U.S. leader in 2006 and five years later was threatened to keep quiet about their alleged liaison. Trump spokesman Raj Shah rejected any suggestion that Trump had engaged in wrongdoing because his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, paid the porn star $130,000 from his own funds in hush money shortly before the 2016 presidential election. "False charges are settled out of court all the time," said Shah, who faced a barrage of questions from reporters after a lengthy Daniels interview aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes, a CBS News show that drew its biggest ratings in a decade for the spectacle. "He's consistently denied these accusations," Shah said of Trump. The spokesman said the 39-year-old Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was "inconsistent" because she has at various times denied she had a sexual encounter with Trump, but now claims she is telling the truth that she met up with him at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. Shah also dismissed Daniels' claim that in 2011, when she was on her way to a fitness class in Las Vegas with her infant daughter, she was approached by a stranger who threatened her. "A guy walked up on me and said to me, 'Leave Trump alone. Forget the story,' " Daniels told journalist Anderson Cooper. "And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, 'That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom.' And then he was gone." Trump has yet to comment directly on Daniels' story. However, he posted a Twitter comment Monday that seemed to allude to the controversy. Daniels says the Las Vegas incident occurred shortly after she first tried to sell her story about her encounter with Trump to a tabloid magazine. She said the incident made her fearful for years and that she thought she was doing the right thing when she accepted $130,000 from Trump... What does Daniels think of her claims? - not enough information - That she was paid to stay quiet - That they have made her fearful - That they are true
not enough information

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. Who is Mr Drake? - Mrs DeLyon's friend - Ma's friend - not enough information - Pa's friend
not enough information