Question: At 10 years old, Flynn Mc Garry became sick of the meals his mother cooked for him. So the Los Angeles native took matters into his own hands and started making his own dinners. One of his specialties? Trout with braised leeks .

Now 13, the young chef is being praised as a "food prodigy ". He will spend his summer apprenticing with some of the best chefs at LA's famous restaurants, MSNBC Nightly New reports.

Mc Garry began making a name for himself in the culinary world when John Sedlar, owner of the trendy Playa Restaurant, let Mc Garry take over the kitchen for a special nine-course meal. The meal sold out almost instantly.

"Flynn is a very unusual young man, and he's very, very passionate," owner John Sedlar told MSNBC.

By usual teenage boy standards, it's true. So strong is his passion for cooking that the young man has turned his bedroom into an experimental kitchen laboratory.

Instead of video game consoles, baseball trophies and movie posters, Mc Garry's room is lined with mixers, pots and pans, cutting boards and a stainless steel worktable. It's where Mc Garry cooks his monthly pop-up dinners, which are served from his family's dining room, a monthly supper club he calls Eureka.

Mc Garry is deft and confident in the kitchen, with skills he's been practicing since he was a child. What started out as a means of self-preservation from his mom's unsatisfactory cooking has turned into a passion that the teen hopes to develop into a career.

"My goal? Michelin three stars, a restaurant in the top 50 list," he told MSNBC. "Hopefully the top five." Meanwhile, Mc Garry's 13-year-old resume is already richer and more impressive than most cooks many times his age.

Mc Garry isn't the only talented young prodigy to surprise experts in his field in recent years. At just 17 years old, physicist Taylor Wilson is already teaching graduate-level courses in physics and has built a functioning nuclear reactor. 1. what restaurant does John Sedlar own?
2. what publication interviewed him?
3. what does Mc Garry like better than baseball?
4. how old is he?
5. how old was he when he got interested in cooking?
6. what is he going to do this summer?
7. with who?
8. what is the club called?
9. does he like cooking better than video games?
10. what is goal?
11. what else?
12. what does Taylor Wilson teach?
13. how old is he?
14. did he build something?
15. what did he build?
16. were experts surprised? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Playa Restaurant
2. MSNBC
3. Cooking
4. 13
5. 10
6. cook
7. a monthly supper club
8. Eureka
9. Yes
10. Michelin three stars
11. a restaurant in the top 50
12. physics
13. 17
14. yes
15. nuclear reactor
16. Yes

Question: He was a hero that saved two children from the jaws of a cougar . Standing barely 1.7 meters, the 22-year-old with black-frame glasses might pass more for a Chinese Harry Potter. Yet Shen Huigang is now getting recognition for his bravery in fighting off a cougar on Vancouver Island, Canada, during a family outing. Shen, also known as Ian, was then an exchange student. With him was a friend, Myles Hagar, and Hagar's two grandchildren. Silently and suddenly a cougar appeared out of nowhere. By the time they spotted the cat, it already had the head of 18-month-old Julien in its mouth. "At first, my brain was nothing but blank," Shen recalled. "But I believed I could get the child back." He gestured as if he were ready for a fight, and tried to scare the beast off with his bag. Hearing the noise Shen made, the animal dropped the baby and Hagar rushed to grab his grandson. But the animal didn't run, instead turned toward 3-year-old Iris standing beside Shen. "Had Ian not been there, shouting at the cougar, remaining calm and standing firm, it would certainly have attacked Iris." Hagar recalled. They chased the animal back into the woods. "We moved slowly to our vehicle as we waved our fists and bags, pretending to wrestle it," Shen said. "The vehicle wasn't far away but it felt like it took us a century to travel the short journey." As Hagar drove for help, Shen held the heavily-bleeding boy in the passenger seat and calmly kept him awake by hugging and kissing him in case he would go into a coma . The boy was flown to a hospital nearby. Doctors later said his little skull had been punctured through to his brain in two places. Luckily, Julien made a full recovery. "Any hesitation, even a second delay, would have resulted in certain death for Julien, but Ian was there..." Hagar said. Following the incident, the story appeared on Canadian TV networks in every city, and in many small town newspapers---plus many US Internet news sites. The Royal Canadian Humane Association planned to give Shen a Canada Bravery Award, but it couldn't reach him because he had returned to China. 1. What is the 22-year old compared to? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. a Chinese Harry Potter

Question: In a growing number of English classes, teachers are leaving the classic novels on the shelf and letting students select the books they read. Supporters say that the new approach, called reader's workshop, helps develop a love for reading in students who are bored by classic literature. They argue that the best way to motivate students to read more is to offer them more choices.

_ , however. They worry that students who choose trendy, less challenging titles over the classics won't be exposed to the great writing and key themes of important works of literature.Student reporters Donald and Sarah express their ideas about this new approach.

Donald thinks that we should turn the page. Students should be allowed to select the books they read in English class. He says he and his classmates are allowed to pick their own books in class. That makes them more focused, and they look forward to class time. Tristin, a classmate of his at Clinton Middle School agrees. "I'm reading books that I want to read, which makes class more fun and interesting," he says. Offering students a choice may also improve test scores. Studies by Professor John Guthrie of the University of Maryland found that students in grades 4 through 6 who had some choices in the books they read showed improved reading comprehension skills during testing. Giving students the chance to decide what they read helps build a lifelong love for reading. Isn't that what we want for our students?

Sarah holds a different view. She thinks teachers know more about books than students do. When an English teacher assigns a book, he or she keeps in mind the reading level of most students in the class. Students who choose their own books might be cheating themselves by picking books that are not up to their reading level or that are too difficult. Furthermore, a whole class can discuss a book it reads together. That makes it easier for some kids to understand what they are reading. "The students wouldn't be able to hold a meaningful conversation if they were all reading different books," says Kristin, an English teacher at Fleetwood Area Middle School. "If they read the same book, their conversations would be more in-depth." 1. What is a good way to get students to want to read?
2. what is this approach called?
3. what kind of books are no longer being used?
4. what is the concern with students choosing trendy titles?
5. What does Donald think?
6. what does that mean?
7. are him and his classmates able to?
8. Is this expected to improve grades?
9. which skills were improved?
10. Does Sarah hold a different view?
11. what is it?
12. how might a student be cheating themselves?
13. what makes it easier for them to understand?
14. would that work if they are reading different books?
15. what are Donald and Sarah's titles?
16. Who is Tristin?
17. Who is John Guthrie? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. best way to motivate students to read more is to offer them more choices.
2. reader's workshop
3. classic novels
4. won't be exposed to the great writing and key themes of important works of literature
5. thinks that we should turn the page
6. Students should be allowed to select the books they read in English class
7. yes
8. yes
9. improved reading comprehension skills during testing
10. yes
11. She thinks teachers know more about books than students do.
12. cheating themselves by picking books that are not up to their reading level or that are too difficult.
13. discuss a book it reads together
14. no
15. Student reporters
16. classmate of his at Clinton Middle School
17. Professor John Guthrie of the University of Maryland