Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
A man got fired from his job. He was in such a bad mood after. He walked out the door with his gum and gloves. He got madder and madder. A mailman walking by asked him how his day had been. He pushed the mailman who fell on a teacher. A nearby baby started crying. The man then felt bad and apologized. He knew the only thing that could make him happy would be pancakes. He went to a pancake restaurant and ordered a stack of pancakes. He ate the pancakes he had put syrup on and helped a worker sweep the floor. He had forgotten all about the firing from his other job. The worker was so surprised with how helpful the man was he told his boss. The boss talked to the man and asked if he'd like a job there. The man was so happy that his day had made such a turn around! He took the job and became head pancake maker.
1. Who got fired?
2. What did he walk out the door with?
3. What did the mailman ask him?
4. how did the mailman fall down?
5. who did he fall on?
6. what did the child do?
7. did the guy care about what he'd done?

Numbered answers:
1. A man
2. his gum
3. how his day had been
4. He pushed the mailman
5. a teacher
6. it started crying
7. he felt bad

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist and a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Read his column here

Ruben Navarrette says Sarah Palin's critics challenged her because of prejudices about small-town values.

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- During the presidential election, some Democrats demanded to know how I could defend Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Simply put, Palin is my people. She's small-town folk who wound up in the big leagues.

Because I grew up in a small town with a population of less than 15,000 people, I was disgusted by the insults and condescension coming from those who think of themselves as the enlightened elite. Meanwhile, in small towns, I detected great affection for Palin. People talked about how she was "a real person" who "reflected their values."

The most significant divide in America isn't Red State vs. Blue State, it's rural vs. urban. The country mouse and the city mouse are still slugging it out.

In 1982, New York Mayor Ed Koch ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York. Some say the deciding factor was when Koch described life in upstate New York as "sterile" and said he dreaded living in the "small town" of Albany, if elected. That didn't play well in rural areas.

Now comes Colin Powell. During a recent appearance on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Powell attempted an autopsy on the Republican Party's failed presidential bid. He went after Palin, accusing her of pushing the party so far to the right that it went over a cliff.
1. Who is Ruben Navarrette Jr?
2. What does Ruben Navarrette say about Sarah?
3. How big is the population of the town?
4. How do they feel about Sarah Palin?
5. What is the most significant divide in America?
6. Who is Ed Koch?
7. Which year did he run for Mayor?
8. What was the deciding factor when Ed Koch ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York?

Numbered answers:
1. A columnist and San Diego Union-Tribune board member.
2. Her critics challenged her because of prejudices about small-town values.
3. Less than 15,000 people,
4. Affectionate.
5. Rural vs. urban.
6. New York Mayor.
7. 1982.
8. When Koch described life in upstate New York as "sterile" and said he dreaded living in the "small town" of Alban

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
When it came to role models, Diana Ortiz said her mother, Marcia Dominguez, was the "hero". Ms. Dominguez came to the United States from Cuba in 1979. She went to college and got a job as a social worker --- all the while raising three children in America mostly on her own.

"It was always school first," Diana said, "My mom had us in a straight line. If we got out of line, she corrected us. She was a perfect woman. She was beautiful, she had the education and she had everything --- but the illness took over. When I was 11, it frightened me to see how quickly my mother's health was ruined by cancer. A week before I turned 14, my mother died at age 50. I had tried to prepare myself, but on the first morning I woke up without my mother, the sense of loss was painful."

Diana had not seen her father for five years, who refused to provide for her. Diana then entered the city's foster care system. She has spent about four years in foster homes.

Despite Diana's hard teenage years, the values her mother had planted in her mind inspired her to go after higher education. Since August 2010, she has been a fulltime student majoring in law. A public organization offers her tuition but she has part-time jobs to help people like her and earn more life experience. Her goal is a job in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

For now, Diana works 20 hours a week as a cashier at Marshalls, earning $7.25 an hour. In November, she moved into her own public housing studio apartment on the Lower East Side. She pays $236 a month in rent. Although she is out of foster care, Diana has been speaking at workshops for foster youths. She emphasizes that nothing should get in the way of their success, not the trials of their lives or what they may have lost.

"I tell the young who have the similar experience like me, 'Why are you going to let what happened to you affect you in the long run?' " Diana said. " 'Why are you going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself? You're wasting precious time.' It is a message my mother would approve of. My mom taught me that everything is not given to you. You have to go out and get it."
1. Who died young?
2. How old was she?
3. Where did she come from?
4. What happened to the girl?
5. For how long?
6. Why?
7. When had she last seen him?
8. What is her goal?
9. What does she do for now?
10. Where?
11. Where does she live?
12. Does she have a house?
13. Where?
14. What else does she do?
Numbered answers:
1. Diana's mother
2. 50
3. Cuba
4. she went to foster care
5. four years
6. Her father refused her
7. five years ago
8. work for Federal Bureau of Investigation
9. works as a cashier
10. Marshalls
11. the Lower East Side
12. no
13. an apartment
14. speaks at workshops