Lash is associate dean at the University of Southern California Law School. Johnson is a justice on California's Second District Court of Appeal. Lash and Johnson are co-chairs of the California Commission on Access to Justice. The full report can be viewed at (www.calbar.org). In her year-long odyssey through the California justice system, Katherine, a 35-year-old single mother with three children, experienced failure at every turn. Leaving her abusive husband, she moved into the only apartment she could afford, and soon discovered a broken toilet and non- working oven, rats and roaches, and a fourthfloor landing with no railing. She began withholding rent pending repairs her landlord refused to make, but then her Medi-Cal benefits were cut off when she could not provide rent receipts. She lost health care for her children and herself, although she is a borderline diabetic in need of medication and her children were suffering from rat bites. Katherine tried to seek help through the courts. Representing herself at an administrative hearing, she lost her appeal to restore Medi-Cal benefits because she did not have proper documentation of the rent account. When she went to a courthouse to file a complaint against her landlord, she found the process so confusing that she gave up and went home. According to "The Path to Justice: A Five-Year Status Report on Access to Justice in California," prepared by the California Commission on Access to Justice, Katherine is just one of 4.6 million poor Californians whose basic civil legal needs -- often involving such critical needs as housing, health care, education, employment, safety and transportation -- are not being addressed. California has a critical dearth of legal services for the poor, and, as this report makes clear, it is imperative that the state join with the federal government and private funders to increase resources so that all Californians, regardless of income, have equal access to our justice system. Our justice system is predicated on the assumption that both parties will be represented by lawyers who act as gatekeepers and guides through a complex legal system that would otherwise be inaccessible to many of us. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable members of our society are the least able to afford legal services. California does have a strong network of legal aid organizations that try to help meet the needs of the poor, but there's just one legal aid lawyer available per 10,000 poor people. We may promise "justice for all," but for those who can't afford a lawyer, that promise is often a lie. In its new report, the Commission on Access to Justice notes some significant steps toward providing equal access to justice for all Californians.

Question: "Why didn't Katherine have proper documentation of rent?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "Because she moved"

Response: no

Roger was a grasshopper. He loved to hop. He hopped everywhere by himself. One day when he was hopping around he bumped into a frog sitting on a log. The frog told him his name was Gilbert. Gilbert told Roger that it had been a long time since he bumped into anybody. Roger told him that since both grasshoppers and frogs like to jump they would make great friends. The next day they were hopping through a field and they saw something very strange. In a pond they saw a spider floating on a lily pad. The spider was very sad because he did not have any friends. Roger and Gilbert asked him why he didn't have any friends. The spider told them that everybody would scream and run away when they saw him. Roger and Gilbert told him that he didn't look scary to them and that he could come along with them if he wanted. So Sam the spider said yes, and the three of them began a life time friendship full of adventures.

Question: "How did Roger and Gilbert act differently towards the spider than others had?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "They like to jump"

Response: no

Rough surfaces create more friction than smooth surfaces. Thats why cars have tires. Its also why we use rubber mats in areas that might get wet. In your bathtub, you may even use No-Slip tape. No-slip is another way of saying the items has a lot of friction. In Figure 1.9, the blades of the skates are very smooth. Thats why you cant slide across ice with shoes. The soles of your shoes are much rougher than skates. The rougher surface of shoes causes more friction and slows you down. Heavier objects also have more friction. A heavy object presses down with more force. The surfaces are held together more tightly. This makes the surfaces harder to slide past each other. Did you ever try to push something heavy across the floor? Heavy objects are much harder to push than light objects.

Question: "Why are heavy objects harder to push than light objects?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "Smooth surface"

Response: no

When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. A later tradition recorded his entry into Jerusalem: according to Josephus, Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel's prophecy, presumably chapter 8, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. He spared Jerusalem and pushed south into Egypt. However, Alexander met with resistance at Gaza. The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all the more to make the attempt". After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword and the women and children were sold into slavery. Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC, where he was regarded as a liberator. He was pronounced son of the deity Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert. Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with rams horn as a symbol of his divinity. During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria-by-Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death.

Question: "What part of Egypt did he encounter resistance?"

OPTIONS:
- no
- yes

Answer: "Gaza"

Response:
yes