question: Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.

By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript , none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.

Burns's art is at its best in songs such as My Heart's in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin' thro' the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o' Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.

Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical , descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry.
1. What did Burns fail at?
2. Is he still alive?
3. What age did he make it to?
4. What caused his demise?
5. Did he have any siblings?
6. How many?
7. Where was he birthed?
8. Was he funny?
9. How so?
10. Did he write any well known tunes?
11. Can you give an example?
12. Any other?
13. What else did he write?
14. What was his net worth at death?
15. Did he ever work for the government?
16. Doing what?
17. Where?
****
answer: 1. several agricultural jobs
2. no
3. 37.
4. illness
5. yes
6. Six
7. unknown
8. yes
9. it was reflected in his satirical , descriptive, and playful poems.
10. yes
11. Auld Lang Syne
12. Comin' thro' the Rye,
13. Tam o' Shanter and The Jolly Beggars
14. unknown
15. yes
16. he held a position as a tax collector.
17. Edinburgh

question: A Sudanese woman sentenced to die for refusing to renounce her Christianity gave birth to a baby girl in prison Tuesday, her lawyers said.

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, delivered her baby at a women's prison in Khartoum, but her husband was not allowed to be present for the birth, sources told CNN. They asked not to be named for safety reasons.

Ibrahim was convicted of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith, about two weeks ago while she was eight months pregnant.

A Sudanese lawyer filed an appeal last week to reverse the verdict by the lower court.

She is in prison with her 20-month-old son, but Sudanese officials have said the toddler is free to leave any time, according to her lawyer, Mohamed Jar Elnabi.

Her husband, Daniel Wani, is a U.S. citizen who uses a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his life," her lawyer said.

The appeal

The appeals court in Khartoum will issue a ruling on the case in the next week, but it will first ask the lower court to submit the documents it used to make the ruling, according to her lawyer.

Once that's done, it will issue a case number, he said.

"We will continue checking with the appeals court, but Inshallah (Allah willing) ... the appeals court will reverse the sentence and set her free," he said.

Christian or Muslim?

Ibrahim says her father was a Sudanese Muslim and her mother was Ethiopian Orthodox. Her father left when she was 6, and she was raised as a Christian.
1. Where did the birth in the article occur?
2. In which city?
3. Why was the woman in prison?
4. What nationality was the woman?
5. What was the punishment for this crime?
6. What was the woman's name?
7. Could her husband attend the birth?
8. Is it a certainty that she will be put to death?
9. Why not?
10. Is anyone with her in prison?
11. Who?
12. How old is he?
13. Is her husband healthy?
14. Is he also Sudanese?
15. Where is he from?
16. what's his name?
17. Was Ibrahim's father also a Christian?
18. What religion did he follow?
19. What about her mother's religion?
20. Did she grow up with her father?
****
answer: 1. at a woman's prison
2. Khartoum
3. for refusing to renounce her Christianity
4. A Sudanese woman
5. she was sentenced to die
6. Meriam Yehya Ibrahim
7. No
8. No
9. The verdict is being appealed
10. Yes
11. Her son
12. 20 months old
13. No
14. no
15. the U.S.
16. Daniel Wani
17. no
18. he was a Muslim
19. she was Ethiopian Orthodox
20. No

question: CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

GOOD NEWS AND ROMANTIC SCENERY--BEAR-HUNTING AND ITS RESULTS.

Jacques failed in his attempt to break off his engagement with the fur-traders. The gentleman in charge of Norway House, albeit a good-natured, estimable man, was one who could not easily brook disappointment, especially in matters that involved the interests of the Hudson's Bay Company; so Jacques was obliged to hold to his compact, and the pastor had to search for another guide.

Spring came, and with it the awakening (if we may use the expression) of the country from the long, lethargic sleep of winter. The sun burst forth with irresistible power, and melted all before it. Ice and snow quickly dissolved, and set free the waters of swamp and river, lake and sea, to leap and sparkle in their new-found liberty. Birds renewed their visits to the regions of the north; frogs, at last unfrozen, opened their leathern jaws to croak and whistle in the marshes, and men began their preparations for a summer campaign.

At the commencement of the season an express arrived with letters from headquarters, which, among other matters of importance, directed that Messrs. Somerville and Hamilton should be dispatched forthwith to the Saskatchewan district, where, on reaching Fort Pitt, they were to place themselves at the disposal of the gentleman in charge of the district. It need scarcely be added that the young men were overjoyed on receiving this almost unhoped-for intelligence, and that Harry expressed his satisfaction in his usual hilarious manner, asserting somewhat profanely, in the excess of his glee, that the governor-in-chief of Rupert's Land was a "regular brick." Hamilton agreed to all his friend's remarks with a quiet smile, accompanied by a slight chuckle, and a somewhat desperate attempt at a caper, which attempt, bordering as it did on a region of buffoonery into which our quiet and gentlemanly friend had never dared hitherto to venture, proved an awkward and utter failure. He felt this, and blushed deeply.
1. Who did Jacque have an appointment with that could not be broken?
2. Was the man in charge of Norway House foul tempered?
3. what arrived at the beginning of spring?
4. what did the express bring?
5. from where?
6. who was coming to Saskatchewan?
7. where were they going there?
8. What was the governor of Rupert
9. what were the men preparing for now that spring was here?
10. what were the frogs doing?
11. what did the pastor have to do since Jacque couldn't leave?
12. How did Harry show his happiness?
13. Did Hamilton agree?
****
answer:
1. Jacques
2. no
3. the awakening of the country
4. letters
5. headquarters
6. Somerville and Hamilton
7. Fort Pitt
8. a "regular brick"
9. preparations for a summer campaign
10. croaking and whistling
11. search for another guide
12. by asserting that the governor-in-chief of Rupert's Land was a "regular brick"
13. yes