question: (CNN) -- It's the super yacht with a super model and her billionaire tycoon husband as its joint owners and the 100ft supermaxi Comanche lived up to expectations with a blazing start to the Rolex Sydney-Hobart race Friday.

The 'Bluewater Classic' in its 70th staging is the first real competitive test for Comanche, which has been specially built for distance racing and speed record attempts, the brainchild of Netscape co-founder Jim Clark and his wife, Kristy Hinze-Clark, who was born in Australia.

Comanche, skippered by American Ken Read and with a strong international crew, is expected to battle it out for line honors with seven-time winner Wild Oats XI in the 628-nautical miles race, one of the highlights of the international yachting calendar.

The traditional Boxing Day start from Sydney Harbor saw an early glimpse of Comanche's speed with the skipper of Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, moved to exclaim: "She's smoking -- look at that thing go!"

Out to sea and past the first mark in an unofficial record time, Comanche led from Wild Oats XI with the other supermaxis Ragamuffin and Perpetual Loyal giving chase.

The race, which runs down the east coast of Australia and across the Bass Strait to the Tasmanian capital Hobart, has drawn a 117-strong entry, the biggest since 1994.

But pre-race attention has centered on Comanche -- with its wide-bodied and cutting edge design, and two years in the building in Maine in the United States.

Clark watched from a supporting boat as his wife was part of the crew when Comanche took part in the Big Boat Challenge in Sydney Harbor on December 9, won by Wild Oats XI.
1. What is the race called?
2. How many are racing?
3. Is this a record?
4. What day does the race begin?
5. Who won the last race?
6. How many times did Wild Oats win?
7. Who is the boat's driver?
8. How long is the race?
9. Where does it start from geographically?
10. What body of water does it cross?
****
answer: 1. Rolex Sydney-Hobart
2. 117
3. no
4. Boxing Day
5. unknown
6. seven
7. Mark Richards
8. 628-nautical miles
9. Sydney Harbor
10. e Bass Strait

question: Kuwait (; ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. , Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people; 1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates. Expatriates account for 70% of the population.

Oil reserves were discovered in 1938. From 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis following the stock market crash. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces. At the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure.

Kuwait is a constitutional state with a semi-democratic political system. It has a high income economy backed by the world's sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world. According to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962. The Kuwait National Cultural District is a member of the Global Cultural Districts Network.
1. what percent of Kuwait's population are expats?
2. how many people is that?
3. what is the total population?
4. is it a democratic country?
5. when was oil discovered there?
6. what did it experience in the 1980s?
7. how big are its oil reserves?
8. when did Kuwait undergo modernization?
9. when was the constitution promulgated?
10. where is kuwait situated?
11. who does it share borders with?
12. when was it invaded by Iraq?
13. who intervened?
14. when did the occupation come to an end?
15. did they have to rebuild their infrastructure?
****
answer: 1. 70%
2. 2.9 million
3. 4.2 million
4. semi-democratic
5. 1938
6. a period of geopolitical instability and an economic crisis
7. very
8. From 1946 to 1982
9. 1962.
10. northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf,
11. Iraq and Saudi Arabia
12. 1990
13. coalition forces
14. 1991
15. yes

question: Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandis one of the most loved children's books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland. She has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work. The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer's real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much. Charles later wrote the story down under the nameAlice's Adventures Under Groundand gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the nameAlice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll's works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems. Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it.
1. Where is Alice's Adventures?
2. who is Alice?
3. What does she follow?
4. Is the book popular?
5. Who is the author?
6. What was his real name?
7. Where did he ride his boat?
8. To do what?
9. What did he tell them?
10. Was Alice an only child?
11. Which child was she?
12. Did the girls enjoy the story?
13. Who did he give a copy to?
14. How many words was the book?
15. When was it first printed?
16. Who did the art work?
17. Was it an immediate success?
18. Who was one of it's first fans?
19. What else does Dodgson write?
20. How many languages has it been translated into?
****
answer:
1. a magical world called Wonderland
2. a young girl
3. a rabbit
4. yes
5. Lewis Carroll
6. Charles Dodgson
7. the Thames River
8. have a picnic with three little girls
9. a story about Alice,
10. nho
11. the middle child
12. yes
13. his friend
14. 35,000
15. 1866
16. John Tenniel
17. yes
18. Queen Victoria
19. many works on math
20. fifty