Question: My mother-in-law, Dorothy, is showing me the red notebook that's almost as precious to her as my husband's baby pictures. Inside the notebook is a list of the books she has read since 2007. For some people waking up in the middle of the night is a terrible thing. But for my mother-in-law, that time is a gift. At 87, she is getting the education she never had by working her way through great literature. She has now read close to 100 books, including every single novel by Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, Henry James and Thomas Mann.

My mother-in-law discusses her passion with the enthusiasm of a young girl, although she can also be a very tough critic, writing "VG' for " very good" in the margins next to her favorites. So far, only a handful of books have received the top prize.

Born in Ridgefield, Conn, Dorothy was the youngest daughter of an Italian gardener. She taught herself English by reading The New York Times. Eager to come to Manhattan, she became a nurse, married a dentist and spent the next several decades keeping the house and raising a family. In her later years, she put her nursing skills to good use by taking care of my father-in-law, who had lung cancer. There were many trips to the emergency room in the middle of the night and then a long hospital stay. She stayed awake to watch over him for 15 hours a day. Always a light sleeper, she developed sleeplessness as a result of the stress.

It worsened after he died. Deeply sad and lonely for the first time in her life, she began waking up around 2am. Julian and Sylvia, the elderly couple next door suggest she read literature. And so Julian, a great lover of literature, became her "professor", providing books from his large library. Suddenly

turned onto a world of amazing characters. 1. Where was Dorothy born?
2. What did she read to learn English?
3. What was the profession of the man she wed?
4. What was her profession at this time?
5. What disease did her father-in-law have?
6. How many hours per day did she attend to him?
7. Did she develop sleeplessness?
8. Why?
9. What was the color of Dorothy's notebook?
10. What's in the notebook?
11. How many books has she read?
12. Has she read ones by Jane Austen?
13. What abbreviation does she use for "very good"?
14. Does she give that rating to a lot of books?
15. After he father-in-law's death, what time did she wake up?
16. What were her neighbor's names?
17. Which one of them gave her books?
18. What did he love?
19. Was he thought of as her professor?
20. Of what nationality was the gardener mentioned? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Ridgefield, Conn
2. The New York Times.
3. Dentist.
4. Nurse.
5. Lung cancer.
6. 15.
7. Yes.
8. Stress.
9. Red.
10. A list of the books she has read since 2007.
11. Close to 100.
12. Yes.
13. VG.
14. No.
15. Around 2am.
16. Julian and Sylvia.
17. Julian.
18. Literature.
19. Yes.
20. Italian.

Question: James and his wife went to Beijing Restaurant for dinner at 7:00 pm. On April 1st, 2005, while they were eating, a waitress came to tell them that the two men at the next table were film-makers and that they would like to have a talk with James. James agreed. One man came to sit down next to him and said that they were making a film named "The Magic Gloves." The story was like "Harry Potter" and they were looking for an actor to play a magician. They would like to invite James to have a try. James was excited, "Many people think I look like Patrick Steward." However, as he was going to leave China in 3 days, he wanted to try out after dinner. The man agreed. At 9:00 pm, when James asked for the bill so that he could go with the film-makers, the manager of Beijing Restaurant said sorry to him with a smile, "It's April Fool's Day joke! Your meal is free. Thank you." James completely forgot about it but when he found that he was fooled, he didn't leave at once. The waitress asked him if he needed some help. James said, "I was fooled once. I'm afraid the meal is not free. I am waiting for the bill to see if it is another joke." 1. Who was eating dinner?
2. Where?
3. What time was it?
4. When?
5. What year?
6. Who talked to him?
7. About what?
8. named what?
9. What did he find out later?
10. What did he receive?
11. When was he leaving China?
12. Who does he think he looks like? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. James and his wife
2. Beijing Restaurant
3. 7:00 pm
4. April 1st
5. 2005
6. Two men
7. Making a film
8. The Magic Gloves
9. It was an April Fool's joke
10. A free meal
11. In 3 days
12. Patrick Steward

Question: LONDON, England (CNN) -- It was Anabella De Leon's frail 86-year-old mother who answered the door when the men came knocking. "They told her, 'say to Anabella that we are going to kill her very soon,'" De Leon told CNN. The visit left her mother crying, anxious and shocked.

Congresswoman Anabella de Leon with her husband in London for a performance of "Seven" by Vital Voices.

That was four months ago. No attempt on her life has been made, De Leon said, but she still looks over her shoulder, takes alternative routes in her car, constantly checking that she's not being followed.

Anabella De Leon is not well known outside Guatemala. Within the Central American country though, she has made headlines as an outspoken critic of corruption. She's serving her fourth term in Congress as a member of the Patriotic Party, which last weekend elected her to one of its top posts of Third National Secretary.

The death threats are not new. Since 2002, she's been protected by at least one security guard on request from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Her 26-year-old son is also shadowed by a security guard; a precautionary move in response to earlier threats connected to De Leon's anti-corruption efforts.

"The fight against corruption doesn't give you friends," she said. "[It] gives you enemies, important and dangerous enemies," she told CNN during a recent trip to London for a performance of the play "Seven," which profiles De Leon and six other international female leaders. Read more about "Seven." 1. What political party does De Leon belong to?
2. What role has she just assumed in the party?
3. Why does she need protection?
4. Who requested the protection?
5. What is she doing in London?
6. Did anyone join her?
7. Why was her mother crying?
8. How old is she?
9. What precautions does De Leon take?
10. Anything else?
11. Does she have children?
12. How old?
13. Does the child receive protection? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. Patriotic Party,
2. ourth term in Congress
3. earlier threats connected to De Leon's anti-corruption efforts.
4. nter-American Commission on Human Rights
5. performance of "Seven" by Vital Voices.
6. husband
7. men came knocking. "They told her, 'say to Anabella that we are going to kill her very soon
8. 86
9. protected by at least one security guard
10. takes alternative routes in her car, constantly checking that she's not being followed.
11. yes
12. 26
13. yes