input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A spending bill that funds the U.S. government for the rest of the budget year passed the Senate on Tuesday despite complaints about nearly $8 billion in what critics called "pork-barrel" projects.

The Senate passes a bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.

Senators voted 62-35 to cut off debate on the $410 billion measure and passed it on a voice vote immediately afterward.

The omnibus spending bill includes more than 8,000 congressional "earmarks," which total almost $8 billion. The earmarks have caused critics to question President Obama's pledge to end wasteful spending, but Obama administration officials said the bill is a holdover from the previous Congress.

"It is in America's best interest to close the book on the last administration and let the new one hit the ground running," said Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. See where the money is going "

But Sen. John McCain, a longtime critic of congressional spending and Obama's Republican opponent in the 2008 election, said the vote shows "business as usual" remained the order of the day.

"If the president were serious about his pledge for change, he would veto this bill. He won't," McCain said.

The bill funds the U.S. government through September, when the 2008 budget year ends. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, postponed the vote last week because he wasn't sure supporters had the 60 votes needed to break a potential GOP filibuster.

Republican critics, led by House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, have urged Obama to veto the bill because of the earmarks, targeted spending provisions inserted by Democratic and Republican lawmakers. 1. what kind of spending received criticism?
2. what is their total in dollars?
3. what is another term used by critics for these expenditures?
4. How long will this bill keep the government funded for?
5. who promised to curtail wasteful spending?
6. what is his excuse for the spending?
7. What does McCain think should be done with the bill?
8. Has anyone else recommended the bill be vetoed?
9. who?
10. who leads them?
11. where is he from?
12. who put the earmarks into the bill?'
13. were Democrats concerned about a filibuster?
14. how many votes did they need to avoid one?
15. in which year did McCain and Obama both run for president?
16. has McCain always been critical of too much spending?
17. how many earmarks were put in the bill?
numbered_answers: 1. congressional "earmarks"
2. almost $8 billion
3. "pork-barrel" projects
4. through the end of the fiscal year
5. President Obama
6. holdover from the previous Congress
7. presidential veto
8. yes
9. Republican critics
10. House Minority Leader John Boehner
11. Ohio
12. Democratic and Republican lawmakers
13. yes
14. 60
15. 2008
16. yes
17. more than 8,000

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. Take a class at Dulangkou School, and you'll see lots of things different from other schools, You can see the desks are not in rows and students sit in groups. They put their desks together so they're facing each other. How can they see the blackboard? There are three blackboards on the three walls of the classroom! The school calls the new way of learning "Tuantuanzuo", meaning sitting in groups. Wei Liying, a Junior 3 teacher, said it was to give students more chances to communicate. Each group has five or six students, according to Wei, and they play different roles .There is a team leader who takes care of the whole group. There is a "study leader"who makes sure that everyone finishes their homework. And there is a discipline leader who makes sure that nobody chats in class. Wang Lin is a team leader. The 15-year-old said that having to deal with so many things was tiring. "I just looked after my own business before,"said Wang. "But now I have to think about my five group members." But Wang has got used to it and can see the benefits now. "I used to speak too little. But being a team leader means you have to talk a lot. You could even call me an excellent speaker today." Zhang Qi, 16, was weak in English. She used to get about 70 in English tests. But in a recent test, Zhang got a grade of more than 80. "I rarely asked others when I had problems with my English tests. But now I can ask the team leader or study leader. They are really helpful." 1. How many blackboards are there?
2. What do they call this new way of learning?
3. What does it mean?
4. What is the name of the school?
5. Who is the teacher?
6. What year do they teach?
7. What does this allow the pupils a better chance to do?
8. How many leaders are there?
9. What is the first one's role?
10. The next one?
11. And the last?
12. How many pupils usually make up a grouping?
13. Who is 15?
14. What role do they have?
15. Who is 16?
16. Were they weak in Spanish?
17. What were they weak in?
18. Were the old scores 60?
19. What were they?
20. And the new scores?
numbered_answers: 1. three blackboards
2. Tuantuanzuo
3. sitting in groups
4. Dulangkou School
5. Wei Liying
6. Junior 3
7. give students more chances to communicate
8. Three
9. team leader
10. study leader
11. discipline leader
12. 5-6
13. Wang Lin
14. team leader
15. Zhang Qi
16. no
17. English
18. no
19. 70
20. more than 80

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate voted for devolution, the current Parliament was convened by the Scotland Act 1998, which sets out its powers as a devolved legislature. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament the areas in which it can make laws by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster. The British Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.

For the next three hundred years, Scotland was directly governed by the Parliament of Great Britain and the subsequent Parliament of the United Kingdom, both seated at Westminster, and the lack of a Parliament of Scotland remained an important element in Scottish national identity. Suggestions for a 'devolved' Parliament were made before 1914, but were shelved due to the outbreak of the First World War. A sharp rise in nationalism in Scotland during the late 1960s fuelled demands for some form of home rule or complete independence, and in 1969 prompted the incumbent Labour government of Harold Wilson to set up the Kilbrandon Commission to consider the British constitution. One of the principal objectives of the commission was to examine ways of enabling more self-government for Scotland, within the unitary state of the United Kingdom. Kilbrandon published his report in 1973 recommending the establishment of a directly elected Scottish Assembly to legislate for the majority of domestic Scottish affairs. 1. Where did a sharp rise in nationalism occur?
2. When was this?
3. Who was the incumbent at that time?
4. Was he a Tory?
5. Did this country govern itself?
6. Who controlled it?
7. Was the fact that it was controlled important to the citizens?
8. What happened that stifled talk of devolving?
9. When was the modern vote for devolving passed?
10. What was the name of the legislation that created the current method of ruling?
numbered_answers:
1. Scotland
2. the late 1960s
3. Harold Wilson
4. unknown
5. no
6. the Kilbrandon Commission
7. yes
8. Kilbrandon's report
9. before 1914
10. Parliament