QUES: Jenny was a 13 year old girl with blond hair and blue eyes. She had gotten out of her last day of school and was free for the summer. Two of her friends were going to the nearby beach to do some swimming and enjoy the sun. Jenny went with them and when they got there the beach was very full and there were people everywhere. They changed into their bathing suits and went to the water. The water was very cold. They chose not swim and walked to the sand. Then they laid down on some towels and enjoyed the sun. After several hours Jenny and her friends fell asleep. They woke up and the sun was beginning to set. When Jenny sat up she found that it was painful to touch her skin. When she looked down she saw that she had a very bad sunburn. Her friends were also very badly sunburned so they went home. Jenny's mother gave her a cream to put on the sunburn. Afterwards she felt a lot better and went to sleep.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Why did Jenny go the beach?

QUES: Befitting a lush, tropical island stranded in the middle of the ocean, Madeira's origins are shrouded in mystery and fanciful legend. Some claim that the archipelago is what remains of Plato's lost Atlantis, or part of a landmass that once fused the continents of Europe and America. The Portuguese Step Ashore: Recorded history of the volcanic archipelago begins in relatively recent times: 1418, just as the golden age of Portuguese discovery was erupting. Under the leadership of Henry the Navigator, caravels set out from the westernmost point of the Algarve, in southern Portugal, in search of foreign lands, fame, and wealth. Joao Goncalves Zarco, sailing in the service of Prince Henry, made the first of many famous Portuguese discoveries, which would culminate a century later in Magellan's historic circumnavigation of the globe. Zarco happened upon a small volcanic archipelago 1,000 km from Lisbon. Perhaps Zarco knew precisely where he was heading, having learned of the existence of Madeira from a Castilian source. After all, the waters of the Canary Islands, only 445 km (275 miles) to the south, had occupied busy shipping lanes for very nearly a century, and Genovese maps from the mid-14th century depict both Madeira and Porto Santo. More likely, Zarco was heading for Guinea and storms forced him onto the beach of Porto Santo. If so, then he was extremely fortunate, for he managed to land on the only large, sandy beach for hundreds of miles around. Little wonder he subsequently named it Porto Santo (Holy Port). The following year Zarco returned to claim the larger island he had seen from Porto Santo, and with him went Tristao Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo. They officially became the first men to set foot on the heavily forested island, naming it Ilha da Madeira, "Island of Timber. " The Portuguese Crown, delighted with its first important discovery, immediately embarked on a program of colonization. Zarco and Teixeira were appointed co-governors of Madeira, while Perestrelo was awarded Porto Santo.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: In what year did the recorded history of Madeira begin?

QUES: Fossils give clues about major geological events. Fossils can also give clues about past climates. Fossils of ocean animals on the top of a mountain? Ocean animals have been found on the Earths tallest mountain. Its hard to believe, but it is true. These fossils were found at the top of Mt. Everest. Mt. Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. These fossils showed that this entire area was once at the bottom of a sea. It can only mean that Mt. Everest was uplifted. In fact, the entire Himalaya mountain range was raised. It was forced up from the collision of two continents. Fossils of plants are found in Antarctica. Now, Antarctica is almost completely covered with ice. Plants do not grow in Antarctica. According to fossils, they once did. This means that Antarctica was once much warmer than it is now. These fossils tell us about Antarcticas past climate.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: What does the fact that fossils have been found on the top of Mt. Everest?

QUES: Even though electronic espionage may cost U.S. firms billions of dollars a year, most aren't yet taking precautions, the experts said. By contrast, European firms will spend $150 million this year on electronic security, and are expected to spend $1 billion by 1992. Already many foreign firms, especially banks, have their own cryptographers, conference speakers reported. Still, encrypting corporate communications is only a partial remedy. One expert, whose job is so politically sensitive that he spoke on condition that he wouldn't be named or quoted, said the expected influx of East European refugees over the next few years will greatly increase the chances of computer-maintenance workers, for example, doubling as foreign spies. Moreover, he said, technology now exists for stealing corporate secrets after they've been "erased" from a computer's memory. He said that Oliver North of Iran-Contra notoriety thought he had erased his computer but that the information was later retrieved for congressional committees to read. No personal computer, not even the one on a chief executive's desk, is safe, this speaker noted. W. Mark Goode, president of Micronyx Inc., a Richardson, Texas, firm that makes computer-security products, provided a new definition for Mikhail Gorbachev's campaign for greater openness, known commonly as glasnost. Under Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Goode said, the Soviets are openly stealing Western corporate communications. He cited the case of a Swiss oil trader who recently put out bids via telex for an oil tanker to pick up a cargo of crude in the Middle East. Among the responses the Swiss trader got was one from the Soviet national shipping company, which hadn't been invited to submit a bid. The Soviets' eavesdropping paid off, however, because they got the contract.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Are Europeans spending more or less to combat electronic espionage than the U.S.?