Q: 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. the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer,
2. No
3. Seven
4. No
5. with their education
6. Scottish poetry of Ramsay
7. the collections by Hailes and Herd
8. the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.
9. several agricultural jobs
10. no
11. 1786
12. published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
13. Yes
14. In 1788
15. to a farm at Ellis land.
16. My Heart's in the Highlands
17. Auld Lang Syne and Comin' thro' the Rye,
18. Yes
19. Tam o' Shanter and The Jolly Beggars,
20. 37

Numbered questions:
1. Who was Robert Burns?
2. Was he a middle child?
3. How many kids were there?
4. Were they rich?
5. How did there father encourage them?
6. What did he read?
7. What else?
8. anything else?
9. What kind of jobs did Burns try?
10. Did he succeed?
11. When were his first works published?
12. What did he publish?
13. Was that successful?
14. When did he retire?
15. Where?
16. What songs were his works in?
17. Name 2 others?
18. Are they popular?
19. What are his best pieces?
20. What age did he die?

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. Marie Colvin, a veteran correspondent who was killed in Syria last week, died trying to get her shoes so she could escape a shelling attack, her paper reported Sunday.

Colvin, a New York native, worked for London's The Sunday Times.

As is the custom in Syria, she took off her shoes upon entering a building that was serving as a makeshift press center. She was on the ground floor when rockets hit the upper floors, The Sunday Times reported.

Thinking then that the building was a target, Colvin rushed to retrieve her shoes in the hall. A rocket landed just a few yards away, the paper said.

Colvin, 56, was the only British newspaper journalist inside the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr. She was killed alongside French journalist Remi Ochlik in the attack Wednesday.

Her mother, Rosemarie Colvin, said aid workers have been trying for days to remove her daughter's body from the war-ravaged country.

She added that she believes her daughter was deliberately targeted by Syrian government forces.

"They were first in another house, and the top floors there were blown off," she said. "First (the Syrian forces) rocketed the front of the building," she said, fueling suspicion that the attack against a makeshift media center where Colvin and Ochlik were holed up was no accident.

The Syrian government was not immediately available for comment.

The day before she was killed, Colvin had given media interviews to networks like ITN and CNN about the ongoing clashes in Homs, and about a child who was killed in the city. 1. Who's this story about?
2. What happened to her last week?
3. What was her profession?
4. Where was she killed?
5. What was she doing when she died?
numbered_answers: 1. Marie Colvin
2. she was killed
3. correspondent
4. Syria
5. retrieving her shoes

Everyone dreams of seeing the world. But some people take that dream to the extreme.

In 2000, Canadian Jean Beliveau was suffering from a mid-life crisis . He thought a good walk might help. So, he decided to go for one... around the whole world. It took him 11 years and 54 pairs of shoes. He ate insects in Africa, survived a puma attack in South America, and fell in love for nine days in Mexico. Jean has successfully overcome his mid-life crisis and is now writing a book about his 75,000- kilometre journey.

A Russian man, Vladislav Ketov, is currently cycling around the globe. So far he's ridden through 93 countries. And he's been at it for 20 years. Why so long? Two reasons. Firstly, he's not just going through countries, he's actually riding along the coast of every continent. Secondly, he set off without any money. He has to draw portraits of the people he meets along the way to carry on with his trip. Of course, he is planning to write a book on his eventual return, too.

Then there's Ezra Cooley. He set out in 2006 with the idea of riding his horse around the world. Why? "I've always wanted to accomplish something," Ezra said. So far he's only ridden across the United States and part of Australia. He recently took a year off to write a book about his trip.

Circling the globe has a long history. In 1901, Captain Voss (from Canada) set off around the world in a 12-metre dugout canoe . Even more impressive, the canoe, which Voss bought from a Native American woman, was built in the early 19th century. He armed the canoe with a Spanish cannon for protection. The journey took three years and, of course, Voss wrote about his trip in a book. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who dreams?
2. who was suffering?
3. who was suffering?
4. From what?
5. When?
6. What did he do about it?
7. for how long?
8. How many pairs of shoes?
9. What did he eat?
10. Where
11. How long did he fall in love?
12. Where?
13. How far was his walk?
14. Who is cycling around the globe?
15. What nationality is he?
16. How many countries has he gone through?
17. For how long?
18. How does he sustain himself?
19. For how long?
20. Who rides his horse around the world?
21. When did he start?
22. Why?
23. Did he take a year off?
Answer:
1. Everyone
2. Jean Beliveau
3. Jean Beliveau
4. a mid-life crisis
5. in 2000
6. he walked
7. 11 years
8. 54
9. insects
10. Africa,
11. nine days
12. Mexico
13. 75,000- kilometre
14. Vladislav Ketov
15. Russian
16. 93
17. 20 years.
18. draws portraits
19. 20 years
20. Ezra Cooley.
21. 2006
22. he wanted to accomplish something,
23. yes