Problem: CHAPTER VI

FAREWELL

D'Aguilar came to supper that night as he had promised, and this time not on foot and unattended, but with pomp and circumstance as befitted a great lord. First appeared two running footmen to clear the way; then followed D'Aguilar, mounted on a fine white horse, and splendidly apparelled in a velvet cloak and a hat with nodding ostrich plumes, while after him rode four men-at-arms in his livery.

"We asked one guest, or rather he asked himself, and we have got seven, to say nothing of their horses," grumbled Castell, watching their approach from an upper window. "Well, we must make the best of it. Peter, go, see that man and beast are fed, and fully, that they may not grumble at our hospitality. The guard can eat in the little hall with our own folk. Margaret, put on your richest robe and your jewels, those which you wore when I took you to that city feast last summer. We will show these fine, foreign birds that we London merchants have brave feathers also."

Peter hesitated, misdoubting him of the wisdom of this display, who, if he could have his will, would have sent the Spaniard's following to the tavern, and received him in sober garments to a simple meal.

But Castell, who seemed somewhat disturbed that night, who loved, moreover, to show his wealth at times after the fashion of a Jew, began to fume and ask if he must go himself. So the end of it was that Peter went, shaking his head, while, urged to it by her father, Margaret departed also to array herself.
1. Did D'Aguilar arrive by walking?
2. Was he alone?
3. which meal was he arriving to?
4. what color was D'Aguilar's horse?
5. how many people were with him?
6. Was Castell happy to see so many people?
7. How many people was he expecting?
8. What is Castell's profession?
9. From where?
10. Is D'Aguilar also British?
11. Where's he from?
12. Was Castell poor?
13. What did Margaret wear?
14. Had she worn the jewels before?
15. when?
16. Did Peter think a big display of hospitality was a good idea?
17. What would he prefer?
18. What was D'Aguilar wearing?
19. What color was the cloak?
20. What time of day did D'Aguilar arrive?
Answer: 1. No
2. No
3. supper
4. white
5. six
6. No
7. Only one
8. He's a merchant
9. London
10. no
11. Spain
12. No
13. a robe and jewels
14. Yes
15. last summer
16. No
17. a simple meal
18. a velvet cloak and a hat with nodding ostrich plumes
19. unknown
20. Night

Problem: As young Chinese increasingly forget how to write characters because they don't have to, using keyboards and touch screen technology on mobile phones is changing the trend.

For Yin Liang, a 26-year-old purchasing agent at a company, his embarrassment over forgetting how to write characters has gradually disappeared since he started to use the handwriting input method on his iPhone 4 a month ago.

"When you write on the touch screen, you use your finger, instead of a mouse or keyboard," Yin says.

"Actually, your finger is like a pen, writing the complicated characters that have long been spelled by pinyin, an alphabet-based input system. Whether typing on computers or texting on phones, most users in China type by phonetically spelling out the sounds of the characters and the software then gives a menu of characters that fit the pronunciation, so users only need to recognize the character.

Handwriting technology on a mobile phone touch screen has been around for years and became popular with the iPhone, which recognizes the input and offers a wide selection of characters.

"It's efficient and accurate," Yin says.

Chinese characters are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world, but as pinyin-based typing has become more widespread, youths have started forgetting how to write out characters. This was one of the main topics for debate at the first Cross-Straits Chinese Character Art Festival, held recently in Beijing, which attracted experts from Taiwan and the mainland.

According to Zhang Zikang, president of the Culture and Art Publishing House, writing with a pen on the touch screen brings handwriting into the digital age. It is even better when you write with your finger, feeling the flow of the cursive script and the grace and art of Chinese characters, he says.

"Smart gadgets don't take life from the square-shaped characters, instead they offer a new and advanced platform to show the charm of Chinese characters, which are always evolving," Zhang says.
1. How old is Yin Liang?
2. what has he started using?
3. Why system is oldest and continuously in use?
4. On which device has he used it?
5. What brings handwriting into the digital age?
6. What is changing the trend on Smartphones?
Answer: 1. 26
2. the handwriting input method
3. Chinese characters
4. his iPhone 4
5. the touch screen
6. using keyboards and touch screen technology

Problem: Domesday Book ( or ; Latin: "Liber de Wintonia" "Book of Winchester") is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" states:

Then, at the midwinter [1085], was the king in Glocester with his council ... . After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out "How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire."

It was written in Medieval Latin, was highly abbreviated, and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose was to determine what taxes had been owed during the reign of King Edward the Confessor, which allowed William to reassert the rights of the Crown and assess where power lay after a wholesale redistribution of land following the Norman conquest.

The assessors' reckoning of a man's holdings and their values, as recorded in Domesday Book, was dispositive and without appeal. The name "Domesday Book" (Middle English for "Doomsday Book") came into use in the 12th century. As Richard FitzNeal wrote in the "Dialogus de Scaccario" ("circa" 1179):
1. What piece of writing was created?
2. What was it called?
3. What was another way of saying the title?
4. What was it recording?
5. Of where?
6. Where else?
7. When was it finished?
8. Who demanded it?
9. What language was it in?
10. Was it all totally spelled out?
11. For what reason was it done?
12. During what kingdom?
13. What did it let the current kingdom do?
14. Anything else?
15. After what takeover?
16. Could the contents be appealed?
17. When did it get the more modern title?
18. Who had a writing done in 1179?
19. What was it called?
20. What time of the year did a kingdom have people go around to assess goods?
Answer:
1. A book
2. Domesday Book
3. Liber de Wintonia
4. the Great Survey
5. Mostly England
6. Also some parts of Wales
7. 1086
8. King William
9. Medieval Latin
10. No
11. taxes!
12. the reign of King Edward
13. reassert the rights of the Crown
14. assess where power lay after a wholesale redistribution of land
15. the Norman conquest
16. No
17. the 12th Century
18. Richard FitzNeal
19. Dialogus de Scaccario
20. midwinter