Problem: Sam and Joe were astronauts. There was once a very dangerous trip and the more experienced astronauts knew there was only a small chance of coming back alive. Sam and Joe, however, thought it would be exciting though a little dangerous. "We're the best men for the job," they said to the boss. "There may be problems, but we can find the answers." "They're the last people I'd trust ," thought the boss. "But all the other astronauts have refused to go." Once they were in space, Joe had to go outside to make some repairs . When the repairs were done, he tried to get back inside the spaceship. But the door was locked. He knocked but there was no answer. He knocked again, louder this time, and again no answer came. Then he hit the door as hard as he could and finally a voice said, "Who's there?" "It's me! Who else could it be?" shouted Joe. Sam let him in all right but you can imagine that Joe never asked to go on a trip with Sam again!
1. Who were Sam and Joe?
2. Was the trip they went on safe?
3. Did any others travel with them?
4. What did the more experienced adventurers know?
5. Did the two think it was too dangerous to complete the task?
6. What did they think it would be?
7. Did their supervisor believe they'd be okay to do the work?
8. Were there fixes to be made once in orbit?
9. Was it easy for the worker who did the fixes to come inside afterwards?
10. Why not?
11. Did he fix this situation by calling through his radio in the suit?
12. What did he do?
Answer: 1. astronauts
2. no
3. no
4. small chance of coming back alive
5. no
6. exciting
7. no
8. yes
9. no
10. door was locked
11. no
12. knocked

Problem: No one knows exactly when jazz was invented, or by whom. But it is said that it began in the early 1900s. Jazz was a new kind of music, for America and the world, and New Orleans was its birthplace.

Who were the jazz pioneers? Most were blacks. This music was not written down, and at first only blacks played it. It was hard for white musicians to learn the new style. But soon they, too, were playing jazz.

The popularity of this music spread. From New Orleans, it traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago, then to Kansas City and New York. By the 1920s, there were many jazz musicians, both black and white. Many of them were famous. One man was better than the rest. His name was Louis Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong was a born musician. He was not only talented but also hard-working. He also had a good sense of humor and a big, good-natured smile. These personal qualities were valuable in his rise to fame. After he became famous, he traveled around the world. It seemed that everyone wanted to hear Louis play. But life was not always easy, especially at the beginning.

Louis Armstrong was born in 1900 in New Orleans. His father never went to school and his mother could hardly read. When Louis was still a kid, his parents separated, and Louis lived with his mother. How hard their life was can readily be imagined. And yet Louis smiled through everything. He later wrote, "My whole life has been happiness. Life was there for me and I accepted it. Whatever happened has been beautiful to me. I love everybody."
1. around what time did Jazz begin?
2. where?
3. where did it spread to first?
4. then where?
5. who started playing it first?
6. Can you one of the well known musicians?
7. where was he born?
8. when?
9. Were his folks happily married?
10. were they educated?
11. what was he able to do after becoming well known?
12. was he depressed?
13. who did he live with growing up?
14. was he lazy?
15. what attributes helped him in his career?
16. was Jazz music usually writen down?
Answer: 1. the early 1900's
2. New Orleans
3. Mississippi
4. Chicago
5. black people
6. Louis Armstrong
7. New Orleans.
8. in 1900
9. no
10. no
11. travel around the world
12. no
13. his mother
14. no
15. He was talented, hard-working and had a good sense of humor and a big, good-natured smile
16. no

Problem: (CNN) -- A thin girl with caramel skin and a yellow silk blouse walks alone through a barren landscape of rubble.

Nway prepares for her new job, selling vegetables from her aunt's garden.

Her legs are marked by cuts. Her face is smeared with white streaks of powder. And her eyes are blank as she sifts through the debris of what used to be her home before Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar one night and swept her parents away.

Her name is Nway, and that's how she looked when aid workers found her after Nargis destroyed her isolated village. She refused to talk about the cyclone, pretending it never took place. She became, according to a CNN story, the "girl who refuses to remember."

A year later, an aid worker returned to the village to see how Nway was doing. She found Nway living in a tidy, bamboo house flanked by palm trees. The 8-year-old greeted her visitor with a big smile. Then she asked whether she could play with her visitor's hair.

Pam Sitko, the aid worker, said Nway -- like thousands of people in Myanmar -- is slowly recovering one year after Nargis demolished their country.

"After all of her pain and loss, she really is a spunky girl," said Sitko, who works with World Vision International, a humanitarian group. "She wasn't shy about reaching out to touch my blonde hair."

The night everything changed

Nway's resilience is shared by many in Myanmar, aid workers say.

Last year's cyclone was catastrophic. It killed at least 140,000 people and left at least 2 million people without homes, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.
1. What's the name of the storm that hit?
2. In which country?
3. How many individuals died?
4. And how many lost their houses?
5. Which agency made those calculations?
6. What's the girl's name?
7. Was she obese?
8. What does she do for work?
9. Who owns the vegetable patch?
10. Do they also sell fruit?
Answer:
1. Cyclone Nargis
2. Myanmar
3. 140,000 people
4. 2 million people
5. United Nations World Food Programme.
6. Nway
7. No
8. selling vegetables
9. Her aunt
10. unknown