input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. The centenary of the birth of William Faulkner, one of the great modern novelists, was celebrated in September 1997. Faulkner wrote about the southern states of the United States of America where he grew up, and where his family had an important part to play in the history of that region. His work became a touchstone for insights into the troubled issues of southern American identity, race relations, and the family interrelationships of the old time southern gentry .

Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. Despite his interest in writing, he left Oxford High School, Mississippi, without graduating. After World War I, he entered the University of Mississippi as a special student, a right to study which was granted to retired soldiers, although Faulkner had only finished training with the Air Force in Canada, and not entered combat .

Faulkner began to write poems, a verse play, short stories and finished his first novel Sartoris in 1928. His fiction was centered for 14 of the 19 novels published during his lifetime in a fictional region called Yoknapatawpha County. The name is said to come from the Indian Chickasaw word meaning split land.

In December 1950, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. When he accepted it in Stockholm, his speech emphasized that he wished to continue writing, but in a positive way that affirmed the power of humanity to prevail over adverse circumstances. As he said in his speech, he still felt that, despite the threat of nuclear war then hanging over the world, the central concern of the writer should be "the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself". He wanted the tensions and problems that he had cast the spotlight on in the southern states of America to be resolved by the life-affirming attitudes and action of his characters. Like playwright Tennessee Williams, Faulkner was a major voice who spoke for the troubled heart of the southern states of America. His achievement is all the more remarkable because, as a schoolboy, he was not only a frequent absentee but also reportedly failed to reach pass grades in English class. His collected short stories, novels, poems, and other writings form a legacy( ) of literature which casts profound illumination on the special culture of the South, a culture which developed from a history and social circumstances that were always unique.

From the focus on a fictional county, and by remaining true to his view of a close-knit but real society that reflected the greater world around him, Faulkner in the end fashioned a legend of the Deep South that is one of the major achievements of the 20th century literature. 1. Who was William Faukner?
2. What did he write about?
3. And what else?
4. What did he do after World War I?
5. Did he write poems
6. when was his first novel published?
7. Was it a fiction?
8. What does Yoknpaptawpha County mean?
9. What happened in December 1950?
10. Where did he accept the award?
11. Has he ever failed in school?
12. What about skipping school?
13. which classes did he fail in?
numbered_answers: 1. one of the great modern novelists
2. the southern states of the United States of America
3. the troubled issues of southern American identity
4. he entered the University of Mississippi
5. yes
6. 1928
7. yes
8. split land
9. he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature
10. in Stockholm
11. yes
12. yes
13. English

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. Online with Linda Sheila Posted 18-12-18.25 I'm very worried about my friend,Joleen.She's thin but she thinks she is fat.She is always on a diet.She thinks it's necessary for her to lose more weight.She wants to be model.She has photographs of thin models on her bedroom walls.I think she's getting too thin,but if I talk to her about this,she get worried .How can I help her? Simon Posted 18-12-19.00 Sometimes ,I'm concerned about the pressure I get from my frinds.For example,yesterday I was with a group of frinds.We saw a woman lying on the street.She looked very sick.My friends made some jokes about her and laughed,but I wanted to help her.However,my friends told me not to,and I listened to them.Now I feel ashamed.It was cruel of my friends to laugh at her but I wasn't strong enough to say anything. Dear Sheila, You are right to be worried about friend,Joleen.This is a serious problem.She should not continue to be on a diet if she is very thin,she may have an illness called "anorexia".Anorexia people are afraid of eating food.You must advise her to see a doctor soon. If she won't do that,you should talk to her parents or to a teacher. Dear Simon, You feel ashamed because you should have helped the woman.You are right.Your friends were cruel to that woman.We all want our friend to like us.But we don't have to follow our friends all the time.You're a good boy.You should be strong enough to make up your own mind next time. 1. What are Anorexic people afraid of?
2. Who was Sheila worried about?
3. Is Joleen fat?
4. Who felt ashamed for not helping a woman lying on the street?
5. Who was he with?
6. What did Simon's friends tell him not to do?
7. What was Sheila told she should advise Joleen to do?
8. And what if she wouldn't do that?
numbered_answers: 1. eating food
2. her friend,Joleen
3. She's thin
4. Simon
5. unknown
6. help her
7. advise her to see a doctor soon
8. should talk to her parents or to a teacher

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. Soon it would be the holidays. But before that, there was the end of year exams. All the students worked hard for some time. If they didn't pass, they would have to take the exams in September again. Some students failed, but Kate decided not to be one of them. She worked hard all day, but just before the exams she was working so hard that her sister was worried about her. She was staying up too late . The night before the first exam, Barbala insisted that she should have an early night and take a sleeping pill. She promised to wake her in the morning. As she was falling asleep, Kate was worried in case she over-slept. Her mind kept jumping from subject to subject. At last, with the help of the pill, she fell asleep. she was sitting in the examination hall, looking at the paper. She couldn't answer any of the questions. Everyone round her was writing pages and pages. However hard she thought, she couldn't find anything to write about. She kept looking at her watch. Time was running out. There was only one hour left. She started one question, wrote two sentences, gave up and tried another one. With only half an hour left she wrote another two sentences. By this time she was so worried that she started crying. Her whole body shook(,). It shook so much that it woke her up. She was still in bed and it had all been a terrible dream. A minute later, Barbala called her name. 1. What was before the holidays?
2. What did Barbala insist?
3. Why was Kate worried trying to fall asleep?
4. Did she think she was doing well while working on the exam?
5. What happens if the students don't pass?
6. Could she think of anything to write about on her exam?
7. Did it seem like the other students were having problems?
8. What was Barbala in relation to Kate?
9. Was her exams real?
10. Did she work hard the day before the exams?
numbered_answers:
1. exams
2. that Kate have an early night and take a sleeping pill
3. in case she over-slept
4. no
5. they have to take the exams in September again
6. no
7. no
8. her sister
9. no
10. yes