Problem: Blameless

I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites. They were completely different from my own family, yet I felt at home with them immediately. Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like a long-lost cousin.

In my family, it was always important to place blame when anything bad happened.

"Who did this? "my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen.

"This is all your fault, Katharine, "my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher broke.

From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told on each other. We set a place for blame at the dinner table.

But the Whites didn't worry about who had done what. They picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives. The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died.

In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car trip from their home in Florida to New York. The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently turned sixteen. Proud of having a new driver's license ,Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip. She showed off her license to everyone she met.

The big sisters shared the driving of Sarah's new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached less crowded areas, they let Amy take over. Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat. After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel. She came to a crossroads with a stop sign. Whether she was nervous or just didn't see the sign no one would ever know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping. The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car.

Jane was killed immediately.

I was slightly injured. The most difficult thing that I've ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died. Painful as it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child.

When Mr. and Mrs. White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room. Sarah had a few cuts on the head; Amy's leg was broken. They hugged us all and cried tears of sadness and of joy at seeing their daughters. They wiped away the girls' tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches .

To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, "We're so glad that you're alive. "

I was astonished. No blame. No accusations.

Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.

Mrs. White said, "Jane's gone, and we miss her terribly. Nothing we say or do will ever bring her back. But Amy has her whole life ahead of her. How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister's death? "

They were right. Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago. She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students. She's also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.
1. What was the name of the family that was completely different?
2. They treated Katherine like what?
3. Was Katharine often blamed for things at home?
4. A place for blame was set where?
5. Did the Whites also place blame?
6. What eve?nt drove this home to Katharine
7. Who were the 2 older sisters?
8. Who was the youngest?
9. What was Amy excited about?
10. What did Amy ultimately do?
Answer: 1. Whites
2. a long-lost cousin
3. Yes
4. at the dinner table
5. No
6. Jane's death
7. Sarah and Jane
8. Amy
9. practicing her driving on the trip
10. continued into the crossroads without stopping

Problem: How do you feel when you stay in hospital alone? Jenny, 13, a US student, feels bored. She knows the feeling because she has been in hospital many times herself. One day, she thought of an idea--if patients could get some books to read, they would feel better. So, from May, she and many of her friends began to collect books for hospital patients. In six months the students collected 1,250 books at school. They decided to donate the books to the North Shore Medical Centre, a children's hospital next door to their school. "There are books for kids of all ages, from babies up to high school level." said Jenny. The students put the books into "early readers", "middle readers" and "advanced readers". Then they wrote their best wishes to patients on bookmarks and letters, put the books in big boxes and donated them to the hospital. "We wrote things like, "Keep on reading!' and 'Hope you feel better!," said John, 14, Jenny's brother. "And we also wrote some funny things to make them laugh." Frank, 12, and Steven, 14, helped carry 16 large boxes of books into a car. "I think these books will make me a lot of patients feel happy." said Frank. Steven shared his opinion. "It is really the most meaningful thing that I have ever done in my life."
1. who feels bored ?
2. how old is she ?
3. what did the the students collect ?
4. how long did it take ?
5. how many books ?
6. who were they for ?
7. who is jennys brother ?
8. how old is frank ?
9. who did they wrote their best wishes too ?
10. how many large boxes was it ?
11. who carried them ?
Answer: 1. Jenny
2. 13
3. books
4. six months
5. 1,250
6. hospital patients
7. John
8. 12
9. patients
10. 16
11. Frank and Steven

Problem: The Piano Lesson Jenny wasn't interested in playing the piano. She liked writing stories and acting them out with her friends. But Mrs. Windsor gave her piano lessons for free, so she felt she should have a try. Every Sunday she had her piano lessons in Mrs. Windsor's house. One Sunday morning, Jenny walked into Mrs. Windsor's music room and sat down on the piano bench as usual. "Hello," Jenny heard a voice behind her. She turned around and saw a young girl. "What's your name?" The girl asked. Before Jenny could answer, Mrs. Windsor walked in and said, "Jenny, this is my niece , Pasha. Pasha, this is Jenny. I need to go to hospital, so Pasha will give you your lesson today." Pasha sat beside Jenny on the piano bench and asked, "What piece do you like best?" "I don't know." Jenny said. "They're all the same to me." "You mean you don't have a favorite?" Pasha was surprised. "No, not really." Jenny said. Pasha opened Jenny's music book and asked Jenny to play. After about a page or two, Pasha gently put her hand on top of Jenny's. Jenny stopped. Then Pasha said, "Jenny, what are you hearing in the music?" Jenny looked at Pasha strangely. "I don't know." Jenny said. "Let me try and you listen," Pasha said. "All you have to do is learn to hear the stories in the music." "I've never thought of it that way." Jenny said. "Let's try together, shall we?" Pasha smiled. Together they played that afternoon and tried to find the story in the music. That day Jenny found playing the piano was not that difficult.
1. Who was the niece?
2. Who was her aunt?
3. What did she teach?
4. Where?
5. In what room?
6. On which day?
7. Who was the student?
8. Did she like her lessons?
9. What did she prefer to do?
10. What else?
11. Which song did she like the most?
12. What did Pasha say to listen for?
Answer:
1. Pasha
2. Mrs. Windsor
3. piano lessons
4. Mrs. Windsor's house
5. the music room
6. Sunday morning
7. Jenny
8. no
9. writing stories
10. and acting them out
11. she doesn't know
12. learn to hear the stories