Q: Family traditions were important in our house, and none was more appreciated than the perfect Christmas tree

"Dad, can we watch when you trim the tree?" My eldest son. Dan, nine, and his seven -year-old brother John, asked

"I won't be cutting this year," my husband Bob said. "Dan, you and John are old enough to measure things. Do it all by yourselves. Think you boys can handle it?

Dan and John seemed to _ in their chairs at the thought of such an amazing responsibility. "We can handle it." Dan promised. "We won't let you down." .

A few days before Christmas. Dan and John rushed in after school. They gathered the tools they'd need and brought them out to the yard .where the tree waited. I was cooking when I heard the happy sounds as the boys carried the tree into the lying room. Then I heard the sound that every mother knows is trouble: dead silence I hurried out to them. The tree was cut too short. John crossed his arms tight across his chest. His eyes filled with angry tears.

I felt worried The tree was central to our holiday. I didn't want the boys to feel ashamed every tune they looked at it. I couldn't lower the ceiling, and I couldn't raise the floor either. There was no way to undo the damage done. Suddenly, a thought came to my mind, which turned the problem into the solution. www..com

"We can't make the tree taller." I said. "But we can put it on a higher position"

Dan nodded his head sideways. "We could put it on the coffee table. It just might work! Let's try it!"

When Bob got home and looked at the big tree on top of the coffee table, Dan and John held their breath.

"What a good idea!" he declared "Why didn't I ever think of such a thing?"

John broke into a grin Dan's chest swelled with pride.

1. Dan and John
2. The tree was cut too short
3. John
4. the dad
5. yes
6. perfect Christmas tree
7. John
8. nine
9. Bob
10. that he could handle it

Numbered questions:
1. Who was supposed to cut down the tree this time?
2. What did they do wrong?
3. Who was about to cry over it?
4. Who came up with a great idea to fix it?
5. Were family traditions a big deal to them?
6. Which was the biggest deal?
7. Which boy was the youngest?
8. How old was Dan?
9. What was dad's name?
10. What did Dan promise his dad?

input: Make use of the article to answer the questions. It was an afternoon Truman would never forget.

Rayburn and his friend were talking in the office before Truman arrived. The telephone rang. It was a call from the White House asking whether Vice-President Truman had arrived yet. No, Rayburn replied. The caller asked to have him telephone the White House as soon as he arrived.

Truman entered a minute later. He immediately called the White House. As he talked, his face became white. He put down the phone and raced out of the door to his car.

Truman arrived at the White House within minutes. An assistant took him to the president's private living area. Eleanor Roosevelt, the president's wife, was waiting for him there. "Harry," she said, "the president is dead." Truman was shocked. He asked Mrs. Roosevelt if there was anything he could do to help her. But her reply made clear to him that his own life had suddenly changed. "Is there anything we can do for you ?" Mrs. Roosevelt asked the new president, " _ ."

Truman had been a surprise choice for vice-president at the Democratic Party nominating convention in nineteen forty-four. Delegates considered several other candidates before they chose him as Roosevelt's running mate. That was at a time when presidential candidates did not make their own choices for vice-president.

Harry Truman lacked the fame,the rich family and the strong speech-making skills of Franklin Roosevelt.He was a much simpler man.He grew up in the Midwestern state of Missouri.Truman only studied through high school but took some nighttime law school classes.He worked for many years as a farmer and a small businessman,but without much success.

Truman had long been interested in politics.When he was almost forty,he finally won several low-level positions in his home state.By nineteen thirty-four,he was popular enough in Missouri to be nominated and elected to the United States Senate. And he won re-election six years later.

Most Americans, however, knew little about Harry Truman when he became president.They knew he had close ties to the Democratic Party political machine in his home state.But they had also heard that he was a very honest man.They could see that Truman had strongly supported President Roosevelt's New Deal programs.But they could not be sure what kind of president Truman would become.

At the center of all the action was Harry Truman.It was not long before he showed Americans and the world that he had the ability to be a good president.He was honest,strong and willing to make decisions. 1. Who is the politician of interest in this article?
2. Who was waiting for him?
3. Had she phoned anyone?
4. Had someone taken a call?
5. Was he asked to come to the White House?
6. Did he take a message for anyone?
numbered_answers: 1. Harry Truman
2. Eleanor Roosevelt
3. unknown
4. Yes, Rayburn
5. yes
6. unknown

Decatur, Georgia (CNN) -- A former Georgia sheriff's deputy convicted of murder in the slaying of his wife and a day laborer in 2008 was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life sentences plus five years in prison.

That means that Derrick Yancey, 51, will have to serve at least 60 years before he is eligible for parole.

He stared straight forward and showed no emotion as a Superior Court judge imposed the sentence for the murders of Linda Yancey, 44, who was also a sheriff's deputy, and Marcial Cax-Puluc, 23, a day laborer from Guatemala.

Referring to Linda Yancey, Judge Linda Hunter said, "She was an officer, she was a wife, she was a mother, she was a daughter, she was a sister, she was a friend. Mr. Cax-Puluc, who had barely began to live his life, he died that day. It's not lost on the court, and probably yourself, that today an officer has fallen because you were a law enforcement officer entrusted with so many responsibilities."

Hunter and the defendant, who both worked at the Dekalb County Courthouse, knew each other, prosecutors have said.

Yancey was convicted earlier this month of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Cax-Puluc and Linda Yancey were shot multiple times in the Yanceys' home in Stone Mountain.

The defendant told police that he shot Cax-Puluc in self-defense after the day laborer had shot his wife. Prosecutors argued that Yancey was the lone gunman and that he hired Cax-Puluc as part of an elaborate plan to kill his wife. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. How old was Derrick Yancey?
2. What was he convicted of?
3. Of who?
4. And who else?
5. What was his name?
6. What was the judge's name?
7. What was Derrick Yancey's wife's name?
8. How old was she?
9. How long will Yancey have to serve before he's eligible for parole?
10. Did he cry in court?
11. What did he do?
12. What job did Yancey's wife have?
13. What was the name of the courthouse?
14. What was Yancey convicted of exactly?
15. When was that?
16. Why did Yancey say he shot Cax-Puluc?
17. What did prosecutors say about it?
18. Where was the Yancey's home?
19. How many times had the victims been shot?
20. What news organization wrote the article?
Answer:
1. 51
2. murder
3. his wife
4. a day laborer
5. Marcial Cax-Puluc
6. Linda Hunter
7. Linda
8. 44,
9. 60 years
10. No
11. showed no emotion
12. a sheriff's deputy
13. Dekalb County Courthouse
14. two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime
15. earlier this month
16. self-defense
17. that Yancey was the lone gunman
18. Stone Mountain
19. multiple times
20. CNN