Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
(CNN) -- The rapper Common wants to take hip-hop in a new direction, he says, and he has an unsuspecting ally -- President-elect Barack Obama.

Common says he was looking for a new sound on his eighth album, "Universal Mind Control."

Obama "is going to change hip-hop for the better," predicted the rapper, whose eighth album, "Universal Mind Control" (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen), hits shelves Tuesday.

"I really do believe we as hip-hop artists pick up what's going on in the world and try to reflect that," he told CNN, outlining his belief that mainstream as well as so-called "conscious" rappers -- the more socially aware -- will pick up on what he sees as the more optimistic prospects of an Obama presidency.

"I think hip-hop artists will have no choice but to talk about different things and more positive things, and try to bring a brighter side to that because, even before Barack, I think people had been tired of hearing the same thing," he said.

Likewise, "Universal Mind Control," with its hook-heavy, synthed-out tracks, represents a "broadening" of hip-hop's audience -- one that demands evolution rather than hackneyed revamps of old beats, rhythms and rhymes, Common said. Listen to clips from the album and Common's interview with CNN.com "

Not that Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., is altogether removed from the temptations of his hip-hop brethren.

He serves as a spokesman for Lincoln Navigator and purports on his new album to "rebel in YSL," a reference to designer Yves Saint Laurent. Money is also a weakness, as Common -- No. 14 on Forbes magazine's 2008 list of richest rappers -- regularly invokes the greenbacks he makes and spends. iReport.com: Talk Grammy Awards and more showbiz with Todd
1. Who is an ally?
2. Is he the President?
3. Whose ally is it
4. What is Common
5. How many albums does he have
6. What is Common's actual name?
7. What is the title of his eighth album?
8. What news agency did he talk to?
9. Does the album demand something?
10. rather than what?
11. Who serves as a spokesperson?
12. For what?
13. what is YSL a reference to?
14. What is he
15. What is a weakness for Common?

Numbered answers:
1. Barack Obama
2. no, President-elect
3. Common
4. rapper
5. unknown
6. Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr
7. Universal Mind Control
8. CNN.com
9. evolution
10. hackneyed revamps of old beats
11. Common
12. Lincoln Navigator
13. Yves Saint Laurent
14. designer
15. regularly invokes the greenbacks he makes and spends

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Nashville is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in the north central part of the state. The city is a center for the music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and home to numerous colleges and universities. It is known as a center of the country music industry, earning it the nickname "Music City, U.S.A."

Since 1963, Nashville has had a consolidated city-county government, which includes six smaller municipalities in a two-tier system. The city is governed by a mayor, a vice-mayor, and a 40-member Metropolitan Council; 35 of the members are elected from single-member districts, while the other five are elected at-large. Reflecting the city's position in state government, Nashville is home to the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for Middle Tennessee. According to 2016 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the total consolidated city-county population stood at 684,410. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Nashville, was 660,388. The 2015 population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area was 1,830,345, making it the largest metropolitan statistical area in the state. The 2015 population of the Nashville-DavidsonMurfreesboroColumbia combined statistical area, a larger trade area, was 1,951,644.
1. what is the capital of Tennessee
2. what is the county seat
3. what kind of government is it run
4. what was the population in 2016
5. was the total population 1,830,345 in 2015
6. what was it nicknamed
7. how many members were elected from single member districts
8. was there a larger trade area in 2015
9. what was the balance population
10. how many counties are there
11. what was the largest metropolitan area of the state
12. where is Nashville located
13. what is it known as
14. what is the center for
15. Nashville is home to what, reflecting the cities position in local government
16. what was the larger trade area
17. Is Nashville the capital of Arizona
18. does it have a 2 teir system?
19. how many are on the council
20. who is it governed by

Numbered answers:
1. Nashville
2. Nashville
3. consolidated city-county government
4. 684,410
5. yes
6. "Music City, U.S.A."
7. 35
8. yes
9. 660,388
10. 13
11. Nashville metropolitan area
12. on the Cumberland River
13. a center of the country music industry
14. music, healthcare, publishing, banking and transportation industries
15. the Tennessee Supreme Court's courthouse for Middle Tennessee
16. Nashville-DavidsonMurfreesboroColumbia
17. no
18. yes
19. 40
20. a mayor, a vice-mayor, and the Metropolitan Council

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
(EW.com) -- Carrie Underwood blew away the competition on the Billboard 200 this week, scoring her third straight number one album with her fourth release, "Blown Away," and moving 267,000 copies.

Other Top 10 newcomers included Norah Jones, with her Danger Mouse-produced "Little Broken Hearts," B.O.B., Marilyn Manson, and the first-ever soundtrack from NBC's "Smash."

Check out the full Top 10 below:

1. Carrie Underwood, "Blown Away" -- 267,000

This is Underwood's third straight number one after 2009s "Play On," which debuted with 318,000, and 2007s "Carnival Ride," which started with 527,000. Underwood's 2005 debut "Some Hearts" is her only album to not reach the summit of the chart it debuted at No. 2 with 315,000 (behind Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor") and eventually sold 7.2 million copies. Her current single "Good Girl" has climbed up to No. 8 on the country songs chart, and follow-up "Blown Away," which she performed on the Idol stage last week, kicks off its run at No. 22 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.

2. Norah Jones, "Little Broken Hearts" -- 110,000

Norah Jones could have stayed the course and made lovely, jazz-tinged, perhaps slightly snoozy records and gone platinum for the rest of her career (her Grammy-winning debut "Come Away With Me" sold over 10 million copies, and her three subsequent records have all reached platinum status), but the chanteuse took a risk with her darker, Danger Mouse-produced fifth album. As such, "Little Broken Hearts" opened to Jones' lowest sales ever but somehow, we doubt she's too worried about it.
1. Who took the number 1 album place this week?
2. What was the name of her album?
3. What was her previous number 1 record?
4. In what year was that?
5. What is her current single ranked?
6. What is her current single, "Good Girl" ranked?
7. Where did she recently perform "Blown Away"?
8. What genre of music does she sing?
9. Were there other new performers in the top 10?
10. Who else was a new top 10 artist?
11. How many albums did Norah sell with her Grammy-winning debut?
12. Have any of her other albums gone platinum?
13. How many?
14. What does the article say about
15. What does the article say about "the chanteuse" and her 5th album?
16. Was this a successful record for her?
17. What album of Carrie's did not reach number 1?
18. And what year was that?
Numbered answers:
1. Carrie Underwood
2. Blown Away
3. Play On
4. 2009
5. one
6. No. 8
7. Idol stage
8. country
9. Norah Jones
10. Marilyn Manson
11. over 10 million copies
12. yes
13. three
14. Little Broken Hearts" opened to Jones' lowest sales ever
15. took a risk with her darker, Danger Mouse-produced fifth album
16. lowest sales ever
17. Some Hearts
18. 2005