Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
EL PASO, Texas (CNN) -- The cell phone rang as Jorge Aguirre walked to a friend's funeral in Juarez, Mexico, last November -- a funeral for a fellow journalist who, Aguirre says, was assassinated for the critical stories he wrote.

Mexican federal police recently began patrolling Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

When he answered the phone, Aguirre heard a profanity-laced threat. "They told me I was next," Aguirre told CNN. "I thought they were going to kill me right there."

Aguirre immediately gathered up his family and darted across the border into El Paso, Texas. He hasn't returned to Juarez since that day.

Aguirre is seeking asylum in the United States, and he's part of a growing trend among Mexican citizens looking to escape the violence and corruption of their homeland. Watch journalists met with death threats "

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency that falls under the Department of Homeland Security, the number of Mexican nationals requesting asylum in the United States based on "credible fear" has gone up every year since 2003, even as the overall number of "credible fear" asylum cases remains steady.

In 2003, the USCIS reported 54 asylum cases from Mexican citizens. In 2008, that number reached 312. But asylum requests based on fear of violence aren't easy cases to make. Last year, the United States approved less than half of those cases.

"Whether they're fleeing extortionists or potential kidnappers or they're leaving because of the drug cartels, it tells you there are definitely problems in Mexico right now," said El Paso Mayor John Cook.
1. Who received a threat?
2. Was the threat in person?
3. How was it made?
4. Who was he telling about it?
5. What did he think was going to happen to him?
6. Where did he go?
7. Did he go alone?
8. With whom?
9. Where was he going when he got the threat by phone?
10. What was his friend's job?
11. Why was he killed?
12. Where was the funeral?
13. In 2003 how many asylum cases were there?
14. In 2008?
15. How many were approved?
16. Who is John Cook?
17. What is one reason they seek asylum?
18. And another?

Numbered answers:
1. Jorge Aguirre
2. no
3. by phone
4. CNN
5. he was going to be killed
6. El Paso, Texas
7. no
8. his family
9. a friend's funeral
10. journalist
11. he wrote critical stories
12. Juarez, Mexico,
13. 54
14. 312
15. less than half of those cases
16. mayor of El Paso
17. to escape violence
18. to escape corruption

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Rebel-controlled northern Syria (CNN) -- Mohamed Rashid walked out of the gate of his house with a giant blood stain on his white T-shirt.

"This is the blood of a martyr! Of a hero! Of a lion!" he bellowed. "This is his blood. It is pure!"

Mad with grief, Rashid kissed his bloody T-shirt before being led away by worried relatives.

Just hours before, Rashid learned his son Abdul was killed in battle in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Housam Abdul Rashid was a 22-year-old defector from the army. He was also the fourth man from his small hilltop village to be killed fighting for the rebels.

The younger Rashid is one of the casualties of the five-day-old rebel offensive on Aleppo, the country's commercial capital. Another rebel, who asked only to be named "Khorshid" because his wife and children were still living in Aleppo, described how his comrade was killed by a helicopter gunship, while climbing onto a rooftop.

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"Housam's specialty was a sniper," Khorshid said. "He went to the roof, and a helicopter gunship killed him. Another fighter from Aleppo with him was also killed. I was just 4 meters away when it happened."

Khorshid said the rebels mounted their offensive on Aleppo last Friday, two days after a bomb killed four of Syria's top security officials.

Rebel commanders and fighters claimed they made gains, particularly in the neighborhood of Salahuddin. But they were also clearly suffering casualties.

What began 17 months ago as a peaceful protest movement has evolved into a full-fledged armed insurgency.
1. Who's blood was on Mohamed's shirt?
2. What was his son's name?
3. What animal did he compare Abdul to?
4. Where did he die?
5. How old was he?
6. What was his role when he was battling rebels?
7. What specifically caused his death?
8. Was he the only one who died on the roof that day?
9. How many soldiers died with him?
10. Who provided this information?
11. Why didn't he want to provide his real name?
12. When did the rebels begin planning their attack?
13. How did 4 Syrian personnel die?
14. Do the rebels feel they are making progress?
15. Where is the progress most evident?
16. Was Housam the only person from his village to be lost from the battling?
17. How many others?
18. What did all this start as?

Numbered answers:
1. His sons
2. Housam Abdul Rashid
3. A lion
4. in battle in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
5. 22
6. a sniper
7. "He went to the roof, and a helicopter gunship killed him
8. No
9. One
10. Khorshid
11. because his wife and children were still living in Aleppo,
12. last Friday,
13. a bomb killed them
14. Yes
15. in the neighborhood of Salahuddin.
16. No
17. Three
18. 17 months ago

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
With an estimated population of 1,381,069 as of July 1, 2014, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San DiegoTijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a bordering country after DetroitWindsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the United States Navy and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.

Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed the entire area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcala, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly-independent Mexico, which reformed as the First Mexican Republic two years later. In 1850, it became part of the United States following the MexicanAmerican War and the admission of California to the union.
1. When did San Diego become part of the United States?
2. What group of people is it historically a home to?
3. Is it the largest city in the United States?
4. What is the population?
5. Who claimed the by for Spain?
6. What year was that?
7. What happened in 1821?
8. What is the weather there?
9. Are there beaches?
10. What military branch is based there?
11. Is became part of the US after what war?
12. Is it the largest city in California?
13. It is called the "what" of California?
14. What else it is known for?
15. What is it part of?
16. What is that?
17. Who is first largest?
18. When Juan Cabrillo claimed it, what basis did it form?
19. How many years later?
20. What did independent Mexico reform into?
Numbered answers:
1. 1850
2. Kumeyaay people
3. No
4. 1,381,069
5. uan Rodriguez Cabrillo
6. 1542
7. It became part of the newly-independent Mexico
8. mild year-round climate,
9. Yes
10. United States Navy
11. MexicanAmerican War
12. no
13. birthplace
14. recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
15. San DiegoTijuana conurbation
16. agglomeration between the US and a bordering country
17. DetroitWindsor
18. the settlement of Alta California
19. 200
20. First Mexican Republic