Q: "It was amazing, just impressive," Holly Budge, a 29-year-old British woman, said after making a safe landing at a spot 12,350 feet (3,765 meters) above sea level -- the highest "drop zone" achieved by a parachutist . "We had one minute of freefall and while we were above the clouds you could see Everest and the other high mountains popping out of the top," she said.

Ms Budge and her two fellow daredevils, Wendy Smith, from New Zealand, and Neil Jones, from Canada, jumped out of an aircraft at about 29,500 feet, just higher than the peak of the world's highest mountain. They fell at speeds reaching 140mph, past the highest ridges of the snow-covering Himalayas, before each released a parachute . The jumpers wore oxygen masks to keep their lungs working as they fell. Wearing neoprene underwear was compulsory -- to prevent them from being frozen to death.

The adventure, advertised by its organizers as "a feast for those who seek to stimulate all their senses to the full", appeared to have lived up to its billing. "I had never seen so many mountains before," Ms Smith said. "To be on top of the world was simply stunning ."

The expedition also offered a way by which to celebrate her 30th birthday later this month, she said. Besides, her jump raised funds for charities in Britain and Nepal, including more than PS10,000 for the Hampshire Autistic Society.

In the next few days the feat will be repeated by about 30 others, weather permitting. Each has paid at least PS12,675 to High and Wild, the British adventure travel company behind the project. Ms Budge said: "It was worth the money. It is something that has never been done before."

1. at least PS12,675
2. High and Wild
3. British
4. adventure travel
5. no
6. Ms Budge
7. no
8. yes
9. no
10. two
11. Wendy Smith
12. New Zealand
13. Neil Jones
14. Canada
15. an aircraft
16. about 29,500 feet
17. higher
18. 140mph
19. oxygen masks
20. yes

Numbered questions:
1. How much has each person paid?
2. To whom did they pay it?
3. What nationality is that company?
4. What is their business about?
5. Does that mean it's boring?
6. Who thought they were worth the money?
7. Was it something that had been done before?
8. Could Ms Budge be referred to as a daredevil?
9. Was she the only one?
10. How many others were there?
11. What was one of their names?
12. Where was she from?
13. What was the other daredevil's name?
14. What country did he hail from?
15. What did they all exit abruptly?
16. At what height?
17. Is that higher or lower than the world's highest mountain?
18. How fast did they fall?
19. What did they wear to keep their lungs working as they fell?
20. Did they have on special underwear?

Q: The West Indies or Caribbean Basin is a region of the North Atlantic Ocean in the Caribbean that includes the island countries and surrounding waters of three major archipelagoes: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago.

The region is known as the area running from Florida westward along the Gulf Coast, and then south along the Mexican coast through Central America and then eastward across the northern coast of South America.

Bermuda is also included within the region even though it is in the west-central Atlantic, due to its common cultural history created by European colonization of the region, and in most of the region by the presence of a significant group of African descent.

Indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of the West Indies. In 1492, Christopher Columbus became the first European to arrive at the islands, where he is believed by historians to have first stepped foot in the Bahamas. After the first of the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, Europeans began to use the term "West Indies" to distinguish the region from the East Indies of South Asia and Southeast Asia.

In the late sixteenth century, French, English and Dutch merchants and privateers began their operations in the Caribbean Sea, attacking Spanish and Portuguese shipping and coastal areas. They often took refuge and refitted their ships in the areas the Spanish could not conquer, including the islands of the Lesser Antilles, the northern coast of South America including the mouth of the Orinoco, and the Atlantic Coast of Central America. In the Lesser Antilles they managed to establish a foothold following the colonization of St Kitts in 1624 and Barbados in 1626, and when the Sugar Revolution took off in the mid-seventeenth century, they brought in thousands of Africans to work the fields and mills as slave laborers. These Africans wrought a demographic revolution, replacing or joining with either the indigenous Caribs or the European settlers who were there as indentured servants.

1. The West Indies
2. North Atlantic Ocean
3. three
4. the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago.
5. Yes
6. Not really
7. due to its common cultural history created by European colonization of the region
8. a significant group of African descent.
9. Indigenous peoples
10. Christopher Columbus
11. 1492
12. Bahamas
13. to distinguish the region from the East Indies of South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Numbered questions:
1. What region is this about?
2. Which body of water is it in?
3. How many island chains are part of it?
4. What are they?
5. Is Bermuda included in it?
6. Is it physically located in the region?
7. Then why is it included?
8. Who else lives in this region?
9. Who lived there first?
10. Who was the first European there?
11. When?
12. Which place did he visit first?
13. Why is the region called the West Indies?

Q: Grandma was always forgetting things." What's wrong with her?" Anna asked. "We think she's getting old, and she may be ill. We may have to send her to a nursing home so that she can be taken good care of. But we can go to see her and bring her presents, like strawberry ice cream." Mother said. One day, they went to see Grandma at the nursing home. Anna hugged Grandma. "Look," she said, "we've brought you strawberry ice cream!" Grandma didn't say anything. She just took it and began eating. "Do you know who I am?" Anna asked. "You're the girl who brings me ice cream." Grandma said. "Yes, but I'm Anna, your granddaughter. Don't you remember me?" she asked, throwing her arms around the old lady. Grandma smiled, "Remember? Sure. You're the girl who brings me ice cream." Suddenly Anna realized that Grandma would never remember her. "Oh, how I love you, Grandma!" she said. Just then she saw a tear roll down Grandma's cheeks . "Love," she said, "I remember love. n "You see, dear, that's what she wants--love!" Mother said. It's more important to remember love than someone's name.

1. Grandma
2. Anna
3. strawberry
4. Grandma
5. love
6. Grandma
7. Mother
8. she's getting old, and she may be ill.
9. love
10. Anna
11. Grandma
12. No
13. a nursing home
14. so that she can be taken good care of.
15. No
16. a tear
17. Grandma
18. No
19. No
20. No

Numbered questions:
1. Who was always forgetting things?
2. Who thought something was wrong with her?
3. What kind of ice cream did Anna's mom mention?
4. Who would the ice cream be a present for?
5. What's more important to remember than someone/s name?
6. Who remembered it?
7. Who thought she knew why Grandma was forgetting things?
8. What was her thought on the reason for Grandma's memory loss?
9. What did Anna's mom say Grandma wanted more than ice cream?
10. Who's the girl who brings grandma ice cream?
11. Who did she throw her arms around?
12. Was Grandma young?
13. Where was grandma sent?
14. Why was she sent there?
15. Is grandma in good health?
16. What was on Grandma's cheeks?
17. Who does Anna love?
18. Did they visit Grandma at night?
19. Did Grandma thank Anna for the ice cream?
20. Does a boy bring Grandma ice cream?