Q: CHAPTER II--JUNE'S TREAT

Dinner began in silence; the women facing one another, and the men.

In silence the soup was finished--excellent, if a little thick; and fish was brought. In silence it was handed.

Bosinney ventured: "It's the first spring day."

Irene echoed softly: "Yes--the first spring day."

"Spring!" said June: "there isn't a breath of air!" No one replied.

The fish was taken away, a fine fresh sole from Dover. And Bilson brought champagne, a bottle swathed around the neck with white....

Soames said: "You'll find it dry."

Cutlets were handed, each pink-frilled about the legs. They were refused by June, and silence fell.

Soames said: "You'd better take a cutlet, June; there's nothing coming."

But June again refused, so they were borne away. And then Irene asked: "Phil, have you heard my blackbird?"

Bosinney answered: "Rather--he's got a hunting-song. As I came round I heard him in the Square."

"He's such a darling!"

"Salad, sir?" Spring chicken was removed.

But Soames was speaking: "The asparagus is very poor. Bosinney, glass of sherry with your sweet? June, you're drinking nothing!"

June said: "You know I never do. Wine's such horrid stuff!"

An apple charlotte came upon a silver dish, and smilingly Irene said: "The azaleas are so wonderful this year!"

To this Bosinney murmured: "Wonderful! The scent's extraordinary!"

June said: "How can you like the scent? Sugar, please, Bilson."

Sugar was handed her, and Soames remarked: "This charlottes good!"

The charlotte was removed. Long silence followed. Irene, beckoning, said: "Take out the azalea, Bilson. Miss June can't bear the scent."

Answer the following questions:
1. What season is it?
2. When did it start?
3. What meal are they having?
4. Does June like wine?
5. Does she like cutlets?
6. Is she an agreeable person?
7. Is this a multi-course meal
8. What did they eat first?
9. Was it too thin?
10. What was next?
11. What kind?
12. What was offered to drink with the fish?
13. Who did not want a cutlet?
14. How many times did she decline?
15. Who tried to convince her to have some?
16. How does he feel about the vegetable?
17. Does Bosinney like the smell of the flowers?
18. Who doesn't?
19. Do they get removed?
20. Who does Irene ask to get rid of the azalea?
A: 1. spring
2. the first spring day
3. Dinner
4. no
5. no
6. unknown
7. no
8. soup
9. thick
10. fish
11. sole
12. champagne
13. June
14. twice
15. Soames
16. that is very poor
17. yes
18. Miss June
19. unknown
20. Bilson
Q: Syria, officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. The western two-thirds of Syrias Golan Heights are since 1967 occupied by Israel and were in 1981 effectively annexed by Israel, whereas the eastern third is controlled by Syria, with the UNDOF maintaining a buffer zone in between, to implement the ceasefire of the Purple Line. Syria's capital and largest city is Damascus.

A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Syrian Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Circassians, Mandeans and Turks. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Yazidis, and Jews. Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria.

In English, the name "Syria" was formerly synonymous with the Levant (known in Arabic as "al-Sham"), while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt.

Answer the following questions:
1. What country are we discussing?
2. What's the official name?
3. What borders it?
4. What about to the north?
5. And on the east?
6. Is it near Israel?
7. Is it on the boarder too?
8. What border?
9. Does it have a mixture of ethnic groups?
10. Who you say there are more than 3?
11. Name one ethnic group?
12. Can you name another one?
13. Are there lots of religions there two?
14. Would you stay more than 6?
15. What's the largest religious group?
16. What is it synonymous for in English?
17. What's the capital?
18. And largest city?
19. Is it pretty old?
20. Do a lot of people still live there?
A: 1. Syria
2. Syrian Arab Republic
3. Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west
4. Turkey
5. Iraq
6. Yes
7. Yes
8. southwest.
9. Yes
10. Yes
11. Syrian Arabs
12. Greeks
13. there are more than two.
14. Yes I would
15. Sunni Arabs
16. Levant
17. Damascus
18. Aleppo
19. Yes it is
20. Yes
Q: Near East (French: Proche-Orient) is a geographical term that roughly encompasses Western Asia. Despite having varying definitions within different academic circles, the term was originally applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire. The term has fallen into disuse in English, and has been replaced by the term Middle East.

The Encyclopdia Britannica defines the Near East as including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the West Bank, and Yemen. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defines the region similarly, but also includes Afghanistan while excluding the countries of North Africa and the Palestinian territories. According to the National Geographic Society, the terms Near East and Middle East denote the same territories and are 'generally accepted as comprising the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey'.

Answer the following questions:
1. How many countries are in an encyclopedia's definition of a term?
2. What is the term?
3. Is that term still used?
4. What is used now?
5. What is a more rough definition of the area?
6. How was it used at the beginning?
7. What is the French version of the term?
8. What areas does a society think is a part of it?
9. Do groups agree on the meaning of it?
10. Who else has a meaning for it?
A:
1. 22
2. the Near East
3. not in English
4. Middle East.
5. Western Asia
6. it applied to the maximum extent of the Ottoman Empire
7. Proche-Orient
8. the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey'.
9. No
10. The Food and Agriculture Organization