Former President Barack Obama unveiled plans for his future presidential library and museum on the south side of Chicago where he raised his family and launched his political career. The designs show a complex of modern buildings, with a library, museum and event center, plus a community garden, a children's play area and possibly an athletic field. "What we want this to be is the world-premiere institution for training young people and leadership to make a difference in their communities, in their countries and in the world," he told the crowd that included Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, his one-time chief of staff. Flanked by drawings and renderings, Obama also announced that he and former first lady Michelle Obama will be donating $2 million to fund a Chicago summer jobs program. The museum, the tallest of the three buildings, will hold exhibition space, public spaces, offices and education and meeting rooms, according to the Obama Foundation. The forum and library buildings are intended to be used for study and foundation programming. Obama said his foundation, which is overseeing the project, is also looking into the possibility of locating a Chicago Public Library branch on the site. Obama said he envisioned recording studios where musicians could help young people work on music, and space for movie directors who could take on community storytelling. The center will also have exhibits with campaign memorabilia and personal artifacts. "Let's face it, we want to see Michelle's dresses," the former president joked. Obama also squashed any notion that the library was ever going to be elsewhere. Multiple locations in three states Illinois, New York and Hawaii had initially pitched proposals. "The best things that have happened to me in my life happened in this community," he said. "Although we had a formal bidding process to determine where the presidential library was going to be, the fact of the matter was it had to be right here on the south side of Chicago." What states pitched proposals to Barack Obama? A. not enough information B. New York, Chicago, and Hawaii. C. Illinois, Chicago, and Hawaii. D. Illinois, New York, and Hawaii.
D

"That's Glenn Miller," my father said. "But it can't be." He had the back of the hospital bed cranked upright, the lower lid of his left eye creeping up in a warning signal I'd learned to recognize as a child. My older sister Ann had settled deep in the recliner, and she glared at me too, blaming me for winding him up. The jam box sat on the rolling tray table and my father was working the remote as he talked, backing up my newly burned CD and letting it spin forward to play a few seconds of low fidelity trombone solo. "You know the tune, of course," he said. "'King Porter Stomp.'" Those childhood years of listening to him play Glenn Miller on the console phonograph were finally paying off. "He muffed the notes the same way on the Victor version." "So why can't it be Miller?" I asked. "He wouldn't have played with a rabble like that." The backup musicians teetered on the edge of chaos, playing with an abandon somewhere between Dixieland and bebop. "They sound drunk." My father had a major emotional investment in Miller. He and my mother had danced to the Miller band at Glen Island Casino on Long Island Sound in the summer of 1942, when they were both sixteen. That signature sound of clarinet and four saxes was forever tied up for him with first love and the early, idealistic months of the war. But there was a better reason why it couldn't have been Miller playing that solo. If the date on the original recording was correct, he was supposed to have died three days earlier. The date was in India ink on a piece of surgical tape, stuck to the top of a spool of recording wire. The handwritten numerals had the hooks and day-first order of Europe: 18/12/44. I'd won it on eBay the week before as part of a lot that included a wire recorder and a stack of 78s by French pop stars like Charles Trenent and Edith Piaf. When did Glenn Miller die? A. before the father heard him live B. before bepop became fashionable C. not enough information D. before this recording was made
D

It's often difficult to remember how or why you became friends with someone, especially if you've been friends with a person forever. But because of the very specific set of circumstances, I remember exactly how Barend and I became friends. This, of course, was long before he became famous for inventing the easy-foldable map, and infamous for the series of bodies he'd decided to bury in his backyard. Barend and I became friends because he had one of the most attractive shadows I'd ever seen. I remember gazing out over the playground, watching a waning sun scatter its dying light over the monkey bars, the metal skeleton contrasting against the turquoise sky, when I noticed this kid coming toward me. He was one of those mostly invisible characters; faded jeans, dirty jacket, snot caked on his upper lip. I probably wouldn't have noticed him if not for his shadow. For some reason, his shadow immediately caught my eye. Now, I'm not one for noticing shadows in general, never really noticed a shadow before or since, but this kid had the most incredible shadow I'd ever seen. I cannot even put in words what that means. What specific set of properties make an ordinary shadow into an incredible one, I'm not sure anyone can, but his shadow was like a piece of art; I didn't necessarily understand it, but I liked it. And that's why this boring looking kid and I first became friends. Our kindergarten games were harmless and boring, but when puberty hit, Barend began to change. We were both expected to change, but I guess some kids just change more than others. Bared didn't want to kill at first. Like many overachievers in the death game, his first brush with the craft came about more or less accidentally. All the elements had been in place, with all the players and attributes coming together as if gathered by some evil force, but, even then, I really had to push the kid. Barend was: A. handsom kid B. boring looking kid C. not enough information D. smart kid
B