Question: CHAPTER VIII: PASSING THE OUBLIETTE

Who can describe the dreariness of being snowed-up all the winter with such a mother-in-law as Freiherrinn Kunigunde?

Yet it was well that the snow came early, for it was the best defence of the lonely castle from any attack on the part of the Schlangenwaldern, the Swabian League, or the next heir, Freiherr Kasimir von Adlerstein Wildschloss. The elder Baroness had, at least, the merit of a stout heart, and, even with her sadly-reduced garrison, feared none of them. She had been brought up in the faith that Adlerstein was impregnable, and so she still believed; and, if the disaster that had cut off her husband and son was to happen at all, she was glad that it had befallen before the homage had been paid. Probably the Schlangenwald Count knew how tough a morsel the castle was like to prove, and Wildschloss was serving at a distance, for nothing was heard of either during the short interval while the roads were still open. During this time an attempt had been made through Father Norbert to ascertain what had become of the corpses of the two Barons and their followers, and it had appeared that the Count had carried them all off from the inn, no doubt to adorn his castle with their limbs, or to present them to the Emperor in evidence of his zeal for order. The old Baron could not indeed have been buried in consecrated ground, nor have masses said for him; but for the weal of her son's soul Dame Kunigunde gave some of her few ornaments, and Christina added her gold earrings, and all her scanty purse, that both her husband and father might be joined in the prayers of the Church--trying with all her might to put confidence in Hugh Sorel's Loretto relic, and the Indulgence he had bought, and trusting with more consolatory thoughts to the ever stronger dawnings of good she had watched in her own Eberhard. 1. Name one of the possible attackers of the castle?
2. And another?
3. Was the Baroness afraid of any of them?
4. Even though what had been reduced ?
5. Do you think that the narrator's mother-in-law is the Baroness?
6. And what do you think Adlerstein is?
7. When did the snow start this year?
8. So what was the greatest thing that defended the castle?
9. Which Dame is mentioned in the story?
10. Did she give something?
11. What did she give?
12. Anything else?
13. Did anyone else give something?
14. Who was that?
15. How many Barons were lost?
16. Was anyone lost?
17. What was the full name of the next heir?
18. Who was it that they asked about the location of the bodies?
19. And what was the guess about that?
20. And what else Mmight the Count have done with them? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. the Swabian League
2. Schlangenwaldern
3. No
4. garrison
5. Yes
6. the next heir
7. the snow came early
8. the snow
9. Christina
10. yes
11. gold earrings
12. all her scanty purse
13. yes
14. Kunigunde
15. two
16. The old Baron
17. Freiherr Kasimir von Adlerstein Wildschloss.
18. Father Norbert
19. that the Count had carried them all off
20. adorn his castle with their limbs,

Q: The quality of water supply in southern Beijing has been improving in recent years, an official said.

In addition to improvements in the network of pipes, the government has been upgrading three recycled water plants in the south of the capital, said Zhao Lei, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

"The transformation of the three plants has increased the recycled water processing capacity by 160,000 cubic meters per day," he said.

In addition, the city is also speeding up the construction of sewage treatment plants to further recycle the sewage, Zhao said.

Zhang Xiang, a researcher from Nature University, an environmental protection NGO in Beijing, said recycled water use should be promoted, especially in water-scarce cities such as Beijing.

Setting up more recycled water plants in the capital will not only promote efficient water use, but also reduce costs because recycling water is much cheaper than transferring it over long distances, he said.

According to the Beijing Water Authority, the capital will set up 46 more recycled water plants citywide in the next three years while upgrading 20 sewage treatment plants.

The treatment rate of domestic sewage in downtown Beijing will reach 98 percent by the end of 2015, it said.

The capital's recycled water is mainly used for industry, landscaping and cleaning, Zhang said.

Many new communities in southern Beijing are equipped with a network to recycle water.

In the past, people were not enthusiastic about using recycled water. However, as the government has boosted the quality of recycled water and set up more recycled water plants, more residents are gradually accepting it.

Residents in southern Beijing will also enjoy more clean energy, as the government will replace traditional coal-burning stoves with electric radiators as part of a three-year plan to develop southern Beijing from 2013 to 2015.

Since 2010, Beijing has taken measures to develop its southern areas. Earlier efforts have seen the region, which used to rely heavily on low-end industries such as cement factories and small coal mines, being turned into a bustling commercial center and home to many educational institutions.

1. Beijing
2. southern
3. yes
4. quality of water supply
5. unknown
6. industry, landscaping and cleaning
7. no
8. yes
9. government has boosted the quality of recycled water
10. traditional coal-burning stoves
11. yes
12. electric radiators
13. 2013 to 2015
14. three
15. cement factories and small coal mines
16. commercial center and educational institutions
17. 2010
18. According to the Beijing Water Authority, the capital will set up 46 more recycled water plants
19. yes
20. 20

Numbered questions:
1. Which city is this story about?
2. Which section of the city?
3. Are things getting better there?
4. What specifically is getting better?
5. Is the entirety of the sewage treated in Beijing?
6. What uses does the treated water have?
7. Previously, did people get excited about treated water?
8. Has that changed at all?
9. What brought about that change?
10. What kind of heating is used there?
11. Is that going to change?
12. To what?
13. When?
14. How many parts are there to the plan for that?
15. What are the traditional industries of the region?
16. What kinds of things have been developed there more recently?
17. When did the city begin to make changes to this area?
18. How many new plants are there plans to open?
19. Will some plants also be improved?
20. How many?

input: It was warmer than normal outside at the zoo. The clown was hot in his costume. He still smiled and he still made people laugh. He worked hard. He threw a plane because someone's son asked him to. He even put jelly on his face because a little girl said it would make him look pretty.

At noon he juggled plates and at one in the afternoon he sat down to have some lunch. The cook made a salad to his liking and the clown ate it happily. He felt famous because people visiting the zoo pointed at him and smiled at him as he ate his salad. The day might be hot, but the clown felt it was good in the end because of how much people liked him. Soon he was back to work juggling and telling jokes. He even sprayed someone with water when they smelled his fake flower. 1. What was the weather?
2. Where?
3. Who felt it?
4. How did he feel?
5. In what?
6. Did it stop him from doing his job?
7. And what was his job?
8. How did he work at his job?
9. Doing what?
10. Why?
11. And what else?
12. Why?
13. What did he do next?
14. When?
15. And then?
16. When?
17. And what'd he have?
18. From who?
19. How'd he feel?
20. Why? Return numbered answers in your output.

output:
1. warmer than normal
2. outside at the zoo
3. The clown
4. hot
5. his costume
6. No
7. He still smiled and he still made people laugh
8. hard
9. He threw a plane
10. because someone's son asked him to
11. He even put jelly on his face
12. because a little girl said it would make him look pretty.
13. he juggled plates
14. At noon
15. he sat down to have some lunch
16. at one in the afternoon
17. a salad
18. The cook
19. famous
20. because people visiting the zoo pointed at him and smiled at him