Question: "Indeed," George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, " some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home. " But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century,and Americans had already created lightning-bug .But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.

Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug,that is,"to install an alarm". Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others' conversations. Since the 1840s,to bug has long meant" to cheat" , and since the 1940s it has been annoying.

We also know the bug as a _ in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as"little problems and difficulties" that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison" had been up the two previous nights discovering' a bug' in his invented record player." 1. what is the article mostly about?
2. what can a bug refer to?
3. who wrote bugs in his diary?
4. what year?
5. Do Englishmen still use the word?
6. what other things can a bug be besides a person or an insect?
7. like what for example?
8. what is a small eaves-dropping instrument called?
9. what are bugs in the context of computers?
10. what inventor explained it that way? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. bugs
2. it could be a person
3. George Washington
4. 1785
5. no
6. a machine or an object
7. a bug-shaped car.
8. a bug!
9. little problems and difficulties
10. Thomas Edison

Question: CHAPTER XXI

TROUBLES IN THE FOLD--A MESSAGE

Gabriel Oak had ceased to feed the Weatherbury flock for about four-and-twenty hours, when on Sunday afternoon the elderly gentlemen Joseph Poorgrass, Matthew Moon, Fray, and half-a-dozen others, came running up to the house of the mistress of the Upper Farm.

"Whatever IS the matter, men?" she said, meeting them at the door just as she was coming out on her way to church, and ceasing in a moment from the close compression of her two red lips, with which she had accompanied the exertion of pulling on a tight glove.

"Sixty!" said Joseph Poorgrass.

"Seventy!" said Moon.

"Fifty-nine!" said Susan Tall's husband.

"--Sheep have broke fence," said Fray.

"--And got into a field of young clover," said Tall.

"--Young clover!" said Moon.

"--Clover!" said Joseph Poorgrass.

"And they be getting blasted," said Henery Fray.

"That they be," said Joseph.

"And will all die as dead as nits, if they bain't got out and cured!" said Tall.

Joseph's countenance was drawn into lines and puckers by his concern. Fray's forehead was wrinkled both perpendicularly and crosswise, after the pattern of a portcullis, expressive of a double despair. Laban Tall's lips were thin, and his face was rigid. Matthew's jaws sank, and his eyes turned whichever way the strongest muscle happened to pull them.

"Yes," said Joseph, "and I was sitting at home, looking for Ephesians, and says I to myself, ''Tis nothing but Corinthians and Thessalonians in this danged Testament,' when who should come in but Henery there: 'Joseph,' he said, 'the sheep have blasted theirselves--'" 1. who stopped doing something?
2. what did he stop doing?
3. who did he stop feeding?
4. did something happen on the day that follows Saturday?
5. what?
6. how many people?
7. who was one of them?
8. another?
9. was another named?
10. which one?
11. did Joe speak?
12. what did he say the first time he spoke?
13. did he speak again?
14. what did he say the second time?
15. Did Matt speak?
16. what did he say the first time he spoke?
17. did he speak again?
18. what did he say the second time?
19. was someone trying to find something?
20. who?
21. what was he trying to find? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Gabriel Oak
2. feeding
3. the Weatherbury flock
4. Yes
5. people came
6. Nine
7. Joseph Poorgrass
8. Matthew Moon
9. Yes
10. Fray
11. Yes
12. "Sixty!"
13. Yes
14. --Clover
15. Yes
16. "Seventy!"
17. Yes
18. "--Young clover!"
19. Yes
20. Joseph,
21. Ephesians

Question: For more than 40 years, scientists have sought to learn how well human beings can adapt to long periods in space. The International Space Station continues to provide valuable knowledge about spaceflight. But an earlier space station, Skylab, helped make the current space project possible.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sang aboard the International Space Station on May 12, 2013. His music video has become extremely popular. The astronaut played his own version of David Bowie's song Space Oddity. He performed while floating weightlessly, with images of planet earth and space appearing in the window behind him.

Chris Hadfield recently returned home after nearly five months on the space station. For him, the long flight produced a hit video on YouTube and no major physical problems. But 40 years ago, scientists did not know how humans would react to long-term spaceflight. To find out, NASA, the American space agency, launched Skylab in May, 1973. Over nearly a year, three teams of astronauts visited Skylab for stays of between 28 to 84 days. They learned how people react to extended periods in space.

Gerald Carr commanded Skylab 4. He spoke at a NASA event marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab's launch. He said that the loss of the body's muscle mass was a main concern. Astronauts on Skylab used exercise equipment to stay strong. The astronauts spent their workdays carrying out experiments, including biomedical research.

Marshall Porterfield is the director of NASA's Space Life and Physical Sciences Division. He says the Skylab astronauts' understanding of their own ability to deal with long-term spaceflight continues to help current astronauts. NASA says the next step for life away from Earth is a year-long space station mission, set for 2015. 1. What provides knowledge about space?
2. What is an earlier space station?
3. Did it help the current project?
4. What song did a man sing on the station?
5. When?
6. Who did this?
7. What nationality is he?
8. How long was he in space?
9. Who launched Skylab?
10. When?
11. What is NASA?
12. How long was Skylab in space?
13. How long would astronauts stay there?
14. How many teams?
15. Who commanded Skylab 4?
16. Where did he speak?
17. marking what?
18. Were there negatives to space travel?
19. How did they battle this?
20. Who is Marshall Porterfield? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. The International Space Station
2. Skylab
3. Yes
4. David Bowie's song Space Oddity
5. on May 12, 2013
6. Chris Hadfield
7. Canadian
8. nearly five months
9. NASA
10. in May, 1973
11. the American space agency
12. Over nearly a year
13. for stays of between 28 to 84 days
14. three
15. Gerald Carr
16. at a NASA event
17. marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab's launch
18. loss of the body's muscle mass
19. They used exercise equipment to stay strong
20. the director of NASA's Space Life and Physical Sciences Division