Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. "Father!" Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room.

"Father! What's that sound? Hassan screamed, his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed and lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by rapid sharp sounds of gunfire. "They're hunting ducks." Ali said in a hoarse voice. "They hunt ducks at night, you know." Don't be afraid.

A siren went off in the distance. Somewhere glass broke and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, jolted from sleep and probably still in their pajamas, with ruffled hair and puffy eyes. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close, clutched him with tenderness.

We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. The end came when Russian tanks were rolling into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting.

Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. "Amir! Hassan!" He cried as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. "They blocked all the roads and the telephone didn't work. I was so worried!"

We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What was seen on his face?
2. Who was my playmate?
3. Why did we stop?
4. What brought it to an end?
5. How did they move?
6. What rolled?
7. Where?
8. What did they bring?
9. What was hunted?
10. When did the auto arrive?
Answer: 1. fear
2. Hassan
3. Baba's car appeared?
4. Russian tanks appeared
5. unknown
6. Russian tanks
7. into the streets
8. the death of Afghanistan
9. ducks
10. Just before sunrise

There were four brothers that lived together in a small house on the east side of town. The brothers' names were Bob, Billy, Bryan and Baker. Each brother was one year in age. The oldest brother Bob was nine, the second eight, the third seven and the youngest was only six. Each boy also had something that they were good at that no one else could do. Baker, the youngest boy was good at magic tricks. Bob was the basketball star, Billy was great at football and Bryan was good at baseball. Each boy liked to watch the others show off their skills. One afternoon Baker put on a magic show. For this trick he would need three things. First, he needed four cups each a different color. The cups colors were green, yellow, blue, and white. He would need one white ball and two helpers which the parents happily volunteered for. He started by showing his brothers the inside of each cup as well as the normal white ball. He then placed the white ball inside the white cups and moved them around really fast. Next his parents covered the four cups with a magic blanket. Baker said some magic words and then his helpers removed the blanket. To his brothers amazement there were only the three colored cups left. Each brother got to look under a cup. After flipping up each cup they saw that there was no white ball. Just a single green ball inside the green cup! How did you do that they yelled! A magician never gives up his secrets. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. How many brothers were there?
2. Did they live together?
3. where?
4. what were their names?
5. How old was Bob?
6. How old was the youngest brother?
7. Did each of them have something they were good at?
8. What was Baker good at?
9. What was Bob good at?
10. What about Billy?
11. What was Brian good at?
12. Did they like watching each other show off what they could do?
13. When Baker put on his Magic show did he need four cups?
14. Did he need helpers?
15. How many?
16. Who volenteered to help?
17. What did his parents cover the Magic cups with?
18. Did baker say any Magic words?
Answer:
1. four
2. yes
3. in a small house on the east side of town
4. Bob, Billy, Bryan and Baker
5. nine
6. six
7. yes
8. magic tricks
9. basketball?
10. football
11. basebal
12. yes
13. yes
14. yes
15. two
16. his parents
17. a magic blanket
18. yes