question: CHAPTER XXX

FERN Mullins rushed into the house on a Saturday morning early in September and shrieked at Carol, "School starts next Tuesday. I've got to have one more spree before I'm arrested. Let's get up a picnic down the lake for this afternoon. Won't you come, Mrs. Kennicott, and the doctor? Cy Bogart wants to go--he's a brat but he's lively."

"I don't think the doctor can go," sedately. "He said something about having to make a country call this afternoon. But I'd love to."

"That's dandy! Who can we get?"

"Mrs. Dyer might be chaperon. She's been so nice. And maybe Dave, if he could get away from the store."

"How about Erik Valborg? I think he's got lots more style than these town boys. You like him all right, don't you?"

So the picnic of Carol, Fern, Erik, Cy Bogart, and the Dyers was not only moral but inevitable.

They drove to the birch grove on the south shore of Lake Minniemashie. Dave Dyer was his most clownish self. He yelped, jigged, wore Carol's hat, dropped an ant down Fern's back, and when they went swimming (the women modestly changing in the car with the side curtains up, the men undressing behind the bushes, constantly repeating, "Gee, hope we don't run into poison ivy"), Dave splashed water on them and dived to clutch his wife's ankle. He infected the others. Erik gave an imitation of the Greek dancers he had seen in vaudeville, and when they sat down to picnic supper spread on a lap-robe on the grass, Cy climbed a tree to throw acorns at them.
1. When does school begin?
2. What month?
3. What did Fern want to plan?
4. Where?
5. Was it for tomorrow?
6. When?
7. How many people were invited?
8. Who might need to stay at the store?
9. Did he end up being able to go?
10. Which lake did they go to?
11. Who acted like a dancer?
12. Who acted like a clown?
13. What did the brat do?
14. Did he do anything there?
15. Where did the men change?
16. What about the ladies?
17. How?
18. What part of the lake did they go to?
19. Was there a chaperone?
20. Who?
****
answer: 1. next Tuesday
2. September
3. a picnic
4. the lake
5. No
6. this afternoon
7. Four
8. Dave
9. Yes
10. Minniemashie
11. Erik
12. Dave Dyer
13. climbed a tree
14. throw acorns
15. behind the bushes
16. the car
17. with the side curtains up
18. south shore
19. Yes
20. Mrs. Dyer

question: (CNN) -- Nick Heidfeld has left his role as reserve driver at Mercedes to become a tester for Pirelli ahead of the Italian company's return to Formula One as the sport's sole tire supplier next year.

The 33-year-old German had driven in F1 for a decade but was left without a seat when BMW ended its association with the Sauber team at the end of last season.

He was given a lifeline when Mercedes took over the world champion Brawn GP team this year, becoming back-up to returning seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

"I would like to thank Ross Brawn, Norbert Haug and Nick Fry for allowing me the opportunity to become Pirelli's official test driver," Heidfeld told F1's official website.

"The team has always said that they would not stand in my way if such a chance arose, and they have kindly allowed me to take up this exciting new role."

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said: "Nick is an extremely experienced driver and we are confident that his racing knowledge and technical feedback will prove extremely useful to Pirelli and therefore of benefit to the sport as a whole."

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice-president Haug said the move might help Heidfeld find a drive for 2011.

"It would be great to see Nick in a competitive car in next year's world championship and I am sure his leading role in the new tire development, in addition to his skills, puts him in a good position for the remaining seats in 2011," Haug said.
1. How old is Nick Heidfeld?
2. What has he done for the last 10 years?
3. Did he recently switch roles?
4. What's he doing now?
5. Of what?
6. Does it indicate he is grateful to anyone?
7. How many people were mentioned?
8. Who specifically?
9. And?
10. Anyone else?
11. What vice-president is mentioned?
12. Of what organization?
13. What does he think might happen?
****
answer: 1. 33
2. raced in F1
3. yes
4. tester
5. tires
6. yes
7. Three
8. Ross Brawn
9. Norbert Haug
10. Nick Fry
11. Haug
12. Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
13. find a drive for 2011

question: SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- The park bench facing Lake Washington is covered with flowers, poems, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes and graffiti.

Fans leave flowers and mementos in honor of Kurt Cobain near his Seattle home.

"I miss your beautiful face and voice," one dedication reads.

"Thank you for inspiring me," says another.

"RIP Kurt."

Fifteen years ago Wednesday, at a house adjacent to the park, Kurt Cobain's dead body was discovered by an electrician.

The Nirvana frontman, 27, had committed suicide, police later ruled, killing himself with a shotgun while high on heroin and pills.

His death ended a battle with hard drugs and added Cobain to a long list of legendary musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, whose careers were cut short by their addictions.

Cobain's ashes were reportedly scattered in a Washington state river and a New York Buddhist temple.

Nirvana band mates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl eventually formed other bands. Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, stayed in the limelight with an acting career and legal problems surrounding her own drug problems. Frances Bean, the couple's daughter, has largely lived outside the public eye.

What was unclear when Cobain died was whether the music Nirvana created would endure or fade away like the grunge craze it helped to inspire.

"At one point I thought, 15 years on, no one would really know who Kurt Cobain was outside of a group of diehard fans," said Jeff Burlingame, a Cobain biographer who grew up with the musician in Aberdeen, Washington, and knew him when he was a teenager who, without a place to sleep, crashed on mutual friends' couches.
1. What is covered?
2. What is it covered in?
3. Who is it for?
4. Who leaves them?
5. Where is this?
6. Where is the bench facing?
7. What does one dedication say?
8. What band was Kurt in?
9. When did he commit suicide?
10. Was he the frontman?
11. Where did he do this?
12. How old was he?
13. Who discovered him?
14. Who else died from drugs?
15. Were they addicted?
16. Where were his ashes scattered?
17. Who were his band mates?
18. What did they do after it?
19. Did Kurt have a wife?
20. What is her name?
****
answer:
1. A park bench
2. Flowers, poems, a pack of cigarettes and graffiti
3. Kurt Cobain
4. Fans
5. Seattle
6. Lake Washington
7. I miss your beautiful face and voice
8. Nirvana
9. 15 years ago
10. Yes
11. At a house near the park
12. 27
13. An electrician
14. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin
15. Yes
16. In a Washington state river and a New York Buddhist temple
17. Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl
18. Formed other bands
19. Yes
20. Courtney Love