Q: William Shakespeare is the most famous playwright . Although he died in 1616, people still go to see his plays. Among the most popular are Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet -- the story of a prince who struggles to respond to the crimes around him. Shakespeare, who was born in 1564, was an actor as well as a writer. Most of his ideas for plays were taken from history, people's conversation, ancient stories, and also from other writers. He wrote not only about kings and queens and princes, but also about friends and ordinary people. He wrote about the cruelty of war and the bravery of heroes, as well as about jealousy, joy, hate, ambition and love. His stories live on. The tragedy Romeo and Juliet was reborn as the musical West Side Story and more recently as the movie Romeo and Juliet with the wonderful performance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. He invented a number of great characters: powerful magicians, thrilling witches, smart women and both wise and wicked men. He also invented some great phrases. If you've ever said, "Oh, for goodness sake!" you can thank Shakespeare for that. "To be, or not to be: that is the question," Hamlet says. "Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it is morrow," says Juliet to her Romeo. Don't be surprised if you don't understand everything when reading Shakespeare or watching one of his plays because the meanings of many words have changed over the years. And Shakespeare's characters speak in poetry, so their speeches can be complicated. It does help to find out a little bit about the story before reading a Shakespeare play. It's worth the effort. As Shakespeare wrote, "All the world is a stage." And in his plays you'll find that an entire world is waiting for you.

1. Hamlet
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream
4. yes
5. an actor
6. Romeo and Juliet
7. Leonardo DiCaprio
8. Claire Danes
9. "Oh, for goodness sake!"
10. "To be, or not to be: that is the question,"
11. no
12. 1616
13. 1564
14. a prince
15. history, conversation,stories, and other writers.
16. no
17. ordinary people
18. jealousy, joy and hate
19. yes

Numbered questions:
1. What is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays?
2. And another?
3. And another?
4. Did he do anything else besides writing?
5. What?
6. What was West Side Story based on?
7. Who played Romeo in the movie?
8. Who was Juliet?
9. What is one commonly used phrase that came from Shakespeare?
10. What's another one?
11. Has the language used in Shakespeare stayed the same?
12. When did Shakespeare die?
13. When was he born?
14. What is Hamlet about?
15. Whhere did Shakespeare get his ideas?
16. Did he always write about kings?
17. What is one thing he also wrote about?
18. Anything else?
19. Did he write about war?

Q: Doha, Qatar (CNN) -- An international donors' conference on Darfur kicked off Sunday in Doha with the hope of raising $7.25 billion to bring aid and sustainable development to the troubled region in Sudan.

"There is an opportunity to assist the people of Darfur through massive generosity," said Ali Al-Zatari, the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Sudan.

"Darfur still needs stability," Al-Zatari added. He said 3.5 million people need humanitarian assistance, and 1.5 million of them live in camps.

The conference, whose participants include the UN, the governments of Qatar and Sudan, and the World Bank, seeks to "to mobilize financial support for the recovery and development needs in Darfur."

Reactions to the conference, however, are mixed.

"The conference is a strong message to the Darfurian people that they are not forgotten," said Abdullah Adam Khatir, a Darfurian writer. "It will take time, it's a process,."

Al-Baqir Afifi, a civil society activist, on the other hand, disagreed with the conference's approach.

"Those who are going to pledge money want to know if the money is going to reach Darfur or not," he said. "It is still insecure in Darfur; there is chaos," he added.

Protests against the conference took place in some camps in Darfur last week.

"What are they going to do with this money when there is no security?" an activist who preferred not to be named said, according to AFP.

Violence broke out in Darfur in 2003 when non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the central government in Khartoum, accusing it of neglect and discrimination.

1. $7.25 billion
2. unknown
3. 3.5 million
4. 1.5 million of them live in camps
5. a civil society activist
6. disagreed with the conference's approach.
7. humanitarian assistance
8. representative of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Sudan
9. unknown
10. unknown

Numbered questions:
1. How much money does the conference want to gather?
2. True or False: Attitudes toward the conference are all positive.
3. How many Dafurians need help?
4. Do all of them live in camps?
5. Who is Al-Baqir Afifi?
6. Did he agree with the conference's plan?
7. What does Al-Zatari thinks Darfur needs?
8. Who is Al-Zatari?
9. True or False: The UN took part in the conference.
10. Which governments took part?

Q: It is easy for us to tell who our family members are, but do plants recognize their own family? Some do, scientists say, according to a report by Science News in early 2010. Guillermo P. Murphy and Susan Dudley are two plant scientists from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. They did a few experiments with Jewelweeds, a kind of flower that grows in wet, shady spots. They found that the flowers seem to know their own flower family. In their experiments, Murphy and Dudley planted jewelweeds in pots with either _ or strangers. When jewelweeds were planted in pots with strangers, the plants started to grow more leaves than if they had been planted alone. This response suggests that plants are competing with strangers for sunlight, since a plant with more leaves can receive more light and make more food. Jewelweeds usually grow in the shade, where sunlight is not enough. When jewelweed seedlings were planted with siblings, they grew a few more branches than they usually would if they were alone - but they did not start growing lots of extra leaves. This behavior suggests the plants are more likely to share resources, rather than compete. According to the Science News report, Jewelweeds are not the first plants that plant scientists have studied for family recognition. In 2007, Dudley and her team studied the Great Lakes sea rocket, a plant that grows on the beach - where it may be hard to get fresh water. In that experiment, the scientists found that when sea rockets were planted with siblings, they tolerated each other. But when they were planted with strangers, the sea rockets reacted by working extra hard to grow lots of roots. Dudley says this just because sea rockets, on the beach, get plenty of sun but struggle for water - so when they're threatened, they compete for water. Jewelweeds have plenty of water but have to compete for sunshine, so they grow more leaves.

1. plant scientists
2. Canada.
3. flowers
4. Jewelweeds
5. No
6. wet, shady spots
7. when planted in pots with strangers
8. No
9. Science News report
10. When sea rockets were planted with siblings, they tolerated each other. But when they were planted with strange
11. the beach
12. water
13. sun

Numbered questions:
1. Who are Guillermo P. Murphy and Susan Dudley?
2. From where?
3. What are they studying?
4. What kind?
5. Do they grow in the bright sunlight?
6. Where do they grow?
7. When did the Jewelweeds grow more branches?
8. Are they the first scientists to study if plants can recognize their family?
9. According to what?
10. What did her team find in 2007?
11. Where do they grow?
12. What do they compete for?
13. What do Jewelweeds have enough of?