Q: The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) is one of the few dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s, and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation." The U.S. Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" the ESA "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost." The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

One species in particular received widespread attentionthe whooping crane. The species' historical range extended from central Canada South to Mexico, and from Utah to the Atlantic coast. Unregulated hunting and habitat loss contributed to a steady decline in the whooping crane population until, by 1890, it had disappeared from its primary breeding range in the north central United States. It would be another eight years before the first national law regulating wildlife commerce was signed, and another two years before the first version of the endangered species act was passed. The whooping crane population by 1941 was estimated at about only 16 birds still in the wild.

Answer the following questions:
1. What year was the Endangered Species Act instituted?
2. Were there many laws such as this passed in this time period?
3. What animal received lots of attention?
4. Name something that caused their population to decline?
5. And what else?
6. What year did is vanish from its main range in the U.S.?
7. In what section of the U.S.?
8. How many years passed before first national law concerning regulation of wildlife commerce was instituted?
9. How much additional time before an act concerning endangered species was enacted?
10. What was the number of whooping cranes in the wild in 1941?
11. Did a President enact a certain law associated with endangered species?
12. What was it called?
13. In what year was it made law?
14. What month?
15. What day of the month?
16. What court made a finding about the ESA?
17. Were federal agencies involved in carrying out the act?
18. Name of one of them?
19. And the other?
20. What abbreviation is it known by?
A: 1. 1973
2. Yes
3. the whooping crane
4. Unregulated hunting
5. habitat loss
6. 1890
7. the north central
8. another eight years
9. another two years
10. about only 16 birds
11. Yes
12. The Endangered Species Act
13. 1973
14. December
15. 28
16. The U.S. Supreme Court
17. Yes
18. the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
19. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
20. NOAA
Q: (CNN) -- Two former presidents reflected on their greatest regrets in office Monday, each looking back to issues that continue to plague the nation years later.

Former presidents and political rivals Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush now share philanthropic efforts.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton appeared together at a question-and-answer forum before the National Automobile Dealers Association in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Asked his biggest regret after leaving office, Bush said he now wonders whether he should have tried to get Saddam Hussein to leave office at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.

He told the gathering, "I've thought a lot about it, but at the end of Desert Storm, the question was should we have kind of kept going on that road to death and all this slaughter until Saddam Hussein showed up and laid his sword on the table, surrendered. And the common wisdom was he wouldn't do that."

But he said a conversation with an FBI agent who interrogated Saddam after he was captured has made him reconsider.

Bush recalled their talk, "I said, 'What if we just say he has to come to surrender, would he have done it?' And this guy said, 'I'm absolutely convinced he would have.' My experts tell me he wouldn't have."

Bush said, "We ended it the way we said we would" as a military success, but noted a cleaner ending "would have been perfect."

He added, "If we had tried to get Saddam Hussein to come and literally surrender and put his sword on the table, I think it might have been avoided some of the problems that we did have in the future from him."

Answer the following questions:
1. what do Bill Clinton and George Bush now share?
2. what did they reflect on Monday?
3. what association did they visit in Louisiana?
4. for what?
5. what was Bush's biggest regret?
A: 1. philanthropic efforts
2. greatest regrets in office
3. National Automobile Dealers Association
4. question-and-answer forum
5. Bush said he now wonders whether he should have tried to get Saddam Hussein to leave office at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.
Q: Before forming Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had played together in a band named Smile. Freddie Mercury (then known by his birth name of Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara) was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. Mercury joined the band in 1970, suggested "Queen" as a new band name, and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their eponymous debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974, but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 which brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK for nine weeks and popularised the music video. Their 1977 album, News of the World, contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. Their performance at 1985's Live Aid is ranked among the greatest in rock history by various music publications, with a 2005 industry poll ranking it the best. In 1991, Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997. Since then, May and Taylor have occasionally performed together, including with Paul Rodgers (200409) and with Adam Lambert (since 2011). In November 2014, Queen released a new album, Queen Forever, featuring vocals from the late Mercury.

Answer the following questions:
1. What was their band earlier?
2. Now what?
3. When did Mercury start with them?
4. What was his real name?
5. Who suggested the new name?
6. What is the name?
7. Who joined them next?
8. What was their first chart in UK?
9. Which year was that?
10. What was their first international success?
11. In which year?
12. Was there a specific track mentionable?
13. What was its success?
14. Did they do well in any other format?
15. Are there any examples?
16. What was their achievement in the 80s?
17. Any example?
18. How it is ranked?
19. What happened to Mercury?
20. How about Deacon?
A:
1. Smile
2. Queen
3. 1970
4. Farrokh Bulsara
5. Mercury
6. Queen
7. John Deacon
8. Queen II
9. 1974
10. A Night at the Opera
11. 1975
12. Bohemian Rhapsody
13. number one in the UK for nine weeks
14. music videos
15. Bohemian Rhapsody
16. one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world.
17. 1985's Live Aid
18. a 2005 industry poll ranking it the best.
19. died of bronchopneumonia
20. He retired