Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Tom Hanks ranks as one of Hollywood's most popular actors. Moviegoers eagerly anticipate in the opening of his new pictures. If you're a Hank fan, you don't have to wait much longer. Hank's newest film, Cast Away, opens this winter.

Tom Hanks plays Chunk Noland, a FedEx executive who lives by the clock. He carefully plans every minute of both his professional and personal time. But on his way home for the holidays, the small plane he's in crashes in the Pacific Ocean. Only Noland survives. He ends up alone on a tropical island and begins a battle for survival. In the process, his view of success and life itself change dramatically .

This role may be the most physically-challenging of Hank's career. The actor lost 53 pounds for the part. Director Robert Zemeckis shot the first section of the film with Hanks weighing more than 225 pounds. The filming took a break for a year while Hanks lost weight. To take off the pounds, Hanks ate little and exercised a lot.

The movie may surprise some of Hank's fans. It's not an upbeat comedy like Sleepless in Seattle or You're Got Mail. In fact, Hanks spends a large part of the movie not speaking. After all, who is there to talk to when you're alone on an island?
1. Who was Chunk Noland?
2. What movie is he from?
3. Who is he played by?
4. What did Hanks have to do for the role?
5. How much?
6. What did he weigh at the beginning?
7. How did he drop the weight?
8. Why would this film be unique to fans?
9. How come?
10. What happens on Noland's flight home?
11. Where?
12. Where does he end up?
13. How many others survived?
14. What personal views of Noland's are changed?
15. What is said about the physical demands of this film?
16. Who directed the film?
17. How long did it take for Hanks to lose the weight?
18. Does he talk a lot for this movie?
19. Why not?
20. When does the movie premiere?

Numbered answers:
1. a FedEx executive
2. Cast Away
3. Tom Hanks
4. Lose weight
5. 53 pounds
6. more than 225 pounds
7. Hanks ate little and exercised a lot.
8. It's not an upbeat comedy
9. It's about a battle for survival.
10. the small plane he's in crashes
11. in the Pacific Ocean
12. on a tropical island
13. No one else survives
14. his view of success and life itself change dramatically .
15. This role may be the most physically-challenging of Hank's career.
16. Robert Zemeckis
17. a year
18. No
19. He's alone on an island
20. this winter

Question:
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London (CNN) -- He steered Great Britain through the perils of World War II and is recognized as one of the most important statesmen of the 20th century.

But away from the world of politics, Winston Churchill was also an avid painter, drawn to scenes of stately homes in the UK, picturesque fields in France and vibrant Moroccan landscapes.

Though he always saw himself as an amateur, he was quick to spot talent in others.

Now, for the first time, paintings of Marrakech in Morocco by Churchill are being shown alongside those of Moroccan artist Hassan el Glaoui, who throughout his life credited Churchill with convincing his father -- the Pasha of Marrakech -- to let him pursue his dream of becoming a painter.

"The Pasha of Marrakesh was quite a fearful character and had great influence politically and great wealth, and the idea that his son was going to be a painter clearly wouldn't have come naturally to him," said Daniel Robbins, curator of the exhibition "Meetings in Marrakech" at Leighton House Museum in London.

In 1943, the Pasha showed the visiting Churchill some paintings by his son and asked for his opinion.

Churchill approved and the young Hassan was subsequently allowed to train as a painter in Paris.

"There weren't many people that the Pasha would listen to but if Churchill said it was alright to be painter, he could accommodate that desire," said Robbins.

Hassan El Glaoui's career took off and he has since exhibited his work in Europe and the US, as well as in Morocco.
1. Who led Great Britain through WWII?
2. What artistic talent did he have?
3. What did he paint?
4. Where are his painting being sold?
5. Where is that located?
6. What is the show called?
7. Who is the museum leader?
8. Who showed Churchill paintings?
9. Where?
10. How was his career?
11. Why?

Numbered answers:
1. Winston Churchill
2. He was also an avid painter
3. scenes of stately homes
4. Leighton House Museum
5. London
6. "Meetings in Marrakech"
7. Daniel Robbins
8. Hassan el Glaoui
9. Paris
10. Hassan El Glaoui's career took off
11. Churchill said it was alright

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq. The population of Baghdad, , is approximately 8,765,000, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab world (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).

Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g., House of Wisdom), garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Centre of Learning".

For five centuries from its founding Baghdad was the largest city of the Middle Ages, peaking at a population of more than a million. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arab culture.

In contemporary times, the city has often faced severe infrastructural damage, most recently due to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the subsequent Iraq War that lasted until December 2011. In recent years, the city has been frequently subjected to insurgency attacks. , Baghdad was listed as one of the least hospitable places in the world to live, and was ranked by Mercer as the worst of 221 major cities as measured by quality-of-life.
1. Who built Baghdad?
2. When?
3. Who sacked it?
4. When?
5. Who led the Mongols at that time?
6. Did they completely destroy the city?
7. Did the city frequently change hands?
8. What liberated Iraq?
9. What medieval power made Baghdad their capital?
10. What modern power uses it as their capital?
11. Is it a good place to live today?
12. How many military conflicts are mentioned in the article?
13. The most recent?
14. What was the city famous as in medieval times?
15. What's the largest city in Arabia?
16. In western Asia?
Numbered answers:
1. the Abbasid Caliphate
2. the 8th century
3. the Mongol Empire
4. 1258
5. unknown
6. no
7. yes
8. recognition as an independent state
9. the Abbasid Caliphate
10. Iraq
11. no
12. Three
13. insurgency attacks
14. a cultural, commercial, and intellectual center
15. Cairo
16. Tehran