question: "It was amazing, just impressive," Holly Budge, a 29-year-old British woman, said after making a safe landing at a spot 12,350 feet (3,765 meters) above sea level -- the highest "drop zone" achieved by a parachutist . "We had one minute of freefall and while we were above the clouds you could see Everest and the other high mountains popping out of the top," she said.

Ms Budge and her two fellow daredevils, Wendy Smith, from New Zealand, and Neil Jones, from Canada, jumped out of an aircraft at about 29,500 feet, just higher than the peak of the world's highest mountain. They fell at speeds reaching 140mph, past the highest ridges of the snow-covering Himalayas, before each released a parachute . The jumpers wore oxygen masks to keep their lungs working as they fell. Wearing neoprene underwear was compulsory -- to prevent them from being frozen to death.

The adventure, advertised by its organizers as "a feast for those who seek to stimulate all their senses to the full", appeared to have lived up to its billing. "I had never seen so many mountains before," Ms Smith said. "To be on top of the world was simply stunning ."

The expedition also offered a way by which to celebrate her 30th birthday later this month, she said. Besides, her jump raised funds for charities in Britain and Nepal, including more than PS10,000 for the Hampshire Autistic Society.

In the next few days the feat will be repeated by about 30 others, weather permitting. Each has paid at least PS12,675 to High and Wild, the British adventure travel company behind the project. Ms Budge said: "It was worth the money. It is something that has never been done before."
1. How much has each person paid?
2. To whom did they pay it?
3. What nationality is that company?
4. What is their business about?
5. Does that mean it's boring?
6. Who thought they were worth the money?
7. Was it something that had been done before?
8. Could Ms Budge be referred to as a daredevil?
9. Was she the only one?
10. How many others were there?
11. What was one of their names?
12. Where was she from?
13. What was the other daredevil's name?
14. What country did he hail from?
15. What did they all exit abruptly?
16. At what height?
17. Is that higher or lower than the world's highest mountain?
18. How fast did they fall?
19. What did they wear to keep their lungs working as they fell?
20. Did they have on special underwear?
****
answer: 1. at least PS12,675
2. High and Wild
3. British
4. adventure travel
5. no
6. Ms Budge
7. no
8. yes
9. no
10. two
11. Wendy Smith
12. New Zealand
13. Neil Jones
14. Canada
15. an aircraft
16. about 29,500 feet
17. higher
18. 140mph
19. oxygen masks
20. yes

question: CHAPTER XXXVIII

INEFFECTUAL WOOING

"At last!" Wrayson said to himself, almost under his breath. "Shall we have a hansom, Louise, or do you care for a walk?"

"A walk, by all means," she answered hurriedly.

"It is not far, is it?"

"A mile--a little more perhaps," he answered.

"You are sure that you are not tired?"

"Tired only of sitting still," she answered. "We had a delightful crossing. This way, isn't it?"

They left the Grosvenor Hotel, where Louise, with Madame de Melbain, had arrived about an hour ago, and turned towards Battersea. Louise began to talk, nervously, and with a very obvious desire to keep the conversation to indifferent subjects. Wrayson humoured her for some time. They spoke of the journey, suddenly determined upon by Madame de Melbain on receipt of his telegram, of the beauty of St. Etarpe, of the wonderful reappearance of her brother.

"I can scarcely realize even now," she said, "that he is really alive. He is so altered. He seems a different person altogether."

"He has gone through a good deal," Wrayson remarked.

She sighed.

"Poor Duncan!" she murmured.

"He is very much to be pitied," Wrayson said seriously. "I, at any rate, can feel for him."

He turned towards her as he spoke, and his words were charged with meaning. She began quickly to speak of something else, but he interrupted her.

"Louise," he said, "is London so far from St. Etarpe?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I think that you know very well," he answered. "I am sure that you do. At St. Etarpe you were content to accept what, believe me, is quite inevitable. Here--well, you have been doing all you can to avoid me, haven't you?"
1. Where are they headed?
2. How far away is it?
3. How are they going to get there?
4. Who are the people walking?
5. Where are they starting from?
6. Was Louise there all day?
7. How long had she been there?
8. Do she travel to get there?
9. With who?
10. Who's idea was the trip?
****
answer: 1. Battersea
2. A mile away
3. By walking
4. Wrayson and Louise
5. Grosvenor Hote
6. no
7. about an hour
8. yes
9. with Madame de Melbain
10. Wrayson

question: New Guinea (; ; ; or, historically, "") is a large island in Oceania. It is the world's second-largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of , and the largest wholly or partly within the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania (if excluding Australia as an island).

The island is divided between two countries: Papua New Guinea to the east, and Indonesia to the west.

The island has been known by various names:

The name "Papua" was used to refer to parts of the island before contact with the West. Its etymology is unclear; one theory states that it is from Tidore, the language used by the Sultanate of Tidore, which controlled parts of the island's coastal region. The name came from "papo" (to unite) and "ua" (negation), which means "not united" or, "territory that geographically is far away (and thus not united)".

Ploeg reports that the word "papua" is often said to derive from the Malay word "papua" or "pua-pua", meaning "frizzly-haired", referring to the highly curly hair of the inhabitants of these areas. Another possibility, put forward by Sollewijn Gelpke in 1993, is that it comes from the Biak phrase "sup i papwa" which means 'the land below [the sunset]' and refers to the islands west of the Bird's Head, as far as Halmahera. Whatever its origin, the name "Papua" came to be associated with this area, and more especially with Halmahera, which was known to the Portuguese by this name during the era of their colonization in this part of the world.
1. What is this story about?
2. What is that?
3. Where?
4. What country is it in?
5. Is New Guinea the only name?
6. What is one?
7. What language is that?
8. What words is it derived from?
9. What does papo mean?
10. What does ua mean?
11. What does the word mean when you put the two together?
12. Why is it called that?
13. In 1993 who speculated on a different translation?
14. What did he come up with?
15. What phrase?
16. What does that mean?
17. What does it refer to?
18. As far as where?
19. Who associated it with Halmahera?
20. When
****
answer:
1. New Guinea
2. an island
3. in Oceania
4. Papua New Guinea and Indonesia
5. no
6. "Papua
7. Tidore
8. "papo" and "ua"
9. to unite
10. negation
11. not united
12. it is territory that geographically is far away
13. Sollewijn Gelpke
14. The idea that the name comes from a Biak phrase
15. sup i papwa
16. the land below
17. the islands west of the Bird's Head
18. Halmahera
19. the Portuguese
20. during the era of their colonization