It was Saturday afternoon and Andrew was bored. He had been watching TV all day. He told his dad, "There's nothing to do!" Andrew's dad said, "I think the newspaper is here. Maybe we can find an idea in the newspaper." Andrew looked outside the window and saw the newspaper by the door. On the front was a picture of an elephant. He picked up the newspaper and brought it to his dad. Andrew and his dad read the story. The circus was in town! Andrew had never been to the circus. He asked his dad, "Can we go?" "Yes, we can,' Andrew's dad said, 'but first you need to feed your goldfish." Andrew fed his goldfish some goldfish food. He promised to bring it some peanuts from the circus for later. Andrew and his dad went to the circus. The people and animals at the circus did lots of tricks. The elephant even went down a slide! Andrew and his dad ate lots of peanuts. There weren't any peanuts left to bring home to the goldfish. Andrew and his dad had a lot of fun at the circus. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What day was it?
2. Night time?
3. What time of day?
4. What was Timmy doing?
Answer: 1. Saturday
2. no
3. afternoon
4. He had been watching TV all day

(CNN) -- Jeff Weiss had spent 20 years teaching negotiation skills to top executives when he realized those techniques might be just as valuable to soldiers on the battlefield.

So a decade ago, he approached the U.S. Military to teach officers negotiation tools and strategies they could use in a theater of war. The West Point Negotiation Project was founded, and before long, Weiss made another realization: the lessons could go the other way, too.

"There's a ton to take from the military back to the corporations," says Weiss, a partner at Vantage Partners, a Boston-based negotiation training and consulting firm that works with Fortune 500 companies. "Business leaders have a lot to learn from military leaders who, in extreme situations, are able to take a deep breath, get perspective and negotiate through a set of strategies."

Read more: Why we pick bad leaders

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the best military negotiators adopt a creative, problem-solving approach. A more macho, "Rambo style" of negotiation -- in which the negotiator digs in inflexibly to a position they believe to be right -- is "just not effective," Weiss says, and could lead to fatal errors.

"When we're under pressure to act fast in a high-stakes situation, it often leads us to a set of traps," he adds. "We often act on perception and assumptions, we tend to use a strong position and dig in, we tend to use threats and we play a concessions game far too frequently."

Below are five key points into which Weiss has distilled the essence of successful deal-making, which he says are equally applicable whether you're dealing with potentially hostile stakeholders on the battlefield, or a fellow boardroom warrior. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What's the name of the article's subject?
2. What's his job?
3. Of what?
4. Who has he mostly taught?
5. For how long?
6. Who did he start teaching instead?
7. When did he start that?
8. Does Weiss think that the military can teach the executives something?
9. What kind of strategies do military officers take in negotiations?
10. What kind of strategy is not effective?
11. What are military leaders able to do?
12. What happens when we're under pressure?
13. What does Weiss say we do too often?
14. What kind of companies does Weiss's company work with?
15. What's the name of his company?
16. Where is it located?
17. What is his position there?
18. What's the name of the military program he started?
19. How many people took part in the program?
20. Does Weiss still work in the program?
Answer: 1. Jeff Weiss
2. Teacher
3. negotiation skills
4. executives
5. 20 years
6. military officers
7. a decade ago
8. Yes
9. a creative, problem-solving approach
10. A more macho, "Rambo style" of negotiation
11. take a deep breath, get perspective and negotiate through a set of strategies in extreme situations
12. it often leads us to a set of traps
13. use threats and play a concessions game
14. Fortune 500 companies
15. Vantage Partners
16. Boston
17. partner
18. The West Point Negotiation Project
19. unknown
20. unknown

CHAPTER XIII

LOST IN THE SNOW

"The ice-boat's gone!"

"Get back, boys, or we'll all be in the water!"

Ca-a-ac-ck! A long warning sound rang through the snow-laden air and the party of five felt the surface of the ice parting beneath them. They turned and sped away from the water with all the speed at their command, and soon the dangerous spot was left behind, but not before poor Hans had lost his cap and Sam had gotten his left foot wet to the ankle.

"By jinks! but that was a narrow shave!" gasped Dick, when they were safe. "A little more and all of us would have been under the ice."

"And that would have cost us our lives!" said Frank solemnly. "Boys, I don't believe I'll ever want to go ice-boating again."

"Mine cap vos gone," growled the German cadet dismally. "How vos I going to keep mine head from freezing, tole me dot, vill you?"

"That's rough on you," said Tom. "Here, take my tippet and tie that around your head and ears." And he took the article in question and handed it over.

"Dank you, Tom, you vos a goot feller. But vot you vos do to keep your neck varm, hey?"

"Here's a silk handkerchief, he can wear that," said Dick. "But I say, fellows," he went on. "I think we are mixed up now and no mistake."

"I am sure I am," answered Frank. "I haven't the least idea where the shore is."

"Nor I," came from Tom. "We'll have to go at it in a hit-or-miss fashion." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What did Tom give the German cadet?
2. What did he tell him to do with it?
3. Was the German cadet concerned that Tom would be cold?
4. What did Dick give to Tom?
5. Does Frank know where the shore is located?
6. What about Tom?
7. What broke underneath the men?
8. What sound did the ice make?
9. What did the men do when they heard the sound?
10. What did Hans lose?
11. What happened to Sam's foot?
12. Does Frank want to to ice-boating after this experience?
13. What is the name of the German cadet?
14. What does Tom suggest in order to locate the shore?
15. Did the men get away from the dangerous location?
16. What was Hans concerned would happen without his cap?
17. What did Dick say would happen if they hadn't gotten away in time?
18. Did Frank think that would have killed the men?
19. Did Tom give his tippet to Hans?
20. What did Hans call Tom?
Answer:
1. his tippet
2. tie that around your head and ears
3. Yes
4. a silk handkerchief
5. No
6. No
7. The ice-boat
8. Ca-a-ac-ck!
9. They turned and sped away
10. his cap
11. it was wet to the ankle
12. No
13. Hans
14. to go at it in a hit-or-miss fashion
15. Yes
16. his head might be freezing
17. all of us would have been under the ice
18. Yes
19. Yes
20. a goot feller