Problem: CHAPTER XXIII. THE OVERWHELMING ODDS

At half-past ten that same evening, Blakeney, still clad in a workman's tattered clothes, his feet bare so that he could tread the streets unheard, turned into the Rue de la Croix Blanche.

The porte-cochere of the house where Armand lodged had been left on the latch; not a soul was in sight. Peering cautiously round, he slipped into the house. On the ledge of the window, immediately on his left when he entered, a candle was left burning, and beside it there was a scrap of paper with the initials S. P. roughly traced in pencil. No one challenged him as he noiselessly glided past it, and up the narrow stairs that led to the upper floor. Here, too, on the second landing the door on the right had been left on the latch. He pushed it open and entered.

As is usual even in the meanest lodgings in Paris houses, a small antechamber gave between the front door and the main room. When Percy entered the antechamber was unlighted, but the door into the inner room beyond was ajar. Blakeney approached it with noiseless tread, and gently pushed it open.

That very instant he knew that the game was up; he heard the footsteps closing up behind him, saw Armand, deathly pale, leaning against the wall in the room in front of him, and Chauvelin and Heron standing guard over him.

The next moment the room and the antechamber were literally alive with soldiers--twenty of them to arrest one man.
1. what was burning?
2. what city was he in?
3. what was between the door and main room?
4. was it lit?
5. was he heavyfooted?
6. was he followed?
7. by whom?
8. Who was being guarded?
Answer: 1. a candle
2. Paris
3. soldiers
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. Armand,
8. Yes

Q: Paris, France (CNN) -- She's been called "beautiful," "hot" and "sexy" but when it comes to tennis, the most apt description for Maria Sharapova has to be "tough."

The Russian rallied from a set down three straight times to reach this year's French Open final and then prevailed in Saturday's thrilling three-hour finale against rising star Simona Halep, 6-4 6-7 6-4.

"This is the toughest grand slam final I've ever played," Sharapova, who was contesting a ninth such match, summed up as she collected her trophy.

Even after losing the second set and hitting a flurry of double faults, Sharapova still had the edge.

She's almost a sure thing in third sets on clay, having triumphed 20 times in a row. It's been six years since the 27-year-old was defeated after capturing the first set in a clay-court match, too.

But if Halep maintains this form, it won't be long before she opens her grand slam account.

Smaller and with less power than Sharapova, the Romanian nonetheless almost did the unthinkable -- toughing out the now five-time grand slam champion. Her manager, Virginia Ruzici, remains the last Romanian to win a grand slam, in Paris in 1978.

Sharapova famously uttered in 2007 that she felt like a "cow on ice" playing on clay but the French Open has now become her most productive grand slam -- it's the only one she's won more than once and it's the only one she's won after two serious shoulder injuries in 2008 and 2013.

Answer the following questions:
1. What does Maria Sharapova do?
2. What tennis match has she competed in?
3. Who did she compete against?
4. Was she victorious?
5. How long was the match?
6. What was the score at the end of the first round?
7. The second?
8. The third?
9. How many times has she won in a row in third sets on clay?
10. Has she lost after winning the first round on clay?
11. How many years ago?
12. How old is she?
13. Has she won any competitions more than once?
14. Which?
A: 1. tennis player
2. French Open
3. Simona Halep
4. Yes
5. three hours
6. 6-4
7. 6-7
8. 6-4
9. 20
10. Yes
11. six years
12. 27
13. Yes
14. French Open

Problem: (CNN) -- The names on the formal, state-government-erected memorial signs by the sides of Ohio highways are not famous to the outside world.

But once you know the story behind them, you understand completely. You look at those signs and you offer a silent word of thanks.

Usually stretches of highways around the country are named for politicians, or for renowned figures from American history, or perhaps for singing stars or athletes or Hollywood actors who were born in the area.

For the last several years, though, whenever I've been in Ohio I have noticed the highway signs with the unfamiliar names.

Last week I got in touch with the Ohio Department of Transportation to ask about them.

The answer makes you want to pause humbly.

On August 31, 2009, Marine Lance Cpl. David R. Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, was killed in an explosion while serving in Garmsir, Afghanistan. He was 31; he worked at a Ford assembly plant back home before joining the Marines.

In most cases of fallen service members, there is a solemn funeral ceremony when their remains are returned home, and a respectful obituary in the local newspaper. It can feel all too fleeting.

But in Ohio, in recent years, there has been an effort to do more.

Which is why the Ohio General Assembly authorized that a stretch of State Route 2 in Lorain County -- David Hall's home county -- be named, now and forever, to honor him.

"After the General Assembly votes to name a portion of a highway, we manufacture the signs and put them up at the designated places," said Steve Faulkner, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation. He said that two signs are usually erected, each facing a different direction, so that people in cars on either side of the highway will see the honoree's name.
1. From what state is David R. Hall?
2. From what city?
3. What branch of the military was he in?
4. Was he killed?
5. How?
6. While stationed where?
7. How old was he when he died?
8. What kind of plant did he work at before?
9. A stretch of what was named to honor him?
10. In what county?
11. Who authorized this?
12. What position does Steve Faulkner hold?
13. For?
14. Why are two signs put up to face a different location?
Answer:
1. Ohio
2. Elyria
3. Marines
4. yes
5. in an explosion
6. in Garmsir, Afghanistan
7. 31
8. Ford assembly plant
9. State Route 2
10. US
11. Ohio General Assembly
12. a spokesman
13. Ohio Department of Transportation
14. so that people in cars on either side of the highway will see the honoree's name