Question: When Gretchen Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her Blackberry at the door. 'I think we are attached to these devices in a way that is not always positive,' says Baxter,who'd rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. 'It's there and it beckons . That's human nature (but)...we kind of get crazy sometimes and we don't know where it should stop.'

Americans are connected at unprecedented levels93% now use cell phones or wireless devices;one third of those are 'smart phones' that allow users to browse the Web and check e-mail,among other things. The benefits are obvious: checking messages on the road,staying in touch with friends and family,efficiently using time once spent waiting around. The downside:often,we're effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.

That's why,despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever,2010 was the Year We Stopped Talking to One Another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work or checking e-mail while on a date,the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention,not to mention social anxiety. Many analysts say it's time to step back and reassess.

'What we're going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected like never before,' says Scott Campbell. 'It can be a good thing,but I also see new ways the traditional social fabric is getting somewhat torn apart.'

Our days are filled with beeps and pings*----many of which pull us away from tasks at hand or face-to-face conversations. We may feel that the distractions are too much,but we can't seem to stop posting,texting or surfing.

'We're going through a period of adjustment and rebalancing,' says Sherry Turkle and she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off.

'Our human purposes are to really have connections with people,' she says. 'We have to reclaim it. It's not going to take place by itself.' 1. Where does Gretchen work?
2. What does she do?
3. Does she have an iPhone?
4. What kind of phone does she have?
5. Does she use it at home?
6. What does she focus on instead?
7. How many people use cell phones?
8. How many of those are smartphones?
9. Is there a downside to being connected?
10. Does this effect face to face conversations?
11. How? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. New York City
2. she's an editor
3. no
4. a Blackberry
5. no
6. her husband and 12-year-old daughter
7. 93%
8. one third
9. we're effectively disconnecting from those in the same room
10. yes
11. Our days are filled with beeps and pings

Question: A couple who held hands at breakfast every morning even after 70 years of marriage have died 15 hours apart. Helen Felumlee, died at 92 on April 12. Her husband, 91-year-old Kenneth Felumlee, died the next morning.

The couple's eight children say the two had been inseparable since meeting as teenagers, once sharing the bottom of a bunk bed on a ferry rather than sleeping on night apart.

They remained deeply in love until the very end, even eating breakfast together while holding hands, said their daughter, Linda Cody. "We knew when one went, the other was going to go," she said. According to Cody, about 12 hours after Helen died, Kenneth looked at his children and said, "Mon's dead." He quickly began to fade, surrounded by 24 of his closest family members and friends when he died the next morning. "He was ready," Cody said, "He just didn't want to leave her here by herself."

Son Dick said his parents died of old age, surrounded by family.

The pair had known each other for several years when they eloped in Newport across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, on Feb. 20, 1994. At two days shy of his 21stbirthday, Kenneth-who went by Kenny-was too young to marry in Ohio. "He couldn't wait.' son Jim said.

Kenneth worked as a railroad car inspector and mechanic before becoming a mail carrier for the Post Office. He was active in the church as a Sunday teacher.

Helen stayed at home, not only cooking and cleaning for her own family but also for other families in need in the area. She taught Sunday school, too, but was known more for her greeting card ministry, sending cards for birthdays, sympathy and the holidays to everyone in her community, each with a personal note inside. "She kept Hallmark in business," daughter-in-law Debbie joked.

When Kenneth retired in 1983 and the children began to leave the house, the Felumlees began to explore their love of travel, visiting almost all 50 states by bus. "He didn't want to fly anywhere because you couldn't see anything as you were going," Jim said.

Although both experienced declining health in recent years, Cody said, each tried to stay strong for the other. "That's what kept them going," she said. 1. How long were Kenneth and Helen married?
2. Were they very close?
3. How did they show that they were in love?
4. How old were they when they passed?
5. Did they die close in time to each other?
6. How far apart?
7. Where were they when it happened?
8. Was anyone else there?
9. Who? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. 70 years
2. Yes
3. held hands at breakfast every morning even
4. 91 and 92
5. Ye
6. 15 hours
7. Home
8. Yes
9. family

Question: Plutarch (; , "Ploutarkhos", ; c. AD 46 AD 120), later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, () was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his "Parallel Lives" and "Moralia". He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.

Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about 80km (50 miles) east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. His family was wealthy. The name of Plutarch's father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, it was probably Nikarchus (). The name of Plutarch's grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in "Moralia" and in his "Life of Antony".

His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus, in his 1624 work "Life of Plutarchus", recovered the name of Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother. Interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. 1. where was Plutarch born?
2. how far from Delphi is that?
3. how many kilometers is that?
4. what year was he born?
5. was he from a wealthy family?
6. how many brothers did he have?
7. were they named Timone and Pumba?
8. what did Plutarch do for a living?
9. who discovered his wife's name?
10. what was her name? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. Chaeronea
2. 50 miles
3. 80km
4. AD46
5. Yes
6. Two
7. Yes
8. Greek biographer and essayist
9. Rualdus
10. Timoxena