Q: (CNN) -- Before the Arab Spring came the Damascus Spring. When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez Assad in 2000, there was the promise of a modern and more democratic Syria.

In his inauguration speech, al-Assad indicated he would be a very different kind of leader to his father. "I shall try my very best to lead our country towards a future that fulfils the hopes and legitimate ambitions of our people," he said.

And for a while that promise was kept. His official website says he has built free-trade zones, licensed more private newspapers and private universities, and fought government waste and corruption. He has also worked on social and economic reform.

But while there have been some changes during his rule, many say al-Assad's promises have largely not been delivered.

Human Rights Watch has called his time as president "the wasted decade" with a media that remains controlled by the state, a monitored and censored internet and prisons still filled with dissidents.

Two former regime insiders -- now its opponents -- recalled their time with the younger al-Assad. Former vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam said Bashar was often the victim of his elder brother's cruelty. "His brother Basil bullied him as a child. His father never gave him as much attention as Basil," Khaddam said.

Al-Assad's uncle Rifaat, who left Syria in 1984 after being involved in a failed coup, also recalled the future president.

"He is very different than his father. Hafez was a leader, the head of the entire regime, while Bashar was never that close to being one and never fell within that framework. He is being perceived as the leader but he follows what the regime decides on his behalf."

Answer the following questions:
1. What came before the Arab Spring?
2. Who succeeded his father?
3. Who was his father?
4. When?
5. Was there a promise?
6. of what?
7. What does his website say he built?
8. Anything else?
9. What kind of reform has he worked on?
10. Have there been changes under his rule?
11. Has he delivered on his promise?
12. What did a group call his time as president?
13. Who said that
14. who is Abdel Halim Khaddam?
15. Who is Basil?
16. Who is Rifaat?
17. When did he leave Syria?
18. Why?
19. Did he say Bashar was different than his father?
20. Does he think Bashar is a leader?
A: 1. Damascus Spring
2. Bashar al-Assad
3. Hafez Assad
4. 2000
5. Yes
6. A more modern and democratic Syria
7. Free-trade zones
8. He fought government waste and corruption
9. Social and economic
10. Yes
11. Many say no.
12. The wasted decade
13. Human Rights Watch
14. Former vice president of Syria
15. Bashar's brother
16. Al-Assad's uncle
17. 1984
18. He was involved in a failed coup
19. Yes
20. No
Q: Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at the age of 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV. He appeared in more than 800 commercials for the hamburger chain named for his daughter. "As long as it works", he said in 1991, "I'll continue to do those commercials."

Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood. "He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes," Wendy said in 1993. Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan. After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work. "He fed me," Thomas said, "and if I got out of line, he'd beat me."

Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants. But he had something much better in mind. "I thought if I owned a restaurant," he said, "I could eat for free." A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.

In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers. With 6,000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes $ 6 billion a year in sales.

Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children. He started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in 1992.

In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida. He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party. The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.

"The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave," says friend Pat Williams. "He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker . _ ."

Answer the following questions:
1. Why did Thomas have misshapen feet?
2. Who died when he was 5?
3. How was she related to him?
4. What work did his adopted father do?
5. Where were they from originally?
6. Did they stay there throughout Thomas' childhood?
7. When did Thomas move out?
8. What was his first job?
9. What happened in 1956?
10. What job did it lead to?
11. When did Thomas become a millionaire?
12. Where was Wendy's founded?
13. In what year?
14. When did Thomas marry?
15. Who is his wife?
16. How many children do they have?
17. Did Thomas feel that he was happily adopted?
18. In response, what did he create?
19. In what year?
20. At what age did Thomas die?
21. Who was Wendy?
A:
1. he never had proper fitting shoes
2. Auleva
3. his adopted mother
4. construction
5. Kalamazoo
6. no
7. at age 15
8. a waiter
9. a meeting with Harland Sanders
10. manager
11. in 1968
12. Columbus, Ohio
13. 1969
14. 1954
15. Lorraine
16. five
17. no with adoption,
18. the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
19. 1992
20. 69
21. his daughter