Q: Europeans should try to stay indoors if ash from Iceland's volcano starts settling, the World Health Organization warned Friday as small amounts fell in Iceland, Scotland and Norway. WHO spokesman Daniel Epstein said the tiny ash is potentially dangerous for people when it starts to reach the Earth because particles taken in by people can enter the lungs and cause breathing problems. And he also said Europeans who go outside might want to consider wearing a mask. Other experts, however, weren't convinced the volcanic ash would have a major effect on peoples' health and said WHO's warnings were " _ ." They said volcanic ash was much less dangerous than cigarette smoke or pollution. Volcanic ash is made of fine particles of fragmented volcanic rock. It is light gray to black and can be as fine as talcum powder . During a volcanic eruption, the ash can be breathed deep into the lungs and cause irritation (,) even in healthy people. But once it falls from a greater distance -- like from the cloud currently hovering above Europe -- its health effects are often minimal, experts say. "Not all particles are created equal," said Ken Donaldson, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, "In the great scheme of things, volcanic ash is not all that harmful." And he said most Europeans' exposure to volcanic ash would be ignored and that only those in the near districts of the Icelandic volcano would likely be at risk. Dr. Stephen Spiro, a professor of the British Lung Foundation, said the further the particles travel, the less dangerous they will be. "The cloud has already passed over northern Scotland and we haven't heard of any ill effects there," he said. Spiro said to wear masks or stay indoors to avoid volcanic ash was "over the top" and "a bit hysterical."

1. Daniel Epstein
2. WHO
3. Yes
4. World Health Organization
5. Yes
6. Friday
7. They should try to stay indoors
8. Europeans
9. No
10. Yes
11. Dr. Stephen Spiro
12. British Lung Foundation
13. University of Edinburgh
14. professor

Numbered questions:
1. who speaks for the organization?
2. what is it called?
3. is than an acronym?
4. what does it stand for?
5. did they issue a warning?
6. on what day?
7. what did it say?
8. who?
9. did something fall?
10. is a doctor mentioned?
11. his name?
12. where does he work?
13. where does Ken work?
14. his job?

Q: Cyprus (i/saprs/; Greek: IPA: [cipros]; Turkish: Kbrs IPA: [kbs]), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: ; Turkish: Kbrs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coasts of Syria and Turkey.[e] Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and a member state of the European Union. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt and east of Greece.

The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC. As a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians, from whom the island was seized in 333 BC by Alexander the Great. Subsequent rule by Ptolemaic Egypt, the Classical and Eastern Roman Empire, Arab caliphates for a short period, the French Lusignan dynasty and the Venetians, was followed by over three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 (de jure until 1914).

1. the Neolithic village of Khirokitia
2. from the 10th millennium BC
3. in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea
4. by Mycenaean Greeks
5. the 2nd millennium BC
6. Nine
7. yes
8. The Ottoman's
9. between 1571 and 1878
10. no

Numbered questions:
1. what did archaeologists find?
2. from what time frame?
3. where is it located?
4. who were the settlers in the area?
5. when did they settle?
6. how many people occupied it?
7. was it ever conquered?
8. by who?
9. when did they hold power?
10. is it the most populated place in the Sea?

Q: Jews originated as a national and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in the part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel. The Merneptah Stele appears to confirm the existence of a people of Israel, associated with the god El, somewhere in Canaan as far back as the 13th century BCE. The Israelites, as an outgrowth of the Canaanite population, consolidated their hold with the emergence of the Kingdom of Israel, and the Kingdom of Judah. Some consider that these Canaanite sedentary Israelites melded with incoming nomadic groups known as 'Hebrews'. Though few sources in the Bible mention the exilic periods in detail, the experience of diaspora life, from the Ancient Egyptian rule over the Levant, to Assyrian Captivity and Exile, to Babylonian Captivity and Exile, to Seleucid Imperial rule, to the Roman occupation, and the historical relations between Israelites and the homeland, became a major feature of Jewish history, identity and memory.

1. as far back as the 13th century BCE
2. somewhere in Canaan
3. The Merneptah Stele
4. in the Middle East
5. during the second millennium BCE
6. a national and religious group
7. Kingdom of Israel
8. god El
9. Canaanite
10. incoming nomadic groups
11. 'Hebrews'
12. the Roman occupation
13. no
14. historical relations between Israelites and the homeland
15. unknown

Numbered questions:
1. How long have people in Israel existed?
2. Where?
3. According to what?
4. Where did Jews originate?
5. When?
6. What kind of group were they?
7. What did they call their homeland?
8. What god did the first Israelites associate with?
9. What population did they grow from?
10. What group of people did they merge with?
11. Combined, what were they known as?
12. What was one of many historical events that influenced Jewish identity?
13. Is it referenced in detail within the Bible?
14. Were there any other major historical events that influenced the area?
15. How many groups of people were held captive and eventually exiled?