Q: Ted Brown's dream as a child was an unusual one: he wanted to fly. What was more unusual was the way in which he made his dream come true. After high school, he wanted to join the U. S. Air Force but he failed because of his poor eyesight. However, his dream remained. At the age of 33, Ted was a truck driver in Los Angeles. One day, while sitting outside in his garden, he watched planes fly overhead and an idea came to him: to use balloons to fly. A few weeks later, Ted bought 42 huge balloons. He tied them to a chair and then he sat down in the chair with some beer, sandwiches and a gun. His plan was to fly to 10 meters above his garden, enjoy a few hours in the air, and then shoot some balloons with his gun to get back down. But things did not go as he planned. Once his friends cut the ropes under Ted's chair, the 42 balloons flew into the sky at an astonishing speed until about 4000 meters above the ground with Ted and his chair. He didn't shoot any of the balloons because he was afraid he might break the balanee of his "plane". Ted stayed in the sky with his beer and sandwiches for 14 hours, cold and frightened. Planes heading towards Los Angeles' busy international airport reported the strange sight. And Ted' s balloons caused great danger to them. At last, Ted gathered his courage to shoot a few balloons and slowly landed on the ground, where many policemen were waiting for him. Ted made his dream come true, but it cost him: he was fined $ 1,500 for breaking the law about air safety. When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Ted answered, "A man can't just sit around and do nothing; he should have his dream and go for it. "

1. fly
2. no
3. yes
4. After high school
5. poor eyesight.
6. balloons
7. a chair
8. yes
9. no
10. 33
11. truck driver
12. at an astonishing speed
13. beer
14. sandwiches
15. a gun
16. to shoot some balloons
17. get him back down
18. 10 meters above his garden
19. 4000 meters above the ground
20. yes

Numbered questions:
1. What did Ted want to do?
2. Did he join the Air Force?
3. Did he try?
4. When?
5. Why didn't he join?
6. When did Ted buy to help him fly?
7. What did he use for a seat?
8. Did he attach the balloons to his seat?
9. Was it tethered?
10. How old was he at this time?
11. What was his occupation?
12. After the chair was launched how fast did it fly?
13. What did he take with him?
14. Anything else?
15. What else?
16. What did he need that for?
17. What would that do?
18. How high did he intend to go?
19. How high did he go?
20. Did it cost him?

Q: USA Today is an internationally distributed American daily middle-market newspaper that serves as the flagship publication of its owner, the Gannett Company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, it operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters on Jones Branch Drive in McLean, Virginia. It is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. Its dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional and national newspapers worldwide, through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and its inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features.

With a weekly circulation of 1,021,638 and an approximate daily reach of seven million readers , "USA Today" shares the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States with "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times". "USA Today" is distributed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with an international edition distributed in Canada, Asia and the Pacific Islands, and Europe.

The development of "USA Today" commenced on February 29, 1980, when company staff employed for a task force known as "Project NN" met with Gannett Company chairman Al Neuharth in Cocoa Beach, Florida to develop a national newspaper. Early, regional prototypes included "East Bay Today", an Oakland, California-based publication first published in the late 1970s to serve as the morning edition of the "Oakland Tribune", an afternoon newspaper which Gannett owned at the time. On June 11, 1981, Gannett printed the first prototypes of the proposed publication; the copies, which displayed two proposed design layouts, were mailed to various newsmakers and prominent leaders in journalism for review and input. The Gannett Company's Board of Directors approved the launch of the national newspaper, which would be titled "USA Today", on December 5, 1981; with the launch, Neuharth was appointed president and publisher of the newspaper, adding those responsibilities to his existing position as Gannett's chief executive officer.

1. 1,021,638
2. 7 million readers
3. No
4. Yes
5. yes
6. The Gannett Company
7. True
8. In McLean, Virginia
9. Jones Branch Drive
10. No
11. 42 places total
12. True
13. informational graphics
14. colorized images
15. popular culture stories
16. Al Neuharth
17. Project NN
18. They wanted to develop a national newspaper
19. Cocoa Beach
20. December 5, 1981

Numbered questions:
1. How many copies of USA Today go out per week?
2. How many people read it each day?
3. Are any U.S. newspapers as widely read as it?
4. Can you find the paper in Puerto Rico?
5. What about Alaska?
6. What company owns the paper?
7. True or False: It is their most important publication.
8. Where is the paper headquartered?
9. On what street?
10. Is it only printed there?
11. In how many places is it printed?
12. True or False: The paper has had an influential design.
13. What is one component of the paper's design?
14. And another?
15. And one more?
16. Who chairs the Gannett Company?
17. People from what work group met him in Florida?
18. What was the goal of their meeting?
19. Where in Florida did they meet?
20. When was the paper launched?

Q: George had stolen some money, but the police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.

Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him, "Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it ---- that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty."

"Well, George,"answered Jim. "I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me."

George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him, and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help.

The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty, with a strong recommendation for mercy.

Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed to persuade the other members of the jury to recommend mercy.

"Well, George," Jim answered, "as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed it in the end by tiring them out. Do you know, those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty!"

1. five hours

Numbered questions:
1. How long did it take the Jury to decide their verdict?