Problem: (RealSimple.com) -- A lengthy separation -- and a surprise trip to Paris -- caused this husband and wife to realize that their marriage could be saved.

Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger Washington, D.C. Married 26 years

Mary was still in her nightgown and robe, sipping a cappuccino in the kitchen of the Washington, D.C., brownstone she shared with her husband, Del, when he walked in and announced he wanted to live alone. They had been married for 21 years.

"I didn't know what had hit me," Mary, 64, recalls of that fall morning in 2005. "I wondered, does he have a girlfriend? A boyfriend? I had no idea what was wrong."

Although the couple's relationship had been strained for a few months, Mary simply assumed they were going through a rough patch. She attributed Del's loss of interest in sex and his suddenly quick temper to stress from his high-pressure job as a financial analyst.

"Del was so on edge that he would yell at me about every little thing -- like a knife accidentally placed in the dishwasher with the point up," says Mary, a writer and a teacher. Still, she figured that things would soon return to normal.

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For Del, the decision had been a long time coming. Increasingly restless within his marriage, he wondered whether it was holding him back from leading a more exciting life. "I knew the problem wasn't Mary -- it was me," he says. "And I felt I needed to work through my mixed emotions alone."
1. What caused the couple to not separate?
2. What were their names?
3. How long had they been married for?
4. What state were they in?
5. How did Mary react when Del told him he wanted to live alone?
6. Had their relationship been strained for a while?
7. What did Mary assume?
8. What was Mary's profession?
9. How would Del react towards Mary?
10. What year was it when Del told her he wanted to live alone?
11. Did Del blame Mary?
Answer: 1. a trip to Paris
2. Mary L. Tabor and Del Persinger
3. 26 years
4. Washington, D.C.
5. she had no idea what was wrong
6. yes
7. they were going through a rough patch
8. a writer and a teacher
9. he would yell at her
10. 2005
11. no

Problem: The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Alaska (United States), Northern Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost-containing tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places.

The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth's ecosystems. For example, the cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold and extreme conditions. In recent years, Arctic sea ice decline has been caused by global warming. Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants and human societies. Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic.

The word Arctic comes from the Greek word ("arktikos"), "near the Bear, northern" and that from the word ("arktos"), meaning bear. The name refers either to the constellation Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which is prominent in the northern portion of the celestial sphere, or to the constellation Ursa Minor, the "Little Bear", which contains Polaris, the Pole star, also known as the North Star.
1. how many countries make up the Arctic?
2. is it warm there?
3. is there anywhere else like it in the world?
4. what lives there?
5. what borders it?
6. what language is the word taken from?
7. what does it mean?
8. where is the area located?
9. are any bodies of water included in its area
10. what is one of them?
Answer: 1. Eight
2. No
3. No
4. organisms living in the ice, zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants and human societies.
5. subarctic.
6. Greek
7. near the Bear, northern
8. the northernmost part of Earth
9. Yes
10. the Arctic Ocean

Problem: For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is connected to sweet memories of eating ice cream. Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety. His career of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors changed the way Americans enjoy this food.

Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California. At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream. His sister's husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores.

In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business. Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well. So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store. This permitted the company to grow quickly.

By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins. They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had. There was one flavor for every day of the month.

Robbins and Baskin sold "Lunar Cheesecake " the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969. Other flavors included "ChaChaCha", for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins' personal favorite "Jamoca Almond Fudge". They said, "We sell fun, not just ice cream."

By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States. The business partners sold their company that year. Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world.
1. Who helped create the company?
2. How old was he when he died?
3. When did he open his first store?
4. Where?
5. Were there any other stores like it?
6. Who is Burton Baskin?
7. When did they form one business?
8. What did they name it?
9. When?
10. How many flavors?
11. That was one for every what?
12. What did they do after the moon landing?
13. In what year?
14. What did they call cherry chocolate chip
15. What was robbins favorite?
16. What do they sell...not just ice cream?
17. When they formed one business, who did they sell their stores to?
18. How many stores were there in 1967?
19. In the world?
20. How many are there today?
Answer:
1. Irvine Robbins
2. ninety
3. 1945
4. California
5. no
6. His sister's husband who also opened his own ice cream stores.
7. 1948
8. Baskin-Robbin
9. 1953
10. 31
11. every day of the month.
12. sold "Lunar Cheesecake "
13. 1969
14. ChaChaCha
15. amoca Almond Fudge
16. "We sell fun
17. to the manager
18. 500
19. in the United States
20. 5,800