the-coorporation/the_squad_qg huggingface dataset:
Testimony given to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission by Richard M. Bowen III on events during his tenure as the Business Chief Underwriter for Correspondent Lending in the Consumer Lending Group for Citigroup (where he was responsible for over 220 professional underwriters) suggests that by the final years of the U.S. housing bubble (2006–2007), the collapse of mortgage underwriting standards was endemic. His testimony stated that by 2006, 60% of mortgages purchased by Citi from some 1,600 mortgage companies were "defective" (were not underwritten to policy, or did not contain all policy-required documents) – this, despite the fact that each of these 1,600 originators was contractually responsible (certified via representations and warrantees) that its mortgage originations met Citi's standards. Moreover, during 2007, "defective mortgages (from mortgage originators contractually bound to perform underwriting to Citi's standards) increased... to over 80% of production".

Questions:
Richard M. Bowen III testified to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission regarding his tenure at which financial institution?
How many underwriters was Richard M. Bowen III responsible for at Citigroup?
What percent of mortgages purchased by Citigroup in 2006 were defective?
In 2006, how many mortgage companies were contractually responsible to meet Citi's standards?
During 2007, what was the percent of defective mortgages not underwritten to Citi's standards?
Text is frequently incorporated into comics via speech balloons, captions, and sound effects. Speech balloons indicate dialogue (or thought, in the case of thought balloons), with tails pointing at their respective speakers. Captions can give voice to a narrator, convey characters' dialogue or thoughts, or indicate place or time. Speech balloons themselves are strongly associated with comics, such that the addition of one to an image is sufficient to turn the image into comics. Sound effects mimic non-vocal sounds textually using onomatopoeia sound-words.

Questions:
What association with comics is strong?
The presence of a single speech balloon in an image turns it into what?
What type of words are used to do sound effects in comics?
Texts on architecture have been written since ancient time. These texts provided both general advice and specific formal prescriptions or canons. Some examples of canons are found in the writings of the 1st-century BCE Roman Architect Vitruvius. Some of the most important early examples of canonic architecture are religious.

Questions:
When were architectural writings first made?
Aside from general advice what did the texts contain?
What is another term for specific formal prescriptions?
When did Vitruvius write his canons?
What is a significant early architectural canonical type?
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants in either manuscripts or printed books. Ancient scribes made alterations when copying manuscripts by hand. Given a manuscript copy, several or many copies, but not the original document, the textual critic might seek to reconstruct the original text (the archetype or autograph) as closely as possible. The same processes can be used to attempt to reconstruct intermediate versions, or recensions, of a document's transcription history. The ultimate objective of the textual critic's work is the production of a "critical edition" containing a scholarly curated text.

Questions:
What type of documents does a textual critic usually analyze?
What is the goal of the textual critic?
What is the proper name for textual scholarship?
Why are there differences in ancient copies of the same text?
What do textual critics call a revised edition of a text?
Thai alphabet support has been criticized for its ordering of Thai characters. The vowels เ, แ, โ, ใ, ไ that are written to the left of the preceding consonant are in visual order instead of phonetic order, unlike the Unicode representations of other Indic scripts. This complication is due to Unicode inheriting the Thai Industrial Standard 620, which worked in the same way, and was the way in which Thai had always been written on keyboards. This ordering problem complicates the Unicode collation process slightly, requiring table lookups to reorder Thai characters for collation. Even if Unicode had adopted encoding according to spoken order, it would still be problematic to collate words in dictionary order. E.g., the word แสดง  [sa dɛːŋ] "perform" starts with a consonant cluster "สด" (with an inherent vowel for the consonant "ส"), the vowel แ-, in spoken order would come after the ด, but in a dictionary, the word is collated as it is written, with the vowel following the ส.

Questions:
What standard did Unicode inherit involving a Thai language? 
Why has Thai alphabet support been criticized? 
How are the Thai characters ordered incorrectly?
That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed onto a train en route to Abilene, Kansas, the last time a funeral train has been used as part of funeral proceedings of an American president. His body arrived on April 2, and was interred later that day in a small chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library. The president's body was buried as a General of the Army. The family used an $80 standard soldier's casket, and dressed Eisenhower's body in his famous short green jacket. His only medals worn were: the Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Eisenhower is buried alongside his son Doud, who died at age 3 in 1921. His wife Mamie was buried next to him after her death in 1979.

Questions:
When did Eisenhower's funeral train arrive in Abilene, Kansas?
What was the cost of Eisenhower's casket?
At what location was Eisenhower buried?
What color jacket was Eisenhower buried in?
When did Mamie Eisenhower die?
That said, the score does not provide complete and exact instructions on how to perform a historical work. Even if the tempo is written with an Italian instruction (e.g., Allegro), we do not know exactly how fast the piece should be played. As well, in the Baroque era, many works that were designed for basso continuo accompaniment do not specify which instruments should play the accompaniment or exactly how the chordal instrument (harpsichord, lute, etc.) should play the chords, which are not notated in the part (only a figured bass symbol beneath the bass part is used to guide the chord-playing performer). The performer and/or the conductor have a range of options for musical expression and interpretation of a scored piece, including the phrasing of melodies, the time taken during fermatas (held notes) or pauses, and the use (or choice not to use) of effects such as vibrato or glissando (these effects are possible on various stringed, brass and woodwind instruments and with the human voice).

Questions:
The score does not provide complete and exact instruction on how to do what?
In what era were many works designed for basso continuo accompaniment? 
Vibrato and glissando are possible on stringed, brass, woodwind and what other style instrument?
What are fermatas?
That same year, the comedy Junior was released, the last of Schwarzenegger's three collaborations with Ivan Reitman and again co-starring Danny DeVito. This film brought him his second Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy. It was followed by the action thriller Eraser (1996), the Christmas comedy Jingle All The Way (1996), and the comic book-based Batman & Robin (1997), in which he played the villain Mr. Freeze. This was his final film before taking time to recuperate from a back injury. Following the critical failure of Batman & Robin, his film career and box office prominence went into decline. He returned with the supernatural thriller End of Days (1999), later followed by the action films The 6th Day (2000) and Collateral Damage (2002), both of which failed to do well at the box office. In 2003, he made his third appearance as the title character in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which went on to earn over $150 million domestically.

Questions:
What was Schwarzenegger's second film with co-star Danny DeVito?
How much did the third Terminator movie make domestically alone?
That year, Queen began The Works Tour, the first tour to feature keyboardist Spike Edney as an extra live musician. The tour featured nine sold-out dates in October in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, at the arena in Sun City. Upon returning to England, they were the subject of outrage, having played in South Africa during the height of apartheid and in violation of worldwide divestment efforts and a United Nations cultural boycott. The band responded to the critics by stating that they were playing music for fans in South Africa, and they also stressed that the concerts were played before integrated audiences. Queen donated to a school for the deaf and blind as a philanthropic gesture but were fined by the British Musicians' Union and placed on the United Nations' blacklisted artists.

Questions:
Which Queen tour was the first to feature Spike Edney?
Queen's Spike Edney plays what instrument?
Who fined Queen for donating to a school for the deaf and blind?
Where did Queen play during the height of Apartheid?
The "Bleacher Bums" is a name given to fans, many of whom spend much of the day heckling, who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field. Initially, the group was called "bums" because it referred to a group of fans who were at most games, and since those games were all day games, it was assumed they did not work. Many of those fans were, and are still, students at Chicago area colleges, such as DePaul University, Loyola, Northwestern University, and Illinois-Chicago. A Broadway play, starring Joe Mantegna, Dennis Farina, Dennis Franz, and James Belushi ran for years and was based on a group of Cub fans who frequented the club's games. The group was started in 1967 by dedicated fans Ron Grousl, Tom Nall and "mad bugler" Mike Murphy, who was a sports radio host during mid days on Chicago-based WSCR AM 670 "The Score". Murphy alleges that Grousl started the Wrigley tradition of throwing back opposing teams' home run balls. The current group is headed by Derek Schaul (Derek the Five Dollar Kid). Prior to the 2006 season, they were updated, with new shops and private bar (The Batter's Eye) being added, and Bud Light bought naming rights to the bleacher section, dubbing them the Bud Light Bleachers. Bleachers at Wrigley are general admission, except during the playoffs. The bleachers have been referred to as the "World's Largest Beer Garden." A popular T-shirt (sold inside the park and licensed by the club) which says "Wrigley Bleachers" on the front and the phrase "Shut Up and Drink Your Beer" on the reverse fuels this stereotype.

Questions:
What nickname has been given to the fans who sit in the bleacher section at Wrigley Field?
Who heads the current group?
What did Bud Light dub the bleacher section?
The "Core-to-Shore" project was created to relocate I-40 one mile (1.6 km) south and replace it with a boulevard to create a landscaped entrance to the city. This also allows the central portion of the city to expand south and connect with the shore of the Oklahoma River. Several elements of "Core to Shore" were included in the MAPS 3 proposal approved by voters in late 2009.

Questions:
What was the name of the project to change the location of I-40 and make a new entrance to the city?
What year was the Core to Shore project voted for to be part of the MAPS program?
The "Fan Save" was introduced in the fourteenth season. During the finals, viewers are given a five-minute window to vote for the contestants in danger of elimination by using their Twitter account to decide which contestant will move on to the next show, starting with the Top 8.

Questions:
In which season was the "Fan Save" first used?
How do people vote using the fan save?
What was introduced in season 14 to allow the fans to help save a contestant?
How do viewers vote for a contestant using Fan Save?
When does the Fan Save start?
The "General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples" grants all indigenous languages spoken in Mexico, regardless of the number of speakers, the same validity as Spanish in all territories in which they are spoken, and indigenous peoples are entitled to request some public services and documents in their native languages. Along with Spanish, the law has granted them — more than 60 languages — the status of "national languages". The law includes all indigenous languages of the Americas regardless of origin; that is, it includes the indigenous languages of ethnic groups non-native to the territory. As such the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the language of the Kickapoo, who immigrated from the United States, and recognizes the languages of the Guatemalan indigenous refugees. The Mexican government has promoted and established bilingual primary and secondary education in some indigenous rural communities. Nonetheless, of the indigenous peoples in Mexico, only about 67% of them (or 5.4% of the country's population) speak an indigenous language and about a sixth do not speak Spanish (1.2% of the country's population).

Questions:
What grants all indigenous languages spoken in Mexico validity? 
What are indigenous peoples entitled to request?
What has the Mexican government promoted in some indigenous rural communities?
How many languages have been giving the status of "national languages"?
How many of the indigenous peoples in Mexico speak an indigenous language?
The "Jeltoqsan" (Kazakh for "December") of 1986 were riots in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, sparked by Gorbachev's dismissal of Dinmukhamed Konayev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan and an ethnic Kazakh, who was replaced with Gennady Kolbin, an outsider from the Russian SFSR. Demonstrations started in the morning of December 17, 1986, with 200 to 300 students in front of the Central Committee building on Brezhnev Square protesting Konayev's dismissal and replacement by a Russian. Protesters swelled to 1,000 to 5,000 as other students joined the crowd. The CPK Central Committee ordered troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, druzhiniki (volunteers), cadets, policemen, and the KGB to cordon the square and videotape the participants. The situation escalated around 5 p.m., as troops were ordered to disperse the protesters. Clashes between the security forces and the demonstrators continued throughout the night in Almaty.

Questions:
What is the English translation of the word Jeltoqsan?
Who was fired by Gorbachev causing riots?
What position did Konayev hold in Kazakhstan prior to his removal?
Who took the place of Konayev?
When were the first demonstrations in Kazakhstan to protest the removal and replacement of Konayev?
The "Lophotrochozoa" hypothesis is also supported by the fact that many phyla within this group, including annelids, molluscs, nemerteans and flatworms, follow a similar pattern in the fertilized egg's development. When their cells divide after the 4-cell stage, descendants of these 4 cells form a spiral pattern. In these phyla the "fates" of the embryo's cells, in other words the roles their descendants will play in the adult animal, are the same and can be predicted from a very early stage. Hence this development pattern is often described as "spiral determinate cleavage".

Questions:
Which Lophotrochozoa phyla have similar egg development?
How do the cells of Lophotrochozoa eggs arrange themselves?
What is the Lophotrochozoa spiral egg-cell pattern sometimes called?
The "Mittelschule" is a school in some States of Germany that offers regular classes and remedial classes but no college preparatory classes. In some States of Germany, the Hauptschule does not exist, and any student who has not been accepted by another school has to attend the Mittelschule. Students may be awarded the Hauptschulabschluss or the Mittlere Reife but not the Abitur.

Questions:
What kind of classes are not offered in Mittelschule?
What certificate is not available to Mittelschule students?
What kind of school is not available in some parts of Germany?
The "Neo-Eriksonian" identity status paradigm emerged in later years[when?], driven largely by the work of James Marcia. This paradigm focuses upon the twin concepts of exploration and commitment. The central idea is that any individual's sense of identity is determined in large part by the explorations and commitments that he or she makes regarding certain personal and social traits. It follows that the core of the research in this paradigm investigates the degrees to which a person has made certain explorations, and the degree to which he or she displays a commitment to those explorations.

Questions:
What identity status paradigm emerged due to the work of James Marcia?
The Neo-Eriksonian identity status paradigm focuses on what twin concepts?
In the Neo-Eriksonian identity status paradigm, exploration and commitments determine what in large part?
The "No Surprises" rule is meant to protect the landowner if "unforeseen circumstances" occur which make the landowner's efforts to prevent or mitigate harm to the species fall short. The "No Surprises" policy may be the most controversial of the recent reforms of the law, because once an Incidental Take Permit is granted, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) loses much ability to further protect a species if the mitigation measures by the landowner prove insufficient. The landowner or permittee would not be required to set aside additional land or pay more in conservation money. The federal government would have to pay for additional protection measures.

Questions:
What is the name of the rule that protects the landowner if their conservation efforts fall short?
Why is this particular rule so controversial?
If the landowner fails to adequately protect the species, what penalties do they face with the "No Surprises" rule?
Who covers the cost of additional efforts if the ITP holder's efforts fall short?
The "Notre Dame Victory March" is the fight song for the University of Notre Dame. It was written by two brothers who were Notre Dame graduates. The Rev. Michael J. Shea, a 1904 graduate, wrote the music, and his brother, John F. Shea, who earned degrees in 1906 and 1908, wrote the original lyrics. The lyrics were revised in the 1920s; it first appeared under the copyright of the University of Notre Dame in 1928. The chorus is, "Cheer cheer for old Notre Dame, wake up the echos cheering her name. Send a volley cheer on high, shake down the thunder from the sky! What though the odds be great or small, old Notre Dame will win over all. While her loyal sons are marching, onward to victory!"

Questions:
Who wrote the original lyrics to the Notre Dame Victory March?
In what year did Michael J. Shea graduate from Notre Dame?
Who is responsible for writing the music for "Notre Dame Victory March?"
In what year did "Notre Dame Victory March" get copyrighted?
To where are the loyal sons in "Notre Dame Fight Song" marching?
The "Radical Enlightenment" promoted the concept of separating church and state, an idea that often credited to English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704). According to his principle of the social contract, Locke said that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience, as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right in the liberty of conscience, which he said must therefore remain protected from any government authority.

Questions:
Who is credited with the concept of separating church and state?
Which term describes John Locke's movement to seperate church and state?
In what year was John Locke born?
In what realm did John Locke feel the government lacked authority?
The "Rheinische" Carnival is held in the west of Germany, mainly in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia or Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rhineland Palatinate or Rheinland-Pfalz, but also in Hessen [including Oberhessen], Bavaria and other states. Some cities are more famous for celebrations such as parades and costume balls. Köln or Cologne Carnival, as well as Mainz and Düsseldorf are the largest and most famous. Other cities have their own, often less well-known celebrations, parades and parties such as Worms am Rhein, Speyer, Kaiserslautern, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Stuttgart, Augsburg and München [Munich] Nürnberg. On Carnival Thursday (called "Old Women Day" or "The Women's Day") in commemoration of an 1824 revolt by washer-women, women storm city halls, cut men's ties, and are allowed to kiss any passing man.

Questions:
Which Carnival is held in Germany's west?
Cologne Carnival is one of the largest Carnivals and also is the most what?
What is colloquially known as Old Women Day?
Who revolted in 1824?
What are the women who stormy city halls allowed to do to any passing man?
The "Safe Harbor" agreement is a voluntary agreement between the private landowner and FWS. The landowner agrees to alter the property to benefit or even attract a listed or proposed species in exchange for assurances that the FWS will permit future "takes" above a pre-determined level. The policy relies on the "enhancement of survival" provision of Section §1539(a)(1)(A). A landowner can have either a "Safe Harbor" agreement or an Incidental Take Permit, or both. The policy was developed by the Clinton Administration in 1999.

Questions:
What two groups are bound by a "Safe Harbor" agreement?
In exchange for altering the property to a more beneficial state, what does the landowner gain from the Safe Harbor agreement?
Which presidential administration developed Safe Harbor policy?
Are Safe Harbor agreements and ITPs mutually exclusive?
The "formal" interpretation is more widespread than the "substantive" interpretation. Formalists hold that the law must be prospective, well-known, and have characteristics of generality, equality, and certainty. Other than that, the formal view contains no requirements as to the content of the law. This formal approach allows laws that protect democracy and individual rights, but recognizes the existence of "rule of law" in countries that do not necessarily have such laws protecting democracy or individual rights.

Questions:
Which interpretation of the rule of law is used on a larger scale?
According to the formalist approach, what else, besides democracy, can laws protect?
According to the formalist approach, how much notoriety must a law have?
How many requirements for content are there for the rule of law under the formalist approach?
Which interpretation of the rule of law is less commonly used?
The "orange peel" effect on vinyl records is caused by worn molds. Rather than having the proper mirror-like finish, the surface of the record will have a texture that looks like orange peel. This introduces noise into the record, particularly in the lower frequency range. With direct metal mastering (DMM), the master disc is cut on a copper-coated disc, which can also have a minor "orange peel" effect on the disc itself. As this "orange peel" originates in the master rather than being introduced in the pressing stage, there is no ill effect as there is no physical distortion of the groove.

Questions:
What is an effect of using worn molds when casting records?
What is the expected finish of a vinyl record?
On what frequencies is an orange peel effect most noticeable?
What is the effect on a copy if a master as an orange peel effect?
What material is on a direct metal mastering disc?
The "photoelectrons" emitted as a result of the photoelectric effect have a certain kinetic energy, which can be measured. This kinetic energy (for each photoelectron) is independent of the intensity of the light, but depends linearly on the frequency; and if the frequency is too low (corresponding to a photon energy that is less than the work function of the material), no photoelectrons are emitted at all, unless a plurality of photons, whose energetic sum is greater than the energy of the photoelectrons, acts virtually simultaneously (multiphoton effect)  Assuming the frequency is high enough to cause the photoelectric effect, a rise in intensity of the light source causes more photoelectrons to be emitted with the same kinetic energy, rather than the same number of photoelectrons to be emitted with higher kinetic energy.

Questions:
What is emitted as a result of the photoelectric effect?
What does the kinetic energy of a photoelectron depend on?
What happens if the photoelectron's frequency is too low?
What is the term used when photoelectrons act virtually at the same time?
What type of energy due photoelectrons emitted due to the photoelectric effect have?
What factor of the initial light source does the energy of the photoelectrons depend on?
When the photon energy is less than the work function of the material the light is shone upon, how many photoelectrons are emitted?
If the photoelectric effect is occuring, increasing the intensity of the light source causes what?
The "religious test" clause has been interpreted to cover both elected officials and appointed ones, career civil servants as well as political appointees. Religious beliefs or the lack of them have therefore not been permissible tests or qualifications with regard to federal employees since the ratification of the Constitution. Seven states, however, have language included in their Bill of Rights, Declaration of Rights, or in the body of their constitutions that require state office-holders to have particular religious beliefs, though some of these have been successfully challenged in court. These states are Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Questions:
What clause are both elected officials and appointed ones covered by?
What type of beliefs are not an allowed job qualification test for federal employees?
How many states violate the religious test clause with language somewhere in their official policies?
What do states violate the clause require state office-holders to possess?
The "snug", sometimes called the smoke room, was typically a small, very private room with access to the bar that had a frosted glass external window, set above head height. A higher price was paid for beer in the snug and nobody could look in and see the drinkers. It was not only the wealthy visitors who would use these rooms. The snug was for patrons who preferred not to be seen in the public bar. Ladies would often enjoy a private drink in the snug in a time when it was frowned upon for women to be in a pub. The local police officer might nip in for a quiet pint, the parish priest for his evening whisky, or lovers for a rendezvous.

Questions:
What is another name for the smoke room?
What was the relationship between the price of beer in the smoke room versus the rest of the bar?
Along with the local police, what profession is given as an example of someone who might use the snug?
What were the windows in the snug made out of?
The "soft" AC format has reinvented in the late 2000s/early 2010s as a result of its declining relevance, adopting a more upmarket, middle-of-the-road approach, with a selection of "oldies" (usually from the 1960s/70s onwards), primarily rock, jazz, R&B and pop music. Newer songs are more often (but not limited to) "easy listening" fare, this amount varying depending on the age of the station's target demographic.

Questions:
Generally speaking, what is the earliest decade represented by the "oldies" on soft AC stations?
Along with R&B, pop and rock, what genre of music is represented on modern soft AC stations?
What genre of music do new songs on soft AC stations often belong to?
During what period did soft AC stations attempt to reinvent themselves?
The "standard complement" of double winds and brass in the orchestra from the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to Beethoven. The exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No. 4, which each specify a single flute. The composer's instrumentation usually included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral "palette" in Symphonies 3, 5, 6, and 9 for an innovative effect. The third horn in the "Eroica" Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of "choral" brass in the Trio. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the triumphal finale of his Symphony No. 5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver "storm" and "sunshine" in the Sixth. The Ninth asks for a second pair of horns, for reasons similar to the "Eroica" (four horns has since become standard); Beethoven's use of piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and untuned percussion—plus chorus and vocal soloists—in his finale, are his earliest suggestion that the timbral boundaries of symphony should be expanded. For several decades after he died, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethoven's well-established model, with few exceptions.

Questions:
To whom is the "standard complement" attributed to?
PIccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the triumphal finales of what piece by Beethoven?
How long was symphonic instrumentation faithful to Beethoven's after he died?
What did Beethoven expand in his Symphonies, 3, 5, 6 and 9?
A Piccolo and trombones provides the illusion of storm and what in Beethoven's Sixth Symphony?
The "yo yo" in the opinion polls continued into 1992, though after November 1990 any Labour lead in the polls was rarely sufficient for a majority. Major resisted Kinnock's calls for a general election throughout 1991. Kinnock campaigned on the theme "It's Time for a Change", urging voters to elect a new government after more than a decade of unbroken Conservative rule. However, the Conservatives themselves had undergone a dramatic change in the change of leader from Thatcher to Major, at least in terms of style if not substance. From the outset, it was clearly a well-received change, as Labour's 14-point lead in the November 1990 "Poll of Polls" was replaced by an 8% Tory lead a month later.

Questions:
What year did Kinnock call for a general election?
What was Kinnocks party theme?
What was the original Tory lead percentage?
What did the percentage fall to?
The '98 season would begin on a somber note with the death of legendary broadcaster Harry Caray. After the retirement of Sandberg and the trade of Dunston, the Cubs had holes to fill and the signing of Henry Rodríguez, known affectionately as "H-Rod" to bat cleanup provided protection for Sammy Sosa in the lineup, as Rodriguez slugged 31 round-trippers in his first season in Chicago. Kevin Tapani led the club with a career high 19 wins, Rod Beck anchored a strong bullpen and Mark Grace turned in one of his best seasons. The Cubs were swamped by media attention in 1998, and the team's two biggest headliners were Sosa and rookie flamethrower Kerry Wood. Wood's signature performance was one-hitting the Houston Astros, a game in which he tied the major league record of 20 strikeouts in nine innings. His torrid strikeout numbers earned Wood the nickname "Kid K," and ultimately earned him the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year award. Sosa caught fire in June, hitting a major league record 20 home runs in the month, and his home run race with Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire transformed the pair into international superstars in a matter of weeks. McGwire finished the season with a new major league record of 70 home runs, but Sosa's .308 average and 66 homers earned him the National League MVP Award. After a down-to-the-wire Wild Card chase with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago and San Francisco ended the regular season tied, and thus squared off in a one-game playoff at Wrigley Field in which third baseman Gary Gaetti hit the eventual game winning homer. The win propelled the Cubs into the postseason once again with a 90–73 regular season tally. Unfortunately, the bats went cold in October, as manager Jim Riggleman's club batted .183 and scored only four runs en route to being swept by Atlanta. On a positive note, the home run chase between Sosa, McGwire and Ken Griffey, Jr. helped professional baseball to bring in a new crop of fans as well as bringing back some fans who had been disillusioned by the 1994 strike. The Cubs retained many players who experienced career years in '98, and after a fast start in 1999, they collapsed again (starting with being swept at the hands of the cross-town White Sox in mid-June) and finished in the bottom of the division for the next two seasons.

Questions:
What legendary broadcaster died in the '98 season?
Who was affectionately known as "H-Rod"?
How many round-trippers did Rodriguez slug in his first season in Chicago?
The 'OtherOS' functionality was not present in the updated PS Slim models, and the feature was subsequently removed from previous versions of the PS3 as part of the machine's firmware update version 3.21 which was released on April 1, 2010; Sony cited security concerns as the rationale. The firmware update 3.21 was mandatory for access to the PlayStation Network. The removal caused some controversy; as the update removed officially advertised features from already sold products, and gave rise to several class action lawsuits aimed at making Sony return the feature or provide compensation.

Questions:
What functionality did the PlayStation 3 lose in version 3.21 of its firmware update?
What reason did Sony give for taking out OtherOS?
Was firmware update 3.21 optional or mandatory if users wanted to continue accessing the PS Network?
Which PS3 model never included OtherOS?
What legal action did some disgruntled OtherOS users take against Sony?
The 1-mile-long (2 km) Breakwater in Plymouth Sound was designed by John Rennie in order to protect the fleet moving in and out of Devonport; work started in 1812. Numerous technical difficulties and repeated storm damage meant that it was not completed until 1841, twenty years after Rennie's death. In the 1860s, a ring of Palmerston forts was constructed around the outskirts of Devonport, to protect the dockyard from attack from any direction.

Questions:
In kilometers, how long was the Plymouth Sound Breakwater?
Who was the designer of the Plymouth Sound Breakwater?
In what year did construction finish on the Plymouth Sound Breakwater?
When did construction commence on Plymouth Sound Breakwater?
Near which settlement were Palmerston forts built in the 1860s?
The 100th meridian roughly corresponds with the line that divides the Great Plains into an area that receive 20 inches (510 millimetres) or more of rainfall per year and an area that receives less than 20 in (510 mm). In this context, the High Plains, as well as Southern Alberta, south-western Saskatchewan and Eastern Montana are mainly semi hot steppe land and are generally characterised by rangeland or marginal farmland. The region (especially the High Plains) is periodically subjected to extended periods of drought; high winds in the region may then generate devastating dust storms. The eastern Great Plains near the eastern boundary falls in the humid subtropical climate zone in the southern areas, and the northern and central areas fall in the humid continental climate.

Questions:
what is the name of the line that divides the great plains?
about how much rainfall does the great plains get per year?
what do high winds in the area sometimes cause?
what type of climate does the eastern great plains fall into?
The 10th century saw a mass migration of Turkic tribes from Central Asia into the Iranian plateau. Turkic tribesmen were first used in the Abbasid army as mamluks (slave-warriors), replacing Iranian and Arab elements within the army. As a result, the mamluks gained a significant political power. In 999, large portions of Iran came briefly under the rule of the Ghaznavids, whose rulers were of mamluk Turk origin, and longer subsequently under the Turkish Seljuk and Khwarezmian empires. These Turks had been Persianized and had adopted Persian models of administration and rulership. The Seljuks subsequently gave rise to the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, while taking their thoroughly Persianized identity with them. The result of the adoption and patronage of Persian culture by Turkish rulers was the development of a distinct Turko-Persian tradition.

Questions:
What tribes migranted en masse to the Iranian plateau in the 10th Century?
Where did these Turkic tribes come from before the migrated into Iran in the 10th Century?
The Abbasid army replaced Iranian and Arabic men with Turkic tribesmen as what element in their army?
In what year did the Ghaznavids briefly control large portions of Iran?
How were the Ghaznavids different from the original Turkics that migrated into Iran?
The 132nd Street Community Garden is located on 132nd Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Malcolm X Boulevard. In 1997, the lot received a garden makeover; the Borough President's office funded the installation of a $100,000 water distribution system that keeps the wide variety of trees green. The garden also holds a goldfish pond and several benches. The spirit of the neighborhood lives in gardens like this one, planted and tended by local residents.

Questions:
Who takes care of the 132nd Street Community Garden?
The 132nd Street Community Garden is located between Malcom X Boulevard and what other Boulevard?
In which year did the garden receive a makover with a water distribution system?
Who funded the 132nd Street Community Garden's water distribution system?
How much did the 132nd Street Community Garden's water distribution system cost?
The 1469 marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon and the 1479 death of John II of Aragon led to the creation of modern-day Spain. In 1492, Granada was captured from the Moors, thereby completing the Reconquista. Portugal had during the 15th century – particularly under Henry the Navigator – gradually explored the coast of Africa, and in 1498, Vasco da Gama found the sea route to India. The Spanish monarchs met the Portuguese challenge by financing the expedition of Christopher Columbus to find a western sea route to India, leading to the discovery of the Americas in 1492.

Questions:
In what year were Isabel I and Ferdinand II married?
When was modern-day Spain created?
The capture of which city finalized the Reconquista?
Which explorer discovered a sea-route to India?
In what year did Christopher Columbus discover the Americas?
The 150th anniversary of Bell's birth in 1997 was marked by a special issue of commemorative £1 banknotes from the Royal Bank of Scotland. The illustrations on the reverse of the note include Bell's face in profile, his signature, and objects from Bell's life and career: users of the telephone over the ages; an audio wave signal; a diagram of a telephone receiver; geometric shapes from engineering structures; representations of sign language and the phonetic alphabet; the geese which helped him to understand flight; and the sheep which he studied to understand genetics. Additionally, the Government of Canada honored Bell in 1997 with a C$100 gold coin, in tribute also to the 150th anniversary of his birth, and with a silver dollar coin in 2009 in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight in Canada. That first flight was made by an airplane designed under Dr. Bell's tutelage, named the Silver Dart. Bell's image, and also those of his many inventions have graced paper money, coinage and postal stamps in numerous countries worldwide for many dozens of years.

Questions:
What bird is depicted on the Scottish banknote?
What do the sheep on the Scottish banknote represent?
What form of currency did Canada issue to celebrate Bell in 1997?
In what year did Canada put out a coin to commemorate the Silver Dart?
The 15th century was a time of Islamic economic expansion, known as the Valencian Golden Age, in which culture and the arts flourished. Concurrent population growth made Valencia the most populous city in the Crown of Aragon. Local industry, led by textile production, reached a great development, and a financial institution, the Canvi de Taula, was created to support municipal banking operations; Valencian bankers lent funds to Queen Isabella I of Castile for Columbus's voyage in 1492. At the end of the century the Silk Exchange (Llotja de la Seda) building was erected as the city became a commercial emporium that attracted merchants from all over Europe.

Questions:
When was the Valencian Golden Age?
Of what area was Valencia the largest city?
What building attracted merchants from other countries to Valencia?
Who borrowed money from Valencian bankers in 1492?
What was Valencia's leading industry?
The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as something of a "dark age" in Greek history, with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoman rule appearing remote with only the Ionian islands remaining free of Turkish domination. Corfu withstood three major sieges in 1537, 1571 and 1716 all of which resulted in the repulsion of the Ottomans. However, in the 18th century, there arose through shipping a wealthy and dispersed Greek merchant class. These merchants came to dominate trade within the Ottoman Empire, establishing communities throughout the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Western Europe. Though the Ottoman conquest had cut Greece off from significant European intellectual movements such as the Reformation and the Enlightenment, these ideas together with the ideals of the French Revolution and romantic nationalism began to penetrate the Greek world via the mercantile diaspora.[page needed] In the late 18th century, Rigas Feraios, the first revolutionary to envision an independent Greek state, published a series of documents relating to Greek independence, including but not limited to a national anthem and the first detailed map of Greece, in Vienna, and was murdered by Ottoman agents in 1798.[page needed]

Questions:
Greece's Dark Ages is thought of as what time periods?
Greek merchants ruled the trade industry in which century?
Who published Greek documents that espoused Greek independence?
Rigas Feraios was killed by Ottoman assassins in what year?
The 1775 treatise "The Natural Varieties of Mankind", by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach proposed five major divisions: the Caucasoid race, Mongoloid race, Ethiopian race (later termed Negroid, and not to be confused with the narrower Ethiopid race), American Indian race, and Malayan race, but he did not propose any hierarchy among the races. Blumenbach also noted the graded transition in appearances from one group to adjacent groups and suggested that "one variety of mankind does so sensibly pass into the other, that you cannot mark out the limits between them".

Questions:
What year was Blumenbach's treatise published?
How many divisions did Blumenbach's treatise specify?
What type of transition was noted from one group to the next?
What can one not mark between the variety of mankind?
What race was later renamed to Negroid?
The 1829 Metropolitan Police Act created a modern police force by limiting the purview of the force and its powers, and envisioning it as merely an organ of the judicial system. Their job was apolitical; to maintain the peace and apprehend criminals for the courts to process according to the law. This was very different to the 'Continental model' of the police force that had been developed in France, where the police force worked within the parameters of the absolutist state as an extension of the authority of the monarch and functioned as part of the governing state.

Questions:
When was the Metropolitan Police Act passed?
What did the Metropolitan Police Act say police were a subset of?
Where was the 'Continental model' of police from?
What part of the government did French police work under?
The 1850 census saw a dramatic shift in the way information about residents was collected. For the first time, free persons were listed individually instead of by head of household. There were two questionnaires: one for free inhabitants and one for slaves. The question on the free inhabitants schedule about color was a column that was to be left blank if a person was white, marked "B" if a person was black, and marked "M" if a person was mulatto. Slaves were listed by owner, and classified by gender and age, not individually, and the question about color was a column that was to be marked with a "B" if the slave was black and an "M" if mulatto.

Questions:
In what year were free persons first listed individually in the US census?
How were free persons listed in the US census prior to 1850?
In the 1850 US census, what was put into the color column for black persons?
If M was marked in the color column for a person in the 1850 census, How were they classified?
How were slaves listed in the 1850 US census?
The 18th century saw a huge growth in the number of drinking establishments, primarily due to the introduction of gin. Gin was brought to England by the Dutch after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and became very popular after the government created a market for "cuckoo grain" or "cuckoo malt" that was unfit to be used in brewing and distilling by allowing unlicensed gin and beer production, while imposing a heavy duty on all imported spirits. As thousands of gin-shops sprang up all over England, brewers fought back by increasing the number of alehouses. By 1740 the production of gin had increased to six times that of beer and because of its cheapness it became popular with the poor, leading to the so-called Gin Craze. Over half of the 15,000 drinking establishments in London were gin shops.

Questions:
After what political upheaval was gin introduced to England?
What people introduced gin to England?
In what year did the Glorious Revolution occur?
How much more gin than beer was made in England in 1740?
In 1740, what fraction of London drinking establishments were gin shops?
The 1903 advent of heavier-than-air fixed-wing aircraft was closely followed in 1910 by the first experimental take-off of an airplane, made from the deck of a United States Navy vessel (cruiser USS Birmingham), and the first experimental landings were conducted in 1911. On 9 May 1912 the first airplane take-off from a ship underway was made from the deck of the British Royal Navy's HMS Hibernia. Seaplane tender support ships came next, with the French Foudre of 1911. In September 1914 the Imperial Japanese Navy Wakamiya conducted the world's first successful ship-launched air raid: on 6 September 1914 a Farman aircraft launched by Wakamiya attacked the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth and the German gunboat Jaguar in Kiaochow Bay off Tsingtao; neither was hit. The first carrier-launched airstrike was the Tondern Raid in July 1918. Seven Sopwith Camels launched from the converted battlecruiser HMS Furious damaged the German airbase at Tønder and destroyed two zeppelins.

Questions:
In what year was the advent of heavier-than-air fixed-wing aircraft?
In what year was the first experimental take-off of an airplane?
In what year were the first experimental landings of an airplane?
What was the first carrier-launched airstrike?
What did the Imperial Japanese Navy Wakamiya conduct in September 1914?
The 1910 election saw 42 Labour MPs elected to the House of Commons, a significant victory since, a year before the election, the House of Lords had passed the Osborne judgment ruling that Trades Unions in the United Kingdom could no longer donate money to fund the election campaigns and wages of Labour MPs. The governing Liberals were unwilling to repeal this judicial decision with primary legislation. The height of Liberal compromise was to introduce a wage for Members of Parliament to remove the need to involve the Trade Unions. By 1913, faced with the opposition of the largest Trades Unions, the Liberal government passed the Trade Disputes Act to allow Trade Unions to fund Labour MPs once more.

Questions:
How many MP were elected in the 1910 election?
Who passed the Osborne judgment?
When was the Trade Disputes Act passed?