The Attractions of Devon and Cornwall

Answer the questions 1-10 by referring to the article below. Choose from the list of towns (A-E)
for each question.

Which of the towns (A-E):

1. possesses boats used in historic voyages? 

2. lets you watch a show on the streets? 
3. is noted for its evening entertainment? 
4. has a celebrity amongst its local businessmen? 
5. has a recreational area near the beach? 
6. has houses made of wood? 
7. allows you to observe animals in the wild under the water? 
8. has a tourist attraction which has been praised? 
9. has altered its natural coastline? 
10. used to play an important role in the postal service? 
A. Plymouth

B. Torquay

C. Falmouth

D. St. Ives

E. Ilfracombe

High on granite cliffs towering above the restless Atlantic, walkers on Britain's longest national
trail, the spectacular 630-mile South West Coast Path, are left in no doubt of the sea's role in
shaping this area's landscape and heritage. England's far south-western counties of Cornwall and
Devon boast a seafaring tradition of adventurers, explorers, pirates and emigrants, reinforced by
the salty flavour of novels by Daphne du Maurier and Rosamunde Pilcher.

Add to this the fine cuisine, stylish hotels, National Parks and one of Europe's favourite surfing
resorts, picturesque harbours and gardens warmed by Gulf Stream currents - and you have the
recipe for a perfect all-year holiday destination.
The 08:35 train from London's Paddington station to Plymouth, Devon bears a ship's name -
"The Mayflower". This was the vessel which carried a band of determined religious reformers,
the Pilgrim Fathers, on their momentous journey to a new life in North America, in 1620. After
66 days at sea they eventually settled in New Plymouth and laid the foundation of the New
England states.

The story is brought to life in the naval port and city of Plymouth's Mayflower exhibition,
situated on The Barbican, opposite the historic harbour steps from which they set off nearly four
centuries ago. It also tells how thousands of emigrants to the USA and other countries (mainly
Australia and New Zealand, with Canada becoming popular later) started their journey here.

The city is full of seaside atmosphere, particularly around the old harbour with its fish market
and customs house and the waterfront park, the Hoe. Here Elizabethan seafarer Sir Francis Drake
is said to have finished a game of bowls before sailing off to confront the approaching Spanish
Armada.

Also here is the National Marine Aquarium which, among its many fishy delights, boasts the
world's largest collection of sea-horses. Britain's biggest aquarium, its attractions include a coral
reef teeming with brightly-coloured fish and the deepest tank in Europe - three storeys high -
containing a wide variety of sharks which you can view close-up (if you dare) from inside a
walk-through transparent tunnel.

To see marine life of a warm-blooded variety, head east to the popular seaside resort of
Torquay. Coastal creatures from puffins and penguins to fur seals are all at home in an
environment of reconstructed beaches, cliff-faces and an estuary. Living Coasts, Paignton Zoo's
marine aviary, opened in July 2004 to rave reviews. The birds fly freely over your head and
acrylic tunnels also allow unobstructed underwater views.

Going west from Plymouth you cross the wide River Tamar on one of two high bridges, road and
rail, leave Devon and enter Cornwall. There are views of battleships at anchor and the sparkling
ocean beyond.

The UK has more coastline than any other country in Europe, with no-one living more than 75
miles from the sea. But it is only in Cornwall that you feel the sea is ever-present: a leg of land
jutting precariously into the Atlantic, its two coasts only four miles apart at the narrowest point.

Cornwall was the obvious choice as location for a new National Maritime Museum, which
opened in late 2002. The stylish, modern building, clad in English oak, rises beside the water in
the harbour-town of Falmouth, on the edge of the world's third largest natural harbour (Rio and
Sydney take the top slots).

Falmouth was an almost sleepy place, despite once being the British Empire's second busiest
port. Its main occupations after tourism are luxury yacht-building, ship repair and oyster fishing
(oyster sail-boats can still be seen working the River Fal). But the museum has brought new life
and "buzz' to the town.
The entrance is through Events Square, surrounded by shops and dining places, and the focal
point for open-air entertainment, particularly during the town's Oyster Festival, held every
October.

The galleries include historic small vessels from the national collection. They range from a 70ft.
rowing boat used by Eton schoolboys in the late 1800s, through Olympic medal-winning boats,
canoes, yachts, power-boats and working craft to the ketch used by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston to
make the first solo, non-stop global circumnavigation. You can compare Queen Elizabeth II's
little yacht Bluebottle to the latest state-of-the-art, carbon-fibre racing dinghy.

Find out more about Cornwall's nautical traditions in various exhibits. How seven generations of
the same family made a living from the sea; and how the 40 mail ships of Falmouth Packet
Service made the town a world communication hub, from 1688 until the electric telegraph took
over.

Then descend to the Tidal Zone, where windows thicker than a man's fist, and five metres high,
look directly out under the waters of Falmouth Harbour. See fish and other marine creatures -
sometimes cormorants diving for their dinner - it's like an aquarium in reverse. Climb the
museum's 30-metre tall tower for an aerial view of the harbour. A café offers refreshment and
more spectacular views.

No visit to Cornwall should exclude the artists' town of St. Ives, its Tate Gallery sitting right on
the beach; Newquay, a young surfers' paradise with a nightlife to match; or the Eden Project near
St. Austell. This is a garden with a difference, reminiscent of something out of science-fiction, its
spherical hot-houses or "biomes' containing waterfalls, bamboo houses and tropical flora from
distant parts of the world - all in a former quarry.

Something with a definite maritime flavour is the region's food. It is now as easy to find freshly-
caught sea bass or native oysters as everyone's favourite: fish-and-chips. Rick Stein's Seafood
Restaurant in Padstow is one of the best of its kind and the celebrity chef has now complemented
it with his own fish-and-chip shop. All fish is locally sourced -- monkfish, Dover sole and
gurnard are available as well as cod, haddock and plaice - customers choose their fish and wait
earnestly while it is cooked.

In the North Devon harbour-town of Ilfracombe, controversial modern artist Damien Hirst has
opened the White Hart Bar at 11 The Quay, overlooking the harbour. The locals hope it will give
a prominence to the town in the way Rick Stein raised Padstow's profile. Go along and sample
the tapas, mezze, freshly baked bread and cakes and judge for yourself.

As for places to stay, these range from friendly farmhouses and family-run bed and breakfasts to
luxurious hotels such as Bovey Castle. This Edwardian mansion in the fine scenery of Dartmoor
National Park has been transformed into the "ultimate luxury destination" by entrepreneur Peter
de Savary and opened earlier in 2004. With a 1920's Palm Court dining room, a piano-bar
serving 142 different cocktails, individually designed bedrooms and suites, a spa and
championship golf course, this is a place for people who expect the very best.
Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: e.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

19th Century American Presidents

Which of these 19th Century U.S Presidents (A-D):

1. Was a decorated military man? 

2. Was his party's last President? 
3. Made peace with the British? 
4. Ran more than once for President? (2 answers) 
5. Didn't work as a lawyer? 
6. Increased the size of the country? (2 answers) 
7. Had a poor upbringing? 
8. Fought the British? 
9. Was critical of government debt? 
10. Set a precedent as President? 
A. Van Buren
B. Harrison

C. Polk

D. Fillmore

Martin Van Buren 1837-41

Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His
impeccable appearance belied his amiability--and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he
was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

As a young lawyer he became involved in New York politics. As leader of the "Albany
Regency," an effective New York political organization, he shrewdly dispensed public offices
and bounty in a fashion calculated to bring votes. Yet he faithfully fulfilled official duties, and in
1821 was elected to the United States Senate.

By 1827 he had emerged as the principal northern leader for Andrew Jackson. President Jackson
rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretary of State. As the Cabinet Members appointed at
John C. Calhoun's recommendation began to demonstrate only secondary loyalty to Jackson,
Van Buren emerged as the President's most trusted adviser. Jackson referred to him as, "a true
man with no guile."

The rift in the Cabinet became serious because of Jackson's differences with Calhoun, a
Presidential aspirant. Van Buren suggested a way out of an eventual impasse: he and Secretary of
War Eaton resigned, so that Calhoun men would also resign. Jackson appointed a new Cabinet,
and sought again to reward Van Buren by appointing him Minister to Great Britain. Vice
President Calhoun, as President of the Senate, cast the deciding vote against the appointment--
and made a martyr of Van Buren.

The "Little Magician" was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the
Presidency in 1836.

Van Buren devoted his Inaugural Address to a discourse upon the American experiment as an
example to the rest of the world. The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the
panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity.

Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom and bust," which was
following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His
destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the
inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit,
had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular
requiring that lands be purchased with hard money--gold or silver.
In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands.
For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its
history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic crisis eluded both Van Buren and his
opponents. Van Buren's remedy--continuing Jackson's deflationary policies--only deepened and
prolonged the depression.

Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van
Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not
only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in
state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle
Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so
completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

Inclined more and more to oppose the expansion of slavery, Van Buren blocked the annexation
of Texas because it assuredly would add to slave territory--and it might bring war with Mexico.

Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on
the Free Soil ticket in 1848. He died in 1862.

William Henry Harrison 1841

"Give him a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of two thousand a year on him, and my
word for it," a Democratic newspaper foolishly gibed, "he will sit ... by the side of a 'sea coal'
fire, and study moral philosophy. " The Whigs, seizing on this political misstep, in 1840
presented their candidate William Henry Harrison as a simple frontier Indian fighter, living in a
log cabin and drinking cider, in sharp contrast to an aristocratic champagne-sipping Van Buren.

Harrison was in fact a scion of the Virginia planter aristocracy. He was born at Berkeley in 1773.
He studied classics and history at Hampden-Sydney College, then began the study of medicine in
Richmond.

Suddenly, that same year, 1791, Harrison switched interests. He obtained a commission as
ensign in the First Infantry of the Regular Army, and headed to the Northwest, where he spent
much of his life.

In the campaign against the Indians, Harrison served as aide-de-camp to General "Mad Anthony"
Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, which opened most of the Ohio area to settlement. After
resigning from the Army in 1798, he became Secretary of the Northwest Territory, was its first
delegate to Congress, and helped obtain legislation dividing the Territory into the Northwest and
Indiana Territories. In 1801 he became Governor of the Indiana Territory, serving 12 years.

His prime task as governor was to obtain title to Indian lands so settlers could press forward into
the wilderness. When the Indians retaliated, Harrison was responsible for defending the
settlements.
The threat against settlers became serious in 1809. An eloquent and energetic chieftain,
Tecumseh, with his religious brother, the Prophet, began to strengthen an Indian confederation to
prevent further encroachment. In 1811 Harrison received permission to attack the confederacy.

While Tecumseh was away seeking more allies, Harrison led about a thousand men toward the
Prophet's town. Suddenly, before dawn on November 7, the Indians attacked his camp on
Tippecanoe River. After heavy fighting, Harrison repulsed them, but suffered 190 dead and
wounded.

The Battle of Tippecanoe, upon which Harrison's fame was to rest, disrupted Tecumseh's
confederacy but failed to diminish Indian raids. By the spring of 1812, they were again
terrorizing the frontier.

In the War of 1812 Harrison won more military laurels when he was given the command of the
Army in the Northwest with the rank of brigadier general. At the Battle of the Thames, north of
Lake Erie, on October 5, 1813, he defeated the combined British and Indian forces, and killed
Tecumseh. The Indians scattered, never again to offer serious resistance in what was then called
the Northwest.

Thereafter Harrison returned to civilian life; the Whigs, in need of a national hero, nominated
him for President in 1840. He won by a majority of less than 150,000, but swept the Electoral
College, 234 to 60.

When he arrived in Washington in February 1841, Harrison let Daniel Webster edit his Inaugural
Address, ornate with classical allusions. Webster obtained some deletions, boasting in a jolly
fashion that he had killed "seventeen Roman proconsuls as dead as smelts, every one of them."

Webster had reason to be pleased, for while Harrison was nationalistic in his outlook, he
emphasized in his Inaugural that he would be obedient to the will of the people as expressed
through Congress.

But before he had been in office a month, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia. On
April 4, 1841, he died--the first President to die in office--and with him died the Whig program.

James K. Polk 1845-49

Often referred to as the first "dark horse" President, James K. Polk was the last of the
Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the Civil War.

He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1795. Studious and industrious, Polk
was graduated with honors in 1818 from the University of North Carolina. As a young lawyer he
entered politics, served in the Tennessee legislature, and became a friend of Andrew Jackson.

In the House of Representatives, Polk was a chief lieutenant of Jackson in his Bank war. He
served as Speaker between 1835 and 1839, leaving to become Governor of Tennessee.
Until circumstances raised Polk's ambitions, he was a leading contender for the Democratic
nomination for Vice President in 1844. Both Martin Van Buren, who had been expected to win
the Democratic nomination for President, and Henry Clay, who was to be the Whig nominee,
tried to take the expansionist issue out of the campaign by declaring themselves opposed to the
annexation of Texas. Polk, however, publicly asserted that Texas should be "re-annexed" and all
of Oregon "re-occupied."

The aged Jackson, correctly sensing that the people favored expansion, urged the choice of a
candidate committed to the Nation's "Manifest Destiny." This view prevailed at the Democratic
Convention, where Polk was nominated on the ninth ballot.

"Who is James K. Polk?" Whigs jeered. Democrats replied Polk was the candidate who stood for
expansion. He linked the Texas issue, popular in the South, with the Oregon question, attractive
to the North. Polk also favored acquiring California.

Even before he could take office, Congress passed a joint resolution offering annexation to
Texas. In so doing they bequeathed Polk the possibility of war with Mexico, which soon severed
diplomatic relations.

In his stand on Oregon, the President seemed to be risking war with Great Britain also. The 1844
Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon area, from the California boundary northward to
a latitude of 54'40', the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. Extremists proclaimed "Fifty-four
forty or fight," but Polk, aware of diplomatic realities, knew that no course short of war was
likely to get all of Oregon. Happily, neither he nor the British wanted a war.

He offered to settle by extending the Canadian boundary, along the 49th parallel, from the
Rockies to the Pacific. When the British minister declined, Polk reasserted the American claim to
the entire area. Finally, the British settled for the 49th parallel, except for the southern tip of
Vancouver Island. The treaty was signed in 1846.

Acquisition of California proved far more difficult. Polk sent an envoy to offer Mexico up to
$20,000,000, plus settlement of damage claims owed to Americans, in return for California and
the New Mexico country. Since no Mexican leader could cede half his country and still stay in
power, Polk's envoy was not received. To bring pressure, Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor to the
disputed area on the Rio Grande.

To Mexican troops this was aggression, and they attacked Taylor's forces.

Congress declared war and, despite much Northern opposition, supported the military operations.
American forces won repeated victories and occupied Mexico City. Finally, in 1848, Mexico
ceded New Mexico and California in return for $15,000,000 and American assumption of the
damage claims.

President Polk added a vast area to the United States, but its acquisition precipitated a bitter
quarrel between the North and the South over expansion of slavery.
Polk, leaving office with his health undermined from hard work, died in June 1849.

Millard Fillmore 1850-53

In his rise from a log cabin to wealth and the White House, Millard Fillmore demonstrated that
through methodical industry and some competence an uninspiring man could make the American
dream come true.

Born in the Finger Lakes country of New York in 1800, Fillmore as a youth endured the
privations of frontier life. He worked on his father's farm, and at 15 was apprenticed to a cloth
dresser. He attended one-room schools, and fell in love with the redheaded teacher, Abigail
Powers, who later became his wife.

In 1823 he was admitted to the bar; seven years later he moved his law practice to Buffalo. As an
associate of the Whig politician Thurlow Weed, Fillmore held state office and for eight years
was a member of the House of Representatives. In 1848, while Comptroller of New York, he
was elected Vice President.

Fillmore presided over the Senate during the months of nerve-wracking debates over the
Compromise of 1850. He made no public comment on the merits of the compromise proposals,
but a few days before President Taylor's death, he intimated to him that if there should be a tie
vote on Henry Clay's bill, he would vote in favor of it.

Thus the sudden accession of Fillmore to the Presidency in July 1850 brought an abrupt political
shift in the administration. Taylor's Cabinet resigned and President Fillmore at once appointed
Daniel Webster to be Secretary of State, thus proclaiming his alliance with the moderate Whigs
who favored the Compromise.

A bill to admit California still aroused all the violent arguments for and against the extension of
slavery, without any progress toward settling the major issues.

Clay, exhausted, left Washington to recuperate, throwing leadership upon Senator Stephen A.
Douglas of Illinois. At this critical juncture, President Fillmore announced in favor of the
Compromise. On August 6, 1850, he sent a message to Congress recommending that Texas be
paid to abandon her claims to part of New Mexico.

This helped influence a critical number of northern Whigs in Congress away from their
insistence upon the Wilmot Proviso--the stipulation that all land gained by the Mexican War
must be closed to slavery.

Douglas's effective strategy in Congress combined with Fillmore's pressure from the White
House to give impetus to the Compromise movement. Breaking up Clay's single legislative
package, Douglas presented five separate bills to the Senate:

 Admit California as a free state.

 Settle the Texas boundary and compensate her.
  Grant territorial status to New Mexico.
 Place Federal officers at the disposal of slaveholders seeking fugitives.
 Abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia.

Each measure obtained a majority, and by September 20, President Fillmore had signed them
into law. Webster wrote, "I can now sleep of nights."

Some of the more militant northern Whigs remained irreconcilable, refusing to forgive Fillmore
for having signed the Fugitive Slave Act. They helped deprive him of the Presidential
nomination in 1852.

Within a few years it was apparent that although the Compromise had been intended to settle the
slavery controversy, it served rather as an uneasy sectional truce.

As the Whig Party disintegrated in the 1850's, Fillmore refused to join the Republican Party; but,
instead, in 1856 accepted the nomination for President of the Know Nothing, or American, Party.
Throughout the Civil War he opposed President Lincoln and during Reconstruction supported
President Johnson. He died in 1874.

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a-d.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c-d.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Getting Around Bangkok

Which of these forms of transport (A-F):
1. Require you to seek a particular color if you want to travel faster? 
2. Only covers the center of the city? 
3. Is potentially the most dangerous? 
4. Do you need to have good pronunciation for? 
5. Cause pollution problems? 
6. Is a tourist attraction in its own right? 
7. Will you probably suffer the most discomfort on? 
8. Can you perhaps use without paying? 
9. Offers a more expensive variety for foreign visitors? 
10. Can you enter when it is still moving? 
A. Skytrain

B. Boat

C. Bus

D. Taxi

E. Motorbike

F. Tuk-tuk

Skytrain

The Bangkok Skytrain (BTS, pronunced bee-tee-et in Thai) deserves a visit simply for the
Disneyland space-ageness of it. Built in a desperate effort to ease Bangkok's insane traffic and
pollution, the Skytrain covers most of downtown and is especially convenient for visiting the
Siam Square area. There are two lines: the light green Sukhumvit line which travels along
Sukhumvit road, and the dark green Silom line, which travels from the Silom area, interchanges
with the Sukhumvit line at Siam Square (C) and terminates near the Chatuchak Weekend Market
(N8).

There isn't, unfortunately, a station near Banglampu District (aka the Khao San Road area), but
you can take a river ferry to Tha Sathorn for the Silom line terminus at Saphan Taksin (S6).

You must have 5 or 10 baht coins to purchase Skytrain tickets from the vending machines near
the entrance, so hold on to them. Fares range from 10 to 45 baht depending upon how many
zones you are travelling. Consult the map (in English) near each ticket machine. If you do not
have coins, you may need to queue for change from the staff at the booth. If you are in town for
several days, weigh your options and consider a rechargable stored-value card (200 baht), a "ride
all you like" tourist pass or a multiple ride pass of 10 trips or more. They will certainly save you
time, scrambling for coins, and maybe even money. Check for information with the English
speaking staff.

By boat

A ride on the Chao Phraya River should be high on any tourist's agenda. The cheapest and most
popular option is the Chao Phraya Express Boat, basically an aquatic bus plying up and down the
river. The basic service plies from Wat Rajsingkorn (S4) all the way to Nonthaburi (N30) for 6 to
10 baht depending on distance, stopping at most of Rattanakosin's major attractions including the
Grand Palace, the Temple of Dawn, etc. In addition to the basic service, there are express
services flagged with yellow or orange flags, which stop only at major piers and should be
avoided unless you're sure where you're going. The new signposting of the piers is quite clear,
with numbered piers and English route maps, and the Central station offers easy interchange to
the BTS Saphan Taksin station.

In addition to the workaday express boat, there is also a self-proclaimed Tourist Boat which
stops at a different subset of piers, offers commentary in English and charges twice the price.
The boats are slightly more comfortable and not a bad option for a hop or two, but don't get
bullied into buying the overpriced day pass.

Canal boats also service some of Bangkok's many canals (khlong). They are cheap and immune
to Bangkok's traffic jams, just watch your step when boarding and disembarking! One
particularly useful line runs up and down Khlong Saen Saep, parallel to Petchaburi Rd, and
provides the easiest access from the city center to the Golden Mount.

Finally, for trips outside the set routes, you can hire a longtail river taxi at any major pier. These
are fairly expensive and will attempt to charge as much as 500 baht/hour, but with haggling may
be suitable for small groups. To circumvent the mafia-like touts who attempt to get a (large) cut
for every ride, agree for the price of the shortest possible ride (half an hour etc), then negotiate
directly with the captain when on board.

By bus

Local buses, mostly operated by the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), are cheapest but
also the most challenging way of getting around, as there is a bewildering plethora of routes,
usually marked only in Thai. Bus stops usually list only the bus numbers that stop there and
nothing more. They are also subject to Bangkok's notorious traffic, often terribly crowded, and
many are not air-conditioned. The hierarchy of Bangkok's buses from cheapest to best can be
ranked as follows:

 Small green bus, 3.50 baht flat fare. Crowded, no air-con, no fan, famously suicidal
drivers, not advisable for more than short hops.
 Red bus, 4 baht flat fare. BMTA-run, more spacious and fan-cooled (in theory). Unlike
other buses, a subset of these runs through the night.
 White/blue bus, 5 baht flat fare. Exactly the same as the red buses, but operated by
private concession.
  Blue aircon, 8 baht for the first 8 kilometers, up to 20 baht max. BMTA-run and quite
comfy.
 Orange aircon (Euro 2), 10 baht for the first few kilometers, up to 20 baht max. BMTA-
run, new and comfortable.
 Purple Microbus, 25 baht flat fare, fixed number of seats so never crowded. Some of
these are Skytrain feeder shuttles and you can get free tickets if you buy stored-card value
of 200 baht or more.

Buses stop only when needed, so wave them down (arm out, palm down) when you see one
barreling your way. In all buses except the Microbus, pay the roaming collector after you board;
on Microbuses, drop the money into a slot next to the driver as you board. In all buses, keep the
ticket as there are occasional spot-checks, and press the signal buzzer (usually near the door)
when you want to get off.

By taxi

Taxis are a quick way to get around town, at least if the traffic is flowing your way. Almost all
taxis are now metered: the hailing fee is 35 baht and most trips in Bangkok cost less than 100
baht.

If the driver refuses to use the meter after a couple of attempts, simply exit the taxi. Also try to
avoid taxis that stay parked all day outside your hotel. The only two reasons that they are there:
1) To take you places where they can get their commissions (Jewelry stores, massage parlors,
etc) and 2) To overcharge you by not using the meter. Your best bet is to walk to the road and
catch an unoccupied metered taxi in motion (easier than it sounds, as Bangkok traffic tends to
crawl the majority of the time). Be sure to either know the correct pronunciation of your
destination, or have it written in Thai; taxi drivers in Bangkok are notoriously bad at reading
maps.

By motorbike

When traffic slows to a crawl and there are no alternatives, the fastest way to your destination is
to take a motorbike taxi. Bike drivers in colorful fluorescent yellow-orange vests wait for
passengers at street corners and near shopping malls and prices are negotiable. That said,
motorcycle taxis are suicidally dangerous and should generally be avoided except as a last resort,
as accidents are far too common.

Some bikes do not travel long distances, but simply shuttle up and down long sois not serviced
by other transport for a fixed 5-20 baht fare. These are marginally less dangerous, especially if
you happen to travel with the flow on a one-way street.

The law requires that both driver and passenger must wear a helmet. It is the driver's
responsibility to provide you with one, so if you are stopped by police, any fine is also the
driver's responsibility. When riding, keep a firm grasp on the seat handle and watch out for your
legs.
By tuk-tuk

Finally, what would Bangkok be without the dreaded and loved tuk-tuks? You'll know them
when you hear them, you'll hate them when you smell them, these three-wheeled contraptions
blaze around Bangkok leaving a black cloud of smog in their wake. For anything more than a 5-
10 minute jaunt they really are not worth the price, and the price will usually be 4 or 5 times
what it should be anyway (which, for Thais, is around 30% less than the equivalent metered taxi
fare). On the other hand, you can sometimes ride for free if you agree to visit touristy clothing or
jewelry shops (which give the tuk-tuk driver gas coupons and commissions for bringing
customers). The shops' salesmen are pushy, but you are free to leave after five to ten minutes of
browsing.

In case you actually want to get somewhere, and you're an all-male party, be careful with the tuk-
tuk drivers, they will usually just ignore your destination and start driving you to some other
place. Insist continually on going only to your destination.

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: e.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: f.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: f.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

English Mazes
In which places? (A-D):

1. Does a member of the aristocracy still live?

2. Is there a maze that was made to mark a special occasion?
3. Does the creator personally take care of the maze?
4. Is there a maze that was ridiculed - before getting its revenge?
5. Is there a maze created by the youngest person?
6. Could tackling the maze prove a damp experience?
7. Did a rich family create a maze?
8. Is there a maze that a newlywed couple would perhaps like to visit?
9. Does the maze include maps showing you how to get out?
10. Would you see yourself getting lost in the maze?
A. Hampton Court

B. Longleat

C. Jubilee Park

D. Hever Castle

There's nothing the British like more than to go and get lost. In grand gardens of stately homes
and castles around Britain you'll find some of the world's oldest and largest hedge mazes. These
elegant horticultural labyrinths have been playfully confusing visitors for hundreds of years.
This historical fascination is being fuelled by a boom in creating new mazes. Britain now has
mazes of turf, water, brick, stone, wood, colored paving tiles, mirrors and glass.

Hampton Court

Any exploration of the twists and turns of British mazes should include the oldest and most
famous. The classic maze at Hampton Court Royal Palace by the Thames in West London was
planted more than 300 years ago during the reign of King William III. He dug up an old orchard
planted by Henry VIII and redesigned the garden in the formal style of the time.
The 1702 Maze is the only remaining part of William's garden. It's Britain's oldest hedge maze
with winding paths amounting to nearly half a mile and covering a third of an acre. One of
Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat" declared it "very simple...it's absurd to call it a maze,"
only to become completely lost. Inside he met other visitors "who had given up all hope of ever
seeing their home and friends again."
The Hampton Court maze still swallows 300,000 people a year. If you do manage to get out,
there are also exquisite riverside gardens and the fabulous Tudor palace to see.

Longleat

Another great estate 100 miles to the west has become one of the centers of British maze-
making. A visit to Longleat in Wiltshire includes the ancestral stately home of Lord Bath,
Capability Brown landscaped gardens, and a drive-through animal safari park… plus six mazes.
The newest of them, The Blue Peter Maze was built of timber especially for children. It was
designed by a nine-year-old girl who beat 12,000 entrants in a competition run by a children's
TV program.
Other Longleat mazes include the indoor King Arthur's Mirror Maze, the rose-covered Love
Labyrinth, and the intertwining Sun Maze and Lunar box hedge labyrinths.
Serious maze enthusiasts are catered to by the grand Hedge Maze: it has the world's longest total
path length at 1.69 miles. The hedges are made from 16,180 yew trees and are laid out in curves
to disorient the walker. It opened 26 years ago and is so complex that special 'lift if lost' direction
panels are incorporated to help you find the way out.

Jubilee Park

If you're starting to get the taste for delightful disorientation, the third must-see site is the
eccentric Jubilee Park close to the border with Wales near Symonds Yat in Herefordshire.
Maze-mad brothers Lindsay and Edward Heyes planted The Amazing Hedge Puzzle Maze to
commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. It stands in an Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty in the Wye Valley and is now Herefordshire's most popular private visitor
attraction.
The octagonal cypress maze has a pagoda at the center - if you can find it. There's also a route
from the center to the world's first Maze Museum. This has hands-on interactive displays and
puzzles explaining the history, design and construction of mazes around the world.
Lindsay is the creator of the museum and an acknowledged maze expert. Edward meanwhile
takes care of the Hedge Maze, personally spending ten weeks doing all the trimming every year.

Hever Castle

You don't have to be crazy about mazes to enjoy the spectacular Hever Castle in Kent. From the
outside, the 13th-century double-moated fortress has changed little since Henry VIII's second
wife Anne Boleyn spent her childhood here. The castle is set in 30 acres of magnificent gardens.
A century ago the wealthy Astor family lived here and planted a yew maze, which visitors can
still explore. A more recent addition is the highly acclaimed Water Maze on a shallow lake with
an island at the center.
The walkways are made up of curved paths supported above the water on stilts. To make getting
to the island even more difficult, some slabs, when stepped on, trigger a spray of water. Can you
reach the island AND stay dry?

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Outlaws of the Wild West - Multiple

Matching
Which of these outlaws... (A-D):

1. had the same nickname as another of the same era 

2. was the subject of gross exaggeration in his exploits 
3. had legal employment before turning to crime (2 answers) 
4. usually wore a hat 
5. was claimed to have helped others less wealthy than himself 
6. rejected his family's pleas to give himself up 
7. had a nickname based on his physical appearance 
8. was killed by someone he knew 
9. showed fear in one encounter 
10. became famous through the media 
A. Jesse James

B. William H. Bonney

C. Jack Dunlop

D. William L. "Buffalo Bill" Brooks

Jesse James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from
the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. Already a
celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.
Some recent scholars place him in the context of regional insurgencies of ex-Confederates
following the American Civil War rather than a manifestation of frontier lawlessness or alleged
economic justice.

Jesse and his brother Frank James were Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War. They were
accused of participating in atrocities committed against Union soldiers. After the war, as
members of one gang or another, they robbed banks, stagecoaches and trains. Despite popular
portrayals of James as a kind of Robin Hood, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, there
is no evidence that he and his gang used their robbery gains for anyone but themselves.

The James brothers were most active with their gang from about 1866 until 1876, when their
attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, resulted in the capture or deaths of several
members. They continued in crime for several years, recruiting new members, but were under
increasing pressure from law enforcement. On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was killed by Robert
Ford, who was a member of the gang living in the James house and who was hoping to collect a
state reward on James' head.

William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-
century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier
outlaw in the American Old West. According to legend, he killed 21 men, but it is generally
believed that he killed between four and nine. He killed his first man at 18.

McCarty (or Bonney, the name he used at the height of his notoriety) was 5'8" (173 cm) tall with
blue eyes, a smooth complexion, and prominent front teeth. He was said to be friendly and
personable at times, and it's been said that he was as lithe as a cat. Contemporaries described him
as a "neat" dresser who favored an "unadorned Mexican sombrero". These qualities, along with
his cunning and celebrated skill with firearms, contributed to his paradoxical image as both a
notorious outlaw and beloved folk hero.

Relatively unknown during most of his lifetime, Billy was catapulted into legend in 1881 when
New Mexico's governor, Lew Wallace, placed a price on his head. In addition, the Las Vegas
Gazette (Las Vegas, New Mexico) and the New York Sun carried stories about his exploits.
Other newspapers followed suit. After his death, several biographies were written that portrayed
the Kid in varying lights.

Jack Dunlop, also known as John Dunlop, Jess Dunlop, John Patterson, and most commonly
Three Fingered Jack was an outlaw in the closing days of the Old West, best known for being a
train robber. Whether or not he actually physically had three fingers on either of his hands has
never been confirmed.

Dunlop was born in Texas, and spent most of his early life from his mid to late teens as a
cowboy. How and where he first became involved in the outlaw life is uncertain, but he was
arrested after several bank robberies in 1893. Released from prison in 1895, Dunlop joined the
"Black Jack" Christian Gang, but by 1898 he was riding with the Burt Alvord Gang. The gang
began hitting trains in Arizona, with success, and with "Three Fingered Jack" Dunlop quickly
becoming the best known of the bunch. At midnight on September 9, 1899, the gang robbed a
Southern Pacific Express for just over $10,000. During that robbery, the gang had detached the
car containing the money, then opened the safe by way of dynamite. The gang then escaped into
the Chiricahua Mountains, and a posse led by Sheriff Scott White and including George
Scarborough was unsuccessful in their pursuit.

A few months later, the gang struck again. On February 15, 1900, the gang hit a train at the
Fairbank, which served Tombstone, Arizona. Noted and well-known lawman Jeff Davis Milton
was working as a guard on that train. A gunfight between Milton and the five gang members
ensued, resulting in Milton shooting buckshot into the stomach of Dunlop, while shooting and
wounding gang member Juan Yoas. Milton was badly wounded in the right arm during the
gunbattle. Not aware that Milton was so badly injured, the gang fled.

Dunlop's wound was serious, as he had been hit by eleven pellets from the shotgun, mostly in the
stomach region, whereas Yoas had been shot in the buttocks. The five outlaws split up shortly
after fleeing the scene, with the understanding that they would meet up just outside of Contention
City, Arizona. Dunlop fell from his horse only a few miles from where the robbery had taken
place, where he lay for fourteen hours before a posse came across him. He was taken to
Tombstone, where he died on February 24, 1900. Dunlop is buried in Tombstone's Boot Hill
cemetery.

William L. "Buffalo Bill" Brooks was a western lawman and later outlaw. Brooks was born in
Ohio around 1832 where he later became a buffalo hunter in the late-1840s or early-1850s whose
success equaled fellow buffalo hunter William F. Cody earning the same nickname of Buffalo
Bill. During the late 1860s, Brooks had killed several men in various gunfights, and was briefly
hired as a stage driver for the Southwestern Stage Co., before becoming the marshal of Newton,
Kansas in 1872. Although he was reported to have been around 40 years old, several biographers
have claimed Brooks was in his 20s.

With Brooks success in Newton he was soon offered a position in Dodge City as town marshal
where he was later involved in 15 gunfights during his first month. In one case, one of the men
killed had four brothers who came after Brooks in revenge. As the brothers arrived in town
Brooks was said to have killed all four men with four shots each. By the following year Brooks
had cleared the city of most major criminals. Brooks however began to kill several men in
questionable circumstances including one incident where he killed a man over an argument with
a local dance hall girl. After backing down from gunfighter Kirk Jordan, Brooks left town shortly
after.

According to legend Brooks went to Butte, Montana where he attempted to become the city
marshal but, in part because of Brooks' reputation, was instead passed over in favor of Morgan
Earp. Confronting Earp over his defeat, Brooks was shot in the stomach and Morgan was shot in
the shoulder.

Records show however that, shortly after leaving Dodge City, Brooks returned to his old position
as a stage driver for the Southwestern Stage Co. in early 1874. Several months later however the
company had lost a mail contract to a rival company and Brooks lost his job. In June several
mules and horses owned by the rival company had been stolen and Brooks, with two other men,
were arrested the next month. It was charged that Brooks had apparently attempted to weaken the
rival company and win back the mail contract for the Southwestern Stage Company. Brooks was
hanged by an angry crowd while awaiting trial on July 29, 1874.

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c-d.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: none.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Four Hollywood Actors - Multiple Matching

Which of these actors... (A-D):

1. came from a broken home (3 answers) 

2. left school early 
3. still sees childhood friends 
4. was timid as a youngster (2 answers) 
5. gave up a college education for acting 
6. had a dangerous hobby he was forced to give up 
7. looked unhealthy as a child 
8. had a beloved pet as a child 
9. didn't have brothers or sisters 
10. was religious when young 
A. Tom Hanks

B. Robert DeNiro

C. Leonardo DiCaprio

D. John Wayne

Tom Hanks was born in Concord, California. His father, Amos Mefford Hanks, was an itinerant
cook. His mother was a hospital worker. Hanks' mother is of Portuguese ancestry, while two of
his paternal great-grandparents immigrated from Britain. Hanks's parents divorced in 1960. The
family's three oldest children, Sandra, Larry and Tom, went with their father, while the youngest,
Jim, now an actor and film maker, remained with his mother in Red Bluff, California.

In addition to having a family history of Catholicism and Mormonism, Hanks was a "Bible-
toting evangelical teenager" for several years. In school, Hanks was unpopular with students and
teachers alike, later telling Rolling Stone magazine: "I was a geek, a spaz. I was horribly,
painfully, terribly shy. At the same time, I was the guy who'd yell out funny captions during
filmstrips. But I didn't get into trouble. I was always a real good kid and pretty responsible." In
1965, Amos Hanks married Frances Wong, a San Francisco native of Chinese descent. Frances
had three children, two of whom lived with Tom during his high school years. Hanks acted in
school plays, including South Pacific, while attending Skyline High School in Oakland,
California.

Hanks studied theater at Chabot College in Hayward, California, and after two years, transferred
to California State University, Sacramento. Hanks told New York magazine in 1986: "Acting
classes looked like the best place for a guy who liked to make a lot of noise and be rather
flamboyant ...I spent a lot of time going to plays. I wouldn't take dates with me. I'd just drive to a
theater, buy myself a ticket, sit in the seat and read the program, and then get into the play
completely. I spent a lot of time like that, seeing Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Ibsen, and all
that."

During his years studying theater, Hanks met Vincent Dowling, head of the Great Lakes Theater
Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. At Dowling's suggestion, Hanks became an intern at the Festival.
His internship stretched into a three-year experience that covered most aspects of theater
production, including lighting, set design, and stage management, all of which caused Hanks to
drop out of college. During the same time, Hanks won the Cleveland Critics Circle Award for
Best Actor for his 1978 performance as Proteus in Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona,
one of the few times he played a villain.

Robert De Niro was born in Greenwich Village, New York City, the son of Virginia Holton
Admiral, a painter and poet, and Robert De Niro, Sr., an abstract expressionist painter and
sculptor. His father was of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother was of English, German,
French, and Dutch ancestry. His Italian great-grandparents, Giovanni De Niro and Angelina
Mercurio, emigrated from Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, Molise, and his paternal
grandmother, Helen O'Reilly, was the granddaughter of Edward O'Reilly, an immigrant from
Ireland.

De Niro's parents, who had met at the painting classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown,
Massachusetts, divorced when he was three years old. De Niro was raised by his mother in the
Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, and in Greenwich Village. His father lived within
walking distance and Robert spent much time with him as he was growing up. De Niro attended
PS 41, a public elementary school in Manhattan, through the sixth grade, and then went to the
private Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House, for the
seventh and eighth grades. He was accepted at the High School of Music and Art for the ninth
grade, but only attended for a short time, transferring instead to a public junior high school. He
began high school at the private McBurney School, attended the private Rhodes Preparatory
School, but never graduated.

Nicknamed "Bobby Milk" for his pallor, the youthful De Niro hung out with a group of street
kids in Little Italy, some of whom have remained lifelong friends of his. But the direction of his
future had already been determined by his stage debut at age ten, playing the Cowardly Lion in
his school's production of The Wizard of Oz. Along with finding relief from shyness through
performing, De Niro was also entranced by the movies, and he dropped out of high school at age
sixteen to pursue acting. De Niro studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee
Strasberg's Actors Studio.

Leonardo DiCaprio, an only child, was born in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Irmelin
(née Indenbirken), is a former legal secretary; born in Germany; she came to the US as a child
with her parents. His father, George DiCaprio, is an underground comic artist and
producer/distributor of comic books. DiCaprio's mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick in the
Ruhr, Germany, to the U.S. during the 1950s with her parents. A fourth-generation American,
DiCaprio's father is of half Italian (from the Naples area) and half German descent (from
Bavaria). DiCaprio's maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (1915-2008), was born Yelena
Smirnova in Russia. In a 2010 conversation with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
DiCaprio said that two of his grandparents were Russian.

DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. He was
named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a
museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked.

His parents divorced when he was a year old and he lived mostly with his mother. The two lived
in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los
Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked
several jobs to support them. She remarried. He attended Seeds Elementary School and
graduated from John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles
Center for Enriched Studies for four years.

John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison at 216 South Second Street in Winterset, Iowa.
His middle name was soon changed from Robert to Mitchell when his parents decided to name
their next son Robert.
Wayne's father, Clyde Leonard Morrison (1884-1937), was the son of American Civil War
veteran Marion Mitchell Morrison (1845-1915). Wayne's mother, the former Mary "Molly"
Alberta Brown (1885-1970), was from Lancaster County, Nebraska. Wayne was of Scots-Irish
and Scottish descent on both sides of his family.

Wayne's family moved to Palmdale, California, and then in 1911 to Glendale, California, where
his father worked as a pharmacist. A local fireman at the station on his route to school in
Glendale started calling him "Little Duke" because he never went anywhere without his huge
Airedale Terrier, Duke. He preferred "Duke" to "Marion", and the name stuck for the rest of his
life.

As a teen, Wayne worked in an ice cream shop for a man who shod horses for Hollywood
studios. He was also active as a member of the Order of DeMolay, a youth organization
associated with the Freemasons. He attended Wilson Middle School in Glendale. He played
football for the 1924 champion Glendale High School team.

Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. He instead attended the
University of Southern California (USC), majoring in pre-law. He was a member of the Trojan
Knights and Sigma Chi fraternities. Wayne also played on the USC football team under coach
Howard Jones. An injury curtailed his athletic career; Wayne later noted he was too terrified of
Jones's reaction to reveal the actual cause of his injury, a bodysurfing accident. He lost his
athletic scholarship and, without funds, had to leave the university.

Wayne began working at the local film studios. Prolific silent western film star Tom Mix had
found him a summer job in the prop department in exchange for football tickets. Wayne soon
moved on to bit parts, establishing a longtime friendship with the director who provided most of
those roles, John Ford.

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a-b-c.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a-b.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: none.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Four John Grisham Novels - Multiple

Matching
In which of these novels... (A-D):

1. does the story span many years? 

2. do we see the protagonist acting unethically against his employers? (2 answers) 
3. is politics important? 
4. is immigration fraud exposed? 
5. do we see the hero take a huge fall in fortune? 
6. does a friend of the protagonist die? 
7. does the lawyer help convicted criminals to commit further crimes? 
8. do we see a story of rich versus poor? 
A. The Last Juror

B. The Brethren

C. The Street Lawyer

D. The King Of Torts

The Last Juror

In 1970, the first person narrator, a 23-year-old college drop-out by the name of Willie Traynor,
comes to Clanton, Mississippi for an internship at the local newspaper, The Ford County Times.
However the editor, Wilson Caudle, drives the newspaper into bankruptcy through years of
mismanagement. Willie decides to buy the paper spontaneously for fifty-thousand dollars,
through money from his wealthy grandmother, and becomes the editor and owner of The Ford
County Times. Shortly after this, a member of the notorious and scandalous Padgitt family
brutally rapes and kills a young widow named Rhoda Kassellaw. The murderer, Danny Padgitt,
is tried in front of a jury and is found guilty. Prior to being sentenced, Danny threatens to kill
each of the jury members, should they convict him. Although they do find him guilty, the jury
cannot decide whether to send him to life in prison or to Death Row, so Danny is sentenced to
life in prison at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
After only nine years in prison, Danny Padgitt is paroled and returns to Clanton. Immediately,
two jury members are killed and one is nearly killed by a bomb. Jury member and close friend of
Willie, Miss Callie Ruffin, reveals that the recent victims were the jurors who were against
sentencing Danny to Death Row. Callie Ruffin is black, and was the first black on a jury trying a
white criminal in Ford County. With her husband, she has a family of highly accomplished adult
children, who live outside of Mississippi. Convinced that Danny is exacting his revenge, as
promised, the judge of Clanton issues an arrest for Danny Padgitt.

At Padgitt's trial, the former lover of Rhoda Kassellaw, Hank Hooten, guns down Danny Padgitt
in the courtroom by positioning himself on the balcony. Willie later discovers that the assassin is
also a schizophrenic and would often hear the voices of the victim's children in his head,
convincing him to murder Danny and the three jurors who voted against his conviction to Death
Row. After nine years of ownership, Willie sells The Ford County Times for 1.5 million dollars.
Soon after, Callie Ruffin dies of a heart attack, and the book ends with Willie writing her
obituary.

The Brethren

Three former judges (known as "The Brethren") incarcerated at Trumble, a fictional, federal
minimum security prison located in northern Florida, develop a scam to blackmail wealthy
closeted gay men. With the help of their lawyer, Trevor Carson, they transfer their ill-gotten
money to a secret Bahamian bank account.

Meanwhile, Teddy Maynard, the ruthless and soon-to-retire director of the CIA, is orchestrating
a scheme to control the United States presidential election. Aaron Lake, a strongly pro-defense
expenditure candidate has been identified and Maynard is determined to control him - and then
get him elected.

Unknowingly, the Brethren hook Teddy's candidate for President. The CIA scrambles to stop
them from finding out what they've done. But, a leak has sprung. It takes all of Teddy's
experience with illegal maneuvering to save his candidate from being exposed.

The Brethren lose their trust in Trevor and fire him; he is later killed by CIA agents in the
Caribbean. The CIA plant a man inside Trumble, who tells the judges that he knows they have
been involved in the scam. A deal is worked out, money changes hands and the judges are
pardoned by the out-going President at Maynard's insistence. The judges leave the country and
travel in Europe. Later, they re-start the scam.

The Street Lawyer

A homeless man calling himself "Mister" enters the offices of the Washington DC law firm
Drake & Sweeney and takes many of the lawyers hostage. Although he is eventually shot by a
police sniper and the hostages freed, one of the hostages, an antitrust lawyer named Michael
Brock, is concerned by what he has learned and feels compelled to investigate further. He finds
his way to the 14th Street Legal Clinic, where he meets Mordecai Green, an advocate for the
homeless, who asks him to help one night at a homeless shelter. As Brock's investigation
deepens, he finds that his own employer was complicit in an illegal eviction, which eventually
resulted in the death of a young homeless family.

He takes a confidential file, intending to copy it, but is quickly suspected of its theft. Shocked by
what he has found, Brock leaves his firm to take a poorly-paid position with the 14th Street
Legal Clinic, which works to protect the rights of the homeless. This leads to his wife divorcing
him. He admits one of his clients, Ruby, to a therapy class for drug-addicted women, and in the
process meets Megan, the book's love interest. As Drake & Sweeney comes after Brock with
theft and malpractice allegations, the Clinic launches a lawsuit against the law firm and its
business partners.

Terrified of the certain bad publicity, the matter is settled by mediation and the clinic receives a
large payout to be shared with the victims of the eviction. Drake & Sweeney's head partner,
deeply troubled by the events, offers to make pro bono staff available to assist the work of the
Clinic in fighting for the rights of homeless people. The book ends with Brock taking a short
vacation with Megan and Ruby, and them reflecting on their lives.

The King Of Torts

Clay Carter is a poorly-paid lawyer at the Office of the Public Defender. He dreams of one day
joining a big law firm. Reluctantly, he takes on the case of Tequila Watson, a man accused of a
random street killing. Clay assumes that it is just another D.C. murder.

But Clay soon learns of a pharmaceutical conspiracy, with the help of the mysterious Max Pace.
The pharmaceutical company was illegally using recovering drug addicts for medical trials
without their consent. The drug, 'Tarvan', works for 90% of their patients, but in some cases
(including Tequila Watson), it leads to random violent killings.

The drug company employs Pace and his shadowy associates to solicit Clay's help in paying off
the victims with large settlements. Clay has reservations, but soon profits from the legal retainer
offered by Pace. He leaves the Office of the Public Defender and raids some of their staff to
establish his own law firm.

Pace offers Clay insider information on the dangers of another drug (Dyloft and Maxatil). Clay
uses this information to launch a new career in Tort Law. Soon he finds himself being one of the
legal profession's biggest tort lawyers and conniving with other high-powered tort lawyers. But
this sudden fame isn't without a price and soon he's under investigation for various
misdemeanors, including insider trading. In the end, Clay is beaten up by some men from
Reedsburgh, sending him to the hospital. Then he loses a huge case against Goffman and slides
downhill as previous, disgruntled clients sue him. In the end he runs away with Rebecca to
London.

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c-d.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: none.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: d.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: a.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: b.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: c.

Four Woods, Multiple Matching Exercise

Read about the four different woods, then answer the questions.

Oak

Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm3, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to
insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content. It also has very appealing grain
markings, particularly when quartersawn. Oak planking was common on high status Viking
longships in the 9th and 10th centuries. The wood was hewn from green logs, by axe and wedge,
to produce radial planks, similar to quarter-sawn timber. Wide, quarter-sawn boards of oak have
been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior paneling of prestigious buildings such as
the debating chamber of the House of Commons in London, and in the construction of fine
furniture. Oak wood, from Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, was used in Europe for the
construction of ships, especially naval men of war, until the 19th century, and was the principal
timber used in the construction of European timber-framed buildings.

Today oak wood is still commonly used for furniture making and flooring, timber frame
buildings, and for veneer production. Barrels in which wines, sherry, and spirits such as brandy,
Scotch whisky and Bourbon whiskey are aged are made from European and American oak. The
use of oak in wine can add many different dimensions to wine based on the type and style of the
oak. Oak barrels, which may be charred before use, contribute to the colour, taste, and aroma of
the contents, imparting a desirable oaky vanillin flavour to these drinks. The great dilemma for
wine producers is to choose between French and American oakwoods. French oaks give the wine
greater refinement and are chosen for the best wines since they increase the price compared to
those aged in American oak wood. American oak contributes greater texture and resistance to
ageing, but produces more violent wine bouquets. Oak wood chips are used for smoking fish,
meat, cheeses and other foods.

Elm
Elm wood was valued for its interlocking grain, and consequent resistance to splitting, with
significant uses in wagon wheel hubs, chair seats and coffins. The elm's wood bends well and
distorts easily making it quite pliant. The often long, straight, trunks were favoured as a source of
timber for keels in ship construction. Elm is also prized by bowyers; of the ancient bows found in
Europe, a large portion of them are elm. During the Middle Ages elm was also used to make
longbows if yew was unavailable.

The first written references to elm occur in the Linear B lists of military equipment at Knossos in
the Mycenaean Period. Several of the chariots are of elm, and the lists twice mention wheels of
elmwood. Hesiod says that ploughs in Ancient Greece were also made partly of elm.

The density of elm wood varies between species, but averages around 560 kg per cubic metre.

Elm wood is also resistant to decay when permanently wet, and hollowed trunks were widely
used as water pipes during the medieval period in Europe. Elm was also used as piers in the
construction of the original London Bridge. However this resistance to decay in water does not
extend to ground contact.

The Romans, and more recently the Italians, used to plant elms in vineyards as supports for
vines. Lopped at three metres, the elms' quick growth, twiggy lateral branches, light shade and
root-suckering made them ideal trees for this purpose. The lopped branches were used for fodder
and firewood. Ovid in his Amores characterizes the elm as "loving the vine", and the ancients
spoke of the "marriage" between elm and vine.

Mahogany

Mahogany has a straight, fine and even grain, and is relatively free of voids and pockets. Its
reddish-brown color darkens over time, and displays a reddish sheen when polished. It has
excellent workability, and is very durable. Historically, the tree's girth allowed for wide boards
from traditional mahogany species. These properties make it a favorable wood for crafting
cabinets and furniture.

Much of the first-quality furniture made in the American colonies from the mid 18th century was
made of mahogany, when the wood first became available to American craftsmen. Mahogany is
still widely used for fine furniture; however, the rarity of Cuban mahogany and over harvesting
of Honduras and Brazilian mahogany has diminished their use. Mahogany also resists wood rot,
making it attractive in boat construction. It is also often used for musical instruments,
particularly the backs, sides and necks of acoustic guitars and drum shells because of its ability
to produce a very deep, warm tone compared to other commonly used woods such as maple or
birch. Guitars often feature mahogany in their construction. Mahogany is now being used for the
bodies of high-end stereo phonographic record cartridges and for stereo headphones, where it is
noted for “warm” or “musical” sound.

Beech
Beech wood is an excellent firewood, easily split and burning for many hours with bright but
calm flames. Chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of Budweiser beer as a fining agent.
Beech logs are burned to dry the malts used in some German smoked beers, giving the beers
their typical flavour. Beech is also used to smoke Westphalian ham, various sausages, and some
cheeses.

The European species Fagus sylvatica yields a utility timber that is tough but dimensionally
unstable. It weighs about 720 kg per cubic metre and is widely used for furniture framing and
carcass construction, flooring and engineering purposes, in plywood and in household items like
plates, but rarely as a decorative wood. The timber can be used to build chalets, houses and log
cabins.

Beech wood is used for the stocks of military rifles when traditionally preferred woods such as
walnut are scarce or unavailable or as a lower-cost alternative.

The fruit of the beech tree is known as beechnuts or mast and is found in small burrs that drop
from the tree in autumn. It is small, roughly triangular and edible, with a bitter, astringent taste.
They have a high enough fat content that they can be pressed for edible oil. Fresh from the tree,
beech leaves are a fine salad vegetable, as sweet as a mild cabbage though much softer in
texture. The young leaves can be steeped in gin for several weeks, the liquor strained off and
sweetened to give a light green/yellow liqueur called beechleaf noyau.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Original Wikipedia article.

1. Which wood is not spoken of as being used in military equipment?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

2. Which wood doesn't have the reputation of being pretty to look at?
    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

3. Which wood can be permanently submerged with little ill effect?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

4. Which wood can make a food or drink more valuable?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech
5. Which wood are you most likely to find on stage at a rock concert?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

6. Which wood became associated with luxurious buildings?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

7. Which wood is the most flexible and is therefore used where this is required?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany
    beech

8. Which wood burns very well?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

9. Which wood was used as an agricultural aid?

    oak

    elm

    mahogany

    beech

10. Which wood can alter its colour?

    oak

    elm
    mahogany

    beech

Question 1 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: mahogany.

Question 2 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: beech.

Question 3 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: elm.

Question 4 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: oak.

Question 5 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: mahogany.

Question 6 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: oak.

Question 7 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: elm.

Question 8 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: beech.

Question 9 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: elm.

Question 10 - Incorrect. Actual Answer was: mahogany.