Problem: The Romance languages (sometimes called the Romanic languages, Latin languages, or Neo-Latin languages) are the modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin between the sixth and ninth centuries and that thus form a branch of the Italic languages within the Indo-European language family. 

Today, around 800 million people are native speakers worldwide, mainly in Europe, Africa and the Americas, but also elsewhere. Additionally, the major Romance languages have many non-native speakers and are in widespread use as lingua francas. This is especially the case for French, which is in widespread use throughout Central and West Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Maghreb. 

The five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are Spanish (470 million), Portuguese (250 million), French (150 million), Italian (60 million), and Romanian (25 million). 

Because of the difficulty of imposing boundaries on a continuum, various counts of the modern Romance languages are given; for example, Dalby lists 23 based on mutual intelligibility. The following, more extensive list, includes 35 current, living languages, and one recently extinct language, Dalmatian: 

Romance languages are the continuation of Vulgar Latin, the popular and colloquial sociolect of Latin spoken by soldiers, settlers, and merchants of the Roman Empire, as distinguished from the classical form of the language spoken by the Roman upper classes, the form in which the language was generally written. Between 350 BC and 150 AD, the expansion of the Empire, together with its administrative and educational policies, made Latin the dominant native language in continental Western Europe. Latin also exerted a strong influence in southeastern Britain, the Roman province of Africa, western Germany, Pannonia and the Balkans north of the Jireček Line.
1. What are some names the Romance languages are sometimes called?
2. What is the most spoken of the Languages?
3. Around how many people speak it?
4. During what time frame did Latin become the dominant native language in continental Western Europe?
5. When did the modern Romance Languages start evolving from Vulgar Latin?
6. What language branch did they form then?
7. In a more extensive listing how many current Romance Languages are there?
8. Is there difficulty imposing boundries where a new language starts and an old one ends with the Romance languages?
9. Where has latin had a strong influence?
10. How many people speak Romanian?
11. Are these languages ever used as lingua francas?
Answer: 1. Romanic languages
2. Spanish
3. 470 million
4. Between 350 BC and 150 AD
5. between the sixth and ninth centuries
6. Italic languages
7. 35 current
8. Yes
9. southeastern Britain
10. 25 million
11. Yes

Problem: Suhklal lives in India. He works every day, but can only buy food, not anything else, even clothes. One day, Suhklal heard about a non-profit organization called GOONJ. This organization does not give away free clothes or sell clothes for money. Instead, GOONJ asks people to work to help the community. In return, GOONJ supplies people with clothes. Suhklal said the experience made him happy. He felt proud of his work and his new clothes. 

In 1998, Anshu Gupta and his wife wanted to help the people affected by a crisis , so they gathered all the clothes they had not worn. Looking at their gathered clothing, they wanted to start a new clothing organization. But they wanted their organization to be different from others. They wanted to collect clothing all year round -- not just in times of crisis. And more importantly, they wanted to serve people in a way that made them feel proud when receiving clothes. 

GOONJ makes sure the clothing is given to people who can use it. For example, people in areas with cooler temperatures receive warmer clothes. And people in villages that wear traditional clothing would receive traditional clothing. GOONJ also reuses clothes that people can't wear. For example, a shirt with holes can be made into a bag or used to make a blanket. 

GOONJ helps organize projects that improve the community. People receive clothes in return for their community work. Gupta believes this helps the receivers build self-respect, because they have earned the clothes. It also helps the receivers to be proud of what they have done to help their community. 

Since it began, GOONJ has expanded its work. GOONJ also collects more than just clothes. It collects home or school supplies. GOONJ also started a program that helps protect women's health.
1. Where does Suhklal live?
2. What is the one thing he can buy?
3. What is the name of the organization he heard about?
4. What does GOONJ do?
5. Did Suhklal do it?
6. How did it work out for him?
7. How did GOONJ begin?
8. When did they start it?
9. How did their project differ from others?
10. What was most important to them?
11. What does GOONJ make sure to do?
12. How many ways do they use the clothes?
13. What is the first way?
14. The second?
15. The third?
16. How do they reuse it?
17. How does it help the community?
18. How?
Answer: 1. in India
2. food
3. GOONJ
4. GOONJ asks people to work in return for clothes
5. Yes
6. He felt proud of his work and his new clothes.
7. Anshu Gupta and his wife wanted to help the people affected by a crisis , so they gathered all the clothes they had not worn
8. In 1998
9. They wanted to collect clothing all year round -- not just in times of crisis.
10. they wanted to serve people in a way that made them feel proud when receiving clothes.
11. makes sure the clothing is given to people who can use it.
12. three
13. people in areas with cooler temperatures receive warmer clothes
14. people in villages that wear traditional clothing would receive traditional clothing
15. reuses clothes that people can't wear.
16. a shirt with holes can be made into a bag or used to make a blanket.
17. helps organize projects that improve the community
18. People receive clothes in return for their community work.

Problem: Houston, Texas (CNN) -- Alexander Reyes' boyhood dream of a military career ended when he was hit by an improvised explosive device during a patrol two years ago in Baghdad. 

"Laying in that hospital bed ... sometimes I felt I'd rather [have] died," Reyes said. "My life came to a complete halt." 

Reyes sustained severe blast injuries that led to his medical discharge; he's on 100 percent medical disability. Like many soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reyes, now 24, found the transition to civilian life difficult. 

But he and a handful of other injured veterans are getting help from what may seem an unlikely source: a custom home builder in Houston, Texas. 

Dan Wallrath recently presented Reyes and his wife with an unexpected gift: a home built especially for them, mortgage-free. 

"Thank you. That's all I can say," Elizabeth Reyes said, sobbing and clutching her stunned husband's arm as Wallrath surprised them with the house. 

For Wallrath, giving wounded veterans a place to call home is his way of saying thanks. Since 2005, his organization has built four houses. Five more are under construction, and he's expanding his idea into a national campaign called Operation Finally Home. 

Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes 

Wallrath spent 30 years making upscale clients' dream houses a reality. But he found a new mission in 2005 when he met with Steve Schulz about a very different type of project. 

Schulz's 20-year old son, a U.S. Marine, had been gravely injured in Iraq. Schulz desperately needed to remodel his house to accommodate his son's wheelchair. 
1. who was injured by an explosive device?
2. who helped him?
3. how?
4. how long has he been doing that?
5. where does he reside?
6. how did Reyes feel after the injury?
7. where was he injured?
8. is he on medical disablity?
9. how did Elizabeth feel about the gift?
10. who is she?
11. does Wallrath have other plans?
12. what is one of them?
13. any others?
14. did he make different types of projects?
15. what was it?
16. for whom?
17. what happened to him?
Answer:
1. Alexander Reyes
2. Dan Wallrath
3. gave him a free home
4. Since 2005
5. Houston
6. he'd rather have died
7. Baghdad
8. yes
9. thankful
10. Alexander's wife
11. yes
12. Operation Finally Home
13. building five more homes
14. yes
15. making a home wheelchair accessible
16. a 20-year old Marine
17. injured in Iraq