Question: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a 2010 Pentagon budget Monday that reflects major changes in the "scope and significance" of Defense Department priorities. 

One of the high-profile programs on the chopping block is the Air Force's most expensive fighter, the F-22 Raptor. 

The proposed budget cuts several traditional big-ticket items while investing in programs designed to bolster the military's ability to wage an ongoing conflict against terrorists and other extremist elements in multiple regions at the same time. 

Gates acknowledged that parts of the budget are likely to run into significant opposition on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are concerned in part about preserving valuable defense contracts for their districts and states. 

"This is a reform budget, reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan," Gates said. "There's no question that a lot of these decisions will be controversial." 

He called on Congress to "rise above parochial interests and consider what is in the best interests of the nation as a whole." 

House Armed Service Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, acknowledged that congressmen have concerns about job losses in their home districts but said that ultimately, "the national interest overrides anything." 

"The buck stops with us," he said. "We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us." 

Three key priorities are reflected in the changes, Gates said. 

The priorities are a stronger institutional commitment to the military's all-volunteer force, a decision to "rebalance" defense programs to better fight current and future conflicts, and "fundamental overhauls" of the military's procurement, acquisition and contracting process.  1. Who anounced the budget for the pentagon for 2010?
2. What was one of the more high profile programs on it?
3. was it going to increase the spending or cut it?
4. Did gates think their were going to be any opposition to parts of the budget?
5. What is it that would concern the lawmakers about it?
6. What do the major changes reflect in the budget?
7. What does the house Armed Serive chairman Ike Skelton think about it?
8. What does Gates think the reformed budget reflects?
9. What are the priorities of the budget?
10. What did Gates call on congress to do? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
2. the F-22 Raptor.
3. Cut it?
4. yes
5. preserving valuable defense contracts for their districts and states
6. "scope and significance
7. he acknowledged that congressmen have concerns about job losses in their home districts but said that ultimately, "the national interest overrides anything."
8. lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan
9. a stronger institutional commitment to the military's all-volunteer force, a decision to "rebalance" defense programs to better fight current and future conflicts, and "fundamental overhauls" of the military's procurement, acquisition and contracting process.
10. "rise above parochial interests and consider what is in the best interests of the nation as a whole."


Question: (CNN) -- Before the Arab Spring came the Damascus Spring. When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez Assad in 2000, there was the promise of a modern and more democratic Syria. 

In his inauguration speech, al-Assad indicated he would be a very different kind of leader to his father. "I shall try my very best to lead our country towards a future that fulfils the hopes and legitimate ambitions of our people," he said. 

And for a while that promise was kept. His official website says he has built free-trade zones, licensed more private newspapers and private universities, and fought government waste and corruption. He has also worked on social and economic reform. 

But while there have been some changes during his rule, many say al-Assad's promises have largely not been delivered. 

Human Rights Watch has called his time as president "the wasted decade" with a media that remains controlled by the state, a monitored and censored internet and prisons still filled with dissidents. 

Two former regime insiders -- now its opponents -- recalled their time with the younger al-Assad. Former vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam said Bashar was often the victim of his elder brother's cruelty. "His brother Basil bullied him as a child. His father never gave him as much attention as Basil," Khaddam said. 

Al-Assad's uncle Rifaat, who left Syria in 1984 after being involved in a failed coup, also recalled the future president. 

"He is very different than his father. Hafez was a leader, the head of the entire regime, while Bashar was never that close to being one and never fell within that framework. He is being perceived as the leader but he follows what the regime decides on his behalf."  1. What came before the Arab Spring?
2. Who succeeded his father?
3. Who was his father?
4. When?
5. Was there a promise?
6. of what?
7. What does his website say he built?
8. Anything else?
9. What kind of reform has he worked on?
10. Have there been changes under his rule?
11. Has he delivered on his promise?
12. What did a group call his time as president?
13. Who said that
14. who is Abdel Halim Khaddam?
15. Who is Basil?
16. Who is  Rifaat?
17. When did he leave Syria?
18. Why?
19. Did he say Bashar was different than his father?
20. Does he think Bashar is a leader? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Damascus Spring
2. Bashar al-Assad
3. Hafez Assad
4. 2000
5. Yes
6. A more modern and democratic Syria
7. Free-trade zones
8. He fought government waste and corruption
9. Social and economic
10. Yes
11. Many say no.
12. The wasted decade
13. Human Rights Watch
14. Former vice president of Syria
15. Bashar's brother
16. Al-Assad's uncle
17. 1984
18. He was involved in a failed coup
19. Yes
20. No


Question: Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula CHO. Glucose circulates in the blood of animals as blood sugar. It is made during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using energy from sunlight. It is the most important source of energy for cellular respiration. Glucose is stored as a polymer, in plants as starch and in animals as glycogen. 

With 6 carbon atoms, it is classed as a hexose, a subcategory of the monosaccharides. -Glucose is one of the 16 aldohexose stereoisomers. The -isomer, -glucose, also known as dextrose, occurs widely in nature, but the -isomer, -glucose, does not. Glucose can be obtained by hydrolysis of carbohydrates such as milk sugar, cane sugar, maltose, cellulose, glycogen, etc. It is commonly commercially manufactured from cornstarch by hydrolysis via pressurized steaming at controlled pH in a jet followed by further enzymatic depolymerization. In 1747, Andreas Marggraf was the first to isolate glucose. Glucose is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system. The name glucose derives through the French from the Greek γλυκός, which means "sweet," in reference to must, the sweet, first press of grapes in the making of wine. The suffix "-ose" is a chemical classifier, denoting a carbohydrate. 1. Is glucose simple or complex?
2. what is it molecular makeup?
3. What is it in animals?
4. What is one of the components it is made from?
5. They other?
6. Using what?
7. From what?
8. Who was the first to discover glucose?
9. When?
10. What important list is glucose on?
11. Who creates the list?
12. Where does the name come from?
13. What does it mean?
14. What does "ose" mean? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. simple
2. CHO
3. blood sugar
4. water
5. carbon dioxide
6. energy
7. sunlight
8. Andreas Marggraf
9. 1747
10. List of Essential Medicines
11. the World Health Organization
12. from Greek
13. "sweet"
14. a carbohydrate