question: Daylight saving time (DST) or summer time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that in the evening daylight is experienced an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions with summer time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring and adjust them backward in the autumn to standard time. 

New Zealander George Hudson proposed the modern idea of daylight saving in 1895. Germany and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on 30 April 1916. Many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. 

The practice has received both advocacy and criticism. Putting clocks forward benefits retailing, sports, and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but can cause problems for evening entertainment and for other activities tied to sunlight, such as farming. Although some early proponents of DST aimed to reduce evening use of incandescent lighting, which used to be a primary use of electricity, modern heating and cooling usage patterns differ greatly and research about how DST affects energy use is limited or contradictory.
1. Whose idea was daylight saving time?
2. What's another name for it?
3. Is it agreed that it's an electricity saving method.
4. What's one industry it causes real problems for?
5. Which countries used it first?
6. Is there a common abbreviation for it?
7. What is that?
8. Do you set the clock forward or back in the fall?
9. Where was George Hudson from?
10. And when did Germany start using DST?
****
answer: 1. George Hudson
2. summer time
3. no
4. evening entertainment
5. Germany and Austria-Hungary
6. yes
7. DST
8. back
9. New Zealand
10. on 30 April 1916


question: Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta (), is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The country covers just over , with a population of just under 450,000, making it one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km, is the smallest national capital in the European Union by area. Malta has one national language, which is Maltese, and English as an official language. 

Malta's location in the middle of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, and a succession of powers, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, Knights of St. John, French, and British have ruled the islands. 

King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the then British colony's bravery in the Second World War. The George Cross continues to appear on Malta's national flag. Under the Malta Independence Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1964, Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom as an independent sovereign Commonwealth realm, officially known from 1964 to 1974 as the State of Malta, with Elizabeth II as its head of state. The country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004; in 2008, it became part of the Eurozone.
1. Where is Malta?
2. What is north of it?
3. Why was Malta's location important?
4. Who were the succession of powers?
5. What is the offical language?
6. What is their native language?
7. What happened in 1942?
8. for what?
9. when did malta became offical?
10. what happened in 2008?
11. When was it admitted to UN?
****
answer: 1. in the Mediterranean Sea
2. Italy
3. it is a strategic Naval location
4. they  included the Phoenicians and Carthaginians,
5. English
6. Maltese
7. they were awarded the George Cross
8. bravery
9. unknown
10. Malta became part of the Eurozone.
11. 1964


question: Silesia (; ; ; ; Silesian German: "Schläsing"; Silesian: "Ślůnsk" ; ; ; ) is a region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about , and its population about 8,000,000. Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia. 

The region is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław. The biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia. 

Silesia's borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold power there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century and Bohemia early in the 10th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, and after its division in the 12th century became a Piast duchy. In the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526.
1. True or False: Silesia is contained entirely in Germany.
2. How many countries is it in?
3. Where is most of it located?
4. What are the other two countries it is part of?
5. When did Bohemia rule there?
6. What other state ruled it?
7. When?
8. What happened to Silesia in the 900s?
9. What did it become in the 1100s?
10. What state ruled the Crown Lands?
11. True or False: The Holy Roman Empire passed to the Bourbon Monarchy.
12. To which monarchy did the Crown lands pass?
13. When?
14. What is the German name for Silesia?
15. How many people live there?
16. What flowing water is it near?
17. Is Silesia further divided in any way?
18. Into how many parts?
19. What are they called?
20. What is its major city?
****
answer:
1. False.
2. Three.
3. Poland
4. the Czech Republic and Germany.
5. the 10th century
6. Greater Moravia
7. at the end of the 9th century
8. it was incorporated into the early Polish state
9. a Piast duchy
10. the Holy Roman Empire
11. False.
12. the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy
13. 1526
14. "Schläsing"
15. about 8,000,000
16. the Oder River
17. Yes.
18. Two.
19. Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia.
20. Wrocław.