Question: CHAPTER XXV 

It chanced that a brilliant autumn brought a season of great prosperity to the Thetian wine-growers and farmers, and the year of Ughtred's accession to the throne seemed likely to be marked with a white stone in their annals. Never had a ruler been more popular with all classes. His military system, while it made no undue demands upon the people, provoked the admiration of Europe, and several important and successful industrial undertakings were due entirely to his instigation. Mr. Van Decht, fascinated by the climate, the primitive but delightful life, and a firm believer in the possibilities of the country, still lingered in the capital, and already the results of his large investments were beginning to be felt. Only a few people knew of the hidden danger which was ever brooding over the land--a danger which Ughtred had realized from the first, and which from the first he had set himself steadfastly to avert. A soldier himself, he knew something of the horrors of war. Nothing seemed to him more awful than the vision of this beautiful country blackened and devastated, her corn-fields soaked with blood, her pleasant pastoral life swept away in the grim struggle against an only partially-civilized enemy. He set himself passionately to work to strive for peace. 

Reist came to him one evening straight from the House of Laws with a suggestion. 

"Your Majesty," he said, "the people are asking for a queen." 

Ughtred laughed. 

"I'm sorry I can't oblige them off-hand," he answered.  1. Who was king?
2. What did they want him to do?
3. Did he agree?
4. What did he say?
5. What happened the fall he became king?
6. For whom?
7. Was the king liked?
8. What did the continent think of him?
9. For what?
10. Was the country completely safe?
11. Who sensed danger?
12. What did he know about? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Ughtred
2. Find a queen
3. No
4. I'm sorry I can't oblige them off-hand
5. A season of great prosperity
6. The wine-growers and farmers
7. Yes
8. Admiration
9. His military system
10. No
11. Ughtred
12. The horrors of war


Question: At any given time, hundreds of postcards are in transit across the world as strangers communicate through a movement called Post-crossing. 

Emma Delaney says it's a sad day when there isn't a postcard in her mailbox. She doesn't have a bunch of friends travelling overseas at the moment ---- she's just really active in the underground hobby of Postcrossing. 

"I've sent over 3,000 postcards, but I've been doing it for close to seven years," she says. "My husband, generally appreciative of my hobby, is sometimes frustrated by the amount of cardboard hanging around the house or in my car." 

Postcrossing is a hobby where strangers send each other postcards across the world. You register on the website, list your interests and preferences for postcards, then receive an address of a stranger on the other side of the world to send a postcard to. 

"I tend to send a lot of postcards of the local area because people are interested in where you're from and what you do," Emma says. 

From Uzbekistan to Belarus and Kazakhstan to Moldova, Emma has a growing collection of photos from around the world. The postcards have helped shape her international travelling too. "I didn't travel overseas until I was 32 and a lot of the locations we chose for our honeymoon were selected because of the postcards I'd received." 

"Some people see sending mail as being a bit boring and unfashionable, but Postcrossing is popular and lots of people are fascinated that I do it.," 

The Postcrossing project has just celebrated its eighth birthday and has over 400,000 active members in 215 countries. The group says they've delivered over 18 million postcards. 

And while postal workers aren't supposed to read people's postcards, Emma says she's happy for them to do so at her post office in Shellharbour. She even encourages her correspondents to say hello to the Australia Post staff. 

"It's a hobby that I continue to do because I find it enjoyable and relaxing." 1. Who gets sad when there isn't a postcard in her box?
2. Is she single?
3. What does she do for fun?
4. What's that?
5. Do they ever meet each other?
6. Does her spouse ever get annoyed?
7. Why specifically?
8. How old is he?
9. How many are involved in this activity?
10. In how many nations?
11. Who isn't allowed to view the messages?
12. Can an exception be made?
13. For who?
14. Will she keep on doing this into the future?
15. Why?
16. Can you estimate how many messages there are in the system at one time? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Emma Delaney
2. No
3. Postcrossing
4. strangers send each other postcards
5. No
6. Yes
7. by the amount of cardboard hanging around the house or in her car
8. unknown
9. 400,000
10. 215
11. postal workers
12. Yes
13. post office in Shellharbour.
14. Yes
15. she finds it enjoyable and relaxing
16. No


Question: Hong Kong (CNN) -- An Australian teenager reported missing two months ago has been found alive in dense bushland not far from his home, local police say. 

Matthew Allen, 18, was last seen at his family home near Westleigh, a suburb about 30 kilometers (20 miles) away from Sydney, on November 27. 

Police feared the worst as the teen had not taken his mobile phone with him or accessed his bank accounts. 

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Extensive searches by police and emergency services failed to find him. 

On Saturday, two hikers told police that they had spotted a "disorientated man" in bushland not far from Westleigh. 

When rescuers reached Allen, he was in a bad way suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. 

Local media said he was emaciated, covered in leeches and mosquito bites and his feet and lower legs were suffering from gangrene. 

It was believed he had been in the bush the entire nine weeks he was missing, police said. 

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''He was in such a poor state,'' Detective Acting Inspector Glyn Baker told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

''He was completely exhausted, completely dehydrated, suffered significant weight loss, somewhere up to 50%. He was suffering from partial blindness and he had leeches all over him.'' 

He was winched out by a rescue helicopter and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was reunited with his family. 

Allen went missing during a record heatwave when Sydney endured temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius.  1. What did hikers find?
2. Where?
3. Where was it close to?
4. How many hikers were there?
5. When did they see him?
6. Who did it turn out to be?
7. How old is he?
8. How someone reported him missing
9. How long was he gone?
10. Where does he live?
11. What big city is that close to?
12. How far apart are they?
13. Was he in good shape when they found him?
14. Was was he experiencing?
15. Anything else?
16. Was some kind of animal on him?
17. What?
18. What had bitten him?
19. How much of his body weight had he lost?
20. Who filed for bankruptcy? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. a "disorientated man"
2. in bushland
3. Westleigh
4. two
5. On Saturday
6. Matthew Allen,
7. 18
8. Yes
9. two months
10. Westleigh
11. Sydney
12. 20 miles
13. no
14. dehydration
15. partial blindness
16. Yes
17. leeches
18. mosquitos
19. 50%
20. Casey Anthony