question: Buenos Aires ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the first one was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 17 million. 

The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Province's capital; rather, it is an autonomous district. In 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores; both are now neighborhoods of the city. The 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (Autonomous City of Buenos Aires). Its citizens first elected a chief of government (i.e. mayor) in 1996; previously, the mayor was directly appointed by the President of the Republic.
1. What is the capital city of Argentina?
2. What is its meaning?
3. Does it have too many people?
4. What is the population?
5. What kind of a district is it?
6. Was it removed from its district?
7. Where is it ranked in terms of the metropolitan area in the Americas?
8. What amendment gave it its formal name?
9. And what is its formal name?
10. Which translates into English as what?
11. Who did its citizens first elect?
12. what year?
13. Before the mayor was elected by who otherwise?
****
answer: 1. Buenos Aires
2. fair winds
3. yes
4. around 17 million.
5. autonomous
6. yes
7. the fourth-most populous
8. The 1994 constitutional amendment
9. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
10. Autonomous City of Buenos Aires
11. a chief of government
12. 1996
13. the President of the Republic


question: Li Siyi, a student from Jinan Foreign Language School, takes up a new habit. She refuses to believe everything that she reads. "Not everything in books is true," she said. Many other students in her school think the same thing as Li. They learned this through finding a mistake in their Chinese textbook. They learned a Tang poem, Ci Beigu Shanxia, last year. There was a picture that showed a boat in full sail on a river. "But according to the famous line from the poem, feng zheng yifan xuan, the sail shouldn't be spread ," said Zhang Jiayi, Li's classmate. To get the right answer, the students turned to their Chinese teacher, Liu Yan. Liu and the students looked up books, searched on the Internet and made sure that the People's Education Press had really made a mistake about the picture. The students wrote a letter to them about the mistake. "I think my students did a right thing but I never expected a reply," said Liu. "I took it as a way of letting them know the importance of spirit of questioning." To their surprise, one month later, they got the reply from Gu Zhenbiao, the expert of Chinese textbooks in middle schools. Gu said sorry for the mistake and he also said he really thinks the students are very great. When Liu read the letter loudly to all the students, everyone was excited. "We are very happy we have our own ideas!" said Li.
1. what is Li Siyi ?
2. from ?
3. what did ithey take ?
4. did she find a mistake ?
5. who did they turn too ?
6. what did they learn ?
7. did they write a letter ?
8. who is Gu Zhenbiao ?
9. how long did they wait for a reply?
10. who reasd the letter loudly ?
****
answer: 1. a student
2. Jinan Foreign Language School,
3. a new habit
4. yes
5. Liu Yan. Liu
6. a Tang poem
7. yes
8. the expert of Chinese textbooks
9. one month
10. Liu


question: Minsk, is the capital and largest city of Belarus, on the Svislach and the Nyamiha Rivers. As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblast) and Minsk raion (district). In 2013, it had a population of 2,002,600. Minsk is the administrative capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and seat of the Executive Secretary. 

The earliest historical references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the Principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499. 

From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodeship, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union. Minsk will host the 2019 European Games. 

Minsk is located on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills, a region of rolling hills running from the southwest (upper reaches of the river Nioman) to the northeast – that is, to Lukomskaye Lake in northwestern Belarus. The average altitude above sea level is . The physical geography of Minsk was shaped over the two most recent ice ages. The Svislach River, which flows across the city from the northwest to the southeast, is in the "urstromtal", an ancient river valley formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last Ice Age. There are six smaller rivers within the city limits, all part of the Black Sea basin.
1. What is the largest city in Belarus?
2. When was it first heard of?
3. What century?
4. On what did they begin to settle?
5. What was it connected to in 1793?
6. As a result of what?
7. What was it a capital of until 1991?
8. Since when?
9. Where is it located?
10. Does it have land above sea level?
11. What divides the city from southeast to northwest?
12. How many are in the city?
13. What basin do they share in common?
14. What is it the admin capital of?
****
answer:
1. Minsk
2. 1067
3. 11th
4. on the rivers
5. the Russian Empire
6. the Second Partition of Poland.
7. the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
8. 1919
9. on the southeastern slope of the Minsk Hills
10. Yes
11. The Svislach River
12. Seven
13. the Black Sea basin.
14. Minsk Region