Question: It has been used for thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers (which are strong in tension) embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or it is defined more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere such as in the roots of trees or shrubs.[citation needed] In a living tree it performs a support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients between the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. 

The Earth contains about 434 billion cubic meters of growing stock forest, 47% of which is commercial. As an abundant, carbon-neutral renewable resource, woody materials have been of intense interest as a source of renewable energy. In 1991, approximately 3.5 cubic kilometers of wood were harvested. Dominant uses were for furniture and building construction. 1. How much wood was harvested in 1991?
2. Why?
3. How many meters of forest are there on our planet?
4. How much of that is available commercially?
5. Can this be renewed?
6. Is it rare?
7. How long has it been used in construction?
8. What is it's other main use?
9. What is it a composite of?
10. Are they weak? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. 3.5 cubic kilometers
2. furniture and building construction.
3. 434 billion cubic meters
4. 47%
5. yes
6. no
7. thousands of years
8. fuel
9. cellulose fibers
10. no


Question: CHAPTER SEVEN. 

Twelve months passed away, and Christmas came again, with its frost and snow and sunshine--its blazing fires, its good cheer, and its merry greetings. 

Many a Christmastide had now passed over the head of our blacksmith, John Thorogood, and his excellent wife Mary, but Time had touched them lightly in its flight. They both looked young and hale, and full of vigour. The only difference in them was a wrinkle or two at the corners of the eyes, and a few grey hairs mingling with the brown. Perhaps John was a little more corpulent than when he was a youth; but he could wield the fore-hammer as easily and powerfully as ever. 

A cloud, however, had been gathering over their happy home during the past year. Molly--the sweet active girl who had never known a day's illness from her childhood--had fallen into bad health. Her step had lost its spring, but her cheerful spirit was unsubdued. 

"You're better to-day, Molly darling?" asked the smith, in a tone which showed he was not sure of the answer. 

"Yes, father, much better." Molly did not use endearing terms, but the sweetness of her looks and voice rendered such needless. 

She was pale and thin, and could not check the touch of sadness in her tones. 

"Fred is sure to come, darling," said Mrs Thorogood, stopping in her preparations for supper to smooth her daughter's fair head. 

"Oh yes, mother, I know that Fred is sure to come," returned Molly, with a laugh and a little blush. "No fear of _him_. I was not thinking of him, but of Jim. It is the first Christmas we shall have spent without him. Dear Jim! I wonder what company he will have to spend it with him in the backwoods."  1. What is John's profession?
2. Who is his wife?
3. And his daughter?
4. True or False: This is the first Christmas the family has to spend without Jim.
5. Do John and Mary look much different since last holiday?
6. Is John as strong as he once was?
7. Does Molly have an upbeat personality?
8. Is she in good health currently?
9. True or False: It was unusual for the daughter to be sick.
10. In what country does the passage take place?
11. How is John different from in his youth?
12. Has John put on a bit of weight since his youth?
13. Does Molly think Fred will return?
14. How about Mrs. Thorogood?
15. What was Mrs. Thorogood getting ready for the family?
16. Who asks if Molly's health has improved?
17. True or False: Molly could hide her sadness.
18. How is Molly's skin color described?
19. What does Molly wonder about Jim?
20. What chapter is the passage from? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. blacksmith
2. Mary
3. Molly
4. true
5. no
6. yes
7. yes
8. no
9. true
10. unknown
11. a wrinkle or two at the corners of the eyes, and a few grey hairs mingling with the brown.
12. yes if that's what corpulent means
13. yes
14. yes
15. supper
16. the smith
17. false
18. pale
19. what company he will have to spend it with him in the backwoods."
20. SEVEN


Question: CHAPTER VII 

THE ARRIVAL OF SONGBIRD 

"So you've made some enemies as well as some friends, eh?" remarked Songbird Powell, after he had been registered, taken up to his room, and had listened to what the Rover boys had to tell. "No use of talking, it doesn't take you fellows long to stir things up!" 

"You said you had a surprise for us, Songbird," returned Tom. "I'm dying by inches to know what it is." 

"Maybe it's a new poem," put in Sam with a grimace at his brothers. 

"I've got a poem--several of them, in fact," answered Songbird, "but I didn't have those in mind when I spoke. Who do you suppose I met yesterday morning, in Ithaca, while I was waiting for the train?" 

"Dora Stanhope and the Lanings," answered Tom promptly. 

"No. Tad Sobber." 

"Tad Sobber!" exclaimed the Rover boys in concert. 

"Songbird, are you sure of it?" demanded Dick. 

"Sure? Wasn't I talking to him!" 

"But--but--I thought he was lost in that hurricane, when the _Josephine_ was wrecked." 

"No. It seems he escaped to a vessel bound for England; but his uncle, Sid Merrick, was lost, and so were most of the others. Sobber just got back from England--came in on one of the ocean liners, so he told me." 

"How did he act?" asked Tom. 

"Where was he going?" added Sam. 

"Did he seem to have any money?" came from Dick. 

All of the Rovers were intensely interested, and showed it plainly. 

"Say, one question at a time, please!" cried Songbird, "You put me in mind of a song I once wrote about a little boy:  1. what did Dick ask?
2. Who did Tom think Songbird had seen?
3. was it them?
4. who was it?
5. what did the boys think had happened to him?
6. who had been lost
7. was he the only one?
8. Had the boys only made enemies?
9. what else?
10. what did Sam think Songbird's surprise was?
11. did he have any?
12. was that his surprise?
13. what ship had wrecked?
14. was Sid Merrick Sobber's grandfather?
15. was he a relative?
16. what relationship?
17. were the Rover boys bored by the descussion?
18. how did thye feel?
19. what was Songbird reminded of
20. about? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. if Songbird was sure
2. Dora Stanhope and the Lanings
3. no
4. Tad Sobber
5. that he was lost in a hurricane
6. Sid Merrick
7. no
8. no
9. some friends
10. a new poem
11. yes
12. no
13. Josephine
14. no
15. yes
16. uncle
17. no
18. intensely interested
19. a song
20. a little boy: