Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
CHAPTER VIII 

THE HAND OF MISFORTUNE 

Between the two men, seated opposite each other in the large but somewhat barely furnished office, the radical differences, both in appearance and mannerisms, perhaps, also, in disposition, had never been more strongly evident. They were partners in business and face to face with ruin. Stephen Laverick, senior member of the firm, although an air of steadfast gloom had settled upon his clean-cut, powerful countenance, retained even in despair something of that dogged composure, temperamental and wholly British, which had served him well along the road to fortune. Arthur Morrison, the man who sat on the other side of the table, a Jew to his finger-tips notwithstanding his altered name, sat like a broken thing, with tears in his terrified eyes, disordered hair, and parchment-pale face. Words had flown from his lips in a continual stream. He floundered in his misery, sobbed about it like a child. The hand of misfortune had stripped him naked, and one man, at least, saw him as he really was. 

"I can't stand it, Laverick,--I couldn't face them all. It's too cruel--too horrible! Eighteen thousand pounds gone in one week, forty thousand in a month! Forty thousand pounds! Oh, my God!" 

He writhed in agony. The man on the other side of the table said nothing. 

"If we could only have held on a little longer! 'Unions' must turn! They will turn! Laverick, have you tried all your friends? Think! Have you tried them all? Twenty thousand pounds would see us through it. We should get our own money back--I am sure of it. There's Rendell, Laverick. He'd do anything for you. You're always shooting or playing cricket with him. Have you asked him, Laverick? He'd never miss the money." 
1. What are the men discussing?
2. Do the men work together?
3. What room are they in?
4. Who is it suggested to ask for money?
5. What game does he play with Laverick?
6. Are either of the men crying?
7. Who?
8. Is the other man emotional?
9. Are they seated beside one another?
10. How long did it take to lose the money?
11. Did they feel that they could have prevented it?
12. What?
13. Do they believe that they will?
14. Do they need all of the money back to turn things around?
15. How much do they need?
16. Would that be a burden for Rendell to give them?

Numbered answers:
1. The loss of forty thousand pounds.
2. Yes.
3. An office.
4. Rendell
5. Cricket.
6. Yes.
7. Arthur Morrison
8. no.
9. No.
10. A month
11. Yes.
12. By the Unions turning.
13. One seems to believe the will.
14. No.
15. Twenty thousand pounds
16. No


Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
Muslims believe the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. The word "Quran" occurs some 70 times in the text of the Quran, although different names and words are also said to be references to the Quran. 

According to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with mostly minor differences in meaning.
1. What is the name of the book?
2. How long did it take to complete?
3. Who transcribed it?
4. Who gave the message?
5. Who spoke to him?
6. Through whom?
7. When did Muhammad die?
8. About how old was he?
9. Who established a correct type of the book?
10. What is the book regarded as?

Numbered answers:
1. the Quran
2. approximately 23 years
3. several companions of Muhammad
4. Muhammad
5. God
6. the angel Gabriel (Jibril)
7. 632
8. 63
9. Caliph Uthman
10. Uthman's codex


Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a measurement standards laboratory, and a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote innovation and industrial competitiveness. 

NIST's activities are organized into laboratory programs that include Nanoscale Science and Technology, Engineering, Information Technology, Neutron Research, Material Measurement, and Physical Measurement. 

The Articles of Confederation, ratified by the colonies in 1781, contained the clause, "The United States in Congress assembled shall also have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective states—fixing the standards of weights and measures throughout the United States". Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution of the United States (1789), transferred this power to Congress; "The Congress shall have power...To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures". 

In January 1790, President George Washington, in his first annual message to Congress stated that, "Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to", and ordered Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to prepare a plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States, afterwards referred to as the Jefferson report. On October 25, 1791, Washington appealed a third time to Congress, "A uniformity of the weights and measures of the country is among the important objects submitted to you by the Constitution and if it can be derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no less honorable to the public council than conducive to the public convenience", but it was not until 1838, that a uniform set of standards was worked out.
1. What does NIST stand for?
2. What kind of lab is it?
3. What kind of agency?
4. What government organization does it belong to?
5. What is its goal?
6. What is one of the agency's programs?
7. And another?
8. Do they have any others?
9. How many are mentioned?
10. When were the Articles of Confederation passed?
11. When was their ability to regulate currency passed to Congress?


Numbered answers:
1. The National Institute of Standards and Technology
2. measurement standards
3. non-regulatory
4. the United States Department of Commerce
5. promote innovation and industrial competitiveness
6. Nanoscale Science and Technology
7. Information Technology
8. yes, many
9. Six
10. 1781
11. 1789