Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rural mill carrier, and on Saturdays he would ask me to go with him. Driving through the countryside was always an adventure: There were animals to see, people to visit, and chocolate cookies if you knew where to stop, and Dad did. 

In the spring, Dad delivered boxes full of baby chickens, and when 1 was a boy it was such a fun to stick your finger 'through one of the holes of the boxes and let the baby birds peck on your fingers. 

On Dad' s final day of work, it took him well into the evening to complete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. "Two hundred and nineteen mailboxes on my route." he used to say, "and a story at every one. " One lady had no mailbox, so Dad took the mail in to her every day because she was nearly blind. Once inside, he read her mail and helped her pay her bills. 

Mailboxes were sometimes used for things other than mail. One note left in a mailbox read. "Nat, take these eggs to Marian; she's baking a cake and doesn't have any eggs. " Mailboxes might be buried in the snow, or broken, or lying on the groom:. bat the mail was always delivered On cold days Dad might find one of his customers waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate. A young wrote letters but had no stamps, so she left a few button on the envelope in the mailbox; Dad paid for the stamps. One businessman used to leave large amounts of cash in his mailbox for Dad to take to the bank. Once, the amount came to 8 32,000. 

A dozen years ago, when I traveled back to my hometown on the sad occasion of Dad's death, the mailboxes along the way reminded me of some of his stories. I thought I knew them all, but that wasn't the case. 

As I drove home, I noticed two lamp poles, one on each side of the street. When my dad was around, those poles supported wooden boxes about four feet off the ground. One box was painted green and the other was red, and each had a long narrow hole at the top with white lettering: SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE. For years children had dropped letters to Santa through those holes. 

I made a turn at the comer and drove past the post office and across the railroad tracks to our house. Mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table when I heard footsteps. There, at the door, stood Frank Townsend, Dad's postmaster and great friend for many years. So we all sat down at the table and began to tell stories. 

At one point Frank looked at me with tears in his eyes. " What are we going to do about the letters this Christmas?" he asked. 

"The letters?" 

'I guess you never knew. " 

"Knew what?" 

" Remember, when you were a kid and you used to put your letters to Santa in those green and red boxes on Main Street? It was your dad who answered all those letters every year. " 

I just sat there with tears in my eyes. It wasn't hard for me to imagine Dad sitting at the old table in our basement reading those letters and answering each one. I have since spoken with several of the people who received Christmas letters during their childhood, and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families. 

For me, just knowing that story about my father was the gift of a lifetime.
1. What other things were mailboxes used?
2. did the writer travel city roads?
3. was it boring?
4. who was he traveling with?
5. what day of the week did he go with his dad?
6. what season did the dad carry chicks?
7. how many mailboxes on his route?
8. how many stories?
9. how did the lady with no box get her mail?
10. what elkse did he do?
11. Who needed the eggs?
12. for what?
13. how much cash was in the box at one time?
14. What did he get on cold days?
15. what color were the Christmas mailboxes?
16. Who is Frank?
17. his Surname?
18. what did the writer not know?
19. which letters?

Numbered answers:
1. eggs
2. No
3. unknown
4. Dad
5. on Saturdays
6. Spring
7. 219
8. 219
9. took it to her
10. read mail, paid bills
11. Marian
12. baking a cake
13. came to 8 32,000
14. cup of hot chocolate.
15. green and the other was red
16. Dad's postmaster and great friend
17. Frank Townsend
18. dad answered all  letters every year
19. letters to Santa


Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
The BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, commonly known as the British Phonographic Industry or BPI, is the British recorded music industry's trade association. 

Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all three "major" record companies in the UK (Warner Music UK, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group), and hundreds of independent music labels and small to medium-sized music businesses. 

It has represented the interests of British record companies since being formally incorporated in 1973 when the principal aim was to promote British music and fight copyright infringement. 

In 2007, the association's legal name was changed from British Phonographic Industry Limited (The). 

It founded the annual BRIT Awards for the British music industry in 1977, and, later, The Classic BRIT Awards. The organizing company, BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of the BPI. Proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the BPI that has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation in 1989. In September 2013, the BPI presented the first ever BRITs Icon Award to Sir Elton John. The BPI also endorsed the launch of the Mercury Prize for the Album of the Year in 1992. 

The recorded music industry's Certified Awards program, which attributes Platinum, Gold and Silver status to singles, albums and music videos (Platinum and Gold only) based on their sales performance (see BPI Certified Awards program), has been administered by the BPI since its inception in 1973. In September 2008, the BPI became one of the founding members of UK Music, an umbrella organisation representing the interests of all parts of the industry.
1. What does BPI stand for?
2. How many music companies are in it?
3. How many major companies are there?
4. How many independent labels?
5. What awards did it start?
6. In what year?
7. Who arranges it?
8. Where does the money from the show go?
9. How much has it donated to charities?
10. Who received the first Icon award?
11. What's the prize for the best album?
12. How many independent labels are in the BPI?
13. Whose interests does it represent?
14. When was it incorporated?
15. What were its main goals?
16. How many different achievement statuses are given out?
17. Is Diamond one of them?
18. How about platinum?
19. What is the status based on?
20. Do music videos get rated this way?


Numbered answers:
1. British Phonographic Industry
2. hundreds
3. three
4. hundreds
5. the annual BRIT Awards and The Classic BRIT Awards.
6. 1977
7. BRIT Awards Limited
8. BRIT Trust
9. 15 million pounds
10. Sir Elton John
11. Mercury Prize
12. hundreds
13. British record companies
14. in 1973
15. to promote British music and fight copyright infringement
16. three
17. no
18. yes
19. sales performance
20. yes, with different levels