Jack thought himself a basketball fan. He watched quite a lot of American NBA basketball games. Not only did he watch them, he spent much of his free time playing on the court too. Then came the final year of his middle school. All of his regular teammates stopped showing up on the court because they were simply too busy preparing for the high school entrance exam to play. He was, of course, under much stress himself, like everyone else. A good exam result meant a good high school; a mediocre score meant a mediocre school. _ . However, he loved basketball so much that he still found time to play, this time with a group of guys who were said to have skipped classes before. Some of his teachers started worrying about him. They asked his mother to go to school to let her know that Jack was hanging out with problem kids. When his mother returned home that day, she wanted to talk to Jack. Knowing the purpose of her visit to the school, Jack thought his mother would punish him for befriending those bad guys. To his surprise, his mother was not angry with him at all. She wanted to hear her son's side of the story. So Jack told his mother about what he knew of Simon and Peter. Simon's parents were badly ill; Peter's father had lost his job. They both seemed to Jack to be normal kids. Jack's mother thought for a moment, then went on to say that she was OK with her son playing with them and that she and her son should think of ways to help these kids. Soon Jack's mum introduced some part-time jobs to Simon and Peter, which they accepted. She believed in her son and cared about those who were less lucky. Jack's basketball friends and he have left for different places, but they still keep in touch. He knows Peter is now a manager of a local bank. Simon is currently a freshman at a university. Sadly, it is impossible to get together to play basketball again, but whenever they get on the phone, they talk about it all the time.

Answer this series of questions:

1. What sport was Jack a fan of?
2. What grade was he in?
3. What happened to the kids he played ball with?
4. Why did they stop?
5. Doing what?
6. How come he wasn't too busy studying as well?
7. Did he find new friends to play ball with?
8. Why was the teacher worried about these kids?
9. What did the teacher do about it?
10. Did his mom feel the same way about his new friends as the teachers?
11. How did she feel about them?
12. How did Jack feel about these kids?
13. Did Jack keep in touch with them when they grew up?
14. Do they still play basketball together?
15. What do they do instead?
16. What did Jack's mom want him to do for the kids?
17. Did she come up with any ways to help?
18. Why did she do for them?
19. Do either of them have jobs now?
20. Which one?

Numbered answers:
1. basketball
2. final year of middle school
3. they stopped showing up
4. they were too busy
5. prepearing for the high school entrance exam
6. yes
7. yes
8. they skipped classes
9. They asked his mother to come to school
10. no
11. she cared about them
12. they were normal kids
13. yes
14. no
15. talk on the phone
16. think ofways to help them
17. yes
18. found them part-time jobs
19. yes
20. peter