What is the significance of Shylock's money bag?

Shylock dreams of his money bag. This dream, about which we get no details, shakes him up so much that he doesn't want to go out to a dinner he has been invited to by Christians. He fears something bad is about to happen, for the dream feels to him like a bad omen.
He rationalizes staying home by saying that the Christians don't really want to see him and only invited him to flatter him. Launcelot, however, urges him to go, because all of his plans to elope with Jessica depend on Shylock being out of the house.
Ironically, Shylock's impulse to stay home is the correct one: the treasure he is about to lose, though he does not know it, is his daughter.

Shylock has had a dream, or rather a nightmare, involving moneybags. To him, they represent a bad omen, a premonition that something terrible is about to happen. As Shylock's moneylending business is the most important thing in his life, we can safely assume that he's worried about the potential loss of his trade.
Despite Launcelot's gentle ribbing, Shylock takes his dream very seriously indeed. So much so that in act 2, scene 5, he orders his daughter Jessica to stay indoors that evening while he's out dining with Bassanio and not to allow any merriment in the house. There must be no bawdy Christian masques at Shylock's place.
But Shylock is right to be worried; Jessica's planning to elope with Lorenzo. Yet it is his material possessions, his house and his money, that he's afraid of losing, when in fact it's his daughter he's about to lose. This is a classic example of dramatic irony, where we know something that a character doesn't.

Comment on the significance of the Meryton ball in Pride and Prejudice.

This ball or assembly is significant because it sets the novel's two main love plots in motion. At the ball, Jane and Mr. Bingley meet, dance, and begin to fall in love. Mr. Bingley calls Jane "the most beautiful creature I ever beheld."
Likewise, Elizabeth has her first experience of Mr. Darcy there. This, however, does not go so well. She is sitting out some dances for lack of male partners. Mr. Bingley approaches his friend Darcy and suggests he ask Elizabeth to dance, calling her "very pretty." Darcy rejects this idea. He says instead

She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me.

Elizabeth who overhears this conversation, feels the burn of Mr. Darcy's insult. As any young woman would be, she is highly displeased and develops an instant prejudice against Mr. Darcy. It will take her a long time to warm up to him, and he falls in love with her as she treats him badly.

Why has Captain Beatty not been punished for reading a book?

No one truly doubts Captain Beatty's loyalty to the regime. The very idea that he could be some kind of traitor is simply too absurd to contemplate. Besides, Beatty's familiarity with works of forbidden literature makes him a valuable ally in the fight against books. He has the kind of inside knowledge into the mindset of your average book-reader that proves valuable to the authorities in rooting out subversives.
Having read and absorbed so much of what is no longer considered acceptable, Beatty is in the privileged position of poacher-turned-gamekeeper. Like former computer hackers hired by government departments and I.T. companies to improve their cybersecurity systems, the once well-read Beatty is used by the book-burning authorities to help them crack down on those who insist on keeping up this dangerously subversive habit.

During a conversation with Montag, Captain Beatty admits that he once pursued knowledge and read an extensive amount of literature, only to end up more confused and distraught than he was before he began reading. Captain Beatty goes on to tell Montag that attempting to understand the universe makes a man feel "bestial and lonely," which is why it is pointless to look toward literature for answers. Captain Beatty also tells Montag that he stopped attempting to search for meaning in books and found it much easier to destroy literature than to attempt to comprehend the endless amount of information regarding the universe and man's existence.
One could surmise that Captain Beatty's decision to burn novels instead of pursuing knowledge was the reason he was not arrested for reading books. The fact that he also tells Montag that it is policy to allow a fireman to read a book for a night before returning it the next day also explains why Captain Beatty was not arrested for reading books.

For what reasons did seven southern states secede from the Union shortly after Lincoln's election in 1860?

The Southern states wrongly believed that Lincoln was planning to abolish slavery outright. In actual fact, the Republican Party platform on which Lincoln was elected was merely opposed to the spread of slavery. But to most Southerners, this was bad enough, and they genuinely feared the worst. As slavery was the linchpin of Southern society and the Southern economy, a growing consensus quickly emerged that the South should secede from the Union in order to protect its way of life.
The Southern states justified their secession on the grounds of protecting states' rights. But in actual fact, there was only one right they were seeking to protect, and that was the right to maintain the institution of slavery. They felt that that institution was under threat with the election of Lincoln, so they seceded and, in doing so, precipitated the Civil War.

The American Civil War was the culmination of more than a century of debate in the United States regarding the institution of slavery. An abolitionist movement comprised primarily of Quakers emerged in North America during the 17th century and the issue of slavery was heatedly and repeatedly debated during the Constitutional Conventions with the division between northern and southern colonies already taking shape. The seeming intractability of the issue resulted in it remaining unresolved. The South’s intransigence forced the northern states to accede, at least temporarily, to southern demands in the interest of developing a sense of national unity among the colonies.
While slavery was the key issue dividing the North from the South, the broader issue of “states’ rights” provided the foundation for much of the political debate that took place during the 19th century. What that means is that a debate over the power of the federal or central government relative to the power enjoyed by the individual states remained highly divisive, with slavery representing the single most pressing “state right.” The southern states remained adamant that they be allowed to continue to own slaves because the region’s agricultural industry profited from the free labor. As the 19th century progressed, however, the abolitionist movement in the North grew and pressure from Britain, which outlawed slavery in 1833, to similarly ban the practice also increased.
The election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency served as a final warning to the South that the Union’s patience with the South over the issue of slavery had exhausted itself. Slavery was only finally abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln—a proclamation rejected by the southern states. The Civil War ended the matter in the North’s favor.

Where are the eggs and sperm made?

I am going to assume that this question is referring to human anatomy.  
Sperm are the male sex cells (gametes). They carry exactly half of the genetic code. In humans, this means that each sperm cell carries 23 chromosomes. They are produced through a process of reduction division known as meiosis.  In males, this occurs in the testes. More specifically, it occurs within the seminiferous tubules. While this is the site of initial sperm production, the sperm are moved along the tubes to the epididymis. Once there, development of the sperm continues for about another 2 weeks. After completely maturing, the sperm are stored there as well.  
An egg (ovum) is the female sex cell. They also contain half of the genetic code, and they are also produced through meiosis. The site of egg production is the ovaries. A mature egg is released into the fallopian tubes where fertilization with the sperm may occur.  
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9118-female-reproductive-system

https://socratic.org/questions/where-are-sperm-created-where-are-they-stored

What are some examples of religion in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie?

While spirituality is certainly a factor in this fantastic book, I wouldn't say that there are examples of religion as such, and there is no talk of an afterlife in the aftermath of the death of Junior's sister or any of the other deaths that are referred to in the book.
As a native American, Junior participates in various cultural and spiritual rites, but at no point does he seem to associate himself with any religion or discuss belief in any higher power. I would argue that "that old time Indian spirit" was the closest thing that Junior knew to any religion.
Religion seems to be associated with the arrival of the white man, who, as Junior explains, brought with them Christianity and homophobia. A number of the characters who Junior describes are alcoholics who are prone to abusing children, and religion does not seem to be prevalent anywhere in this society. In fact, Junior expresses his pride in his grandmother for having rejected religion.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel written by Sherman Alexie. This story is about Arnold Spirit Jr (known as "Junior") and his life as a young native boy, trying to find his place in society and his identity.
Throughout the novel, many themes appear frequently. Some of the themes in this novel are individuality and identity, racism, and religion.
Religion and spirituality appear several times throughout the novel. Often, they appear when Junior is discussing his own Native American beliefs and traditions and how these were influenced when Christianity was "brought in by the white people". Western ideas, in Junior's opinion, changed and limited the amount of traditional native practices, traditions, and medicines.
Most of Junior's religious beliefs stem from his grandmother's "old-time Indian spirit". This spirit focuses on traditional native beliefs and renounces Christianity. This religion is not judgmental as many religious beliefs today.

Spirituality was a theme throughout the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. In this coming-of-age story, Junior is finding his place as a Native American in a white world. He is raised by his Native family and is taught to value traditional practices and medicines; however, he and the rest of his community still struggle with Western influence. He says,

Of course, ever since white people showed up and brought along their Christianity and their fears of eccentricity, Indians have gradually lost all of their tolerance.

Here, he explains how traditional Spokane culture values differences. He describes how gay people were seen as blessed. However, Christian influence has made Native Americans just as homophobic and judgmental as white people. Junior admires his grandmother for her teachings and her resistance to Christianity. He says,

Indians can be just as judgmental and hateful as any white person. But not my grandmother. She still hung on to that old-time Indian spirit, you know.

For Junior, "that old-time Indian spirit" is the religion that he understands and is learning how to put into practice.

Native American spirituality is one aspect of Native American culture that Sherman Alexie explores in this novel. For instance, in the chapter titled "Revenge Is My Middle Name," Junior and Rowdy attend the local powwow, but more of what the reader sees here is the traditional events for the Native Americans. A more spiritual moment happens when Junior's grandmother dies. In "Wake," Junior describes how the community comes together for him, his family, and his grandmother: 

And so, laughing and crying, we said good-bye to my grandmother. And when we said good-bye to one grandmother, we said good-bye to all of them.
Each funeral was funeral for all of us.
We lived and died together.

Even though Junior had been ostracized from the community throughout most of the novel, he comments that for this one day, everyone left him to mourn his loss, and they all came together, no matter their differences. The spirituality of the community is what Alexie wants the reader to take away from this piece, not just the traditional ideas one might have about Native American culture.  

Why were the Assyrians warriors?

The Assyrians, as most other civilizations, had some people who were warriors and a vast majority who were not warriors. First, one should note that women, children, and the elderly were not warriors and that many people were farmers, craftsmen, scribes or priests, rather than being dedicated to warfare. 
Assyria was notable for being one of the first civilizations to have a year-round professional standing army. Having such an army equipped with the most recent military technology (such as iron weapons), made Assyria a powerful military force when compared with other nations in which soldiers were only trained and recruited in times of war. 
The reason for Assyria developing such a force was partially geographical. It was located in Mesopotamia, a fertile agricultural region on many active trade routes. The attractiveness of its location meant that many people were trying to conquer it. Once Assyria developed an empire, many subjected tribes tried to break away. In both cases, Assyrian kings viewed a powerful army as a solution to their problems. 
https://www.ancient.eu/Assyrian_Warfare/