All That Jazz

Jazz is an American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African-American communities in the Southern United States. It derived from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has also incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. The word jazz began as a West Coast slang term of uncertain derivation and was first used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915.

Improvisation is one of the key elements of jazz and a fundamental part of the nature of the music. In jazz, the skilled performer will interpret a tune in very individual ways, never playing the same composition exactly the same way twice. Depending upon the performer's mood and personal experience, Interactions with fellow musicians, or even members of the audience, a jazz musician/performer may alter melodies, harmonies or time signature at will.

melodies, harmonies or time signature at will.

How does the author regard jazz?

Health Care's Numbers Game

The game of health care is a risky one. Today emergency rooms are acting as primary care physicians for thousands of patients. This trend produces a vicious cycle of hospitals raising emergency room costs and passing that increase along to paying patients, who in turn pass it along to insurance companies, who in turn raise ralles so even more people cannot afford the premium or the co-payment. For years, indigent people have used emergency rooms for very minor illnesses rather than seeing an outside doctor, but now emergency rooms are seeing people with insurance, but who cannot afford the co-payment or the deductible for the office visit. If we don't change the way the healthcare game is played, we're all going to lose.

In sentence number three, the word premium means

Mr. Rogers' Biography

"It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood!" This familiar line always began the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood program on PBS. The amazing Fred Rogers brought a special message to children around the world. He believed that each person is unique and wonderful in his or her own way and we should accept others just the way they are without trying to change or improve them. Mr. Rogers spread his tolerance message far and wide through the daily broadcasts of his television show, his many books, and finally after his retirement through his website specifically designed for children. Through these venues, Mr. Rogers helped children deal with the real-world things that bothered them, such as doctor visits, haircuts, and new siblings.

According to the passage, Fred Rogers believed in

Homonyms

English is a vibrant, changing, dynamic language. It allows people to express their thoughts in diverse ways, as there are many synonyms and antonyms to choose from. The hardest part for the English speaker - or those learning English as a second language - is learning about homonyms. These are words that sound alike but are spelled different ways, with different meanings.

One example is "One". This word, spelled "one" means the numeral 1, an amount. If spelled "won," it means to be victorious. No wonder spelling is a difficult skill to master!

Other homonyms encountered by the beginning English speaker are "to, two, too," "four, for, fore," "there, their, they're" and "son, sun" to name just a few. This is one reason that "Spell check" programs on word processing compullers cannot be completely accurate, because the way a word is spelled depends on the context of the sentence. Proofreaders will always be in demand.

Which statement is a fact rather than an opinion?

Lightning

The old wives' tale of "Lightning never strikes twice" has been proven untrue time and time again. Lightning forms from negative and positive charges within clouds and from the earth below. When these charges react with each other, the air between the cloud and the earth ionizes, which produces a lightning flash. Lightning is actually a series of multiple events consisting of a leader stroke of lightning, followed by as many as 40 smaller strokes of lightning. Being just split seconds apart, these strokes of lightning often reflect off the lining of the clouds.

Lightning rods that extend from above the roof to the ground protect buildings by forming a low resistance path for the lightning so that the lightning does not enter the building, but rather defuses as it penetrates the ground.

Some myths about lightning need to be explained. Lightning does strike tall buildings often, and during a particularly violent storm, a tall building may be hit by lightning several times. The safest place during a thunder and lightning storm is in a metal car or lying flat, face down, in the open, not under a tree as the myth suggests.

Many people believe that thunder and lightning are connected; however, this proves to be true only about 50% of the time, so if you're waiting for the clap of thunder, you're missing out on some exciting strokes of lightning!

Lightning causes Injuries, deaths, and forest fires each year. However, some scientists reveal the positive aspects of lightning because it releases nitrogen into the atmosphere which the raindrops then deliver to earth to fertilize our soil.

From the passage, the reader can conclude that lightning