Nurseries

If you thought nurseries were just for babies, well, think again! Being special kinds of farms, nurseries are used to raise plants in mass quantities. Plants, trees, and shrubs are typically grown in nurseries and then sold to farmers and gardeners to plant in homes, businesses and farms. Most nurseries are found in the more rural parts the country because much land is required to have a viable nursery. If a nursery sells plants to others, it must obtain a special permit from the local city or county, which keeps the competition fair and does not saturate the market with a large number of nurseries selling similar products.

Also on the grounds of nurseries are greenhouses which are made of glass or plastic panes that protect the plants from weather elements that may harm them and cause them not to grow and develop. The glass panels in greenhouses allow for sunlight to enter and moisture to be trapped inside. This creates a tropical environment which allows orchids and poinsettias to grow. It ensures that vegetables and fruits will grow large, which makes them valuable to farmers.

Why does a nursery that sells plants need a special permit?

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 rates 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.

According to the passage, why are insurance companies raising insurance rates?

The Rainforest

The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The basin -- roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States -- covers some 40% of the South American continent and portions of eight countries. The basin is drained by the Amazon River, the world's largest river in terms of discharge, and the second-longest river in the world after the Nile.

Since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometres (232,000 square miles) of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. This deforestation is mainly due to land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests, misguided government policies, and commercial exploitation of forest resources.

Deforestation of the rainforest has long-term implications. The loss of habitat for many creatures ensures their extinction. The loss of vegetation depletes the oxygen in the atmosphere, which some say causes global warming.

What statement is a fact rather than an opinion?

Children begin to taste freedom on bicycles. Historians believe that bicycles began around 3500 B.C. in the Middle East although it took 53 centuries before bicycles were fashioned in the way we know them today.

With over 1500 moving parts, bicycles are complex yet simple machines and amazingly the basic design has not changed since the 1880s. A few tweaks have been added, such as gears and hand-operated brakes, but bicycles remain a steady source of exercise and entertainment for both children and adults. Some forms of bicycling are mountain biking and BMX biking which is similar to cross-country motorcycle racing.

In many countries around the world, bicycles are a necessary part of daily existence. Bicycling in China is imperative if you want to go places, due to the vast population in a relatively small area. Bicycles are coming back in high demand all over the world.

In recent years, what has been added to the basic design of bicycles?