Duke Ellington was born in Washington D. C., and from an early age he loved music. When he was four years old, he listened to his mother play a popular piano tune called "The Rosary" and he cried, saying, "It was so pretty. So pretty." Not long after that, at the age of seven, he began to play piano himself. It seems that he knew he was going to go places. He told his next door neighbor, Mr. Pinn, "One of these days I'm going to be famous." How old do you think Duke Ellington was when he started writing music?

At age 15, Ellington worked at a soda fountain and wrote his first song, "Soda Fountain Rag." By his late teens, he was making enough money to help his parents move into a better house. One of Ellington's first professional gigs was a party where he played so long that his hand bled. He earned 75 cents. "It was the most money I had ever seen," he said. "I rushed all the way home to my mother with it. But I could not touch a piano key for weeks . . . " What do you think was Ellington's next move?
For what purpose does the author of this essay end the first two paragraphs with a question?

A) to inquire if anyone really knows such things
B) to prompt the reader to engage with the material
C) to express the puzzlement he feels about the subject
D) to imply that there may be several answers to such queries

Drag the tiles to the correct boxes to complete the pairs. match the audience to the description of each speech.

Read the passage from animal farm. as clover looked down the hillside her eyes filled with tears. if she could have spoken her thoughts, it would have been to say that this was not what they had aimed at when they had set themselves years ago to work for the overthrow of the human race. these scenes of terror and slaughter were not what they had looked forward to on that night when old major first stirred them to rebellion. if she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals set free from hunger and the whip, all equal, each working according to his capacity, the strong protecting the weak, as she had protected the lost brood of ducklings with her foreleg on the night of major's speech. instead—she did not know why—they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes. there was no thought of rebellion or disobedience in her mind. she knew that, even as things were, they were far better off than they had been in the days of jones, and that before all else it was needful to prevent the return of the human beings. whatever happened she would remain faithful, work hard, carry out the orders that were given to her, and accept the leadership of napoleon. but still, it was not for this that she and all the other animals had hoped and toiled. it was not for this that they had built the windmill and faced the bullets of jones's gun. such were her thoughts, though she lacked the words to express them. what was most likely orwell’s purpose for writing this passage? to show that clover is more sensitive to violence than the others to remind readers of major's speech and the original rebellion to present napoleon as a cruel leader unworthy of the animals’ support to represent misled followers and their dashed hopes for better lives

The institute of international research is holding its annual convention. this year more than 500 scholars have been invited to hear research reports on many timely topics. approximately 250 big name scientists will be winging their way to washington, d. c. how can the underlined sentence be revised so that it fits the tone of the passage? a) approximately 250 people will be in washington, d. c. b) approximately 250 bigwigs will be flying to washington, d. c. c) approximately 250 science people will be going to washington, d. c. d) approximately 250 well-known scientists will be arriving in washington, d. c.