English Reading Comprehension Test

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves in front of the Sun and hides at least some part of the Sun from the earth. In a partial eclipse, the Moon covers part of the Sun; in an annular eclipse, the Moon covers the center of the Sun, leaving a bright ring of light around the Moon; in a total eclipse, the Sun is completely covered by the Moon.

It seems rather improbable that a celestial body the size of the Moon could completely block out the tremendously immense Sun, as happens during a total eclipse, but this is exactly what happens. Although the Moon is considerably smaller in size than the Sun, the Moon is able to cover the Sun because of their relative distances from Earth. A total eclipse can last up to 7 minutes, during which time the Moon's shadow moves across Earth at a rate of about 0.6 kilometers per second.

While the bald eagle is one national symbol of the United States, it is not the only one. Uncle Sam, a bearded gentleman costumed in the red, white, and blue stars and stripes of the nation's flag, is another well-known national symbol. According to legend, this character is based on Samuel Wilson, the owner of a meat-packing business in Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, Sam Wilson's company was granted a government contract to supply meat to the nation's soldiers; this meat was supplied to the army in barrels stamped with the initials U.S., which stood for United States.

However, the country was at that time relatively young, and the initials U.S. were not commonly used. Many people questioned what the initials represented, and the standard reply became "Uncle Sam," for the owner of the barrels. It is now generally accepted that the figure of Uncle Sam is based on Samuel Wilson, and the U.S. Congress has made it official by adopting a resolution naming Samuel Wilson as the inspiration for Uncle Sam.

Most people think of deserts as dry, flat areas with little vegetation and little or no rainfall, but this is hardly true. Many deserts have varied geographical formations ranging from soft, rolling hills to stark, jagged cliffs, and most deserts have a permanent source of water. Although deserts do not receive a high amount of rainfall—to be classified as a desert, an area must get less than twenty-five centimeters of rainfall per year—there are many plants that thrive on only small amounts of water, and deserts are often full of such plant life.

Desert plants have a variety of mechanisms for obtaining the water needed for survival. Some plants, such as cactus, are able to store large amounts of water in their leaves or stems; after a rainfall these plants absorb a large supply of water to last until the next rainfall. Other plants, such as the mesquite, have extraordinarily deep root systems that allow them to obtain water from far below the desert's arid surface.

American jazz is a conglomeration of sounds borrowed from such varied sources as American and African folk music, European classical music, and Christian gospel songs. One of the recognizable characteristics of jazz is its use of improvisation: certain parts of the music are written out and played the same way by various performers, and other improvised parts are created spontaneously during a performance and vary widely from performer to performer.

The earliest form of jazz was ragtime, lively songs or rags performed on the piano, and the best-known of the ragtime performers and composers was Scott Joplin. Born in 1868 to former slaves, Scott Joplin earned his living from a very early age playing the piano in bars along the Mississippi. One of his regular jobs was in the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri. It was there that he began writing the more than 500 compositions that he was to produce, the most famous of which was "The Maple Leaf Rag."