Dominic's Bebop Awakening
by Thom Leyba
"You're just in time," Dominic's mother announced as he entered his family's fifth-floor apartment. "Get ready for the big event," Dominic's father said as he extended the ears of the antenna and switched on the power. The little screen lit up to reveal the snowy, wavy image of a man sitting at a desk reading the news, and everyone cheered. Then Dominic's father turned the knob on the TV to a different number, and a second man appeared, reading the news. The crowd of neighbors gasped their approval at the television's ability to pick up two channels. Among the din of cheers and gasps, Dominic was wondering how he could ever own a trumpet because he did not have any money. Since his parents had just spent a fortune for the TV, there was no way they would buy him a trumpet. As he started to feel sorry for himself, his gaze landed on the scattered newspaper at his father's feet; immediately Dominic knew how he would earn money to buy a trumpet.
With his parents' approval, Dominic was selling the Daily Times on the sidewalk after school the next day. He managed to get a spot in front of Jazzland so that he could listen while he worked every day. One day, a tall man with a graying beard exited the club, and Dominic could not resist asking him what this wonderful new music was called. "Bebop," the man said proudly, snapping his fingers in time to the beat of the drum inside the club. After two additional months of working, Dominic saved enough money to buy an old trumpet. After he mastered the basic techniques, Dominic spent his time trying to memorize the artistic styles he heard in Jazzland. Then each day he strolled to the park and tried his best to imitate the refreshing sounds that swirled in his head.
After weeks of frustration, Dominic learned that the best bebop musicians invent as they play. When he realized this, Dominic started searching for his own musical self, and he sat, day after day, on a park bench playing his heart out, letting the music sweep him away. A few weeks later in the park, Dominic was playing a song he had invented. When he finished, a crowd stood in front of him applauding, and there was the tall, bearded man from Jazzland. The man walked by slowly and said, "Someday soon you might be playing at Jazzland." On the subway ride home, Dominic smiled and knew that he would soon upstage his parents' TV with an invention of his own—his musical self.

3
Select all the correct answers.
Which two things will most likely happen next?
A. Dominic will quit his job to pursue his passion for music.
B. Dominic will perform bebop for his parents.
C. Dominic will meet a famous bebop musician at Jazzland.
D. Dominic will create more original songs.
E. Dominic will study the styles of classic bebop musicians.