Read the First Sentence of Each Paragraph and the Last Sentence in the Passage

In the following passage, read only the sentences in boldface. The American composer, George Gershwin, was born in 1898 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He began his musical education at age 11, when his family bought a second-hand piano. The piano was not bought for him, but for his older brother, Ira. However, George surprised everyone when he played a popular song, which he had taught himself by following the keys on a neighbor’s player piano, and his parents decided that George should receive lessons. He studied piano with a famous music teacher at the time, Charles Hambitzer. He was so impressed with Gershwin’s talent that he gave him lessons for free. Gershwin dropped out of school at age 15 and earned a living by making piano rolls for player pianos and by playing in New York nightclubs. His most important job in this period was his work as a song plugger, who promoted interest in the sheet music of popular songs by playing and singing those songs in stores. At that time, sheet-music sales were the measure of a song’s popularity, and song pluggers had to work long hours for the music publishers who employed them. As a result of his hard work, Gershwin’s piano technique improved greatly, so much so that, while still in his teens, Gershwin became known as one of the most talented pianists in New York City. As a result, he worked as an accompanist for popular singers and as a rehearsal pianist for Broadway musicals. His knowledge of jazz and popular music grew quickly, and one of his songs was included in the Broadway musical The Passing Show of 1916. George became friends to many prominent Broadway composers. He particularly admired the music of Irving Berlin whom Gershwin called “America’s Franz Schubert.” Jerome Kern, another Broadway composer, demonstrated to George how popular music was inferior to material in Broadway shows. In 1919, enter- tainer Al Jolson performed Gershwin’s song Swanee in the musical Sinbad. The song became a hit, and Gershwin became an overnight celebrity when his song sold more than 2 million recordings and a million copies of sheet music.