Problem: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What did Alan Walker say had influenced Sibelius and Richard Strauss?  With the exception of Les préludes, none of the symphonic poems have entered the standard repertoire, though critics suggest that the best of them—Prometheus, Hamlet and Orpheus—are worth further listening. Musicologist Hugh MacDonald writes, "Unequal in scope and achievement though they are, they looked forward at times to more modern developments and sowed the seeds of a rich crop of music in the two succeeding generations." Speaking of the genre itself, MacDonald adds that, although the symphonic poem is related to opera in its aesthetics, it effectively supplanted opera and sung music by becoming "the most sophisticated development of programme music in the history of the genre." Liszt authority Humphrey Searle essentially concurs with MacDonald, writing that Liszt "wished to expound philosophical and humanistic ideas which were of the greatest importance to him." These ideas were not only connected with Liszt's personal problems as an artist, but they also coincided with explicit problems being addressed by writers and painters of the era.In developing the symphonic poem, Liszt "satisfied three of the principal aspirations of 19th century music: to relate music to the world outside, to integrate multi-movement forms ... and to elevate instrumental programme music to a level higher than that of opera, the genre previously regarded as the highest mode of musical expression." In fulfilling these needs, the symphonic poems played a major role, widening the scope and expressive power of the advanced music of its time. According to music historian Alan Walker, "Their historical importance is undeniable; both Sibelius and Richard Strauss were influenced by them, and adapted and developed the genre in their own way. For all their faults, these pieces offer many examples of the pioneering spirit for which Liszt is celebrated."

A: symphonic poems


Problem: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What two waterways join as the largest tributary?  The Ocklawaha River flows north and joins the St. Johns as the largest tributary, and one of significant historical importance. The Ocklawaha (also printed as Oklawaha) drainage basin expands through Orange, Lake, Marion, and Alachua Counties, comprising a total of 2,769 square miles (7,170 km2). Ocala, Gainesville, and the northern suburbs of the Orlando metropolitan area are included in this basin. There are two headwaters for the Ocklawaha: a chain of lakes, the largest of which is Lake Apopka in Lake County, and the Green Swamp near Haines City in Polk County, drained by the Palatlakaha River. The Silver River, fed by one of Florida's most productive springs expelling 54,000,000 US gallons (200,000,000 L) daily, is located about midway along the 96-mile (154 km) Ocklawaha.Confederate Captain John William Pearson named his militia after the Ocklawaha River called the Ocklawaha Rangers in the American Civil War. Prior to the civil war, Pearson ran a successful health resort in Orange Springs. After the civil war Pearson's Orange Springs resort declined in popularity due to the increasing attention to nearby Silver Springs—the source of the Silver River—at the turn of the 20th century, popularizing the Ocklawaha. Georgia-born poet Sidney Lanier called it "the sweetest waterlane in the world" in a travel guide he published in 1876. The river gave Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings access to the St. Johns from her homestead at Orange Lake. The region served as a major fishing attraction until a decline in water quality occurred in the 1940s, and since then further degradation of the river and its sources have occurred. In particular, Lake Apopka earned the designation of Florida's most polluted lake following a chemical spill in 1980 that dumped DDE in it.  It has experienced chronic algal blooms caused by citrus farm fertilizer and wastewater runoff from nearby farms.The proliferation of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in central...

A: The Ocklawaha River


Problem: Read the following paragraph and extract the answer for the question: What is the last name of the person that White sends to the recommissioned Tiger Shark?  Lieutenant Commander Ken White orders the submarine Tiger Shark to dive to evade an aerial and surface attack. Crewman Boyer begs him to wait for the captain, Commander Josh Rice, still topside, but White refuses, and Rice (his good friend) and the quartermaster are lost. When they resurface shortly afterward, they discover that the war is over. No one other than Boyer, not even the captain's widow and father, blames him. White marries Carol and remains in the Navy after the war. Everything is fine, until one day he is assigned to show a reporter around who is doing a story about the mothballed Navy. By chance, the submarine that catches the journalist's attention is the Tiger Shark. The newsman remembers the tragic story of the last day of the war and mentions that the officer who ordered the dive "must feel like a heel", and White's feelings of guilt resurface, straining his marriage. Then Boyer is assigned to his unit. When Boyer sees White, he immediately requests a transfer. As it happens, the Tiger Shark is being recommissioned, so White sends him there. A fire breaks out on the submarine, trapping a man in a compartment. Boyer wants to charge in to his rescue, but White makes him go "by the book" and put on a protective suit first, fueling Boyer's hatred. White is about to resign from the Navy to escape the ghosts of his past, but changes his mind at the last moment. As a result, Carol decides to leave him. The North Koreans invade South Korea the same day, starting the Korean War. White is given command of the Tiger Shark. He sets sail from the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for the war as soon as the submarine is ready. Boyer is a disgruntled member of the crew.

A:
Boyer