Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Ford Motor Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ford Motor Company - Essay Example As can be see in Chart 1 which compares the aggregate Industry Sales in number of units sold to the individual major players, the entire industry suffered and each player reflected a steep decline in the number of automobiles sold until 2009. Auto Unit Sold in ‘000s Years Chart 1. Aggregate Industry Sales vs. Individual Players USA Auto Manufacturing Industry In 2009, GM (Isidore, C. 2009) and Chrysler (Epiq 2009) applied for bankruptcy. Toyota (Toyota 2012) also lost substantially. The performance of Ford was therefore not comparable to these competitors because, unlike the other players, Ford profited in 2009. And it was because Ford retrenched and operated after closing three (3) plants, had lower cost and expenses, and at profitable level to match the demand. Thus, Chart 1 was meant to show how Ford performed along with the industry performance and the industry players’ performance in terms of Units Sold. What cannot be seen in any chart is what Ford did to earn star ting 2009 up to the present. It had nothing to do with competitive designs or pricing strategies, although such strategies helped. But GM also adjusted the design to shift to smaller vehicles. After the recession, individual auto manufacturers like General Motors, Chrysler, Nissan, and Ford realized increases in sales by 2010 and 2011 annual reports. Details of the units sold appearing in Table A show that in terms of market share growth, these auto manufacturers performed as follows: 2010 2011 Market Share (MS) Growth MS2010 Less MS2009 Market Share (MS) Growth MS2011 Less MS2010 Cumulative Growth 2011 Base Year= 2009 GM 19.14% ( 0.78% ) 19.66% + 0.52% ( 0.26% ) Chrysler 9.34% + 0.43% 10.69% + 1.35% +1.78% Nissan 7.86% + 0.46% 8.19% + 0.33% +0.79% Ford 16.49% +0.57% 16.58% + 0.09 % + 0.66% Ford Motor Company has the 2nd biggest market share next to General Motors as of the 2011 yearend. The lead of GM over Ford was reduced during the downturn and recovery years. As a matter of fact , Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2012, p.138) shows the market share of GM to be 19.2 in 2010 and 19.9% in 2011. But the NADA (2012) statistics show a lower market share for GM equivalent to 19.14% in 2010 and 19.66% in 2011, whereas the data of Ford Motor Company in the same years were fairly accurate at 16% in 2010 and 17% in 2011 due to the round-off. Thus, Ford realized both growth in the Net Income and growth in its market share of the US auto sales. Details of market shares and number of vehicles sold each year in the USA came from the National Automotive Dealers Association of USA. See Table A below and in the following page. Table A. New-Vehicle Sales & Market Share by Manufacturer [Source: NADA 2012. New-Vehicle Sales & Market Share by Manufacturer. National Automotive Dealers Association, p.9. Viewed October 24, 2012 @ http://www.nada.org/NR/rdonlyres/C1C58F5A-BE0E-4E1A-9B56-1C3025B5B452/0/NADADATA2012Final.pdf ] How Ford Motor Company actually profited in 2009 even while sa les declined for the entire industry and for individual players can be explained by the initiative of its management to retrench and operate at a more profitable level, seeing the industry declining demand for automobiles. Ford Motor Company retrenched by closing three plants and operating with lower capacity. This resulted in the reduced Total Assets in 2009 and 2010. The lower cost and expenses by 2009 made it possible for the company to generate profits starting 2009. The sales growth

Monday, October 28, 2019

Personal Classroom Management System Essay Example for Free

Personal Classroom Management System Essay Abstract An effective classroom management is essential for the success of the students. The classroom management plan needs to be strong, but also flexible since not every class is the same and the teacher needs to be able to change around the plan to fit the needs of the current class. To construct my own classroom management plan, I have borrowed some ideas from classes I have taken throughout my college career and through my own experiences as a student. My Personal Classroom Management System. In this paper I will attempt to explain my personal classroom management system. I will begin by describing the classroom conditions I will provide for my students. I will specify the behavioral goals for my students and the ways in which I want them to conduct themselves. I will elaborate on how I will grade and assess my students. I will conclude by explaining classroom procedures and how I will intervene when a student is misbehaving. Classroom Environment I believe that it is important to create a safe and encouraging environment for my students. The classroom should be a place where the students feel comfortable asking questions and expressing themselves. No student should feel embarrassed to ask questions or voice opinions. I will explain to my students that we are our own community and everyone has a role to do if the community is to work correctly. I plan to create this type of environment by establishing rules, procedures, and routines for my students to understand and follow. I feel that giving students a daily routine to follow it helps to them to develop personal responsibility. Every morning I will greet my students at the door. By doing this I can see my students in the hallway to make sure that they are following the school rules, but I can also see the students inside the classroom to make sure that they are following our classroom rules and beginning their daily routines. The first thing my students will need to do is find their assigned seating and begin their bell work. This helps them learn responsibility and start the day off productively. I will also have end of the day routines for the students to follow. Twenty minutes before the end of school I will have the students  gather their belongings and pack their backpacks. We will also use this time to clean and organize the classroom so it will be in order for the next day. I want to create an environment where my students and I can learn from our various cultures and backgrounds. I want to have a weekly class session where one student is picked to share something they love about their family’s culture and traditions. This will make all my students feel important and I feel this will also help my students who may be ESL students feel comfortable and help them succeed in school. Parental Involvement  I will develop a relationship with parents at the beginning of the school year. Communication between the parents, students and me is extremely important. I will contact parents to give them good news about their students and not just contact them when their child is misbehaving. I will create a monthly newsletter which I will send home with my students and post on the school website. This newsletter will let the parents know what will be going on in our classroom. This will also give them the opportunity to volunteer for different activities and help them become more involved in their child’s education. Class Rules, Rewards Consequences In order for my students to be successful throughout the school year, they learn and follow the rules starting on the first day of school. In my classroom the rules that must be followed are: 1. Respect and follow all school rules 2. Respect others and their belongings 3. No hitting, touching or using bad language 4. Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat 5. Always do your best These rules will be posted in my classroom on the first day of class. We will create a few more rules together as a class during the first week of school as well. We will spend the first two weeks of school reviewing our classroom rules. According to Wong’s Pragmatic classroom students who spend the first two weeks of school reviewing class rules learn better and conduct themselves accordingly (Charles, 132). This will help give my students ownership on their behavior. I will send two copies of the rules home for the students to give to their parents. I will ask that both the students and the parents sign one copy and return it to me and post one copy at home that can be viewed daily. I will also post a progress chart in the classroom for all students to view. The chart will cover the student’s weekly behavior starting fresh each day. At the end of the week students will be able to choose a reward based on the number of gold stars they have. Some examples of rewards include choosing a book to read when finished with class work, choosing a prize from the treasure box, being the daily helper, and being the line leader for the day. I will also use lots of positive praise and behavioral narration to encourage my students to do their best daily. There will also be consequences when the rules are not followed. These consequences will be discussed with both the students and the parents at the beginning of the year. The following are examples of the consequences: 1. Loss of picking from the treasure chest 2. Time taken from recess 3. Time spent in detention before or after school 4. A call to parents 5. A visit to the principal’s office 6. In extreme cases immediate suspension Grading and Assessment I believe it’s important to use a variety of tools to assess students. This is because all students learn in a variety of ways. I plan to use both informal and formal assessment procedures in my classroom. Homework will be used as a study tool and an extension of the daily lesson and therefore will not be graded. Homework will be used for participation points. Instead of grading it I will stamp the assignment to show that the student was given participation points for effort. All assessments will be aligned with the state standards and curriculum. The grading policy and rubrics will be made available for the students and their parents at all times. When I give tests I will only test students on materials we have covered during that week and never use gotcha questions. Students will be allowed to do make up tests if they fail and would like a better grade. Classroom Procedures Everyday my students will be expected to come into the classroom, take their seats and immediately start on their bell work. All pencils should be sharpened before the bell rings. This means students need to get to class on time. When class work is finished early, students will have the choice of choosing a book from our class library or free writing in their writing journals. Bathroom breaks will be taken individually throughout the day and as a class before and after lunch and recess. These are some of the procedures I will implement: Morning Procedures †¢Greet teacher and classmates as you enter the room †¢Unload backpack, sharpen pencils and place supplies on desk †¢Begin bell work Desk Procedures †¢No food, candy or toys allowed at your desk †¢Keep your hands and feet on/under your own desk and not in the aisle †¢Keep the area around your desk clean Line Up/Leaving Procedure †¢Quietly form two orderly lines †¢Keep your hands to yourself/arms crossed †¢No talking in the hallway †¢No running or pushing while in line †¢When leaving the room one line will follow the other to form one line in the hallway Intervention Plan Before deciding on a plan, I will observe, reflect, consult with the student, parents and coworkers, and outline ideas that may correct problematic behaviors viewed in the classroom. After considering the behavior of the child, I will reflect on the role of the environment and classroom routines, and the interactions of the child with fellow students and teachers. I will  be sure to take advantage of the use of specialized staff members, such as the school psychologist and speech therapist, within the school system who are willing to assist me with my plan. This plan will be constructed on an individual basis as not all students will respond to the same methods. Once the plan is implemented, I will observe for positive changes and make adjustments accordingly after a follow up meeting with the parents, student and specialists involved in constructing the initial plan. Reference Charles, C. M. (1999). Building Classroom Discipline. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Technologys Impact on the Upper Mississippi River Essay -- Enviroment

Technology's Impact on the Upper Mississippi River Since the days of Lewis and Clark men have dreamed of harnessing the "Father of Waters" in the interests of commerce and development. The long struggle which ensued required incredible ingenuity and determination on the part of engineers as well as enormous capital investment. The Mississippi River Commission, established in 1897, was the first federal program designed specifically to meet these requirements, and early systems, instituted by the Army Corps of Engineers, saw much success. Technological advancements in the fields of transportation, flood control, and natural resource management were needed and, eventually, emerged to provide the level of control possible today. This report will discuss the technological transformation of the upper Mississippi river and the motivation behind it from the middle 1800's. Economics, in the form of cheap transportation, have been the impetus behind most of the development along the Upper Mississippi. In the early 1800's, transportation was limited to keelboats (large rafts made of roughcut lumber) which floated downstream with the current where they changed their cargo and then were poled or warped (pulled from shore with a rope) back upstream. With the development of the steamboat the arduous journey up and down the river, taking up to nine months by keelboat, became a much more reliable route for transporting both products and people. In the late 1800's, the invention of the internal combustion engine led to the powerful towboats seen on the Mississippi today. Towboats move 70 to 85 million tons of cargo annually between Minneapolis and the Missouri River [http://www.emtc.nbs.gov]. Underscoring the economic importance of such ... ...ing fascinating about science, one gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such trifling investments of fact." References: Mairson, Alan, "The Great Flood of '93," National Geographic, vol. 185 (January 1994),pp. 42-81. National Biological Service, Department of the Interior, "Environmental Management Technical Center," http://www.emtc.nbs.gov (1996). Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi (New York, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1917). Upper Mississippi River Basin Coordinating Committee, Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Basin Study, vol. 1 and 5 (1972) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Upper Mississippi River--Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study," http://www.usace.army.mil/ncd (1996). U.S. Geological Survey EROS Data Center, "Upper Mississippi River Basin Flooding," http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/doc/edchome/sast (1996). Technology's Impact on the Upper Mississippi River Essay -- Enviroment Technology's Impact on the Upper Mississippi River Since the days of Lewis and Clark men have dreamed of harnessing the "Father of Waters" in the interests of commerce and development. The long struggle which ensued required incredible ingenuity and determination on the part of engineers as well as enormous capital investment. The Mississippi River Commission, established in 1897, was the first federal program designed specifically to meet these requirements, and early systems, instituted by the Army Corps of Engineers, saw much success. Technological advancements in the fields of transportation, flood control, and natural resource management were needed and, eventually, emerged to provide the level of control possible today. This report will discuss the technological transformation of the upper Mississippi river and the motivation behind it from the middle 1800's. Economics, in the form of cheap transportation, have been the impetus behind most of the development along the Upper Mississippi. In the early 1800's, transportation was limited to keelboats (large rafts made of roughcut lumber) which floated downstream with the current where they changed their cargo and then were poled or warped (pulled from shore with a rope) back upstream. With the development of the steamboat the arduous journey up and down the river, taking up to nine months by keelboat, became a much more reliable route for transporting both products and people. In the late 1800's, the invention of the internal combustion engine led to the powerful towboats seen on the Mississippi today. Towboats move 70 to 85 million tons of cargo annually between Minneapolis and the Missouri River [http://www.emtc.nbs.gov]. Underscoring the economic importance of such ... ...ing fascinating about science, one gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such trifling investments of fact." References: Mairson, Alan, "The Great Flood of '93," National Geographic, vol. 185 (January 1994),pp. 42-81. National Biological Service, Department of the Interior, "Environmental Management Technical Center," http://www.emtc.nbs.gov (1996). Twain, Mark, Life on the Mississippi (New York, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1917). Upper Mississippi River Basin Coordinating Committee, Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Basin Study, vol. 1 and 5 (1972) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, "Upper Mississippi River--Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study," http://www.usace.army.mil/ncd (1996). U.S. Geological Survey EROS Data Center, "Upper Mississippi River Basin Flooding," http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/doc/edchome/sast (1996).

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Gmat Statement of Purpose

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Finance, as a field, had always fascinated me right from my undergraduate college days. I believe my penchant for this field stems from the fact that Finance runs in my family. My grandfather was an accountant, my mother is a postgraduate in economics and my father has a keen interest in keeping up-to-date with the markets. During my days at Engineering College I used to help my father to manage his portfolio of equities and other financial instruments. This was the time I learnt the first lesson of finance from my father i. e. risks and returns are proportionate.In 2001 the Indian stock market crashed. But fortunately, my father had a well-diversified portfolio because of which our returns were protected from the downside risk. This was when I learnt the second principle of finance from my father i. e. diversification reduces risk. While I understood these two principles intuitively, it produced in me a strong urge to learn and understand the complex theory behi nd the working of Finance. This, I believe, was a turning point in my career. I made up my mind to pursue a career in Finance and hence decided to do a Masters program in Commerce.Good academic performance in my school and college, active participation in academic as well as extra curricular activities have helped to develop strong quantitative and analytical abilities and good leadership and communication skills. These have prepared me to handle complex problems and have given me the confidence to pursue graduate studies. To achieve my career goals, I need to learn about current developments and techniques in finance, financial markets and financial applications and acquire hands-on experience of financial analysis.A Master's Degree will provide me with theoretical understanding, an in depth idea of practical approaches in aiding managerial decision-making and research skills to enable me to develop an expertise in the core areas of financial strategies and global corporate financi al operations. In India with the onset of liberalization since 1991 and deregulation of the interest rates, the Indian corporations and financial institutions are exposed to various kinds of risks. The Government and the Reserve Bank of India have initiated appropriate reforms to develop derivatives markets and financial markets on the whole.This has suddenly increased the demand for professionals who can not only understand but also develop new financial instruments to evaluate and hedge the risk. I believe that in order to use financial engineering pro-actively and dynamically for optimum hedging, a finance professional should be well versed with the mathematics that underlies the financial theory. In the future I see myself, as a Finance professional, designing structured financial products by incorporating cutting edge methodologies and sophisticated tools in order to cater to the above mentioned requirements.To achieve this I would like to gain exposure to the latest practices adopted in the field of Finance and Risk Management. To this end I would want to work with a leading investment bank or in the treasury of a commercial bank, which would enable me to help corporations manage their risks. I believe that my educational background has instilled in me the qualities required to meet the rigor of this demanding profession. Graduation in Engineering (Computer Science) has provided a strong foundation in Mathematics and Computer Programming.Mathematics was one subject in which I had always excelled right from my school days. During the course of my Engineering education I took up a project with WIPRO Technologies. This project, which I was offered, required extensive use of C programming language. This project, for the first time gave me a real world experience of programming. This association helped a lot in consolidating my programming skills, especially in C-language. Thus, it inculcated in me problem solving and analytical abilities.I strongly feel that the MCom program specializing in Finance at The Universityis a highly structured program because it provides the right balance between theory and practice. I bring along a strong grasp of fundamentals in Engineering and Mathematics, a penchant for teamwork and leadership and a zest for challenges. I would like to take with me in addition to the knowledge of the latest theory and practices in the field of Engineering, a network of strong and lasting relationships with my teachers and fellow-students. I hope my background and qualifications are found suitable for admission to the MCom program at The University.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Book Report Writing Template Essay

This is a guide only. It is not meant to write the report for you. It gives you a format or template for writing your own report. The original draft was developed by a teacher friend of mine to use with her own students. I have made a few additional enhancements which I believe make the model more clear and complete. A note of caution here. Your instructor may have another book report format that he/she prefers. So, make sure they approve of this format before using it. The following book report format template is appropriate for students at the pre-college level who are required to write a report about a book they have read. For the type of book summaries applicable to college and university level (undergraduate and post-graduate), as well as for business and professional situations, you can check out the following book summary sample. 1. Introductory Paragraph The first sentence should state for which instructor and class the book-report is being written. The second sentence should state the title of the book and the author’s name. The third sentence should tell how many pages the book has and the name of the publisher. The fourth sentence can state basic bibliographic information about the book. Bibliographic information means not only the author and title but also what company published the book, what year it was published in and any other relevant information such as the edition and if the book has been translated, simplified or abridged. (see copyright page and the back of the title page. ) The next sentence should state the reason(s) you decided to read this book. Why did you choose this particular book? Typical reasons might be: You like the author. You like this type of book (i. e. mystery, western, adventure or romance, etc. ). Read more:  How many sentences in one paragraph. Someone recommended the book to you. It was on a required reading list. You liked the cover. These reasons do not have to be complex. Most people choose the books they read because they like the author or somebody recommended it to them. If you chose the book because you like the author, then state why you like that author. An optional sentence can be used if the cover (back cover) of the book gives you any additional information then add a sentence with that information. Was the book a best seller? Are there X million copies in print? Did it win any major awards? 2. Main Character(s) Paragraph The first sentence of this paragraph should state who the main character or characters of the book are, and why they are important. Refer to this person or these persons as the Main Character or Main Characters. You will need at least a complex sentence for this, and probably more than one sentence. 3. Other Characters Paragraph You should compose at least one sentence for each of the other prominent or important characters in the book. State the name of each of the other important characters, and the key role that each one plays in the book Most books have five or six prominent characters besides the main character, so simply listing each one and stating their role in the book will give you a good sized paragraph. 4. Plot Summary Paragraph This is perhaps the hardest paragraph to write in five sentences or so. If you have to write a bit more don’t worry. Here are the main points to cover: State the type of book (Mystery, Western, etc. ). What place or country was the book set in? What time period was the book set in? (19th century, the present, ancient Rome, the 23rd century). Other physical locations which are important, like: ships, airplanes, houses, or buildings. Other notable attributes of the book. (Was it violent, scary, fast paced, etc. ). What is the main character trying to do? What is the outcome of the book? etc. Make sure you cover all of the major parts of the plot. You might have to go back through the book, chapter by chapter, and make a few notes. 5. Personal Impressions and Conclusion Paragraph Simply talk about what you liked or did not like about the book. Use this paragraph as your conclusion. It should summarize your overall impressions of the book and bring the report to a close. Start with a sentence that states that you are now writing a conclusion. (For example: â€Å"My final thoughts on ‘A Fine Balance’ are that it is a fascinating book but I am not entirely sure if I completely understood the thematic message of the book. † Restate your reasons why you liked and/or disliked the book using different words. Write two sentences that talk about the books good points and weak points. Write a sentence or two about what you learned from the book. Close with a sentence that states whether you would recommend the book to others. Don’t be afraid to give your own honest impressions of the book. After all, if you’ve read the book thoroughly, you are entitled to your own interpretation of it. Typically, your book report should not exceed two double-spaced pages, and it should be somewhere between 600 and 800 words in length. Research Assistance This site, which claims to be the best single research source online, maintains an inventory of more than 25,000 research reports on thousands of subjects; many of which are book summaries. Most are available for immediate download. If your subject isn’t already in their archives, they will do custom research and writing for you. You can download existing papers and/or order custom research papers 24 Hours a Day!

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Question of Civility Professor Ramos Blog

The Question of Civility Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a ground-breaking piece of literature work that not only seemed to define what American Literature should be but defined what the national identity could be. It also exemplified what the United States was experiencing in certain parts of the country. Throughout the story, Twain seems to highlight a lot of contradictory behaviors and social expectations. While these are not apparent to the characters as a reader there are moments where we are overwhelmed by his critique of daily life in the southern part of the country. America was still trying to cope with its troubled past and the rippling effects that came about after the civil war. The most obvious struggle our protagonist encounters is that civility can never be independent of society and thus flawed. In his 1895 lecture tour, Twain described Adventure of Huckleberry Finn as containing a two-pronged moral conflict in which â€Å"a sound heart† collides with â€Å"a deformed conscience.† (6) The story seems to highlight opposing views of morality in which a person is born with the intrinsic value of what is right and wrong and those who upon observation of the social norms dictate what is indeed correct or not. Now, civility encompasses a wide range of material that must be combined in order to be considered civilized in that era. Huck Finn is an anomaly as he does not wish to conform to these ideas and become cultured, which is what people of the age considered the epitome of civility. He has grown in a very different way than most and decides that he enjoys being uncivilized. He considers a lot of what is required to be considered civil folly and restrictive. Huck is a spectacular case because we have ample examples of where his morality is not only tested but reconceived. As previously stated, morality and civility are greatly interwoven and cannot be separated quite clearly. Many of the questions that Huck is faced with were of great controversy at the time. For instance, the biggest misconception that was widely accepted was that black people were inferior to white people. The country, which was still reeling from the damages that constituted the civil war was also afflicted with a lack of resolution. As coined by Paul Tillich, a Jewish philosopher, â€Å"Sin is separation† and the creation of laws of segregation as well as Jim Crow laws were forms of this concept all over the country. Being civil meant that it was not only your duty as a citizen but a moral duty as a Christian to report and turn in slaves seeking freedom. Civility meant a complete lack of empathy toward people of a different color. Religion, which at this time was considered on par with civility was the greatest factor in determining what was acceptable and what was not. This is especially true when while deciding which days Tom’s and Huck’s band would meet. â€Å"Ben Rogers said he couldn’t get out much, only Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing† (112). Despite the fact that they want to steal and commit murder they will not partake this deed during Sunday because it is a holy day. The irony of this is immense as they seem to have missed a great portion of the teachings by the Bible including thou shall not kill. Miss Watson who preached that civility was a must is also someone who is considered a hypocrite because of her ownership of slaves as well as willing to sell families for financial gain. She is the embodiment of what it meant to be civil in this era yet was devoid of the compassion that her faith required from her. Religion aside there are concepts of societal standards to be upheld by every white citizen during this time. If any slaves were on the run, they were to be returned to their masters. This is an ongoing inner conflict within Huck as he soon befriends Jim, a runaway slave but who is useful as Huck is still only a child. While he does consider himself uncivilized he still is afflicted with what he considers a law, which is slaves should never run away. While not a slave this is something Huck is doing himself, running away to avoid responsibility and fails to see how this is unfair to Jim and how he sets different standards for himself. Huck decides to use Jim in order to avoid suspicion but promises Jim to help him get to freedom even if he is conflicted. He begins selfishly but along the way redefines himself and grows to care for Jim. There are however moments of turmoil as previously stated he is still just a young boy. This is not lost on Jim who states â€Å"Dah you goes, de ole true Huck;de de on’y white genlman dat ever kep’ his promise to ole Jim†(204) and this sentence sets the stage for the progression of the story but it implies that perhaps Huck is the only moral character in the south. We do however see the conflict that arises within Huck when he states the following â€Å"And then think of me! It would get all around, that Huck Finn helped a nigger to his freedom; and if I was ever to see anybody from that town again, I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame† (233). You clearly see the struggle with this comment despite not wanting to conform he still thinks of himself as a good kid and someone who is good does not condone the breaking of the law. Later when we see his shift and his readiness for â€Å"damnation† you can clearly see the divide between what would be considered an absolute and conditional. As an individual y ou must set forth your categorical imperatives and never sway even if you are to be labeled a brute.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is discernible that Mark Twain is effectively saying that morality and civility while encompassing similar paths can and should diverge depending the scenarios. Civility is brought upon by expectations or duties placed on by the society which can ultimately corrupt the individual. For Twain it seems morality should be constant no matter time or place and should take precedent. While some consider this novel racist based on the language it is paramount to understand that Twain used this platform to highlight to double standards practiced during this time especially with slavery. It is vital that this story continues to be read and taught as many of its issues are still prevalent more than 130 years later. If we are to learn from out past, we must revisit the books that question what we considered paramount. Schinkel, Anders. â€Å"Huck Finn, Moral Language and Moral Education.† Journal of Philosophy of  Education, vol. 45, no. 3, 2011, pp. 511-525.Bollinger, Laurel. â€Å"Say It, Jim: The Morality of Connection in ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’†Ã‚  College Literature, vol. 29, no. 1, 2002, pp. 32–52.Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine.  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 105-281. Print.

Monday, October 21, 2019

The secrets of happiness Essays - Emotions, Positive Mental Attitude

The secrets of happiness Essays - Emotions, Positive Mental Attitude The secrets of happiness By 1There is a paradox at the heart of our civilisation. Individuals want more income. Yet as society has got richer, people have not become happier. Over the past 50 years we have got better homes, more clothes, longer holidays and, above all, better health. Yet surveys show clearly that happiness has not increased in the US, Japan, Continental Europe or Britain. 2By happiness I mean feeling good enjoying life and feeling it is wonderful. And by unhappiness I mean feeling bad and wishing things were different. Most people find it easy to say how good they are feeling, and in social surveys such questions get 99 per cent response rates much higher than the average. [] 3It is true that, within any particular society at any particular moment, rich people are on average happier than poorer ones. For example, 41 per cent of people in the top quarter of incomes are very happy, compared with only 26 per cent of those in the bottom quarter of incomes. The problem is that, over the years, the proportions in each group who are very happy have not changed at all although the real incomes in each group have risen hugely. This is true of all the main western countries. 4We also know that clinical depression, assessed professionally through population surveys, has risen in most countries. A survey from London Universitys Institute of Education, out this month, shows that as many as 29 per cent of women aged 30 in 2000 reported suffering trouble with nerves or feeling low, depressed or sad; the comparable figure in a similar survey, among those aged 36 in 1982, was just 16 per cent. Researchers disagree over the size of the increase, but nobody believes depression has diminished, despite the much greater ease of our material life. 5Further evidence comes from comparisons between different countries. These show that, where average income per person is less than $15,000 a year - in other words, where many people are near the breadline - extra money really does make people happier. But comparing countries where average income is above that level, happiness seems to be independent of income. For example, the average American is much richer than the average Icelander or Dane, but also less happy. 6Why is this? Clearly people are comparing their income with some norm and this norm is rising all the time. Thus from 1946-86, the US Gallup poll asked people, What is the smallest amount of money that a family of four needs to get along in this community? It turns out that, as actual average incomes rose, so did the income that people felt was needed and in fact this needed income grew in direct proportion to actual income. Likewise, when people were asked Are you satisfied with your financial position?, the proportion who said they were pretty well satisfied fell, despite enormous economic growth. 7Two things drive up the norm with which people compare their incomes. One is the income that they themselves have experienced - which habituates them to higher standards of living. And the other is the income that others get, and which they try to rival or outdo. 8Habituation is a basic psychological phenomenon. It works both up and down: you adjust to good things and to bad. The clearest evidence that you adjust to income comes from asking people with different levels of actual income what income they would consider satisfactory. Typically, the income that people say is satisfactory rises by almost 50p for every extra pound that they have actually acquired. A whole range of studies shows that people adjust their requirements to their recent experience and that they are constantly surprised by this. People overestimate the extent to which the new house or new car will, once they have got used to it, make them happier. 9People also adjust their requirements in response to what other people have: keeping up with (or trying to outdo) the Joneses. [] When people compare their wages, it is generally with people close to themselves, rather than with film stars or paupers. What matters is what happens to your reference group because what your reference group gets might have been feasible for you, while what David Beckham

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to Improve Your SAT Reading Score 8 Strategies

How to Improve Your SAT Reading Score 8 Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you struggling with an SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) score between 300 and 500? You're not alone- hundreds of thousands of students are scoring in this range. But many don't know the best ways to break out of this score range and get a 600 or higher. Here, we'll discuss how to improve your SAT Reading score specifically and why it's so important to do so. Unlike other fluffy articles out there, we'll be focusing on actionable strategies.Put these eight strategies to work and I'm confident you'll be able to improve your SAT Reading score. Brief note:this article is suited for students scoring below 600 on EBRW. If you're already above this range, my perfect SAT Reading score article is more appropriate for you. Also, the current SAT (as opposed to the old SAT)has a single 800 Reading and Writing score, which combines your individual Reading and Writing test scores. So technically, when I talk about a 600 Reading test score, I'm referring to a30/40 Reading test score,which combines with your Writing test score to get you 600. In this guide, I'll use 600 and 30 interchangeably to mean the same thing. We won't talk about Writing here, but if you want to improve your Writing score, too, check out my guide on how to raise your low SAT Writing score. In this article, I'm going to discuss why scoring high is a good idea, address what it takes to score a 600, and then go into specific SAT Reading tips andstrategies. Stick with me- this is like building a house. First, you need to lay a good foundation before putting up the walls and pretty windows. In the same vein, we need to understand why you're doing what you're doing before we dive into our top tips and strategies for SAT Reading. Note that I will talk mainly about getting to 600, but if your goal is 500 or lower, these concepts still equally apply. Before we begin, here is the table of contents for this article in case you want to come back to this later or jump around: Raising Your SAT Reading Score: Understand the Stakes Know That You Can Get a 600 SAT Reading Score What It Takes to Get a 600 (or 30) in SAT Reading Strategy 1: Save Time on Reading Passages by Switching Your Reading Strategy Strategy 2:Learn to Eliminate the 3 Wrong Answers Strategy 3:Find Your Reading Skill Weaknesses and Drill Them Strategy 4: Only Use High-Quality SAT Reading Sources Strategy 5:Don't Focus On Vocab Strategy 6:Skip the Most Difficult, Time-Consuming Questions Strategy 7:Understand All Your Reading Mistakes Strategy 8: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know Raising Your SAT Reading Score: Understand the Stakes At this SAT score range, improving your low SAT EBRW score to a score in at least the 600 range will dramatically boost your chances of getting into better colleges. Let's use Penn State University as an example. The average SAT score for admitted applicants to Penn State is 1270. Its 25th percentile score is 80, and its 75th percentile score is 1370. Furthermore, its acceptance rate is 51%. In other words, a little more than half of all applicants are admitted. But the lower your SAT scores are, the worse your chances of getting in will be. In our analysis, if you score around 1000, your chance of admission drops to just 27%. But if you raise your score to 1200, your chance of admission goes up to 60%- that's a really good chance of admission! So improving your score by just 200 points makes a huge difference in your chances of getting into your target colleges. For the SAT Reading section, this is especially true if you want to apply to humanities majors and programs, such as English or communications. These programs expect your Reading score to be strong. If you score low, they'll doubt your ability to do college-level humanities work. Even if you're a math superstar and are applying to a science major, colleges still want to know that you can process difficult texts at a college level. A low Reading score will cast huge doubt on you. It's really worth your time to improve your SAT Reading score. Hour for hour,it's the best thing you can do to raise your chance of getting into college. Curious what chances you have with a 1200 SAT score? Check out ourexpert college admissions guide for an 1200 SAT score. Know That You Can Get a 600 SAT Reading Score This isn't just supposed to be a vague, happy-go-lucky message you see on a juice carton. I mean, literally, you and every other student can do this. In my job here at PrepScholar, I've worked with thousands of students scoring in the lower ranges of 300-500 on EBRW. Time after time, I've seen students beat themselves up over their low scores; they think improving them is impossible and say things such as the following: "I know I'm not smart." "I just can't read passages quickly, and I don't know how to improve my SAT Reading score." "I was never good at English, and my English teachers never told me I did a good job." This breaks my heart. Because I know that more than anything else, your SAT score is a reflection ofhow hard you work and how smartly you study. Not your IQ and not your school grades. Not how Mr. Anderson in 10th grade gave you a C on your essay. The truth is that SAT Reading is designed to trick you- and you need to learn how. Here's why: the SAT is a weird test. When you take it, don't you get the sense that the questions are nothing like what you've seen in high school? I bet you've had this problem: with SAT Reading passages, you often miss questions because of an "unlucky guess." You try to eliminate a few answer choices, but the ones left all sound equally good to you. So you throw up your hands and take a random guess. The SAT is purposely designed this way to confuse you.Literally millions of other students have the exact same problem you do. And the SAT knows this. Normally, in your high school English class, your teacher tells you that all interpretations of a text are valid. You can write an essay about anything you want, and English teachers aren't allowed to tell you your opinion is wrong. This is because they can get in trouble for telling you what to think. But the SAT has an entirely different problem. It's a national test, which means it needs to create a level playing field for all students around the country. It needs to fairly compare students with each other. As a result,every question must have a single, unambiguously, 100% correct answer. There's only ever one correct answer. Find a way to eliminate the three incorrect answer choices. Imagine if this weren't the case. Imagine each Reading answer had two answer choices that might each be plausibly correct. When SAT scores came out, every single student who got the question wrong would more than likely complain to the College Board that the test is flawed.The College Board would then have to invalidate that question, ultimately weakening the power of the SAT. The College Board wants to avoid this nightmare scenario. Therefore, every single Reading passage question has only one correct answer. But the SAT disguises this fact by asking questions with the following cryptic phrases: The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements? The first paragraph primarily serves to: In line 20, "dark"most nearly means: Notice a pattern here? The SAT always disguises the fact that there's just one unambiguous answer. It tries to make you waver between two or three answer choices that all sound plausible. And then you guess randomly. And then you get the question wrong. You can bet students fall for this. Millions of times every year. Students who don't prepare for the SAT in the right way don't appreciate this. But if you prepare for the SAT in the right way, you'll learn the tricks the SAT plays on you.And you'll raise your score. The SAT Reading section is full of patterns like these. To improve your score, you just need to do the following: Learn the types of questions the SAT tests, such as the ones above Learn strategies to solve these questions, using skills you already know Practicewith a lot of high-quality questions so you can learn from your mistakes The point is that you can learn these skills, even if you don't consider yourself a good reader or a great English student.I'll go into more detail about exactly how to do this later. But first, let's see how many questions you need to get right in order to get a 600 on SAT Reading. What It Takes to Get a 600 (or 30) in SAT Reading If you have a target score in mind, it helps to understand how many question you'll need to get right, which is known as your raw score, in order to hit your target scaled score (out of 600). Since SAT Reading combines with Writing to give you a single EBRW score out of 600, we're going to be looking at Reading test scores instead. In this case, we're aiming for a Reading test score of 30,out of 40 total points. Here's a rough raw-score-to-SAT-Reading-test-score conversion table - the exact conversions will depend on the test, but this chart will give you a close approximation of how many questions you can miss and still get a 30. (If you could use a refresher on how the SAT is scored and how raw scores are calculated, read this guide.) Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled Raw Scaled 52 40 38 31 24 24 10 17 51 39 37 30 23 24 9 16 50 39 36 30 22 23 8 16 49 38 35 29 21 23 7 15 48 37 34 29 20 23 6 14 47 36 33 28 19 22 5 13 46 35 32 28 18 22 4 12 45 35 31 28 17 21 3 44 34 30 27 16 21 2 10 43 33 29 27 15 20 1 10 42 33 28 26 14 20 0 10 41 32 27 26 13 19 40 32 26 25 12 18 39 31 25 25 18 Source: SAT Official Practice Test #4 Notice that if you're aiming for 600 overall and 30/40 on Reading, you'll need a raw score of about 36/52. This is a 70% score. This fact has serious implications for your testing strategy. In essence, you only need to answer about 2/3 of all Reading questions right.We'll go into more detail below about what this means for your testing strategy. Whatever you're scoring now, take note of the difference you need to get to 30. For example, if you're scoring 23, you'll need to answer about 15 more questions right on Reading to get to 30. Once again, even if your goal is something like 500 (i.e., 25/40), the same analysis applies. OK, so we've covered why scoring a higher SAT Reading score is important, why you are capable of improving your score, and the raw score you'll need to get in order to hit your target score. I hope a lot of this was useful and changed how you think about SAT Reading prep. Now, we'll look at actionable strategies you should use in your own SAT prep to maximize your Reading score improvement. 8 Strategies to Improve Your Low SAT Reading Score In this section, we give you our top eight SAT Reading strategies guaranteed to improve your low Reading score. Strategy 1: Save Time on Reading Passages by Switching Your Reading Strategy Based on my experience working with thousands of students, by far the most common problem test takers have with SAT Reading passages is this:they keep running out of time before they can get through all the questions. This is a problem because unlike SAT Math, passage questions aren't arranged by level of difficulty. Therefore, by not completing all the questions in time, you might miss some easy questions at the end that you would have gotten right, if only you'd had enough time. What's the cause of this? The most common one I see is that students are reading the passages far more closely than they actually need to be.Once again, this is a result of homework and what you learn in English class. In English, you've probably gotten (stupid) tests that quiz you about what Baron Meistoff said in a particular scene, or what color Tom's T-shirt was. So of course you've learned to pay attention to every single detail in a text. The SAT is different, though.For a passage that's 80 lines long, there might only be 10 questions. Many of these don't even refer to specific lines- instead, they'll talk about the point of the passage as a whole or the tone of the author. The number of questions that focus on small, line-by-line details is low. Therefore, it's a waste of time to read a passage line by line, afraid you'll miss a detail that a question might ask you about. The best way to read a passage? Skimming it on the first read-through. This is why I recommend thatall students use this SAT Reading passage strategy: Skim the passage on the first read-through. Don't try to understand every single lineor write notes predicting what the questions might ask. Just get a general understanding of the passage. You'll want to try to finish reading the passage within three minutes, if possible. Next, go to the questions. If the question refers to a certain line number, go back to that line number and work on understanding the text around it. If you can't answer a question within 30 seconds, skip it. (More on this strategy later.) This strategy is important because the questions will ask about far fewer lines than the passage actually contains. For example, lines 5-20 of a reading passage might not be relevant to any question that follows. Therefore, if you spend time trying to deeply understand lines 5-20, you’ll just waste time. Some students take this strategy to the extreme: they read the questions first before the passage. If a question refers to any specific lines, they then mark those in the passage, which they can later use as a guide to know what to focus on when they read the passage. Different strategies work for different students. You need to try out a lot to see which strategy leads to the best results for you. But by and large, I'm confident that you're spending way too much time reading the passage. Strategy 2:Learn to Eliminate the 3 Wrong Answers I spent some time above talking about how there is always one unambiguously correct answer. This has a huge implication for the strategy you should use to find the right SAT Reading answer. Here's the other way to see it: out of the four answer choices, three of them have something that is totally wrong about them.Only one answer is 100% correct, which means that the other three are 100% wrong. You know how you try to eliminate answer choices and then end up with a few at the end that all seem equally likely to be correct? Well, you're not doing a good enough job of eliminating answer choices. Remember, every single wrong choice can be crossed out for its own reasons. You have to learn how to eliminate three answer choices for every single Reading question. "Great, Allen. But this doesn't tell me anything about how to eliminate answer choices." Thanks for asking. There are a few classic wrong answer choices the SAT loves to use. Let's look at an example. Imagine you just read a passage that focuses on how human evolution shaped the environment. It gives a few examples. First, it talks about how the transition from earlier species likeHomo habilus to neanderthals led to more tool usage like fire, resulting in wildfires and shaping the ecology. It then discussesHomo sapiens 40,000 years ago and their overhunting of species, such as woolly mammoths, to extinction. After, we run into a question asking, "Which of the following best describes the main subject of the passage?" Here are our possible answer choices: A: The transition between Homo habilus and neanderthals B: The study of evolution C: How the environment shaped human evolution D: The plausibility of evolution E: The influence of human development on ecology Note that we're using five answer choices for illustration purposesonly- in reality, the SAT only has four answer choices per Reading question. As you're reading these answers, a few of them probably started to sound really plausible to you. Surprise! Each of the answers from A to D has something seriously wrong with it. Each one is a classic example of a wrong answer type given by the SAT. Let's look at just what these are. Wrong Answer 1 (A): Too Specific A: The transition between Homo habilus and neanderthals This type of wrong answer focuses on a smaller detail in the passage. It’s meant to trick you and make you think to yourself, "Well, I saw this mentioned in the passage, so it’s a plausible answer choice." Wrong! Ask yourself: can this answer choice really describe the entire passage? Can it basically function as the title of this passage? In the end, you’ll find that it’s just way too specific to convey the point of the overall passage. Wrong Answer 2 (B): Too Broad B: The study of evolution This type of wrong answer has the opposite problem as the one above in that it’s way too broad. While theoretically the passage concerns the study of evolution, it focuses on just one aspect of it, especially as it relates to the impact of evolution on the environment. To give another ludicrous example, say you talked to your friend about your cell phone and he said your main point was the universe. Yes, you were talking about the universe in that you both live in the universe, but this was clearly only a tiny fraction of your conversation. In short, answer choice B is simply far too generalto be a good answer to this question. Wrong Answer 3 (C): Reversed Relationship C: How the environment shaped human evolution This wrong answer choice can be tricky because it mentions all the right words. But of course the relationship between these words needs to be correct as well. Here, the relationship is flipped: the passage focuses on how human evolution shaped the environment, not the other way around. Students who read too quickly often make careless mistakes like these! Wrong Answer 4 (D): Unrelated Concept D: The plausibility of evolution Finally, this kind of wrong answer preys on students' tendency to overthink questions. If you’re passionate about arguing about evolution, for example, this answer might be a trigger answer for you since any discussion concerning evolution becomes a chance to argue about its plausibility. Of course, even though this concept appears nowhere in the passage, some students just aren't able to resist choosing this answer choice. Do you see the point? On the surface, each answer choice sounds as though it could possibly be correct. But possibly isn't good enough. The right answer must be 100%, totally right. Wrong answers might be off by even just one word, so you need to know how to eliminate these. Carry this thought into every SAT Reading passage question you do. Next strategy: find your weak links and fix them. Strategy 3:Find Your Reading Skill Weaknesses and Drill Them Reading passage questions might look similar, but they actually test very different skills. Here at PrepScholar, we believe the major skills tested in SAT passages are as follows: Big Picture/Main Point Little Picture/Detail Inference Vocabulary in Context Function Author Technique Evidence Support Data Interpretation Analyzing Multiple Texts Whew, that's a lot of skills! More than is obvious when you're reading passages on SAT Reading. Each of these question types uses different skills in how you read and analyze a passage.They each require a different method of prep and focused practice. If you're like most students, you're probably better at some areas in Reading than you are at others.For instance, you might be good at getting the big picture of a passage but not so good at getting inferences. Or you might be really strong at pinpointing the author's tone but struggle with interpreting data correctly. If you're like most students, you also don't have an unlimited amount of time to study. You have a lot of homework, possibly sports and other extracurriculars, and friends to hang out with. This means that for every hour you study for the SAT, it needs to be the most effective hour possible. In more concrete terms,you need to find your greatest areas of improvement and work on those. Too many students study the "dumb" way. They just buy a book and read it cover to cover. When they don't improve, they're shocked. But I'm not. Studying effectively for the SAT isn't like painting a house. You're not trying to cover all your bases with a very thin layer of understanding. What these students did wrong was that they wasted time on subjects they already knew, and they didn't spend enough time on honing their weaknesses. Studying effectively for the SAT is like plugging up the holes in a leaky boat. You need to find the biggest hole and fill it. Then, you need to find the next biggest hole and fill that, too. You'll soon find that your boat isn't sinking anymore. How does this relate to SAT Reading? You need to find the sub-skills you're weakest in and then drill those until you're no longer weak in them. Fixing up the biggest holes. Within Reading, you must figure out whether there are patterns to your mistakes. Is it that you're running out of time with reading passages? Or that you don't get Inference questions? Or that you're really weak at interpreting details? For every question you miss, identify what type of question it is. When you notice patterns to the questions you miss, you must then devote extra practice to those sub-skills. Say you miss a lot of Inference questions (this is typically the hardest type of question for students to get on SAT Reading). You need to somehow get focused practice questions for this skill so you can drill your mistakes. Bonus: If all of this is making sense to you, you'd love our SAT prep program, PrepScholar. We designed our program around the concepts in this article, because they actually work.When you start with PrepScholar, you’ll take a diagnostic that will determine your weaknesses in over forty SAT skills - in Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. PrepScholar then creates a study program specifically customized for you. To improve each skill, you’ll take focused lessons dedicated to each skill, with over 20 practice questions per skill. This will train you for your specific area weaknesses, so your time is always spent most effectively to raise your score. There’s no other prep system out there that does it this way, which is why we get better score results than any other program on the market. Check it out today with a 5-day free trial: Strategy 4: Only Use High-Quality SAT Reading Sources SAT Reading passages are very specific in how they work. And SAT Reading questions are very specifically phrased and constructed to have bait answers. If you want to improve your Reading score, you have to use realistic SAT Reading sources.If you don't, you'll develop bad habits and accidentally train the wrong skills. Think about it like this: say you're trying out for the baseball team. Instead of practicing with real baseballs, you decide to practice with Wiffle balls.It's alot cheaper and easier, and hitting the ball makes you feel good about your skills. So you train and train and train with a Wiffle ball. You understand how the Wiffle ball curves when it's thrown, how to hit it, and how to throw it. Eventually, you try out for the baseball team. A pitch comes, but it's way faster than you've ever practiced with. It doesn't curve like a Wiffle ball does. Swing, and a miss. You've trained with the wrong thing, and now you're totally unprepared for baseball. This is not real baseball. SAT Reading works the exact same way. Train with poorly written tests, and you'll develop bad habits and unhelpful strategies. Far and away, the best sources for SAT Reading passages areofficial SAT practice tests.This is why we include these official practice testsin our SAT prep program- so that we can accurately gauge your progress and provide you with quality training. The problem is that there aren't that many official SAT practice tests available. Because you want to use these to train your endurance for the full-length test, it's best to try to conserve them. This means that to get enough SAT Reading practice, you'll need to use other materials, too. Our first suggestion is to use prep resources specifically geared toward the SAT.Be careful, though, sincemany test-prep companies tend to release poor-quality passages and questions (most books you see on SAT Reading are pretty terrible, too). Check out our picks for the best SAT prep books here. This is especially harmful for SAT Reading because the style of its passages and questions are quite complex, as opposed to SAT Math whose questions are more straightforward. To write realistic questions, you need to understand the SAT inside and out. That's why we've created what I believe are the highest quality Reading questions available anywhere. Here's what we've done: We've deconstructed every official SAT practice test- question by question, answer by answer. We've statistically studied every question type on the test and understand exactly how questions are phrased and how wrong answer choices are constructed. As head of product, I'm responsible for content quality. I hire only the most qualified content writers to craft our test content. This means people who got perfect SAT scores, who have hundreds of hours of SAT teaching experience, and who graduated from Ivy League schools. All of this results in the most realistic, highest quality SAT Reading questions. Even if you don't use PrepScholar, make sure that whatever resource you do use undergoes the same scrutiny we exercise.If you're not sure how helpful something is or notice lots of negative reviews, it's best to avoid it. Strategy 5:Don't Focus On Vocab Vocab gets way too much attention from students. It feels good to study vocab flashcards because it seems like you're making progress. "I studied 1,000 vocab words- this must mean I improved my Reading score!" This is why other test-prep programs love teaching you vocab- you feel as though you're learning something and it's worth your money. But the truth is that learning vocab isn't really helping you. Fortunately, vocab doesn't play a big role in your SAT Reading score anymore. This is especially true for the current version of the SAT, which no longer hasSentence Completion questions. (On the old, pre-2016 SAT, these were the questions that required you to fill in blanks with vocab words.) The reasoning behind this decision was that the College Board received a lot of criticism for forcing students to memorize advanced vocab that wasn't that useful in college or for future careers. (And students rejoiced everywhere!) That said, there are still some SAT Reading questions that ask about vocab, such as this one (taken from an official SAT practice test): As used in line 68, "hold" most nearly meansA) maintainB) gripC) restrainD) withstand Wait- "hold"? They're asking a question about the simple word "hold"? Yes, it's a common word- but the key to this question lies in understanding how a word is used in context.Hold can mean all the things listed in the answer choices, but only one of them is correct. Here are examples of words you'll need to understand in context for the SAT: ambivalent convey lament postulate These are somewhat advanced words, but they're nowhere near the level of the words you used to have to know, such as "apportionment" and "expropriated." If you have a pretty typical vocabulary of an American teen, there will be at most two to three SAT Reading questions that'll really stretch your vocabulary. But like I mentioned above, you can miss 16 out of 52 questions and still get a 30 on the Reading section. Don't go crazy studying vocab- most likely, it's not the best use of your time. That time is far better spent learning how to deal with Reading passages better.There are so many more questions about passages that it's a better use of your time to learn passage strategy and how to answer reading questions than it is to memorize vocab words. Strategy 6:Skip the Most Difficult, Time-Consuming Questions Here's an easy strategy most students don't do enough. Remember what I said above about raw score? To score a 30 (600) on SAT Reading, you only need a raw score of 36- that's just 36 correct answers out of 52 questions. But what does this mean for your strategy exactly?You can completely guess on 20 questions, get five of them right by chance, and still score a 600 on Reading. Once again, you can completely guess on 40% of all questions and still hit your goal! Skip questions carefree, like this woman does. Why is this such a powerful strategy? It gives you way more time on easy and medium difficulty questions- the questions you have a good chance of getting right. If you're usually pressed for time on SAT Reading, this will be a huge help. Here's an example: on the Reading section, you get 65 minutes to answer 52 questions. This is usually pretty hard for most students to get through, as it's just 75 seconds per question. The average student will try to push through all the questions. "I've got to get through them all since I've got a shot at getting each question right," they think. Along the way, they rush and make careless mistakes on questions they should have gotten right. And then they spend five minutes on really hard questions, causing them to make no progress and waste time. Wrong approach. Here's what I suggest instead.Try each question, but skip it after 30 seconds if you're still not getting anywhere.Unlike math, Reading questions aren't ordered by difficulty, so you can't tell right away which questions are harder or easier. This is why you should try out each one but move on if it's costing you too much time. By doing this, you can raise your time per easy/medium question to 100 seconds per question or more. This is huge! It's a 30% boost to the time you get per question.As a result, this raises your overall chances of getting easy/medium questions right. And the questions you skipped? They're so hard you're honestly better off not even trying them. These questions are meant for 700-800 scorers. If you get to 600, you have the right to try them out- but not before you get to 600. How do you tell which questions are going to take you the most time?This varies from person to person, but here are two question types that commonly take more time than others: Questions without line numbers that make you hunt for details: You can spend a lot of time rereading the passage looking for where Virginia Woolf mentioned a staircase. Questions that ask you to compare two passages: If you really struggle to understand passages, paired passages will be twice the trouble. Do your SAT Reading prep with all of this in mind. If you get stuck on a question, think about what type of question it is, and figure out whether there's a pattern to the questions that consistently trip you up. Strategy 7:Understand All Your Reading Mistakes Every mistake you make on a test happens for a reason.If you don't understand exactly why you missed a question, you'll make the same mistake over and over again. Too many students scoring at the 400-600 level on SAT Reading refuse to study their mistakes. It's harsh. I get it. It sucks to stare your mistakes in the face. It's draining to learn difficult concepts you don't readily understand. So the average student will skip reviewing their mistakes and instead focus on the areas they're already comfortable with. It's like a warm blanket. Their thinking goes like this: "So I'm good at Big Picture questions? I should do more Big Picture problems! They make me feel good about myself." The result? No score improvement. You don't want to be like these students. So here'swhat you need to do instead: On every practice test or question set you take, mark every question you're even just 20% unsure about. When you grade your test or quiz, review every question you marked and every incorrect question. This way even if you guessed a question correctly, you'll make sure to review it. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid making that mistake in the future. Have separate sections by subject and sub-topic (e.g., Big Picture, Inference, Vocab, etc.). It's not enough to just think about it and move on. It's not enough to just read the answer explanation. You have to think hard about why you specifically failed on a question. For Reading questions, you must find a way to eliminate every single incorrect answer. If you were stuck between two answer choices, review your work to figure out why you couldn't eliminate the wrong answer choice. If you don't do this, I guarantee you will not make any progress. But if you do take this structured approach to your mistakes,you'll now have a running log of every question you missed as well as your reflections on why you made the mistakes you did. No excuses when it comes to your mistakes. Strategy 8: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know You might already know this one, but if you don't, you're about to earn some serious points. TheSAT does not have a wrong answer penalty. On the old SAT, each wrong answer deducted 0.25 points from your raw score. This required you to have a smart guessing strategy. But no longer! Now, there is no penalty for getting a wrong answer. This means there's no reason to leave any question blank. So before you finish the Reading section,make sure every blank question has an answer filled in. You don't want to look at your answer sheet and see any blank questions. For every question you're unsure about, make sure you guess as best you can.If you can eliminate even just one answer choice, you'll have a much better shot at getting it right. If you have no idea, just go ahead and guess! You have a 25% chance of getting it right anyway. Most people know this strategy already, so if you don't do this, you're at a serious disadvantage. Overview: Tips for Raising Your Low SAT Reading Score Those are the main strategies you should use to improve your SAT Reading score. If you're scoring around 350, you can use these to get to 500. If you're scoring around 470, boost your score to 600. I guarantee it- as long as you put in the right amount of work and study as I suggest above, you're bound to hit your goal score on test day. The main point, though, is this: you need to understand where you're falling short and drill those weaknesses continuously. You also need to be thoughtful about your mistakes and leave no mistake ignored. This is really important for your future. Make sure you give SAT prep the attention it deserves- before it's too late and you get a rejection letter you didn't want. Finally, if you want to go back and review any of the above strategies, here's a quick listing: Strategy 1: Save Time on Reading Passages by Switching Your Reading Strategy Strategy 2:Learn to Eliminate the 3 Wrong Answers Strategy 3:Find Your Reading Skill Weaknesses and Drill Them Strategy 4: Only Use High-Quality SAT Reading Sources Strategy 5:Don't Focus On Vocab Strategy 6:Skip the Most Difficult, Time-Consuming Questions Strategy 7:Understand All Your Reading Mistakes Strategy 8: Guess on EveryQuestion You Don't Know What's Next? We've got a lot of useful guides you can use to raise your SAT section scores. For Math, read my detailed guide to improving your SAT Math score. You can also learn how to raise your SAT Writing scoreoryour SAT Essay score. What's a good SAT score for you personally?Useour step-by-step guide to figure out your SAT target scoretoday. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today: Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Allen Cheng About the Author As co-founder and head of product design at PrepScholar, Allen has guided thousands of students to success in SAT/ACT prep and college admissions. He's committed to providing the highest quality resources to help you succeed. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and earned two perfect scores on the SAT (1600 in 2004, and 2400 in 2014) and a perfect score on the ACT. 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Saturday, October 19, 2019

Human Services Program and Profession Unit Research Paper

Human Services Program and Profession Unit - Research Paper Example According to the paper the reporter wants to learn how to network clientele with needed society resources and services. Additionally, the degree course should prepare him on how to serve for the worker as a basis to convey a thorough baccalaureate degrees. The human service degree and program should support national agenda approval with the national accrediting body for human service degrees. He expects to take part in students’ election to aim my academic course in the human service, psychological health or gerontology domain. This can be accomplished by following two applied that are aimed particularly in the selected area of concentration.This strudy stresses that the author looks forward to getting a GPA above 2.75 amongst the Human Services candidates. This way, he can get a continuing learning credit for more than half a decade ought to file his familiarity with all units and fields associated with the human services degree course and profession. The course should also e nable him to join groups that create a path to adhering to the guidelines provided by the National Organization for Human Services. The author looks forward to standardizing crucial education anticipations and morals in human services class involved with human services workers. The class should be able to bestow the HS-BCP credentials. The reporter wants to learn how to prim my colleagues to effectually work and knowledgeably operate systems in need of uninterrupted care, assistance and individual support.  

Friday, October 18, 2019

Interview an agency administrator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interview an agency administrator - Essay Example The case record in an agency has several purposes. One of the purposes is to provide information for quality improvement and evaluation of activities. It is also used for purposes of research as it provides a baseline for the research. The case record ensures transparency and accountability of the financial bodies of the agency. The content elements in the case record structure include the problem or diagnose including its cause. Another content element is the interventions which provide the way in which the problem is treated or solved. The outcome is the last content element in the case recording structure. It presents the progress of the case that is, whether it is fairing well or it is worse. Thus the structure is designed in that, the problem appears first followed by the intervention and lastly is the outcomes of the case. There are different purposes of content and structure in case recording. One of the purposes is to provide clear information about the client situation which is the problem. According to Kiser (2007), content and structure provide a clear flow of the assessment that was done on the client. They show the information about the services that are offered to the client hence accountability. They also provide details of case was implemented and also information about the end of the case.

Event at Herrington country park ( Sunderland , uk ) Essay

Event at Herrington country park ( Sunderland , uk ) - Essay Example In addition, the park provides a good space for children entertainment as well as an ample space for open air concerts for most parts of the North East of Sunderland (Hoyle, 2002). Based on the possibility of the Herrington Country Park to host a myriad of events, this paper is going to propose and explore the possibilities of the park to host other new events. On this basis, the paper is going to present wedding events as a new type of events that should be hosted by Herrington Country Park. Weddings are the most cherished events by many people around the world. Wedding events always need to be conducted in pristine as well as serene environments (Jones, 2008). They always need to be conducted in places that have aesthetic values as well as beautiful environmental backgrounds. Wedding events always need places with cool atmospheres, spaciousness and lots of natural freshness. In this regard, it is always critical to conduct wedding events in such places where recreation activities are available. Herrington Country Park offers the best environment that meets all the above descriptions for a wedding event. However, it is critical to note that there are several issues that may present big challenges towards staging the wedding events in such an environment (Hoyle, 2002). One of the difficulties in staging such events is inadequacy of finances. This may limit a number of operations in the planning and management of the event. In addition, site zoning problems may also affec t the successful staging of the wedding events in the park. This may be a problem if an experienced and well trained personnel in event management was neither consulted nor hired. This may present staging challenges. However, it is critical to note that Herrington Country Park is an ideal place to hold wedding events. For the success of the park to hold wedding evens, there are several ways that people can be informed. The wedding events in the Herrington

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, Essay - 1

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, and a short paragraph Evaluation of the text below - Essay Example According to Melissa, Obama does bear responsibility because he is a black in whom the African-American’s triumph is embodied. Therefore, the successes that are associated with his election can be accomplished if the blacks come out to protest the discrimination they are still subjected to by the whites. Indeed, this article can be a very invaluable resource. First, it was written by a reputable scholar who is so credible and has authored lots of books and articles and made imminent contributions to the field of journalism. Besides, it provides a lot of detailed information about the cases of alleged racism by the US police in different parts of the country. Indeed, it sensitizes me about the plight of the African-Americans who, despite constantly fighting race-based discrimination, still suffer in the hands of law enforcers. At the same time, the manner in which the author associates President Obama is challenging and thought-provoking. Since it provides all the necessary information about the plight of the blacks, the article becomes authoritative, valid and enjoyable to read. After all, the credibility of its author is not doubted at

Your Are An Enterpreneur Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Your Are An Enterpreneur - Assignment Example The companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other leading companies would be reached. In the agreements, retailer margin, transport of products, loss in transit, bulk purchase discounts and other important factors shall be discussed. However, before going to finalize agreements, the entrepreneur intends to research the existing policies and interaction between these companies with the retailers. For this purpose, both online and offline resources would be used to gather the relevant information. The entrepreneur intends to hire three full time assistants serving to customers. These assistants would be required to guide customers, provide information and assist them with any other requirements needed by the customers. The reason behind hiring three assistants is to facilitate customers. This facilitation enhances possibility of customer loyalty. Subsequently, this would generate an interrupted flow of customers and revenue would be keep

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, Essay - 1

Write an annotation entry consisting of a Citation, a brief Summary, and a short paragraph Evaluation of the text below - Essay Example According to Melissa, Obama does bear responsibility because he is a black in whom the African-American’s triumph is embodied. Therefore, the successes that are associated with his election can be accomplished if the blacks come out to protest the discrimination they are still subjected to by the whites. Indeed, this article can be a very invaluable resource. First, it was written by a reputable scholar who is so credible and has authored lots of books and articles and made imminent contributions to the field of journalism. Besides, it provides a lot of detailed information about the cases of alleged racism by the US police in different parts of the country. Indeed, it sensitizes me about the plight of the African-Americans who, despite constantly fighting race-based discrimination, still suffer in the hands of law enforcers. At the same time, the manner in which the author associates President Obama is challenging and thought-provoking. Since it provides all the necessary information about the plight of the blacks, the article becomes authoritative, valid and enjoyable to read. After all, the credibility of its author is not doubted at

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Development in Oil and Gas Retail Industries Essay

Development in Oil and Gas Retail Industries - Essay Example 53 percent of energy European Union consumes comes from its imports that have affected trade balance of because of high imports of fossil fuel (Daly, 2014). Therefore, the union look forwards for reduction in energy dependency in order to enhance energy security, reduce the import bills and affordable energy, to ensure consistency to meet climate and industrial objectives for 2050 (Schweitzer, 2014). The main objective of the European Union is to reduce the dependency of the energy, improve energy security and power system. Russia has been of the major supplier of energy to European Union over the past decades. One-third of the gas demands of European Union are being delivered by Russia. In the EU-Russian Summit heal on 2000; the energy was one of the prominent aspects that were chosen to be a potential lead for the integration of the bilateral relationship (Ehrlich, 2013). The economic and industrial coronation between different nations including European Union has significantly developed through these years. However, the thousands of Russian companies are developing and have created interdependency of energy supply for European Union. Agreement on the global climate and energy targets has emerged to be one of the significant elements in globalization that has to be effectively addressed. Recently, at the European Summit that held on March 20th the government leader were suppose to agree with the climate and energy target of 2030 (Tindale, 2014). However, they discussed more about the energy dependency on Russia, Ukraine and Crimea. The Russian Annexation of Crimea has emerged to be one of the debatable issues in the current political meetings. It is because the high dependency of Europe on Russian Energy that has to be effectively addressed (Tindale, 2014). Russian is one on of the largest supplier of gas to European Union due to

Tesco organization structure Essay Example for Free

Tesco organization structure Essay In 1961 Tesco Leicester entered the Guiness Book of Records as the largest store in Europe and in 1968 Tesco opened its first superstore in Crawley, West Sussex. Supermarkets revolutionised the way people shopped and by the 1970s Tesco was building a national store network to cover the whole of the UK, which it continues to expand to this day, while also diversifying into other products. In 1974 Tesco opened its first petrol stations, and would become the UKs largest independent petrol retailer. By 1979 total sales topped  £1bn, and by 1982 sales had doubled to more than  £2bn. In 1987 Tesco successfully completed a hostile takeover of supermarket rival Hillards for  £220m. The battle for top spot In the 1990s Tesco continued to tighten its grip on the UK with more store openings and an agressive marketing campaign in an attempt to overtake Sainsburys as the UKs leading grocer. In 1992, the company launched is slogan every little helps, followed by the Tesco Value range in 1993. This was followed by the launch of the Tesco Clubcard scheme in 1995, helping Tesco to overtake rival Sainsburys as the UKs largest food retailer. 1996 saw the retailer introduce its first 24-hour store while it also expanded overseas opening shops in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. In 1997 Tesco appointed Sir Terry Leahy as chief executive. Tesco.com was launched in 2000 and the supermarket continued to expand its range of products, which now includes clothes, electricals and personal finance products. In 2004 Tesco entered the broadband market. Two years ago, in 2006, the retailer announced ambitious plans to open stores in the US under the name Fresh and Easy and funded by existing resources. Tesco now operates in 13 countries. Today it reported that group sales were  £51.8bn in the year to February 23 2008. Pre-tax profit rose to  £2.8bn. In 2008 the retail giant took its conquest of the UK one step further by buying up some rival Somerfield stores on remote islands in Scotland, giving Tesco a presence in every single postcode area in the country. As it stands there is only one postcode in the UK in Harrogate in North Yorkshire which does not have a Tesco. Every little hurts As the supermarket giant has grown, so too has the number of places in the UK dubbed Tesco town. In Inverness more than 50p in every pound spent on food  by the citys 66,000 residents is done so at a Tesco checkout and similar dominance in other towns has sparked controversy. Because of their size, supermarkets have been accused by some of abusing their position by forcing smaller local shops out of business. According to non-profit organisation Ethical Network, local communities could be losing inward investment of up to  £100bn every year because of supermarket centralisation. In 2001 a blackmailer failed in an attempt to extort  £5m from Tesco through a parcel bomb campaign and was jailed for 16 years. In 2008 Phillip McHugh, a former tax inspector, was jailed after threatening to bomb Tesco stores unless they gave him  £1m. Mr McHugh sent 76 letters to the company threatening to blow up shops and poison customers by contaminating food, promising that blood will flow unles s they gave into his demands.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Geographic Impacts on Health | Reflection

Geographic Impacts on Health | Reflection Have you ever heard the phrase by Margaret Mead, â€Å"You are unique just like everyone else?† I believe everybody is unique but similar in their own way. It is because of this that I consider our perception of health, regardless if it is in the planning, implementation, and evaluation stage, varies tremendously yet remains the same in many ways. Our notion of health strongly depends on so many factors such as demography, ethnicity, religion, tradition, and values. Demographic distribution of populations has a very big impact on health with regards to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions because the bigger the population in a certain area, the bigger the intervention. For example, a town of 1,000 people will require less planning, executing the plan will be drastically easier, and evaluating the success of the intervention can be done smoothly compared to a city of 100,000 people. Also, certain areas tend to have a higher prevalence of certain diseases. By studying this, health interventions can be tailored to target certain health concerns or illnesses from certain areas. Political values of a certain country can affect the different stages of health intervention because most health related projects, these days, needs the approval of the government. Depending on the government, some proposed health projects can take years to fruition while others might not take that long. Furthermore, if the politics of a country is shady, the chances of a proposed health project to be approved or implemented is slim to none. Religion can be one of the hardest things to deal with when it comes to the stages of healthcare intervention. As a nurse, I have experienced first-hand the impact of religion has on certain medical treatment. There are some religious beliefs that are not too hard to handle but there some religious beliefs that can take it to the extremes. One of the hardest things I have ever been through was when my beliefs and values contradicts a patient’s religious beliefs especially when it involves life and death. Ethnicity also plays an important role in determining the proper intervention. It is a known fact that there are certain illnesses that affect certain ethnic groups. For example, â€Å"the rate of dementia on admission to nursing homes is higher among black residents than among white residents.[1] Weintraub D, et al. (2000).† Even though dementia does not have a cure, people can tailor their healthcare interventions to fit the needs of different ethnic groups. But this is only the tip of an iceberg. There are many diseases and illnesses associated with ethnicity. By knowing such data, people can go out of their way to limit a certain disease or illness thereby, hopefully, preventing the disease or illness from ever happening. Having been lucky to travel to different countries, I can say that human values really does have an impact on health interventions. One very big example is how Filipinos value the elderly. I am not insinuating that other countries do not value their elderly or Filipinos are better at valuing their elderly. I am just implying that we have a different way of taking care of our elderly. Filipinos seem to get a sense of fulfilment when taking care of their parents. I believe in taking care of my parents when they get old because they took care of me when I was young. I will send them to a rest home not because there are not any rest homes in the Philippines, but because I want to keep them close and connected – they are and will always be a part of the family. Since my beliefs and values have been instilled in me and because I have seen how my parents took care of their parents, it has now become sort of a tradition in which I and my fellow Filipinos take pride of. This is one way on how tradition impacts healthcare intervention. But there are also other ways. In many countries, especially in remote areas, traditional medicine is still being practiced and people in these areas believe this is the only form of medicine out there. A strong push for knowledge would be the proper intervention here. Having mentioned all these, it is safe to say that determinants either have a direct or indirect impact on health interventions. Also, some determinants can either be a deterrent or an opportunity. By deterrent, I mean those rare ones where health interventions can’t be implemented because certain beliefs will not permit such mediation. However, determinants can also be an opportunity to come up with a better plan, a more effective implementation, and a more efficient evaluation system of a healthcare intervention. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Attitude is the way you think about someone or something. Since we are all unique in our own way, it is safe to say that we also have different attitudes towards someone or something. You may like the Miami Heat while I like the San Antonio Spurs. Having this in mind, it would not be a long shot to conclude that our individual attitude towards health can have a great impact, directly or indirectly, towards planning, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare interventions. The public’s concept of health and illness is different no matter where you go. The World Health Organization defines health as â€Å"physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.†[2] These days, we are more united in trusting medicine and research than resorting to traditional medicine. But, that does not mean traditional medicine did not have the same attitude towards health and illness. â€Å"Traditional medicine practice (TMP) within Aboriginal Australia encompasses a holistic worldview which reflects that of the World Health Organizations’ definition of health†[3] Oliver, Stefanie. (2013). However, the practice of traditional medicine is slowly becoming a lost trade primarily due to colonisation, medical advancement, research enhancement, and technological improvement. Nowadays, most of us rely on science rather than traditional medicine. Have you ever wondered what brought about the advent of medical advancement? Funny as this may sound, most drugs today are of herbal descent and it is very important to recognize the value traditional medicine had on today’s medicine. There are still places where traditional medicine is still accepted and is still being practiced. Even in a small country like the Philippines, indigenous areas still believe that illness is caused by â€Å"voodoo magic† and that a â€Å"witch doctor† and his/her methods serve as the cure for such illness. In Korea, roots of certain plants are mixed in a drink and is believed to improve and restore homeostasis. Acupuncture is a method of needle insertion at various points of the skin to stimulate circulation and improve overall balance. This is believed to originate from China. How health is accepted and practiced in an area will depend on how the public values the importance of health. With all the different diseases out there, I believe that most countries consider health as a big priority and it is very evident from all the research being done to find a cure for certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes, HIV, and many more. It is not only through research that indicates how much importance the public considers health. Diet programs, exercise programs, and even healthier TV shows are being shared and broadcasted in hopes to help gain and inspire a healthier wellbeing. The public’s attitude towards health and medical professionals is essential to healthcare interventions because if people were not concerned about their own health, they would not seek the aid of doctors, traditional healers, or medical professionals. If they do not need help from medical professionals then there would not be a need for any planning, implementation, and evaluation. However, most people value their lives. They, generally, value their own health and fear what could happen if they do not take care of themselves. That is why people are slowly learning to consult dieticians to help them eat healthier. People are seeking the aid from trainers to get them into shape. People are even considering the use of traditional medicine and traditional methods (e.g. acupuncture) to do whatever it takes to be healthier. In my own opinion, especially here in New Zealand, the public is very concern about their health and also their environment. They are starting to open up to a more â€Å"organic† way of being healthy. These days, people are slowly â€Å"going green† and this is why they are exploring different alternatives to common medicine all for the sake of being healthy. I believe the media plays a vital role for the immergence of the â€Å"going green† lifestyle that people all over the world are slowly following suit. The public’s attitude towards health, illness, and medical professionals is very important. Without the public’s support, nothing will get done. The first thing that comes to mind when people mention New Zealand is the natural beauty this country possesses. New Zealand is surrounded by beautiful coastlines waiting to be discovered and crystal clear pristine waters to be explored. Aside from the coastline, New Zealand boasts of majestic snow-capped peaks and breath-taking waterfalls. We all got to see a glimpse of its immense beauty through the Lord of the Rings movie series and the Hobbit movie series. But the beauty of New Zealand is not only evident looking form the outside-in but also from the inside-out. Here, beauty runs skin deep. New Zealand is a melting pot of multiple cultures ranging from Maori, European, Pacific Island and Asian descent – all of which are very proud of their ancestry. With all these different cultures, it is hard to imagine how people get along. However, people just make it work here. They respect each other’s variances. This, for me, is what makes New Zealand unique and special. This kind of respect towards one another is generated from New Zealand’s founding document – The Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty simply implies that Maori people have the same rights as British people. This attitude and way of thinking has been instilled on every resident that it has robbed off on other settlers. So people accept each other equally. More so, people are learning to adapt to each’s culture. This is even evident when it comes to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare interventions. For example, the Maori’s cultural influence has been socially accepted that the whole nation is working together to maintain and preserve such a culture. It is a fact that Maoris generally have an obesity problem, which is a potential for diabetes, so the whole community is working hand in hand to provide means to aid the Maoris in tackling this problem. Health leaders are assisting whanau to come up with ways to address such an issues through proper education, training, and other means. But the community is not only helping the Maoris because the Maoris are also helping the community by educating them on their ways of traditional medicine. Since New Zealand is a very diverse country, all cultures are being treated the same way. More and more acupuncture facilities are popping up all over major cities. People are learning different herbal remedies from Asia to treat numerous ailments. Yoga, which originated from India, is just as popular here. People are learning how to eat healthier and exercise regularly like most Asian countries do. The influence is great and the impact is clear. It is up to us to absorb all these new cultural insights and choose a healthier lifestyle. [1] Weintraub D, Raskin A, Ruskin PE, Gruber-Baldini AL, Zimmerman SI, Hebel JR, et al. Racial differences in the prevalence of dementia among patients admitted to nursing homes.Psychiatric Services.2000;51:1259–1264. [2] World Health Organization:Declaration of Alma-Ata. Alma-Ata: USSR; 1978. [Proceedings of the International Conference on Primary Health Care] 6–12 September [3] Oliver, Stefanie. (2013). The role of traditional medicine practice in primary health care within Aboriginal Australia: a review of the literature. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2013, 9:46. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-9-46