Steven Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Streets :: Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets

Maggie A Girl Of The Streets Maggie and Jimmie are two siblings being raised within the slums of New York City in the Stephen Crane novel; Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The parents of these two are constantly fighting as broken furniture and fistfights are an everyday occurance in the decrepid family apartment. The mother and father fight while their children hide frightened as "There was a clash against the door and something broke into clattering fragments .... (Jimmie) heard howls and curses, groans and shrieks, confusingly in chorus as if a battle were raging" (11). Crane exxagerates the furniture destruction as every night when the two parents battle, seemingly all the furniture in the apartment is destroyed. Obviously, this poor family couldn't afford to fix and/or buy new furniture everyday. This then is the environment that Maggie and Jimmie struggle with throughout the novel, but both respond to in opposite ways. Maggie dreams of a better life than of her roots while Jimmie excepts his roots and becom es nihilistic. However, the hope of Maggie sadly goes unfulfilled. Maggie is introduced into the storyline quite subtle and quickly becomes the main focus of attention by the other three main characters. From the beginning, Maggie is a harsh contrast to the slum environment she has to endure. She "blossomed in a mud puddle ... a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl" (16) that not only had the physical beauty that her family seemed to lack, but also the hope that she could be better than what was around in her environment. Therefore, the slum environment that surrounds her contrasts her character greatly. "None of the dirt of Rum Alley was in her veins" (16) as she became the talk of numerous males in the neighborhood. Pete; an acquaintance of Jimmie, became Maggie's infatuation. They meet when Pete is called to the Johnson apartment by Jimmie after Pete promised to attend a boxing match with him. Although only a bartender, Maggie finds Pete as a man of "personal superiority" (17) that is capable of providing her with any dream she desires. She views the contrast between Pete and her environment when: The broken furniture, grimy walls, and general disorder and dirt of her home all of a sudden appeared before her and began to take a potential aspect. Pete's aristocratic person looked as if it might soil.

Porter’s five forces Essay

It is very important for the drug companies and supermarkets to use the five forces to ensure that they strategically position themselves in a way that they become very competitive to make sure that they remain in business and also make and maximize profits. Managers have a very important role in ensuring that they do enough analysis so that they employ strategies to make them make the best out of the business that they do. Porter’s forces can be analyzed to act as yard sticks for the supermarkets and the drug companies to position themselves so as to do a profitable business as they face a very competitive and saturated environment that is very sensitive to changes. (McGahan, 2004) The supermarkets and the drug companies should utilize the Michael Porter’s five forces analyses as a framework to guide them operate in the competitive environment. The forces that affect the supermarkets and drug companies are those that are close to them and need to be properly analyzed since they affect their ability to effectively serve their customers and also make profits. When the supermarkets and drug companies face changes in the five forces, they need to re-examine the market place and make decisions that will ensure that they remain profitable and challenge their competitors. Their management should highly depend on research and marketing intelligence to gather the necessary information that will help them make sound decisions that will help their firms since they are faced with a lot of competition from their rival competitors. The closeness of substitutes Substitutes are alternative products that have the ability to satisfy similar needs and give solutions. Substitutes in the supermarkets and drug industries reduce the potential returns since they place a ceiling on the prices offered for products. Firms that realize that products being offered bring a lot of profits look for substitutes products that can substitute so that they may also enjoy profits. Drug companies face a big challenge since scientists and researchers are coming up with products generic drugs that compete very much with the existing original products. Due to research, drug industries are discovering new products every day that are either more effective or cure the same diseases. This has become a very big challenge since the market has become open and new discoveries are welcome every time. Customers will always be tempted to try the new products to see whether they are more effective and are made to believe that the newest drugs on the market are the best since they are more new and tested. Malaria drugs for instance are changing every time and patients believe that the new discoveries can handle Malaria more strongly than those that were there before. Marketers in drug industry must constantly try to sell there drugs by marketing them all the time and assuring their markets that the drugs they have are the best. Almost all drugs have tested substitutes and it gives the sellers and the users a variety of choices to choose from and making it very hard for some drugs to be pushed. The drug industry is so concentrated and even the herbal industry is attracting a lot of audience sine they claim to have varieties and more effective drugs. (Porter, 1985) Supermarkets are facing very stiff challenges since many supermarkets are opening up everyday with better supplies from substitute goods that make them appear to be cheaper than the others. Customers will go to those supermarkets with variety of substitutes so that they may get more cheap goods that can meet their needs. In a supermarket, companies will take and buy spaces in the supermarkets and also arrange and make them more appealing than the products from their competitors. When we look at basic products like bread and flour, you will find that there are many substitutes that will be in the same supermarket and that can play the same role and act as substitutes of the other. Supermarkets face a stiff challenge from the others and therefore need to do extensive advertising, introduce new cheap products every time and increase service to the customers since there is a stiff competition from other supermarkets. Supermarkets will always try to take customers from each other by winning them with the substitutes that they offer and services that they also offer at a cheaper price. (Lovelock, 2006) The Intensity of Rivalry among Established Companies Supermarkets and drug companies face a very competitive environment that has a big concentration of rival competitors making it a very competitive venture in business. They compete with heir rivals across al levels and try all strategies to ensure that they beat their rivals and try to do extensive marketing and innovation to attract more customers every day. There are many established companies that are more organized and have better strategies than the new ones that come up and therefore have a competitive edge over the others. An established company will mean having a well developed network that has a good client base and that is supported by customer loyalty and therefore locking out the new firms that try to make an impact by trying the existing markets. The well established pharmaceutical firms give a big challenge to the new companies in the market that try to make their products known. Even though substitute products are received in drug industries, it becomes easy for the established firms to push customers to start using their new products in the market since they have a name in the market and customers are loyal to them. (Porter, 1985) Customers will always be pulled to go to the already established supermarkets that they are used to them and will always feel that their services are the best. They also believe that products and services that are offered in the established supermarkets are the best and all they offer are the best to take car of their needs. The new supermarkets are highly challenged and must therefore position themselves strategically by ensuring that they price their products well and also do extensive advertising to market their products and services and have new customers and prospects that will be customers in future. The rate of growth of the drug companies and supermarkets has become a big challenge as new ones come into the market every time with very attractive terms for customers and therefore pulling them and pulling away their loyal customers. Competitors in the drug companies and supermarkets have diversities and therefore make them very unique and unequalled and thus being very hard to compete with them in a very competitive environment due to high concentration of players who are doing the same businesses. There is need for e advertising to market both individual products and the supermarkets and drug companies due to the stiff competition from rival players in the same field that is concentrated highly. The bargaining power of suppliers Suppliers take advantage of their unique supplies to ask and bargain for what they want and enjoy the monopoly and charge expensively for the products or services that they offer. Customers are very sensitive to any changes that may affect them that are caused by the bargaining power of the suppliers. Suppliers are a competitive threat in drug industries because they can raise the prices of new and the old supplies and therefore making the customers to try substitute products that can satisfy the same need. Suppliers may cost the drug companies a lot of financial constrain if they switch and fail to supply their products as it is involving to get new and reliable suppliers that can give quality and be efficient all the time. (Grant, 2005) Doctors will recommend their clients to use substitutes according to their financial abilities and are in a position to refer them to use any of the substitutes. Supermarkets must try as much as possible to bargain well with their suppliers so that they may get quality products at the right price so that they may also sell and price their products well in relation to those of the competitors so that they may not loose customers to the other supermarkets. Suppliers will have more power if they are few or alone in the market and will give their products at a very high price and will affect the sales of the supermarket in the long run. It is very important for the drug companies and the supermarkets to have suppliers that can supply substitute products that are more or les the same so that their customers will not run to the other outlets that have the products that they need. In the event that the suppliers reduce their products quality and raise the price of their products, it will be a great competitive challenge to the drug industries and the supermarkets that offer the same services. The determinants of the suppliers power in both the supermarkets and the drug companies includes: suppliers concentration in one particular place that is central in location, volume of suppliers that they offer to the supermarkets and the drug companies and finally the costs related to the total purchases that they do. The suppliers ensure that they take advantage of their strengths to bargain and register as much profits as possible and make the buyers of their suppliers to accept what they offer and fix high prices. (Cullen and Boteeah, 2005) The Risk of Entry by Potential Competitors The new competitors enter into business with an intention to bring new capacities that never existed before so that they may give competition to the existing firms. Every new entrant into the drug and supermarket business is a big threat to the existing firms since they may pose a big danger when they come and take the existing customers by intimidating them with good attractive services and also set their businesses in strategic points that will attract more customers. Supermarkets and drug companies are very profitable and has therefore it has been attracting very many new entrants who perceive it as a good profitable business that has a lot of assurance since the customers will always need food and other materials offered I the supermarkets and drugs to help prevent and cure diseases. Their main interest is to capture big market share that exists so that they make more sales and therefore make profits. Supermarkets face a lot of competition from new entrants who come up with new and customer satisfying service that are very attractive and take their customers. They are few barriers to the new entrants in this field and many businessmen are thinking of opening up one stop supermarkets that are in strategic positions to attract customers. (Mark, 2001) There are many barriers that might be in the drug industries that may affect the drug firms. They include the following: government policies on drug companies, economies of scale, capital requirements that are needed to start a drug company, brand identities and reactions from firms in the drug industry. New entrants in the drug industry are seen by those that are already in existence as a threat since they take and reduce their market share and make them reduce their sales and therefore register fewer profits from the sales. Though governments might create barriers to help streamline the industry, it will not fully succeed since many new entrants might meet the requirements put on them and give challenge to the already flocked market. The higher the entry barriers, the less it is likely for outsiders to enter the industry. (Sparrow and Hilltop, 1994) The Bargaining Power of Buyers This is the marketplace of outputs. Customers in the supermarkets and drug industry put the two businesses a lot of pressure since they are very sensitive to any change in prices and are always ready to window shop and find where prices are relatively cheap. The availability of substitute products in both the supermarkets and drug companies has made it very challenging for all those who run these businesses and are therefore supposed to learn the behavior of their customers so as not to scare them to their competitors and therefore reducing their profitability. The players in the drugs and supermarket firms make it .Many supermarkets and drug companies give room for their customers to bargain and make the competitors to be on toes. It is very important for the drug companies and supermarkets to highly depend on market intelligence so as to be very strategic in their pricing since there are many supermarkets and drug industries that are ready to reduce their prices by negligible amount that can attract customers from their competitors. (Brewster, 1995) Buyers are ready to run into substitute products that are being marketed everyday in the supermarkets and drug companies due to the changing technologies that are leading to cheaper and quality production of substitute products. Advertisers are taking advantage of the sensitivity that the buyers have to market new products that hit the market daily. The drug industries and the supermarkets should have a variety of substitutes in their business premises to pull all the customers and reduce the customers from moving to their competitors who offer various products in different prices. Since buyers are the ones that ensure that there is continuity of business, the supermarkets and the drug companies should learn and be very sensitive to the changing tastes and preferences in order to win buyers and also ensure that they remain loyal to them since the concentration of many firms is a big threat. Supermarkets and drug firms must ensure that they use the Porter’s analysis since they face stiff and very competitive challenges from firms that have realized that they can make lucrative profits from the supermarket and drugs since they are assured of a lot of profits from a large customer base that is attracted by these firms. They need to assess the market very well and ensure that they learn there customers very well and also ensure that they position themselves to compete more effectively to remain in business and also maintain a good relationship with their customers so that the competitors may not take away their customers. It is only through these methods that they will be assured of remaining in business tomorrow. (Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 1995) Reference Brandenburger, M. and Nalebuff, J. (1995): The Right Game. Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review pp.59-69 Brewster. C (1995): Towards a European Model of Human Resource Management-Journal of International Business. Vol 26, pp 112 Cullen, J. and Boteeah, K. (2005): Multinational Management. A strategic Approach, 3rd Edition, Mason; Thomson South-Western, pp 54 Grant, R. (2005): Contemporary Strategy Analysis: – Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford pp 24-45 Lovelock, J. (2006): Services Marketing, People, Technology, and Strategy. New York, Prentice Hall, pp 23-45 Mark, D. (2001): Human Resource Management and organizational performance; 3rd Edition of the Institute of Management, Washington, U.S, pp 76 Porter, M. (1979): How competitive forces shape strategy. Harvard Business Review pp 34 Porter, M. (1985): Competitive Advantage:-Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. The Free Press, New York, pp 12-56 McGahan, A. (2004): How Industries Evolve: – Principles for Achieving and Sustaining Superior Performance. Harvard Business School Press, pp 27-37 Sparrow, P. and Hilltop, J. (1994): European Human Resource Management in Transition: New York, Prentice Hall, pp 45-76 Â  

Inference Questions on SAT Reading 6 Strategies

Inference Questions on SAT Reading 6 Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Inference questions make up nearly 15% of all SAT Reading questions (based on analysis of four publicly available new SATs). Answering inference questions correctly requires the ability to take information given in the text and then draw logical, supported conclusions from it. What are the different kinds of inference questions asked on the SAT Reading Section, and how should you go about answering them? I've got the answers for you in this article. feature image credit: Fellow citizens of Massachusetts! by Boston Public Library, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. What Are Inference Questions? Inference questions ask about the meaning of a line, paragraph, or even an entire passage. The ideas being asked about are not directly stated in the text, which mean that inference questions often include the phrases â€Å"could be interpreted to mean† or â€Å"suggests that." Since there can only be one correct answer to any SAT question, however, the answers to these questions cannot be subjective or ambiguous. Via funnyworld.info. Inference questions often also require big picture skills, since you must be able to get meaning from entire passages to answer questions about paired passage relationships, or from entire paragraphs for other inference questions. In contrast to function questions, which ask "what does [this word, phrase, or line] DO," inference questions ask "what does [this word, phrase, or line] MEAN?" There are three main kinds of inference questions: deduction, speculation, and examination. Type 1: Deduction Inference questions that fall into this subcategory ask you to fill in missing information. The gist of most of the questions is "If something is said in the passage, what is the logical extension?" Deduction questions are very close to detail questions, except that you must make a logical deduction, rather than relying only on information in the passage. For example: According to the passage, Woolf chooses the setting of the bridge because it A) is conducive to a mood of fanciful reflection. B) provides a good view of the procession of the sons of educated men. C) is within sight of historic episodes to which she alludes. D) is symbolic of the legacy of past and present sons of educated men. The relevant lines: Close at hand is a bridge over the River Thames, an admirable vantage ground for us to make a survey. The river flows beneath; barges pass, laden with timber, bursting with corn; there on one side are the domes and spires of the city; on the other, Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. It is a place to stand on by the hour, dreaming. But not now. Now we are pressed for time. Now we are here to consider facts; now we must fix our eyes upon the procession - the procession of the sons of educated men. To get the correct answer, (B), you must deduce from the info given. My thoughts: Normally we'd be on the bridge to dream and have fanciful reflection, but that's not the case now. Instead, now we have to do something else while standing on the bridge. What is that something else? Fixing our eyes on the procession of the sons of educated men. There will be a more full walkthrough of an inference question later on in this article – the point of that was to show the eensy, teensy step you have to take beyond what is written to answer inference questions. It's not like high school English literature classes, where you’re encouraged to make any interpretation you can, as long as you can back it up with enough words/rambling. In fact, I know that some people just think of these kinds of inference questions as paraphrasing, becaus so little interpretation is involved. Some examples of how these questions have been asked on the SAT (with some modifications to keep them on the same theme): Based on the passage, the authors’ statement â€Å"If a pair consisted of two piccolos, for example, there would not be room for it† (lines 29-30) implies that a pair The narrator implies that Ms. Boulanger favors a form of education that emphasizes In Passage 1, Bach contends that breaking the laws of counterpoint has which consequence? La Orquestra Filharmà ³nica Nacional entonà ³ el Himno Nacional y la cancià ³n Patria Querida by Luigino Bracci, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. From my constant comments about musicians, you may be able to DEDUCE that I, too, am a musician. Type 2: Speculation These inference questions ask you to speculate about the meaning (or "suggested" meaning) of a statement, description, or something else in the passage. In some ways, these are similar to function questions, but the answers the SAT is looking for are very different. Take this question: In the passage, Akira addresses Chie with If this were a function question, the answer choices would be generic, like â€Å"a continuation of an extended comparison† or â€Å"an unexpected answer to a question.† Since this is an inference question, the answer choices are more specific, along the lines of â€Å"affection but not genuine love† or â€Å"amusement but not mocking disparagement.† Some examples of how this sort of inference question is asked: It can reasonably be inferred that â€Å"the strong-minded† (line 32) was a term generally intended to In line 42, the authors state that a certain hypothesis â€Å"can best be tested by a trial.† Based on the passage, which of the following is a hypothesis the authors suggest be tested in a trial? The phrase â€Å"liquid gold† (line 71) most directly suggests that What does the author suggest about the transgenic studies done in the 1980s and 1990s? Type 3: Examination Inference questions which fall into the examination subcategory question you about the internal life (thoughts, feelings, motivations) of the narrator, author, or someone mentioned in the passage. They can mostly be summed up as asking "What would [this person] think about [that thing]?" Examination questions are the most complicated type of inference questions, because they ask you to get into the head of the author/narrator/character/other person mentioned in the text. You will often see these sorts of questions on paired passages. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to identify examination inference questions, since they do tend to fall into "what does X think about Y" format. See below for some examples: The â€Å"social psychologists† mentioned in paragraph 2 (lines 17-34) would likely describe the â€Å"deadweight loss† phenomenon as The passage indicates that when the narrator began working for Edward Crimsworth, he viewed Crimsworth as a It can be inferred that the authors of Passage 1 believe that running a household and raising children It can most reasonably be inferred from Passage 2 that Paine views historical precedents as Beecher would most likely have reacted to lines 65-68 (â€Å"Now . . . woman†) of Passage 2 with Want to learn more about the SAT but tired of reading blog articles? Then you'll love our free, SAT prep livestreams. Designed and led by PrepScholar SAT experts, these live video events are a great resource for students and parents looking to learn more about the SAT and SAT prep. Click on the button below to register for one of our livestreams today! 6 Superior Strategies for Attacking Inference Questions So how do you attack inference questions? Is there any way other than just reading the entire passage? (Answer to the first question: hold on one moment. Answer to that second question: yes, for sure) I've compiled for you a bunch of different strategies for attacking inference questions. Some of these strategies work better if you read the passage a certain way (for instance, looking for context may not be as necessary for students who read the passage all the way through), but much of the advice is useful no matter what your method of reading the passage. Strategy 1: Understand What The Question Is Really Asking Understanding what an inference question is actually asking can be hard to wrap your head around, particularly when they ask about multiple passages. Questions are often wordy and seem to require a lot of information before you can even begin to answer them. For instance: The author of Passage 2 would most likely respond to the discussion of the future of space mining in lines 18-28, Passage 1, by claiming that such a future A) is inconsistent with the sustainable use of space resources.B) will be difficult to bring about in the absence of regulations.C) cannot be attained without technologies that do not yet exist.D) seems certain to affect Earth’s economy in a negative way. This question requires you to find information about the future of space mining in Passage 1 and then put yourself in the shoes of the author of Passage 2 and figure out what that author would think about the topic †¦ugh. Aches and pains by Quinn Dombrowski, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. How do you answer this kind of question without causing your brain to hurt too much? You break it down, piece by piece, into a question that is answerable. For the example above, you have to start by figuring out what the future of spacing mining says in Passage 1. How? Look at the sentence(s) referenced in the question (sometimes the quoted word may actually refer to something in another sentence, but I’ll go into that later). In this case, the author of Passage 1 claims that not only will space miners might "[meet] earthly demands for precious metals...and the rare earth elements," "enrich themselves," but they will also "build an off-planet economy free of any bonds with Earth." Now all you have to do find specific places in Passage 2 where the author talks about the implications of space miners meeting demand for elements rare or valuable on earth (vaguely referenced in lines 48 and 51), getting rich themselves (specifically mentioned in lines 57-66), or creating an off-world economy (mentioned in lines 73-78). As you can see, figuring out what an inference question is asking can get you most of the way to figuring out what the answer is. Let's look at the example from above again, keeping the three topics discussed in lines 18-28 in mind. The author of Passage 2 would most likely respond to the discussion of the future of space mining in lines 18-28, Passage 1, by claiming that such a future A) is inconsistent with the sustainable use of space resources.B) will be difficult to bring about in the absence of regulations.C) cannot be attained without technologies that do not yet exist.D) seems certain to affect Earth’s economy in a negative way. To find the answer to this question, use the process of elimination on the answer choices. Do any of the parts of Passage 2 that address the claims in lines 18-28 of Passage 1 support the choices? Choices C) and D) can be eliminated immediately because Passage 2 does not make either of these claims at all, which leaves you with a choice between choices A) and B). While the authors of Passage 2 posit that "Others will suggest glutting ourselves on space’s riches is not an acceptable alternative to developing more sustainable ways of earthly life," they do not make any claims about the sustainable use of space resources, which means that choice A) is wrong. By contrast, after mentioning that "the relevant legal and regulatory framework" for space mining "is fragmentary, to put it mildly" in lines 73-78, the author of passage 2 concludes that â€Å"†¦miners have much to gain from a broad agreement on the for-profit exploitation of space. Without consensus, claims will be disputed, investments risky, and the gains made insecure.† This directly discusses regulation of space mining and how it would be difficult to move forward with space mining in the absence of regulation, making the correct answer to this question choice B). Strategy 2: Look For Context SAT Reading may lull you into a sense of false security, because line numbers are given in a question (so you clearly don't have to look elsewhere). WRONG! The lines present in the question (particularly when it is an inference question) are not necessarily the only lines you’ll need to answer the question - often, more context is needed. If you're having trouble with an inference question because the lines cited aren't enough, the best strategy is to look at the sentences before and after the phrase/sentence/lines you’re given in the question. Sometimes even that isn't enough, and you'll need to know the main point of the passage or the perspective of the author in order to properly answer an inference question. Don't panic if this is the case - if you're struggling to answer the question, mark it in your test booklet and come back to it after you’ve answered other relevant questions (like questions about the paragraph/section the lines in question are in, or even questions about the whole passage). Strategy 3: Answer In Your Own Words For me, this strategy is the key to answering inference questions correctly. If I don't come up with the answer in my own words before I look at the answer choices, I get tripped up by answer choices that include irrelevant information (because I search for ways to prove that they are true) - this is a waste of time and an easy way to get confused. Your answer for "Based on the passages, Lincoln would most likely describe the behavior that Thoreau recommends in lines 64-66 (â€Å"if it . . . law†) as" will probably not be as prettily worded as the actual answer choices, but because your answer should include only relevant and accurate information, matching it to the correct answer should be easier. The College Board knows that you've been trained (via high school English classes) to see as many different points of view as possible and is banking on you getting bogged down in wrong answers that are interpretations that â€Å"seem like they could be true.† Don't be fooled: there is only one right answer on the SAT, and if you start with the right answer in your own words, it’s a lot easier to choose the right answer in THEIR words. But how do you figure out what a phrase, line, or sentence means/suggests/indicates, or what its implications are? Strategy 4:Nail Down Other SAT Reading Skills The skills you need to answer inference questions build on other SAT Reading skills. Take this question: The author's attitude toward pharming is best described as one of A) apprehension. B) ambivalence. C) appreciation. D) astonishment In order to answer this question sucessfully, you need all of the following skills: Vocab in Context – you need to be able to sum up an attitude in a single word Little Picture – you need to figure out what pharming is and when it's discussed in the passage Big Picture – you need to be able to scan the passage to get a sense of the attitude of the author If all else fails, you can use author technique skills to figure out the general tone of the passage (is it positive or negative towards pharming? Which answers are positive and which are negative?) Pulling all of these skills together allows you to successfully answer an examination inference question that asks you "How does the author of the passage feel about pharming?" Nail by Craig Dugas, used under CC BY-SA 2.0. Nail down those SAT Reading skills better than some person nailed down that...nail. Strategy 5:Answer Questions In The Order That Works For You What order this is will depend on the way you read the passage. If you read the passage all the way through, then look at the questions, I'd recommend starting with big picture questions and then going to inference (and function) questions. That way, you can answer questions about larger amount of text while it's still fresh in your mind, and you might get some useful information that'll help you with inference questions. It's also possible that just answering questions in order of appearance might work best if you read quickly enough to get through the passage and have plenty of time to answer the questions, because you'll be less likely to accidentally skip a question or fill in the wrong answer bubble. If you start by reading through all the questions, then jumping back to the passage(s), start with little picture and vocab in context questions (which themselves can require some degree of inference, if you don't know the word being asked about and need to rely on context clues) to get more information about the author and topic being covered, then move on to inference questions. If it turns out you need big picture information to answer a particular inference question, mark it on your test booklet and come back to it later. If you skim the passage and then tackle questions, it's better to answer both big and little picture questions before you start in on the inference questions. Even if the phrases/sentences/lines mentioned in an inference question are in introduction or conclusion sentences (or paragraphs), chances are that more context will be needed than you picked up on your initial skim. Leave inference questions until after you've answered the questions that are easiest to answer after skimming a passage - big picture questions (because they ask about a large amount of text) and little picture questions (because you will have a good idea of where in the passage details might be located). Strategy 6:Eliminate Answers As you may or may not already know, the fundamental rule for SAT Reading is that you must eliminate 3 wrong answers. For inference questions, this can be difficult, because even if you answer the question in your own words correctly, the inference you make may not what they’re looking for. How do you figure out if an answer can be eliminated? After all, you have to go through the text and then match it with these weird answers that have all these different components. That last part, however, actually makes going throught the answer choices to inference questions easier, because if any part of the answer choice does not match with the passage, then you can eliminate that answer choice. Take this examination question, for instance: Based on the passages, both authors would agree with which of the following claims? A) Women have moral duties and responsibilities. B) Men often work selflessly for political change. C) The ethical obligations of women are often undervalued. D) Political activism is as important for women as it is for men. The correct answer must be completely correct. So even the author of Passage 2 would agree that political activism is just as important for women as it is for men, as per answer choice (D), if the author of Passage 1 would not also agree with it then you must eliminate it. For this question, the correct answer, (A), passes this test: the author of both passages would agree that women have moral duties and responsibilities. Inference Questions: A Walkthrough To finish up (and before you get to practice inference questions), I’ll do an in-depth walkthrough with you of a particularly nasty inference question. On the actual SAT, you won't need nearly as much explanation to justify the correct answer - I just wanted to make sure my reasoning was clear. Which reaction does Akira most fear from Chie? A) She will consider his proposal inappropriate. B) She will mistake his earnestness for immaturity. C) She will consider his unscheduled visit an imposition. D) She will underestimate the sincerity of his emotions. Because the question is asking what reaction Akira most fears from Chie, I’ll need to focus on the parts of the passage that are from Akira’s point of view or talk about what he is concerned about only. The question isn’t asking what any other character thinks Akira fears, just what Akira fears, so the evidence should come from him. Here’s the two sections of the passage that are from Akira's point of view or involve him expressing things he cares about: â€Å"Madame,† said Akira, â€Å"forgive my disruption, but I come with a matter of urgency.†His voice was soft, refined. He straightened and stole a deferential peek at her face.In the dim light his eyes shone with sincerity. Chie felt herself starting to like him.â€Å"Come inside, get out of this nasty night. Surely your business can wait for a moment or two.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I don’t want to trouble you. Normally I would approach you more properly but I’ve received word of a position. I’ve an opportunity to go to America, as dentist for Seattle’s Japanese community.†(Lines 31-42)Akira blushed.â€Å"Depending on your response, I may stay in Japan. I’ve come to ask for Naomi’s hand.†Suddenly Chie felt the dampness of the night.â€Å"Does Naomi know anything of your . . .ambitions?†Ã¢â‚¬Å"We have an understanding. Please don’t judge my candidacy by the unseemliness of this proposal. I ask directly because the use of a go-between takes much time. Either method comes down to the same thing: a matter of parental approval. If you give your consent, I become Naomi’s yoshi.* We’ll live in the House of Fuji. Without your consent, I must go to America, to secure a new home for my bride.†Eager to make his point, he’d been looking her full in the face. Abruptly, his voice turned gentle. â€Å"I see I’ve startled you. My humble apologies. I’ll take no more of your evening. My address is on my card. If you don’t wish to contact me, I’ll reapproach you in two weeks’ time. Until then, good night.†He bowed and left. Taking her ease, with effortless grace, like a cat making off with a fish.*a man who marries a woman of higher status and takes her family’s name(Lines 57-78) My thinking: At first glance, Akira appears to be afraid of a few things (in order of appearance in the passage): worried he’s interrupting (line 31, â€Å"forgive my disruption†) doesn’t want to trouble because of his improper method of approaching (lines 39-40, â€Å"I don't want to trouble you. Normally I would approach you more properly†) concerned he might be turned down because of the way he approached (lines 63-64, â€Å"Please don’t judge my candidacy by the unseemliness of this approval†) On the face of it, these are all possible answers (although the question asks what he most fears, so eventually I’ll have to narrow it down a little). But are there any answer choices that can be eliminated right away?A) She will consider his proposal inappropriate.That matches up with the third thing Akira is worried about, so we definitely can’t eliminate that.B) She will mistake his earnestness for immaturity.That doesn’t match with any of the three things Akira is worried about, so it seems unlikely. This is a sneaky answer choice, though, because in a section of the passage we learn that Chie does think he’s immature (â€Å"That’s how she viewed him, as a child†). But there’s no evidence that Akira is worried about this, so it can’t be the correct answer and thus can be eliminated.C) She will consider his unscheduled visit an imposition.This matches up with the second thing on the list above, so it shouldn’t be elimi nated yet.D) She will underestimate the sincerity of his emotions.That doesn’t match with any of the reasons Akira is worried. It does seem like a logical thing for Akira to worry about, but to make that inference is too big a leap, particularly when there are two other choices that are supported by the passage. Plus, the only thing the passage does state about Akira’s sincerity is â€Å"In the dim light his eyes shone with sincerity. Chie felt herself starting to like him.†, which if anything would imply that Chie knows Akira is sincere. Eliminate it!So now I’m down to two answer choices:A) She will consider his proposal inappropriate.andC) She will consider his unscheduled visit an imposition. Since the remaining answer choices are both things that Akira fears from Chie, the next step is to figure out which one Akira most fears. There can only be one right answer to an SAT question, so the correct answer has to be clearly more fear-inducing. One of the reasons this question is so tricky is that figuring out which scenario Akira fears the most requires other SAT Reading skills like finding the detail and understanding the big picture. Here's more of my thinking as I reasoned through the rest of this question: The whole reason Akira approaches Chie in the first place is about the proposal, and the first words out of his mouth have to do with it (â€Å"forgive my disruption, but I come with a matter of urgency†). This detail isn’t the only evidence that suggests Akira is more worried about his proposal than about his visit being an imposition, which would suggest answer choiceA). The bulk of the supporting evidence for the answer to this question, though, requires big picture skills. The main reason Akira visits the house is to tell Chie he wants to marry her daughter. While C) She will consider his unscheduled visit an imposition. is something that Akira fears, it is only a smaller subset of Akira’s fear about the inappropriate nature of his proposal. In fact, the only reason Akira worries about his visit being seen as an imposition is because he worries it might make Chie see his proposal as inappropriate. So in this case, the thing that Akira most fears (and the corr ect answer) is A) She will consider his proposal inappropriate. Can we go for a walk? by Kathleen Tyler Conklin, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Your reward for completing that arduous question is this picture of an adorable dog. Enjoy! Inference Questions: Practice Time! I've included three medium-level official practice questions for you to...practice...with. Unfortunately, the most complicated inference questions required too much text to copy and paste, so you will just have to hunt those down on your own (perhaps via our complete list of official SAT practice tests?). This passage is adapted from MacDonald Harris, The Balloonist.  ©2011 by The Estate of Donald Heiney. During the summer of 1897, the narrator of this story, a fictional Swedish scientist, has set out for the North Pole in a hydrogen-powered balloon. 1. Over the course of the passage, the narrator’s attitude shifts from A) fear about the expedition to excitement about it. B) doubt about his abilities to confidence in them. C) uncertainty of his motives to recognition of them. D) disdain for the North Pole to appreciation of it. 2. Which choice best describes the narrator’s view of his expedition to the North Pole? A) Immoral but inevitable B) Absurd but necessary C) Socially beneficial but misunderstood D) Scientifically important but hazardous 3. The question the narrator asks in lines 30-31 (â€Å"Will it . . . railway†) most nearly implies that A) balloons will never replace other modes of transportation. B) the North Pole is farther away than the cities usually reached by train. C) people often travel from one city to another without considering the implications. D) reaching the North Pole has no foreseeable benefit to humanity. Answer key (scroll down when ready): 1. C 2. B 3. D In Conclusion Inference questions ask you to deduce, speculate, and examine based on evidence directly stated in the text. In order to successfully answer inference questions, you must make sure you understand the question Look for context to help if the lines/words mentioned in the question aren't enough Answer the question in your own words before looking at the SAT’s answer choices Nail down other SAT Reading skills to help you with inference questions Answer questions in an order that makes sense and is not confusing/disorienting Eliminate three wrong answers What’s Next? Did you find this SAT Reading skill-focused article useful? You're in luck - we have a whole series of SAT Reading skills articles! You can find them all collected here in our ultimate guide to SAT Reading, or you can jump to specific articles on main point, little picture, function, vocab in context, author technique, analogy, and paired passage questions Feeling overwhelmed and not sure what the best way to practice SAT Reading is? Find out how to read the passage and how to attack paired passages. Worried about running out of time on SAT Reading? You’re not alone. Read more about how to avoid getting caught in a Reading time crunch here. Do you find that breaking down questions by skill type and drilling them really works for you? Consider the PrepScholar platform to help you with your SAT test prep! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

The Prison-Industrial Complex

The Prison-Industrial Complex Is prison overcrowding a vexing problem or a tempting opportunity? It depends on whether you see the  nearly 2  million Americans locked in prison cells  as  a  tragic  collection of misspent lives or a  vast self-sustaining supply of cheap labor. To be sure, the growing prison-industrial complex, for better or worse, views the inmate population as the latter. Derived from the  Cold War-era  term â€Å"military-industrial complex,† the term â€Å"prison-industrial complex† (PIC) refers to a combination of private-sector and government interests that profit from  increased  spending on prisons, whether it is truly justified or not. Rather than a covert conspiracy, the PIC is criticized as a convergence of self-serving special interest groups that openly encourage new prison construction, while discouraging the advancement of reforms intended to reduce the inmate population. In general, the prison-industrial complex is made up of: Politicians who play on fear by running on â€Å"get tough on crime† platforms.State and federal  lobbyists  who represent prison industries and the companies that profit from cheap prison labor.Depressed rural areas that depend on prisons for their economic survival.Private  companies that view the  $35 billion spent each year on corrections  as creating a lucrative market, rather than imposing a drain on taxpayers. Influenced by prison industry lobbyists, some members of Congress may be persuaded to press for  harsher federal sentencing laws  that will send more non-violent offenders to prison, while opposing prison reform and inmate rights legislation. Prison Inmate Jobs   As the only Americans not protected from slavery and forced labor by the  Thirteenth Amendment  to the U.S. Constitution, prison inmates have historically been required to perform  routine prison maintenance jobs. Today, however, many inmates take part in work programs that make products and provide services for the private sector and government agencies. Typically paid far below the  federal minimum wage, inmates now build furniture, make clothing, operate telemarketing call centers, raise and harvest crops, and produce  uniforms for the U.S. military. For example, the signature line of jeans and t-shirts Prison  Blues  is produced by inmate-workers at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute. Employing more than 14,000 inmates nationwide, one government-managed prison labor agency produces equipment for the U.S. Department of Defense. Wages Paid to Inmate Workers   According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), inmates in prison work programs earn from 95 cents to $4.73 per day. Federal law allows the prisons to deduct up to 80% of their wages for taxes, government programs to assist crime victims, and the costs of incarceration. Prisons also deduct small amounts of money from inmates required to pay child support. In addition, some prisons deduct money for mandatory savings accounts intended to help convicts become re-established in the free community after their release. After deductions, participating inmates netted about $4.1 million of the $10.5 million total wages paid by prison work programs from April to  June  2012, according to the BLS. In privately-run prisons, inmate workers typically make as little as 17 cents per hour for a six-hour day, a total of about $20 per month. As a result, inmate workers in federally-operated prisons find their wages quite generous. Earning an average of $1.25 an hour for an eight-hour day with occasional overtime, federal inmates can net from $200-$300 per month. The Pros and Cons   Proponents of the prison-industrial complex argue that rather than unfairly making the best of a bad situation, prison work programs contribute to the inmates’ rehabilitation by providing job training opportunities. Prison jobs keep inmates busy and out of trouble, and money generated from the sales of prison industries products and services help maintain the prison system, thus easing the burden on taxpayers. Opponents of the prison-industrial complex  contend  that the typically low-skill jobs and minimal training offered by prison work programs simply do not prepare inmates to enter the workforce in the communities to which they will eventually return after their release. In addition, the growing trend toward privately-operated prisons has forced states to pay for the cost of contracts for outsourced incarceration. Money deducted from wages paid to inmates goes to increase the profits of the private prison companies rather than decreasing the cost of incarceration to taxpayers. According to its critics, the effect of the prison-industrial complex can be seen in the stark statistic that while the violent crime rate in the  United States has fallen by about  20% since 1991, the number of inmates in U.S. prisons and jails has grown by 50%. How Businesses View Prison Labor   Private sector businesses that use inmate workers profit from significantly lower labor costs. For example, an Ohio company that supplies parts to Honda pays its prison workers $2 an hour for the same work regular union  auto  workers  are paid $20 to $30 an hour. Konica-Minolta pays its prison workers 50 cents an hour to repair its copiers. In addition, businesses are not required to provide benefits like vacations, health care, and sick leave for inmate workers. Similarly, businesses are free to hire, terminate, and set pay rates for inmate workers without the collective bargaining limitations often imposed by  labor unions. On the downside, small businesses often lose manufacturing contracts to prison industries because they are unable to match the low production costs of a vast pool of low-paid convict workers. Since 2012, several small companies that had historically produced uniforms for the U.S. military have been forced to lay off workers after losing contracts to UNICOR, a government-owned prison labor program. Civil Rights Civil rights groups argue that the practices of the prison-industrial complex  lead to the building, expanding prisons mainly for the purpose of creating employment opportunities utilizing prisoner labor at the expense of the inmates themselves. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) contends that the prison-industrial complex’s drive for profit through privatization of prisons has actually contributed to the continued growth of America’s prison population. In addition, the ACLU argues that the construction of new prisons solely for their profit potential will ultimately  result  in  the often unjust and lengthy imprisonment of  millions  of additional  Americans, with a disproportionately high number of the poor and people of color being jailed.

Introduction to Nokia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Introduction to Nokia - Essay Example â€Å"How an organization uses its collective ability to make sense of and respond to its surroundings. It includes individual learning as employees interact with the external environment or experiment to create new information or knowledge, the integration of new information or knowledge, the relation and collective interpretation of all available information, and action based on the interpretation. Organizational learning is more than the sum of the learning of all employees.† (Nancy Dixon, 1995) Nowadays organizations are in process of rapid changes due to drastic changes in technology. Managers are now more focusing on innovation and creativity of their products and services. For this they also need help of their employees (Metcalfe, 1995). Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Nokia has a strong backing of its unmatched experience, innovative ideas, solution that are more secure than others, user friendly systems. It is right now the leading mobile supplier in the world with the overall market share of 33%. It also holds the award of leading supplier of IP and mobile networks. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.

Southwest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Southwest - Essay Example Evolutionary change is beneficial for both workers and managers. This type of change is slow and will give people time to see how the organization will react. 2) The types of changes that deal with restructuring that this company has undertaken include, changing task and authority relationships, It has also been involved in redesigning the organizational structure and the culture to improve organizational effectiveness. Economic, political and global forces – this tends to affect where the firms produce the goods and services like political instability. For example, political instability has been shown to depress the GDP and foreign investment (Jones 138). As the firm moves it operation elsewhere, it will lead to fewer work opportunities and a continued cycle of instability. Demographic and social factors – organization must adapt to handle substantial knowledge loss and cope with work force issues. For example, 77 million baby boomers are projected to retire in the next 20 years. This means that organizations has to rearrange it work forc.e Ethical issues –the trend in social responsibility can lead changes in how organizations obtain supplies. For example, in 2008 Gap leaned that one if is suppliers was suing forced child labor on one product batch. This led to the entire batch being pulled out of the store and destroyed. At the organizational level, power and conflict can resist change especially when there is too much resistance. Some of the resistance can be beneficial. For example, those workers who form Unions can help the organization to retain knowledge that is helpful in the long run. However, too much resistance can inhibit the change needed. Functional orientation, this makes people to become overspecialized (Jones 140). For example, the HR team can be highly cohesive with the marketing team but may not be cohesive with the sales team. This makes it difficult coordinate changes

Compare the worldview of two societies with contrasting cultures Essay

Compare the worldview of two societies with contrasting cultures - Essay Example (Hollander, P. 1988 p 130) In addition, it will help visitors on Africa to recognize conflicts, which may arise, to accept, and work through difficulties in a positive manner, to identify positive areas of conflict, to accept difficulties they face as natural occurrences, to change to adapt to the African situation and work within the terms and conditions that exist. Finally, is to develop positive appreciation on the reasons of African culture as per the differences. On the other hand, this comparison will help Africans to understand how they can cope with the European cultures. It will also help Africans who want to understand European background. The Africans will also understand why it is hard for the Europeans to fit in to the society in a foreign country and why they act in strange ways. It will also smoothen the tensions which a rise between the Christians of Europeans and African background working together in African setting. In many occasions both sides are not aware why th e difficulties are arising. Differences between African and European Cultures Telephone: Two people communicate by a process. They can be communicating through English, Kiswahili or any other language. For example in USA, children are given basic telephone skills when they are young. Children learn the correct way of answering and calling when they are young before even going to school. Therefore, the Europeans who are in Kenya or the Kenyans who are in European countries should not assume such a background. Cultural assumptions concerning greeting and encounter are complicated by lack of training and experience. Every European must introduce them on the phone even if they are close. This is because of the formal procedure required in their background. However, as per Africans they call or answer and go direct to the point without introduction, which will make communication between Africans and Europeans hard. Permission to leave This is whereby one asks for permission before leavin g to another place or destination from where he/she was before. According to African culture and background, the owner of the house, office, or even compound as whole can leave in his own pleasure without even informing the workers as he/she is the head or is over everyone (Gannon, 2004 p.230). However, in the side of the Europeans one must seek for permission to leave even the father must seek permission from his children before leaving. Therefore, when the Europeans and African are working together they might not understand each other the Europeans will be asking for permission to leave even he /she is the employer. This will leave the Africans wondering. This will be opposite in the side of Africans as they can leave whenever they wish. Missionaries and Modesty In Europe, it was in fashion for women to wear floor length dresses, which had high collars. While in Africa, it was a fashion for women to wear nothing above the waist. This was quite inappropriate as according to the Afr icans they were adhering to their culture while the Europeans were also doing the same. This brought a lot of troubles and misunderstanding as according to Africans especially Zaire they knew that any woman who was covering his body above the waist was prostitute. It was ironical as missionaries were trying to turn good, morally upright, and modest women of the community into prostitutes. Contrasting African and European Cultures