Beware Web Quizzes

Beware Web Quizzes Beware Web Quizzes Beware Web Quizzes By Maeve Maddox Most of us have probably been sucked in by one of the thousands of quizzes that proliferate on the Web as a form of entertainment. My weakness is anything language-related. One that lured me recently has the title â€Å"Can You Pass an 8th Grade Test from 1912?† I should have been suspicious as soon as I saw that the quiz is multiple-choice. In 1912, the multiple-choice test had not yet begun its insidious invasion of the American classroom. Nevertheless, I took the quiz and was brought up short by Question 14: In the sentence ‘John ran over the bridge,’ parse the word ‘bridge.’ Here are the answer options: a) Singular noun, subject of sentence b) Regular verb, active voice, present tense c) Singular noun, object of sentence d) A structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water What, I wondered, is one supposed to do when none of the answers is correct? What do American school children do when presented with a multiple-choice question? Guess, of course. I knew that John is the subject and that ran is the verb. I knew that the fourth choice has nothing to do with parsing, so I clicked on the third choice and was told that I was CORRECT! Here’s the â€Å"explanation† of my â€Å"correct† answer: It is â€Å"Singular noun, object of sentence.† â€Å"Parsing† used to be a common term in schools. In this case, â€Å"bridge† is an [sic] noun, and it is the object on which the action occurs. I tracked down the unaltered 1912 test. This is the source of the â€Å"John ran over the bridge† question: Parse all the words in the following sentence: John ran over the bridge. Not a great many years ago, certainly since 1912, parsing was a common term in my own classroom. I learned the value of teaching grammar via parsing when I taught in a private school in London. Students parse a sentence by identifying each word in it according to its part of speech. Younger children simply name the part of speech. Older children state such things as function, gender, case, etc. For example: John- proper noun, subject of â€Å"ran† ran- verb, third person singular, intransitive over- preposition the- definite article bridge- common noun, object of the preposition â€Å"over.† Web quizzes may be fun, but they can also be a source of misinformation. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101"Latter," not "Ladder"

GARMIN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

GARMIN - Essay Example Sales volume and high levels of customer demand point toward Garmin’s strengths in the GPS marketplace. In 2007, Garmin company announced that 75 cents per share dividends would be included for investors as a reward for the company’s sales performance (Hough, 2008). Garmin has only recently paid dividends after being in business for 20 years, which indicates sizeable growth in sales which can likely be attributed to consumer satisfaction regarding the product. One of the main strengths of a company is its ability to lure investors and use stock equities to boost capital. Garmin’s ability to pay handsome dividends and the company’s commitment to investor relations represent the firm’s largest strengths. Additionally, Garmin has recently signed a six-year agreement with NAVTEQ, the digital map supplier responsible for the majority of Garmin’s electronic GPS routes (Annual Report). NAVTEQ will continue to provide map assistance and upgrades, allowing the company to maintain focus on its brand and remain a leader in effective and accurate GPS technologies. The company’s main weakness is an external issue involving the current economic climate across the United States. Consumer wealth is diminishing and it is relatively common knowledge that customers are scaling back on purchases in order to sustain a quality lifestyle. This change is most noticeable with Garmin’s stock price shift from nearly $100 to $19 in 2008 (Hough). The majority of Garmin’s products are designed for the consumer rather than on a B2B model (business-to-business) which creates a situation in which the company must understand its consumer and create products which will be in high demand in difficult economic climates. Garmin’s main opportunity lies in marketing and its ability to create effective sales and marketing promotions to build brand loyalty. With such a high volume of competition in the GPS market, Garmin

The Impacts of Sequestration on the Department of Defense Research Paper

The Impacts of Sequestration on the Department of Defense - Research Paper Example Reductions of federal funding across the boards, also known as sequestrations have had a considerable impact on the fiscal years prior to, and during 2014. It not only reduced optional operations, but also cut down on the direct spending of the federal budget (Epstein, 2013). This has led to widespread concerns about the Department of Defense’s personnel, reallocation budget, customer’s service and other such details. The federal budget cuts affected the Department of Defense Human Resources Management in several important ways. The former level of readiness, although sustained, has experienced an irrecoverable deficit due to a decade of counterinsurgency operations (Roulo, 2014). According to the Department of Defense website, the current President Budget promises to restore the equilibrium between readiness and planned force structure. The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 encumbers this shift to the mission of Department of Defense. This is due to the fact that the reduced funding levels have decreased not only the number of trained personnel, but also hampered the maintenance of ground vehicle and aviation. Furthermore, the flying hours of Navy and Marine Corps are to be decreased, which would also result in decreasing the levels of their readiness (Estimated Impacts of Sequestration-Level Funding, 2014). Such are the impacts of sequestration that there has been a radical expected drawdown to 450,000 active soldiers, 335,000 in the Army National Guard and 202,000 reservists by the end of 2015 fiscal year. (Roulo,2014) These reductions will further lead to the Department of Defense relying more on National Guard. The Army personnel and readiness are perhaps facing the greatest drawback as almost 70 percent of the total cut-downs are facing in its direction. The Army, for instance cancelled seven combat training sessions and skilled personnel was lost due to frozen salaries (Roulo, 2014). This reiterates the Department of Defense concern about

American History after World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American History after World War II - Essay Example In 1960s, this paper highlights the ways in which the American populations were affected by the Vietnam war despite of fact that the war was not fought on their land. In 1970s, this paper discusses on Nixon's Watergate scandal which was the biggest scandal exposed in the history of America and how it leads to awareness of regulating authorities, mass media and citizens. In 1980s, this paper discusses the economic boom led by the economics of President Reagan and provides brief literature on its effects on American industries and financial system. In 1990s, this paper displays the ways in which the America emerged as a super power in the world after end of cold war and its effect on the foreign policies of America. In 1950s, the impact of the "McCarthy" on American people was uniformly evident in the area of international affairs. (Schrecker, 2002) Antagonism to the "Cold War" had been so methodically acknowledged with socialism that it was no longer feasible to defy the fundamental postulations of American foreign policy devoid of gaining doubts of treachery. The uncertainty raised by "Joseph McCarthy" distressed the State Department for very long tenure, particularly with reference to East Asia. (Schrecker, 2002) "Joseph McCarthy's" association with the unremitting intellectual experience that bearded his name in history of America commenced with a speech on "Lincoln Day, February 9, 1950," to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling by demonstrating an alleged list of identified Communists functioning for the State Department. (Schrecker, 2002) Whilst there were added reasons why television presented a featureless menu of quiz shows and Westerns in late 1950s, apprehensions in the period of McCarthy undoubtedly played a key role. Correspondingly, the blacklist contributed towards the disinclination of the silver screen industry to struggle with contentious social or biased issues. (Fried, 1991) The political inhibition of the McCarthy phase encouraged the growth of the national security state and assisted its growth into the rest of communal society. For the sake of shielding the country from communist penetration, federal agents harassed individual privileges and extended state influence into film studios, academies, work unions and many other seemingly self-regulating institutions. (Fried, 1991) Countless Americans lives and jobs were gone astray owing to McCarthy and his allegations. Hollywood's cream of the crop opposed politician's consent to control their employing practices but subsequent to the "HUAC" hearings the "blacklists" embarked on in Hollywood restricting employers to hire people who were acknowledged as communist in the blacklist. (Fried, 1991) The blacklists stayed in Hollywood while in the Government agencies over 2,000,000 employees were subjected to loyalty investigations no matter what their status was. Businesses akin to "General Electric, General Motors, CBS, the New York Times, New York City Board of Education and the United Auto Workers" (Fried, 1991) were forced to pursue Hollywood's

BOOTS and ALLIANCE in talks over 7.5bn merger Essay

BOOTS and ALLIANCE in talks over 7.5bn merger - Essay Example Companies and Supermarkets now have the liberty to set up in-store pharmacies, which poses a danger to key pharmaceutical players like BOOTS and Alliance. In an analysis published in biotech-info.net- Due to the softening of rules and the law, BOOTS is facing stiff competition from other pharmaceutical retailing majors such as TESCO, which enjoyed and continues to enjoy a place of dominance and monopoly in the market. Tougher competition from the supermarkets has forced Mr. Baker of BOOTS to cut the price of his products in an attempt to prop up the so far lukewarm sales, although this has put some further pressure on the profit and operating margins. As such, both the firms have decided that it is time to join hands in order to compete effectively in the market and also to improve upon their current individual deficiencies. The present deal is expected to give the new firm an industry share of nearly up to 20%. But the present deal has been met with a lot of speculation especially f rom the institutional shareholders who generally regard such nil-premium mergers with skepticism. The companies, intend to seek support for the deal by outlining the capacity of the new merged outfit’s capacity to generate significant cost and purchasing synergies and boost margins. The company ascertains that it would be in a better position to handle the competition faced by it from TESCO. The company also proposes to start smoking and weight-loss clinics and creating beauty parlors in the group’s stores throughout Europe.

Select a health care law topic from the assigned readings. Present an Term Paper

Select a health care law topic from the assigned readings. Present an executive summary of the law in 200 words or less, and dis - Term Paper Example Applicable industry standards, statutes, federal laws and ethical guidelines Ethics and laws imply that physicians inform patients of the limit to which confidentiality protection of disclosure of personal information is allowed. This is because a patient requires privacy which should be respected by the physician. Federal statutes allow physicians to diagnose death which should be made in line with industry standards Statutes or federal laws may also require that a medical case be disclosed in fear of further spread. Applicable Industry Standards, Statutes, Federal Laws, Ethical Guidelines There are many ways of acquiring medical insurance benefits under the Medicare coverage program. The largest number of people are automatically eligible for this coverage at the age of 65 if they are entitled to monthly social security retirement benefits, survivor or transport retirement benefits. These individuals are entitled to Medicare coverage irrespective of whether they are eligible for ot her retirement benefits. Those persons not entitled tom these kinds of benefits will need to file an application for the Medicare coverage.

Risk Management Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Risk Management Strategies - Essay Example As a result, more and more small companies are turning to a strategic approach as the way forward. Therefore, it is conclusive that risk planning has a very high significance in the risk management model, and, as secondary research shows, larger firms have more sustainability because they focus on risk planning and opportunity development. A firm's behavior in planning is also affected by the perception of its environment and size, as well as the nature of its activities, but not on the firm's performance. Although all small businesses have an amount of risk, being a new start-up restaurant and producing customer service goods adds further risk. This creates quite a bit more exposure to risks from mismanagement than in larger firms, where a major risk is that "some change will occur that will leave the enterprise beached high and dry," and "enterprises must expect to change drastically and repeatedly in response to changes in customers' wants and purchasing power, in competitors' products and prices, in available technologies, in law and in social expectations" (Goetz p 25 2001). The overall rationale to management is to answer the circumstances that develop risks. In business, the successful management strategy must be resilient in the face of failure, and develop sophisticated business plans because major chains have created competitor risk by raising the bar with strategic planning, which is a large part of their success according to Kep Sweeney (Garber p 88 2006). Sweeney further states that "The critical points in the deal making phase include identifying a new concept, forming a team, raising money and finding real estateYou can engineer out a tremendous amount of risk-and increase your chance of success-with proper planning." (Garber p 88 2006). Historic Role and Function Kerzner (p 876 1998) first identifies risk planning as "the process of developing and documenting an organized, comprehensive and interactive strategy and methods for identifying and analyzing risk issues, developing risk handling plans, and monitoring how risks have changed," to the small business owner, this means that a step by step analysis of proposed risks and their possible changes is an inherent part of risk management. Secondly, Kerzner (p 878 1998) describes risk assessment as "the process of identifying and analyzing program areas and critical technical process risks to increase the likelihood of meeting cost, performance and schedule objectives," this will assist the risk management model by answering to the critical processes that create risks and the businesses responses in those areas. The risk identification process is also shown by Kerzner (p 880 1998) as "process of examining the program areas and each critical technical process to identify and document the associat ed risk," in risk identification, the internal and external factors are described and levelled according to their significance to the program area. For example, while a flood may be a risk, that is minimal if the business currently has a leaking roof. Risk analysis "is the process of examining each identified risk issue to estimate the likelihood of