Current role of fire and technology in automobiles, and where the Research Paper

Current role of fire and technology in automobiles, and where the technology is heading - Research Paper Example The role of fire in creating light and heat in the combustion of bodies paved the way for utilization of the most innovative invention of all times, the automobile. Continued over reliance to traditional fuel sources ultimately affects the future of automobiles, particularly in ensuring that they run as efficiently as expected. With all the developments in technology, its functionality and aesthetic value, the fact remains that vehicles consume a vast amount of fuel. In this regard, this essay aims to discuss briefly the current role of fire and technology in automobiles, and where the technology is heading. The following concerns would likewise be addressed: (1) what type of alternative fuel will have the most success meeting transportation needs in the nearby future? Why? (2) How would alternative fuel types evolve in later generations?    Due to the susceptibility for car fires, automobile manufacturers have used the latest developments in technology to ensure that passengers are protected and kept ultimately in safe condition while travelling. In addition, technology is heading for the discovery of cost efficient and safe automobiles utilizing alternative fuels to run them. According to Toyoland (n.d., par. 3), â€Å"there are about half a dozen flammable liquids associated with a vehicle. There are an additional number of flammable solids, or â€Å"solid propellants,† that contribute to fire. There are, depending on the vehicle, any number of hoses and pumps that move flammable materials past hot areas of the engine. Any leak in a hose or pump can pour flammable liquids onto the hot engine block or electrical systems- resulting in a fire.† Elliot (2004) averred that â€Å"about 70 percent of our oil consumption is used for transportation†. The United States is identified as the biggest consumer of oil from among all the countries in the world. The EurActiv Network (2007) identified â€Å"three alternative solutions are seen as promising: biofuels, natural

Fast Food Essay Example for Free

Fast Food Essay Fast-Food Feast Case Study Whitney Reichert Grand Canyon University MGT 655 Fast-Food Feast Case Study 1/9/13 Visit at least two different fast-food restaurants that make hamburgers and observe the basic differences in the following processes: How are in store orders taken How are the hamburgers prepared How are special orders handled How are the burgers cooked How are the burgers assembled Is a microwave used How are other items such as fires and drinks handled The two fast-food restaurants that I visited were McDonalds and In-and Out. The main differences that I found between the two restaurants were freshness and customer service. When in comes to in store orders at McDonalds, you wait in line to place your order. It seems to be not as customer service driven. You give them your order, which seems to be informal, and not that personable. You pay and stand off to the side until they call your order. They announce your order is ready by saying your order out loud, for example number 2 with a diet coke, without your name attached. At McDonald’s the hamburgers are prepared from frozen possessed meat, they then they cook the meat on the grill. As far as special orders go you must tell the cashier exactly what you don’t want because the burgers come as they are. The cashier then inputs the data into the computer, which then in turn allows the kitchen to make the arrangements. The employees in the kitchen then prepare the burgers; they utilize somewhat of an assembly line to make sure the right ingredients get put on the right burger. With McDonalds you do not have full visibility of the kitchen staff preparing the food. While at McDonalds I did not see a Microwave used. When it comes to fries, McDonalds has their fries frozen in a large plastic bag they then cook them in oil. With drinks you serve your self. When I went into In and Out it was a little different of an experience, and seemed more personable. The orders here are taken similar to McDonalds, but they take your name and give you a number, you wait off to the side and they then call your name and number aloud. The hamburgers at In and Out are grilled using higher quality meat, without preservatives, and they utilize local beef distributors. When it comes to special orders, it seems every order at In and Out is a special order. They ask you exactly what you want, where’s McDonalds doesn’t ask you exactly what you want, they just assume and you must be the one who asks for changes. The cashier then inputs the data into the computer, which then in turn allows the kitchen to make the arrangements. The burgers are cooked on a grill just like McDonalds. When it comes to the assembly, In and Out also utilize somewhat of an assembly line to add ingredients. In and Out uses fresh ingredients, the kitchen is open and you can see the employees making the food right in front of you. As far as I saw, a microwave was not used. As for fries, they use fresh potatoes with out preservatives, instead of bagged fries. As far as drinks goes at In and Out you also serve yourself. This assignment was quite interesting, I would defiantly choose In and Out over McDonalds. They have fresh ingredients, you can have it your way, and the experience is more personable.

Communication Strategies Used By Vietnamese Students Cultural Studies Essay

Communication Strategies Used By Vietnamese Students Cultural Studies Essay In Vietnam, English is now the most popular foreign language and anyone who would like to integrate themslves into the global society and access the worlds knowlege to be sucessful in life is aware that English competence is one the most important characteristics they need to have. English is seen every where in education, business, entertainment and cultural exchanges. Therefore, English is becoming the main communication language in the country. In light of sociolinguistics development, linguistic researchers have been paying more and more attention to the importance of communication in its social context. The social factors in communication competence have been recognized and studied. These have impacted strongly on teaching and learning the language. English learning is changing basically and positively. Learners of English do not learn English for the sake of learning itself by treating grammatical knowledge primarily and separately but in the belief that it is more important to communicate effectively in the language by sending and receiving messages, creating meaning and negotiating meaning. These lead to the tendency toward which communication competence has recently been enjoying learners great popularity. However, the effectiveness of communication in the target language is still both learners and teachers deepest concern since learners who have already spent significant periods of time on learning the language to co mmunicate as the main goal of their learning but then most of them encounter too many difficulties in communicating in the language. The learning context In Petrovietnam Manpower Training College, where I am working as a teacher of English, students, the subjects of the research, are engineers and graduates who are recruited to work in Petrovietnams projects and plants taking a special training course. They have graduated university with nearly equivalent English language education but have different English proficiency and like almost Vietnamese students, they have been trying to learn English in purpose of communication but find difficult to communicate in the language. At the college, English is taught as one of the main subjects to equip the students with the language that they would need to perform their job. English speaking is attached special importance to and students are expected to be good at communication in all circumstances after finishing the course. To serve these purposes, communicative language teaching Approach (CLT) is applied in teaching these students so that they can particularly improve their communicative skil ls. The rationales and purpose of the research. Communication is interactive. So in pre-intermediate speaking class, students are usually given topics to discuss in groups with the assistant of their teacher before presenting their ideas to the class. These activities aim to get students involved in interpersonal communication or interaction to compensate their lack of practice in the EFL environment. These tasks require the students big effort in trying to understand the others and getting themselves understood using any means at their learning stage. According to my observation, in most situations, students at this level of English proficiency appear to struggle with expressing their thoughts because of their deficiency in linguistic proficiency, general knowledge of the given topics or confidence in using the language. Some of them exert themselves to the utmost to reach their communicative goals by unconsciously or consciously using different strategies to solve their particular communication problems and relatively confident in completing the given task meanwhile the others just keep silent because they do not know what to do to deal with the problems they have during the conversation and they fail to keep most of the conversations going on as they want to. So the purpose of this study is to identify the common communication strategies used by the students to enhance efficiency of communication when they deal with the task of group discussion and the communication strategy use of students of different English proficiency. The research questions. The study is conducted to find out the answers to the following questions: What types of communication strategies are used by Vietnamese students in English speaking class to compensate for their breakdowns in communication and to enhance communicative effectiveness in small group discussion? Do students of different English proficiency employ communication strategies differently? Definitions of key terms. The term communication strategies is simply understand as methods or techniques that language users use to help themselves overcome problems occuring during communication to achieve communicative competence LITERATURE REVIEW Communicative competence The main goal of any language learners is to achieve communicative competence to get the best communication proficiency. According to Canale and Swain (1980), to attain communicative competence, learners need to gain the following perfect knowledge: Grammatical competence which is related to the language knowledge (words and grammar rules) itself. Sociolinguistic competence which is concerned to the ability to use and to interpret the utterances appropriately in different sociolinguistic communication situations. Discourse competence is the ability to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text Strategic competence is the ability of using verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual communication or to insufficient competence in one or more of the other areas of communicative competence and to enhance the effectiveness of communication Among the four components that make up communicative competence, strategic competence is likely relating to EFL learners most because of the problems they commonly run into in communication and the communication strategies they usually employ to solve the problems. These strategies are considered extremely important in negotiating meaning where either linguistic structures or sociolinguistic rules are not shared between a second language learner and a speaker of the target language (OMalley Chamot, 1990, p.43). Canale Swain (1980) once confirm that good strategic competence can help leanres with limiting L2 skills evade communication breakdowns. Communication strategies Many researchers have conducted research or studies on communication strategies so far. Consequently, each of them in their own view states different definitions and classifications of communication strategies. Definitions of communication strategies What happens if interlocutors do not understand each other because of their limited language resources? Can they keep their conversation going on when they can not make themselves understood? Cohen (1990, p.56) believes that a major trait of successful speakers is that they use strategies to keep the conversation going on. They use communication strategies. Tarone (1980, p. 419) describes communication strategy as a mutual attempt of two interlocutors to agree on meaning in situations where requisite meaning structures are not shared. Communication strategies, to Tarones interactional view, are socially-motivated strategies which are used by more than one interlocutors to solve the problems of mutual lack of understanding by negotiating meanings. A communication strategy is simply defined by Corder (1977 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) as a systematic technique employed by a speaker to express his meaning when faced with some difficulty. According to Faerch and Kasper (1983 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) communication strategies are potentially conscious plans for solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in reaching a particular communicative goal. More relating to forms of discourse, communication strategies in this definition are psychologically-motivated strategies which are related to mental plans of each interlocutor implemented in response to the problems of expression. Different authors define communication strategies differently. However , most of the definitions show the purpose of communication strategies which is to deal with the problems that the language users face up to when communicating by employing appropriate techniques. Classifications of Communication strategies. In the research on communication strategies, Dornyei, Faerch and Kasper and Tarone introduced their own classifications of communication strategies and their classifications. Dornyei (1995 as cited in Brown, 2000) shows two branches of strategies: negative and positive. Avoidence strategies (negative): topic avoidance and message abandonment Compensatory strategies (positive): circumlocution, approximation,use of all purpose words, word coinage, prefabricated patterns, non-linguistic signal, literal translation, foreignizing, code switch, appeal for help, stalling or time-gaining strategies. Faerch and Kasper (1983) classify communication strategies in to two main categories with their subcategories: Avoidance behavior reduction strategies: Formal reduction: phonological, morphological  , syntactic and lexical. Function reduction: reduction of speech art modality, reduction of propositional context Achievement behavior compensatory strategies. Code switching Interlingual transfer: generalization, paraphrasing, word coinage, restructuring. Cooperative strategies Non-linguistic strategies However, Tarones typology of conscious communication strategies (1977 as cited in Bialystok, 1990) seems to be simpler. Tarone classifies communication strategies into the following categories: Avoidance: topic avoidance and message abandonment Paraphrase: approximation, word coinage, circumlocution. Conscious transfer: literal translation, language switch Appeal for assistance Mime: Prior research found that all language users used communication strategies consciously or unconsciously. Bialystok observes that communication strategies should be classified according to different cognitive processes and should be seen as a process of language use. I agrees with her at this point because of the fact that as language users, we all know that communication breakdowns may occur with anyone at any time during a conversation and when these problems happen, we all try some ways to get out of the trouble by using some techniques called communication strategies. Besides, Bialystok insists that communicative strategies are used by language user in both L1 and L2, in this view, communicative strategies only reflect the way in which the language processing system extends and adapts to the demands of communication (Lee, 2004). In fact, the communication strategy use occurs during communicating consciously or unconsciously. However, learning and using a language are activities related to cognitive processes so when language learners use the language and the breakdowns come, they are aware of what situation they are in and consciously think of an escape by employing different negative or positive strategies solve the problems like avoiding talking about the topic or concept that they do not know much, leaving the utterance unfinished, using many words to describe , creating new word or switch to their mother tongue when they cannot find the right words to use and et ceteras. So, what exactly do learners do in each communication strategy? In this paper, I would like to focus on the simpler classification, Tarones typology of conscious communication strategies but in comparison with the other two of Dornyei and Faerch and Kasper . Avoidance strategies Both Dornyei and Tarone define avoidance strategies in the same way by mainly referring to two substrategies: Message abandonment strategy which is used by learners when they encounters language difficulties. To deal with these unpleasant situations, learners tend to leave their utterance unfinished. Topic avoidance is another strategy learners use when they lack of or forget necessary linguistic knowledge to express their thoughts on the topic. Their language difficulties may related to vocabulary or grammar rules that they do not know or remember. To overcome them, learners keep way from talking about the topic. In my experience of teaching, students of very low proficiency usually use these strategies because of their serious deficiency for the target language instead of using the strategies called compensatory strategies in Dornyeis or Faerch and Kaspers classifications or paraphrase and conscious transfer strategies as Tarone mentions in her typology of conscious communication strategies. Paraphrase Including circumlocution, word coinage and approximation which Faerch and Kasper suggest can promote learning as well Circumlocution strategy Bialystok argues that circumlocution strategy in fact is paraphrasing strategy. In terms of linguistic, the conception of the two strategies are very similar. Both strategies help learners make good use of simpler language or structures they have at their learning stage to convey their thoughts that need more complicated vocabulary and grammar rules to express. Dornyei states that circumlocution is the strategy used by learners when they want to describe something that cannot find the exact word or phrase to use by paraphrasing it. Doing so, they use more words to describe a word in the hope that the listeners can get what they mean by themselves. Approximation strategy Dornyei and Taroneideas meet each other when they name the strategy approximation which Tiono and Sylvia (2004) found to be used the most by students with low communication apprehension and high proficiency in speaking class in Petra Christian University in Surabaya, Indonesia to compensate their failure in retrieving the lexical items they have learned or their deficiency in vocabulary when they are asked to retell a pictorial stories. In the strategy, learners appear to be confident and willing to make mistakes by using an alternative or similar lexical term which they know that is not correct to illustrate the meaning of another word or phrase they aim to refer to. By doing this learners try to make themselves understood by using their limiting vocabulary. Word coinage is another compensatory strategy that learners use when they lack of vocabulary. In this strategy they make up a target language word which is based on the morphological rules that they know well. For example: they know well that worker is a person who works so they create cooker (a person who cooks) from the verb cook. Conscious transfer strategies Literal translation strategy is usually used when the language users share their first language or background. Learners translate a word or an idiom or even a structure from their first language into that of the target language. In my learning context, learners use literal translation mostly when they have difficulties with finding correct collocations for a word. In this case they tend to translate word for word from another language. For example: deep coffee ( which is not stated in dictionary) for strong coffee. However, relating to translating a structure from learners first language, Faerch and Kasper name the strategy Restructuring in which learners reformulate the syntax of their utterance. Language switch strategy or code switch or code switching by Dornyei or Faerch and Kasper In this strategy, learners use lexical terms or sentences from their first language when they cannot find the appropriate ones in the target language to express their thoughts (They insert some words or phrases from their first language). The strategy is also often employed by first language or background shared learners. This strategies may be expected to use the most by the subjects of this study for all of them are Vietnamese and in reality, it is also easy to see this in any of the English class in Vietnam. Appeal for assistance Explicit request is the strategy where learners ask for help from the other people like more advanced learners or teacher by saying How do you sayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.? or What is this calledà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.?. Referring to dictionary strategy is made use by learners when they need the correct words or structures Mine or Non-verbal communicative strategy also what Dornyei calls non-linguistic signal or Non-linguistic strategy by Faerch and Kasper. In this strategy, learners use non-verbal language like gestures, facial expression or even imitating sounds to express meanings. Mine and message abandonment seem to be coi in Faerch and Kasper in terms of learning. They think that these two strategies cannot help learners with their learning. But as a teacher I share Tarones opinion that in some extent, by using these two strategies, the speaker can get help from the listener to find the appropriate or correct word or structure to express what he or she wants to say. In both teaching and learning context, mine and message abandonment can be positive signals from the learners to interact with their teacher so that they can be taught event while communicating. The review of related studies Many studies and research have been done so far on communication strategies and their findings showed that almost every strategy were used by learners. However what strategies employed were contingent a lot on the task given because different problems would arise depending on different types of task, one -way task or two- way one (Mei Nathalang, 2010). So that the task requires learners different effort and strategies to solve the problems. It is easy to understand this because less interactive activities exist in one -way task like story telling while two- way task like role playing or discussing includes mostly interaction. To deal with one-way task, learners tend to use paraphrase, restructuring and message abandonment since these strategies helps them to make clear the meanings as they try to ensure the listeners comprehension. Whereas to deal with interactive task like doing role play or discussing, learners need to make special effort to negotiate to get communication goals so they cannot simply employ avoidance strategies if they still want their conversation to continue and reach a mutual agreement on what they exactly mean. This agrees with the finding of Dobao Martinezs study of Negotiating Meaning in Interaction between English and Spanish Speakers via Communicative Strategies. The finding revealed that in interaction, when linguistic problems arose, intermediate or advanced EFL learners and their interlocut ors (who were English native speakers or other EFL learners of their level) worked together to find solution by coordinating their use of CS, negotiating meanings to reach a mutual agreement on the learners originally intended meaning. Prior research also showed that the numbers of strategies used by learners were not influenced by their target language proficiency (Ting Phan, 2008). However, concerning to only the numbers of strategies used by learners is not enough in terms of language teaching and learning. Fortunately, the result found in Kwoks study of communication strategies used by Hong kong students in small group discussion (1987) revealed that students were able to make good use of different communication strategies in discussion to make their communication more effective. Moreover, the result also showed that the more the students mastered the communication strategies, the much better they could do in small group discussion. Althought Bialystok believes that we should teach learners language rather than strategy but as a teacher I do argue in favour of implication about teaching strategies to learners from studies of Manchà ³n (1999) and Faucette (2001). In my learning context, the class with both high and low proficiency learners is common. So it is not difficult to recognize types of strategies that different learners use when the language problems arise and the effectiveness of strategy use that the learners achieve in communication thought what is seen in the learning context can be subjectively observed and assessed. So, the study is hopefully an opportunity to confirm the phenomenon through its findings. SHORT CONCLUSION The fact is that learners can frequently run into communication difficulties because of varied reasons related to language problems and all of them find some ways to escape from the trouble they got in. Those ways are called communication strategies. Looking back at the studies and research that have been done on communication strategies so far, some significant pedagogic implication have been recognized. That is communication strategy use can promote learners communicative competence or the confirmation that employing appropriate strategies can enhance communication effectiveness and communication strategy use is teachable. So, what types of communication strategies that can help learners increase communication efficacy should be considered mainly in this paper in the hope that more useful pedagogic implication closely involved English teaching will be found as reference for language teachers to deal better with their job as well as to help their students improve their learning.

Different Sides of Embryonic Stem Cell Research :: Stem Cell Biology

The field of stem cell research remains highly controversial because of its ethical and moral values. â€Å"Despite the news in 2006 that researchers had found a way to harvest human embryonic stem cells without having to destroy embryos, controversy still surrounds potentially life-saving stem cell research.† (Gruen, 2007). Due to the strong emotional responses to some of the subject matter by the pro-lifers and certain religions and politics in general, I will attempt to explain different sides of embryonic stem cell research (ESC). This study describes what viable embryos are and the issues connected with them. Are stem cells viable embryos? Can they ever be a human being? Stem cells are no more than a precursor for some type of cell. They are not tiny embryos nor can they ever become embryos. Are human embryonic stem cells embryos? Although stem cells of themselves are not embryos, they are pluripotent; they can develop into any cell or tissue of the body. They are not ca pable of forming a new individual, as a fertilized egg or single cell taken from a four-cell embryo might if cultured in vitro and placed in a uterus. Stem cell research has become a subject of political discussion in recent years because of its social and ethical implications, but what is the big controversy with stem cell research? Most diseases are caused by the death of healthy cells in a particular organ. Parkinson’s disease is caused by the death of brain cells that produce a chemical call dopamine and diabetes is caused by the death of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. None of these organs can replace the cells that die. With stem cell therapy, these cells can be replaced. Researchers and scientists study stem cells to get a basic understanding of the process in cell development and disease. â€Å"The opposition of research on human embryos usually start and finish their argument with the claim that the human embryo is, from the moment of conception,a living , innocent human being. But the morality of using a being for research should depend on what the being is like, not on the species to which it belongs.† (Singer, 2001) This being of 64 cells has no brain and has never been conscious and can feel no pain. Take for instance researchers who do research on rats, the rats are not capable of preferring not to be in situations that are painful and frightening to them.

Site visit report

Visiting theatre is always exciting and interesting. It gives a lot of new information and new expressions. In order to be organized well enough any cultural site must be created as well-developed, complex structure with its each branch accomplishing its own functions.The Royal Court Theatre is one of the most famous theatres all over the world. The newest high quality performances take place in this theatre. These plays are always interesting and exciting and always refer to the eternal problems of humanity.This theatre is famous by its actual works using the works of writers not only from UK but from all over the world. â€Å"Nee York Times† referred this theatre as â€Å"the most important theatre in Europe†.   But it would be helpful not to forget that besides being the place of art it is also a public place. So, what Royal Court Theatre is and what its facilities are?First of all it is necessary to pay special attention to the Web-site of the Royal Court Theatre. It’s a great web-place which differs from thousands of other cultural places’ web-pages by its original design and convenient guide system.   Would like to distinguish such sub-page of this site as â€Å"Visiting†. Very useful and in-time information is given there. The complete theatre address is given. The potential visitor can get here the detailed information regarding how to get to the theatre. The authorities have taken into consideration all the particularities and details.For example, such announcement as (Royal Court Theatre web-site, 2006): â€Å"Please note that the station itself is not accessible for wheelchair users† (n. p.) – it testifies the high level of the theatre services. The detailed information about parking all around theatre’s territory is given. For example it is submitted that the theatre has no car park but the information about the nearest parking is given. It is said that â€Å"there is on street parking aft er 6.30pm.† Each can also get the most convenient route how to get to the theatre. All the bus and subway routes are presented by the web-site.The history of the theatre in its not too long but very interesting version is also present on the web-site. From this information one can understand easily the very concept of the theatre performances and then to choose a play for visiting (their announcement is given on the main page).The other interesting thing: â€Å"Bar† – a special sub-page in which the visitor can get known about the eating facilities of the theatre(Royal Court Theatre web-site, 2006): â€Å"The Royal Court's BAR AND FOOD facilities occupy the nineteenth century auditorium ‘pit', the original vaults under the pavement and a completely new spacious hall built underneath Sloane Square† (n. p.). The schedule of coffee intervals is given. In the very bottom of the page it is pointed out: â€Å"Service is not included†. So, a visitor gets full information till the visiting theatre- that’s a very strong point in favour of the theatre.Special page for students is also created on this web-site with full description of full students events and so on. At first glance, the design and structure if the web-site is very simple but each sub-page contains other pages with very detailed information on each of them. For example, students’ page has such sub-pages as â€Å"Student events†, â€Å"Join hype†, â€Å"Bar and food†.It can be said that the Royal Court Theatre is a bright example of a well developed cultural structure. In order to analyze its functions efficiently it will be helpful to do that step by step. First among those is the advertising of the place. Once we got out from the bus in London we already saw a rather big billboard with the Royal Court Theatre advertising. So, from the very beginning of our visit to London we already knew that such theatre can be visited by us in t his city. That’s a very big point in favor of this establishment.While traveling all over the city other advertisings of the theatre have been noted by us as well. And in Sloane Square the booklets with the theatre’s advertising were distributed. In those leaflets the short information about theatre’s history and actual exhibitions was submitted. All these additional means of advertising were arranged professionally. Besides, there always exists some other kind of advertising – it is so called verbal advertising –from the parts pf people who have already visited the theatre. In other cultural sites which we visited in London many people gave us good calls on the Royal Court Theatre.So, if to estimate the advertising activities of the theatre by the scale of 10, it can be estimated as 10 points and that’s completely justified.The second point to be estimated is the visitor management. This activities start to be estimated when a visitor is in the theatre already. The staff of the theatre is composed by professional people and that can be noted as soon as one gets inside.   Both external and internal design of the theatre can compete with the most beautiful theatres of the world. When getting inside a beautiful hall arranged in somewhat old fashion with high walls and spacious upper side involves visitors into the atmosphere of theatre mystic.Marvellous French windows enhance even more beauty to the theatre premise.   Special premises for coffee brakes, toilets are situated in such manner that they do not distract visitors’ attention from the principle theatre attributes.Regarding the interpretation of the performances it can said that the author’s presentation never can be correct for all visitors as each of them has his own opinion. Nevertheless, the performance of the two plays I was present on impressed me and I was agree with the author’s vision. What’s more, I even have changed my se eing of certain problems after seeing plays. This fact testifies the high professional level of the theatre plays.

Every AP Human Geography Practice Test Available

Every AP Human Geography Practice Test Available SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Practice tests are the best way to get acclimated to the timing and question formats that you'll encounter on the AP Human Geography exam. They'll also help you figure out where you need to put in additional study time to improve your scores. In this article, I'll link to all the practice tests available for AP Human Geography, including full official tests, full unofficial tests, and mini unofficial quizzes that test specific parts of the curriculum. Official AP Human Geography Practice Tests Official practice tests are the best materials to use in preparation for any standardized test, including AP Human Geography. You can be confident that the difficulty level of the questions is on par with what you'll see on the real test, which means you'll be able to estimate your score pretty accurately. This is in contrast to many unofficial practice materials, which can be hit or miss regarding their predictive value for the real test. Practice tests that weren't created by the College Board may have questions that are phrased and formatted differently or are either too easy or too challenging. Many past free-response questions for this exam are posted on the College Board site, and the course description has a set of sample multiple-choice questions.If nothing else, you can refer to them as benchmarks to make comparisons with the unofficial tests you take.They should give you a better idea of how difficult unofficial test questions are relative to those you'll see on the real exam. Unfortunately, there is only one official released AP Human Geography exam that I can link to in this article. However, that’s not to say other more shady individuals haven’t violated these terms and posted sample tests. Google is your friend (wink wink). Without further ado, here are the three resources I could find for official AP Human Geography questions: College Board AP Human Geography Exam Practice Luckily, the College Board exam practice has lots of great tools and materials for you! Not only can you look at sample questions, you can also: Practice free response questions See the scoring guidelines Read past student responses to exam questions Get College Board approved study tips While this site doesn't offer a full examination, there's still plenty of free material to help you prepare for your test. AP Human Geography Course Description 2015 The latest course description includes 23 sample multiple-choice questions and six sample free-response questions. Free-response answer guidelines are not included, but multiple-choice solutions are. Authenti City is a great place. The people are so honest, and their practice tests are the best you can get anywhere. Wouldn't recommend it as a vacation destination, though. You will not be able to escape from reality. Unofficial AP Human Geography Practice Tests There are many more unofficial AP Human Geography practice tests and quizzes available to you in various forms. These materials are useful, but you should avoid taking them completely at face value. I’ll list full practice test resources first, and then I’ll get into sites that provide short quizzes on specific topics. 5 Full Practice Tests #1: Barron’s Free Online Practice Exam This is a full practice exam in the same format as the real AP test (multiple choice, free response, the whole package). You can choose to take it in practice mode or timed mode depending on which stage you're at in your studying. I’d recommend saving this practice test for when you get closer to the AP exam. It’s good for simulating real test conditions when you feel relatively prepared and want to assess your score level. (Note: Barron's also has a test preparation guide for the AP Human Geography exam, too!) #2: REA Full Practice Exam 1 This is also a full practice exam in the same format as the real test. It has answer explanations, and I think the questions are solid replicas of what you’ll see on the AP exam. #3: Full Practice Exam from an AP Teacher Once again, this exam is in the same format as the real test. It includes both free-response and multiple-choice questions, and you'll find answer explanations at the end of the document. #4: Varsity Tutors Diagnostic Tests This site offers four diagnostic tests for AP Human Geography with 75 questions each (multiple-choice only). The tests have automatic scoring, and each one is given a preliminary difficulty level rating. Varsity Tutors also has tons of mini practice quizzes listed by concept if you want to practice topic-specific questions, as well as flashcards that will help you learn all the terminology for this course. #5: Review Books Don’t forget about the practice tests that are available to you in AP Human Geography review books. Most review books offer at least two full practice tests. Read my article on the best review books for this class to get a sense of which ones fit your studying needs. Short Quizzes on Specific Concepts and Geographic Regions Albert.IO Practice Questions Albert.IO has questions on every topic covered by the course that are categorized by difficulty level. The site keeps a running tally of how many questions you’ve answered correctly in the easy, medium, and hard categories. 4Tests.com This site offers a 50 question practice examination that you can take for free. I'd use this as a checkpoint examonce you get about halfway through studying, taking this test would be a good way to gauge your progress. SoftSchools Practice Quizzes SoftSchools has a series of 10-question practice quizzes on each topic. They're good for brief review sessions! ProProfs Quiz Maker This short, 23 question quiz is user-generated, so we don't recommend using it as a metric for measuring your progress. But the ratings are good, so it's probably a safe way for exposing yourself to some new material. Chapter Quizzes for Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities (th Edition) Select a chapter on the left navigation bar, and you can scroll down to find a link to its corresponding multiple-choice quiz. These quizzes are helpful for review even if your class isn’t using this particular textbook. Sheppard Software Geography Practice You'll earn points for citing specific examples in your free-response answer, and many multiple-choice questions ask about particular areas of the world. This site provides fun exercises that will help you learn exactly where everything is. You can progress through tutorial, beginner and advanced levels in activities that test your knowledge of the political and geographic divisions that exist within each continent. Study.com Human Geography Prep Quiz Study.com is known for hiring experts in their fields, so it's a pretty reliable source. Luckily, they also offer a quick exam prep for the AP test! What's nice about this one is that it has a timer build into the webpage, so you'll be able to pace yourself as you move through the quiz. More of us need to take these geography quizzes so people stop coming out with depressing surveys concluding that 75 percent of Americans think Australia is in Europe. I made up that statistic, but it might as well be real. How to Use AP Human Geography Practice Tests Here's an overview of how you can use these practice tests for review at different stages in the school year as you get closer and closer to the AP test. First Semester: Practice Tests as Review for In-Class Assessments During your first semester, you won’t have gotten through enough of the curriculum to take full practice tests yet. What you can do is take shorter quizzes that are specific to the topics you’ve learned already. Make use of sites like Albert.IO, Varsity Tutors, and many of the other unofficial listings that divide questions by subject. You can also practice writing answers to free-response questions that pertain to the topics your class has already covered. Second Semester: Preparing for the AP Test When you're midway through your second semester, you can start preparing for the AP test more directly. Take a full practice test and score it so you can get a better sense of your knowledge and abilities. You can use one of the three full practice tests listed in the unofficial test section for this step. I’d recommend saving the College Board practice materials until last so you can get the most accurate score predictions when you’re closest to the test. After you take the test, revisit all the questions where you made mistakes, and make note of their content. This will guide you in deciding which areas you need to study more and which you've already mastered. Once you've spent a couple of hours reviewing, take another practice test to reassess your score level. If you see some improvement, you can either repeat the process and aim higher or decide you’re satisfied with your current score level. If not, you should think about what went wrong in reviewing your mistakes. Did you only look them over haphazardly? Were you in a distracting environment? Change your approach if you’re not getting the results you want! Wait, What If Your Class Is Only One Semester? At some schools, AP Human Geography is only a semester-long class. If that's the case for you, much of the same preparation advice still applies, but it will take place on a slightly different timeline. If you take the class first semester, you'll have a significant chunk of time between the end of the course and the actual AP test. This can be a big advantage if you use your time wisely and avoid procrastinating (which you'll have to watch out for if you're very busy with your second-semester classes). You'll be able to start the second semester study process outlined above as soon as you finish the class. There will be plenty of time to take practice tests after your class has covered all the material, so it will be easier to get an accurate reading on your score level before the AP test. If you take this class second semester, the review process should be essentially the same as if it were a year-long class. The first-semester advice will apply to the first half of your second semester, and the second-semester advice will apply to the second half. You can afford to progress at a more leisurely pace in your studying if you take the class first semester because you have a few months that you can devote to preparing for the AP test. Conclusion Official practice testing materials for AP Human Geography are somewhat scarce. You should wait to use the one full official practice test until you're closer to the AP exam and are looking for highly accurate score predictions. You can use unofficial practice tests and quizzes at any time throughout the year to practice topic-specific questions for in-class assessments and prepare for the AP test as a whole. Be sure to reflect carefully on your answers to every practice test so you can assess where you went wrong and revisit relevant content. Practice tests should play a key role in your review for any AP test. If you treat them seriously and pay attention to what they tell you about your level of preparation, you're bound to do well on the exam! What's Next? Are you an intrepid AP pioneer navigating the treacherous waters of this course solo? Read our comprehensive seven-step guide to self-studying for AP tests! It's important to know when all your AP tests are happening this year so you can prepare appropriately. Check out the AP test dates for this year along with some tips for making it through the exam period with your sanity intact. If you're applying to very competitive colleges, you might be thinking about preparing for SAT Subject Tests in addition to AP tests. Find out how APs and SAT IIs differ from one another and which scores will make more of an impact on your admissions chances. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The 10 Trickiest Interview Questions and How To Field Them

The 10 Trickiest Interview Questions and How To Field Them Don’t get so stressed out about the interview that you forget to relax and show yourself in the best possible light. Look over this list of interview questions and be prepared for them. Then charge into your interview devoid of fear. Your biggest weaknessYou want to frame this one in a positive light, but you also want to make sure it doesn’t look like you’re too blasà © to admit your mistakes or failures. Find one weakness that isn’t too drastic, but isn’t a toss-off either, and then explain how you’re working constructively to make sure you’re a better employee because of recognizing it and moving past it.Former bad experiencesThey want to know how you dealt with a tough situation in the past. Don’t talk about getting yelled at by your boss, or suspended, or nearly fired. But do mention something that was a real stumbling block, and how you turned it into a positive by treating it as a valuable lesson, and learning from it.Em ployment gapsWhen the interviewer asks why you’ve been unemployed so long, the way you respond depends a little on the reason. If it’s personal and negative, be as vague as possible and focus on your bright future. If it’s for something professional, try emphasizing what you’ve accomplished in that time that makes you an infinitely more valuable employee.Corporate complaintsIf this is a corporate job and they want to know what you dislike most about that kind of environment, don’t sink to the occasion. Be sure to emphasize that you don’t find anything at all unsavory about the corporate world, but speak about one instance in which a particular corporation didn’t handle a matter the best way possible, and what you learned from it that you could apply to this new job, to make this corporation stronger.Your screw-upsYou’ll never be able to sell an interviewer on the idea that you never once screwed up on the job. So don’t e ven try. Instead, admit to a mistake you made and what it taught you. Emphasize, of course, how you will never make the same mistake again.How you break bad newsThey’re looking for leadership qualities, and how you handle stressful situations and emotions. Show off your conflict resolution skills and diplomatic finesse.The job you really wantIf they ask if you’d be after their job one day, don’t be honest. Explain that you’re more than content with the job that’s currently on offer, and try to laugh it off.Your record of changing jobsDo everything you can to convince them you’re here to stay. That’s all they want to hear with questions about shifting from position to position. Emphasize how settled you are on exactly this position being exactly where you need to be now. And then throw in some details about how your varied experience will only make you more valuable to the company.Your last jobWhatever you do, don’t bad mouth yo ur past job or your former boss. Explain that you’re looking for bigger challenges and more rewarding work, and assure them that you’ve left no burning bridges in your wake.Being firedIf you were fired from your last job, they’ll want to know why. Make it clear that you won’t be a liability, and never badmouth the company to make yourself look better.Do your best to showcase your professionalism and grace under fire- no matter what the question- and you’ll do just fine.