The Culture of Fear and Its Effects on Society free essay sample

The Culture of Fear and its Effects on Society Min Kim Fear and the marketing of paranoia and uncertainty have become daily staples in today’s culture. Every day there arise new threats to national security manufactured by politicians and fuelled by the public’s demand to be protected from these imaginary bogeymen. With the vast increases in technology our society has experienced in the past forty years the news media have become an especially effective orator of impending doom, the daily exposes about the â€Å"silent killer† that lurks in your kitchen cabinet; bombard our society daily with dozens of urgent reminders of the real and imagined dangers that lurk in and outside our homes. The consumption of fear has become a diet our society will soon choke on if something isn’t done to introduce common sense back into our collective psyches. History has shown that living in a culture dominated by fear and ignorance can have catastrophic consequences if it is leveraged by the right people, the Holocaust and World War II was only allowed to occur due to Hitler exploiting the fears of everyday Germans that their country was slowly being dismantled from within by the Jews and without by the international community. We will write a custom essay sample on The Culture of Fear and Its Effects on Society or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Paul McCarthy and his manufactured Red Scare would never have gained enough traction to destroy the lives and reputations of countless people without a society frightened enough to allow him free reign in the name of national security, the passing of the Patriot Act, Gun Control Act of 1968 and even Executive Order 9066 which paved the way for Japanese American internment during World War II were all the products of media hysteria and public ignorance and each one subsequently led to further legislation being enacted that somehow reigned in the rights of the people. Little by little the society we live in has gone from one that lived in relative ignorant bliss to a â€Å"risk society†, which is described by Ericsson and Haggerty as â€Å"A society organized around communication oriented to policing, control and prevention of risks. † (Policing the Risk Society, 1997). An increase in the public’s perception of danger invariably increases the power governing bodies have in further regulating and controlling a population. In conjunction with the media, fear mongering is quickly warping our society into one that only harbors fear and paranoia towards each other (Perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour: Findings from the 2008/09 British Crime Survey). As instances of violent crime decline the media has ramped up reporting instances of violent or disturbing crimes, according to a recent Gallup poll they approximated that about half of Americans are now more concerned about crime since 2004 (Perceptions of Crime Problem Remain Curiously Negative, 2007) even though crime has been shown to be in decline since 1993(Reflections on the Crime Decline? Lessons for the Future? , 2002) during this time media reporting on crime nearly quadrupled (Do You Believe What Newspeople Tell you? Arlington, VA: Newseum and The Roper Group 1997). The hysteria in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings and Michael Moore’s exploitative documentary there was an uproar across the entire nation about the prevalence of easily accessible firearms, the effects of violent entertainment on youth and security in schools. The response to these fear fuelled flames was to enact draconian zero tolerance policies in public schools across the country that have forced teachers and administrators to suspend or even expel students outright when before they were allowed greater discretion instead of indiscriminately punishing students for seemingly minor infractions (American Psychologist, 2008), the transformation of schools to institutions that are run more like prisons than places of learning and has sparked renewed movements by lobbyists to further restrict the purchase of firearms and violent video games. Time and time again history has shown that culturally and possibly on an even deeper level Americans are prone to knee jerk reactions to fear that are seldom rational or effective. This media saturation of violent crime stories and their strict adherence the age old adage of â€Å"If it bleeds, it leads† has led to greater social paranoia of the people around us in our communities and neighborhoods and has weakened the cohesion many societies had as a result of being able to openly and comfortably communicate with one another.

ABORTIONS essays

ABORTIONS essays What would you do if you were a 15 year old girl who got pregnant? Would you keep the baby or would you have an abortion? These are all questions that go through most girls minds, pregnant or not. Abortion is killing a human, even though it isn't born, and it should be illegal in the United States. Even though it is a fetus, it is still living. It has every right to live. People say that just because it isn't born it doesn't matter, when really it does. The fetus is still alive and growing. If you kill it, then you sex willingly then you know you have a chance of getting pregnant. There is no way of preventing pregnancy 100%. The only way is to hold off on sex. So if you are scared of getting pregnant and not wanting the baby then don't have sex. You have a responsibility. If you take the responsibility of having sex and you get pregnant then you have the responsibility of raising your child. If you can't hold off on sex and you get pregnant then you have to live with your mistakes, and there shouldn't be any way out of it. Ok what if your mother had decided to have an abortion, then you wouldnt be here either. Abortion is wrong and it should be considered a crime. I know that it is wrong to but you or a baby in that situation that you cant handle but like I said if you are going to have sex at any age you should expect the unexpected. Girls have babies all the time even if they are not prepared physically , mentally or finically. There are a lot of way to get help, there is family, government, ect. So if you are thinking about abortion, explore you options first, see what you can do before you have to kill your baby ...

Jumping to an Erroneous Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jumping to an Erroneous Conclusion - Essay Example However, the recruiter was very persistent in encouraging me to join the military and entailed a lot of benefits that can be gained from joining the military. The recruiter said that when I join the military, I could get the chance to travel around the world, to be a rich person, etc. Because the recruiter is smart, polite, and convincing, I have made an erroneous decision that have changed my life completely. Back then, I was an innocent and a naive senior high school student. The offer of a good life after joining the military have made me trust the recruiter. After graduation, I never really intended to join the military but because the recruiter was so persistent that he came to my house almost every day, I was convinced. In addition, I really wanted to enter college instead of joining the military but since I could not afford college at that time, I decided to join the military. The words of my recruiter instilled in my mind that when a person joins the army, one may experience the benefits of good life such as prospects of becoming rich and being able to travel around the world. When I was in the military, realization eventually crept in: that all the good things in life the recruiter had told me were not true after all. I jumped into an erroneous conclusion simply because of persistent prodding from other people. I failed to conduct a survey or interview from family members, friends, or other people from various perspectives; and neither did I analyze the situation first before arriving at a decision. However, even though the recruiter told me things that did not happen, I still continue serving the country by being an active member of the military. I never regret that I joined the military because I found it challenging and full of discipline. If one would have based on fixed-response attitude surveys, previous experiences, perceptions from others, and one’s own perception, one would have jumped into an erroneous conclusion(Stephens, Leach, Taggart, & Jones, 94).In my case, perceptions from others being inculcated into my own perceptions have made me jumped easily to an erroneous conclusion that all men who joined military will become rich.The perception I have could have influenced also other people so it is essential that a person should be cautious of inculcating it to others without prior analysis. Learning to put a clear boundary between a factual and an erroneous conclusion is deemed necessary to avoid conflicts in the future.

The Long-Term Significance of the Vietnam War Essay

The Long-Term Significance of the Vietnam War - Essay Example The North Vietnamese Army, Vietnam people's army adopted a more traditional war at times using bigger units than the Viet Cong (Bedford/St Martin's 2009, 15). The United States and South Vietnamese armies depended on air control and overwhelming weapons to carry out search and destroy actions, involving artillery, ground forces, and airstrikes. This paper will discuss why the Vietnam War was significant and why America lost this battle. â€Å"Americans considered the Vietnam War as one of the most critical time of the United States history† (Hub Pages 2010, 1). It was an injury to the U.S spirit, which, regardless of the devastating Korean War, might still have brought a straightforward feeling of triumph in having met, as well as dominated, the opponent in the Second World War. The intransigency of general after general, president after president, and the hopeless extremes to which the United States army went to win in Vietnam can be illustrated in the harsh Operation Ranch H and. This was whereby thousands of gallons of herbicides, jointly known as Agent Orange, were applied in defoliating large binds of forest terrain that hid the rival’s armies. ... â€Å"The Vietnam War took the globe in an exceptional course† (Chambers 2011, 10). Those ten years, 1962 to 1972, which the United States battled in Vietnam acted like a pressure liberation valve. â€Å"The war allowed streams to bleed off making the world’s pressures ease, as well as preventing a much superior war from happening† (Chambers 2011, 10). The United States’ original tactic of fighting the enemy was at the border. The tactic worked most of the times. The War, however, bought the world time. The United States’ existence gave time required for a majority of severe leaders behind the warfare, such as USSR's Nikita Khrushchev, China's Mao, and some of U.S's old guard to lose their power. Time developed into the factor that tipped the stability of power all across the globe in favor of essential reformers like Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, who supported democratic power. â€Å"Time also helped in moving the Soviet citizens from the o ld and severe rule of the socialist state† (Chambers 2011, 10). After six months, nearly half million East Germans brought down the Berlin Wall. This was followed by the end of every Eastern European communist government, one after the other. â€Å"The United States lost the Vietnam War due to its foreign policy† (Shrinkermd 2008, 1). Their foreign policy was to stop, instead of getting rid of Communism. America would have been capable of destroying Communism many different times such as during the Korean War. â€Å"However, the American leaders did not want to eradicate Communism since it would make the Americans look like an Empire again such as the Philippines of the Spanish American warfare† (Shrinkermd 2008, 1). America lost the battle due to forfeit.

Assessing risks arising from contamination of the aquatic environment Essay

Assessing risks arising from contamination of the aquatic environment with Bt toxin from GM corn (maize) crop litter in the USA - Essay Example (National Agriculture Statistics Service, 2009) Hypothesis: To find out the impact of BT toxins on the aquatic environment if used without extensive risk assessment. What is the first impression you get when you hear the term, â€Å"Genetically Modified Food†? In recent years, speculation has renewed over the full effects, and possible consequences of genetic modification of organisms for the production, and augmentation of human food supplies. It is worthwhile to identify the specificities of the techniques involved to produce BT crops, as well as other biotech innovations. To understand potential environmental and biological risk factors involved we must delve into precisely what does and does not occur with genetically modified crops. This study will explore techniques involved in producing genetically modified foods, their importance to agriculture, and the nature of the BT molecule/toxin. In addition, two other research projects will be summarized which explore possible s ide effects of BT toxin dispersing into the environment, as well as the frequency of that dispersal in the water table. BT technology must be a subject of discussion, both due to the popularity of this technique, by which pesticides can be incorporated directly into plant tissues constitutively – and the possible far-reaching ramifications of such an inclusion. Both of these studies focus on corn/maize due to its prevalence – but virtually any vegetable that has utility for humans is a possible target for genetic modification, in the interest of greater profit towards an increase in the human food supply. GENETIC MODIFICATION Genetically modified organism(GMO): An organism is "genetically modified", if it’s genetic material has been changed in a way that does not occur under natural conditions through cross-breeding or natural recombination. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a spore forming bacterium that produces crystals protein (cry proteins), which are toxic to many species of insects. (University of California San Diego) GM crops are made using technology which allows Bt toxins to be introduced into crops, making them resistant to pests. For centuries, human beings have attempted to incorporate desired traits both in animals and plants of human utility. Selective breeding has been employed to both as a means of eliminating undesirable traits, such as excessive ferocity in certain breeds of dogs, and greater sugar content as well as size increases for fruits and vegetables. Using ancient techniques agriculture was limited to working within a single species in order to identify desirable, and undesirable traits - and then through successive generations to concentrate those virtues within the species that proved of highest economic benefit to humanity. Or as the case may be, to winnow out those traits that ran counter to human interests. Genetic modification broadens the set of tools available to agriculture, agribusiness, and eventually to animal husbandry. What if we were not limited by the genes within a single species? What if it were possible to use genes from virtually any species and incorporate them into crops? Perhaps the particular globular proteins present in a deep-sea fish which

Business Structure Of Burger Kings Brand Commerce Essay

Business Structure Of Burger Kings Brand Commerce Essay Burger King is one the fast food chain which is abbreviated as BK, it is operating almost all over the world with its headquarter in Florida, United States. The first store was opened over the piece of Insta Broiler. This equipment was so much popular for cooking burgers. In 1953, BK began as a franchise chain in Jacksonville, a place in Florida. In 1955, where this franchise was facing a financial problem, it was then purchased by David Edgerton and James McLamore and then it was named as Burger King. Burger King is operating in 73 countries with over 12000 outlets, of which 66% holds in US and 90%, has been runned by the private owners. It became a Corporation in 1959, and this is where when all the franchisees purchase the right to open stores and operate it. Initially, when the company started they use to sell burgers, French fries, soft drinks and ice creams. Then later in 1957, BK introduce Whopper which turns out to be the signature for them and they adopted the motto as The Home of Whopper, (Mouw, 2007). Theoretical Background The development of new ventures makes the way for most individuals to come up with an idea and develop it by generating a product or service (Gyamfi and Tontoh, 2007). According to (Morse and Mitchell, 2006), the new venture development can be competitive in the market because many activities are involved in creating a business. Barringer and Ireland (2006) said that the establishment of new ventures gives the society globalization, job creation and innovation. Different scholars and institutions have proposed many ways of developing new ventures from different angles. Moreover, many entrepreneurs have established new ventures competitively without any external influence. Wickham (2004) defined an entrepreneur as a manager which carries out a particular activity; an individual which possesses a personality, psychology and personal characteristics and an agent that adds the value to the society. Sarasvathy (2001) found the dependency of a venture issue on an individuals past knowledge, the experience of its formation, culture and his other distinctive achievements. According to Timmons (1999), the development of a new venture involves the vital factors team, opportunity and resources that are seen to be in a corresponding process. Although there are numerous ways for venture creation, there are also various failures and even it does not become successful in the long run for the few ones (Gyamfi and Tontoh, 2007). Gilkerson and Paauwe (1998) showed that most businesses fail because the choice of business opportunity was poor. Gartner (1988) suggested that entrepreneurship depends on your action and not on your identification. This has generated the interest of looking at business planning process in new venture development. It is important to know about the variables or considerations in developing the new ventures that makes the process feasible or practical and this is what has been presented in the report in accordance with the opinions of different authors (Bhave, 1994). Discussion Business planning is an important aspect that needs to be considered to fulfil the plans for a new venture or renewing an existing venture. It serves as a method to achieve the desired goals (Gyamfi and Tontoh, 2007). According to (Davidsson, 2003), a good planning process provides a good approach of having a niche in the market. It also gives you a process view of entrepreneurship. He believes that it is impossible to take a business in one decision or one act from its non-existence to existence in one step. Therefore, in creating a business, entrepreneurs have to do a number of activities sequentially. Business planning helps in finding the competitive advantage of the operation by finding, describing and refining it (Stan et al., 2003). Profit (2007) says that the planning process gives very good steps needed to reach the goals that have been set for the future. It describes the opportunities, business strengths and a road map for continuous improvement. As the growth and success of a business lies in creating a road map for it but many entrepreneurs, having the knowledge of it, do not have a good planning process (Profit, 2007). This makes it difficult to start up ventures successfully (Gyamfi and Tontoh, 2007). Harper (1991) noted that as many novices do not hesitate to position and elaborate themselves well in the market so the trial and error methods have been unfavourable for them. Profit (2007) suggested that the requirement of an entrepreneur can be accomplished by analyzing the business issues and refining the goals from a good planning process. Timmons (1999) clarifies that it is important to take a decision about the investment of time and effort because some ideas may not lead to business or success. One should also size up about the existence of potential business. Therefore, a good planning method helps one to get confidence, test ideas and see the flaws in his business to avoid the waste of resources and to take the right steps forward (Gyamfi and Tontoh, 2007). In fact, for every 100 ideas presented to investors in the form of a business or proposal of some kind, usually just I or 2 or 3 get funded. Over 80% of those rejections occur in the few hours; another 10 to 80 get rejected after the business plan has been read carefully (Timmons, 1999). Theoretical Spheres The development of a new venture has been discussed by many authors in entrepreneurship. The theories from three experts of business administration, in a sequential mode, have been chosen to make the report more exigent and practical. These are of Hult et al. (1991), Stan et al. (2003) and Profit (2007). Opportunity Analysis of Burger King SWOT Analysis After the goals have been set by managements, it is their responsibility to analyse the companys current position. And to evaluate the position of the organisation, the management use SWOT analysis. This helps the upper management to plan and compare the internal organisation strengths and weakness with the opportunities and threats which are external to the organisation. This helps the management to fulfil the objective which they have stated in the mission statement. Main core competencies of the company are the main strength of the organisation in which they are best at. It is the strength which the customers values and pays for it and which the competitors lacks of. Companys faces problem when they know their weaknesses and did not work on it, the environmental threats will probably molest the weaknesses of an organisation. And these weaknesses can be overcome if they avail the opportunities which can create value to the firm (Marke, 2006). Burger King Strengths Burger King or BK is a worldwide brand which everyone knows about. It attracts all type of customers such as sex, race, age, income etc. It is one of the largest fast food ham burger restaurants (FFHR) in the world It not only distribute in US, it has many franchises situated around the globe. Weaknesses The main weakness of the BK is that they have operated mainly in US; almost 65% of their operations are in United States. BK has not focused on their brand name very well, it relies mostly on franchisees which are carries their brand name along and any mistake by them will decrease the Goodwill of the organisation. BK has the menu which is unhealthy and it does not appeal to the consumers. They brand their products less likely than their competitors such as McDonalds etc. Opportunity BK should develop a new product which can attract customers in the breakfast as well. BK is called the House of Whopper so they should emphasise their brand focusing mainly on Whopper Virgins. They should expand their business in countries like India, Malaysia, and Kuwait etc. Where there is an emerging market. Threats The main threat of BK is that they have to face a healthy competition with McDonalds, KFCs and other restaurants. BK menu is healthy food which the consumers dont prefer much, they should change their habits to attract customers diverting to healthy food. It may affect the profit margins of BK, when the labour cost rises. Source: (Kurtz, 2008) Environmental Analysis It is critical to indentify the variables which can affect the supply and the demand of the products and services by analyzing the macro environment. Whenever there is a change in the environment or the place where the company is operation, it has an impact on the organisation as well. So there are possible criterias which the analyst has to check which can have the effect on the organisation. And these can be Political, Social, Economical and Technological factors. PEST analysis examines the impact of the factors which can affect the business. If Burger King opens its new Venture in Pakistan, they can first analyse the factors which can affect their business or they think that if it is feasible to open up a chain in Pakistan. Burger King PEST Analyses Political: This includes the regulations imposed by the government in the country where they are operating. This relates to the elections, law of employment, environment laws, war, terrorism, governing body, and its structure. These are the factors which the burger king has to analyse before opening their chain in Pakistan. The political condition of Pakistan is not stable at the moments, there are lots of suicide attacks but they can still open a franchise in the popular city such as Karachi and in those areas where the security is high. Economic: It is the level of spending the local government does, taxation, growth of the country, unemployment, rates such as interest and inflation. Country such as Pakistan is one of the developing countries. This country has seen the growth but the interest rates and the inflation rates has been double in over few years but people living there are more keen to have fast food restaurants and a places like these so that there can be an increase in the economy. Social Factors: Social relates to age, gender race etc. It is the standard of living which the people adopt. Technological Factors: These factors are the inventions, research and development and information systems. In Pakistan, investments in terms of social and technological will increase the competition and requires a lot of investment. BK can invest in salads, and low fat food but again there will be a danger for moving away from its identity. It can be good economic purposes of changing their policy to sell high calorie menus because there are few costs which are attached to it. Investments in terms of technology can give an advantage over its competitors such as McDonalds. They can open up a call centre which can be centralizing where the customers can place their orders online. This will increase speed of the customer services and will cut the staff cut. After analyzing the current situation in Pakistan with the help of macro environmental analysis, we can conclude that opening a chain of Burger King, it will not be difficult for them to make money because there are so many restaurants today who have lock their suppliers and the largest companies which are already operating in Pakistan such as McDonalds have the high bargaining power and are able to bare cost such as advertisement. BK can invest more on the products and technology, they can advertise heavily on their new products so that they can attract more customers towards themselves, (Mowen, 2001). Porter 5 Forces Model Porter 5 forces model deals with factors that is outside the industry that influence the environment of competition. A firm has to know about the industries in which it is operating and should know how to compete in the market. It the forces from the competition can be drive. Competition can be created by the interaction of 5 forces which is the threat of new entrants, the power of suppliers, the power of buyers and the threats of substitute. The threats of new entrants are very high because of the fact that it does not require high investment to open up a small restaurant. But BK can advertise heavily on the advertisement where by the customers can only buy the burgers for them. Burger King appears to be in the list of those industries that have the recognized brand with all their benefits are linked with new customers so that they can attract. Supplier power: for the burgers, the ingredients require are just meat, buns and soft drinks, which can be supplied by any of the supplier and there are other supplies which also provide the services such as restaurants premises including the equipment and staff. Golden state foods started supplying McDonalds but now they are supplying the beef and other products to KFCs and BKs as well. There should always be an upper hand on the supplier by the firm. Burger King has a large number of franchised outlets almost 89%. Since after the increase in franchise for BK, they have the limited control over the franchisees and that is the main reason why there are experiencing problems in removing their supplier again and again, Bk seems to be unhappy with the supplier every time. There is a low buying power in the burger industry. It depends on the customers and their taste to which burger to want to have. There is low switching cost and lots of substitute available so the buyer power has increase. As we all know that there are so many substitutes available, there is lots of restaurant and therefore the threat of substitute is relatively very high. And this is the reason why the fast food restaurant like McDonalds and BK do more branding in order to attract more customers. Competitive Rivalry in the burger restaurant is high because there are so many restaurant but we look for the differentiation, BK promotes its burger as the tastiest burgers because it is flame grill. Differentiation is only weapon in this industry, and those customers who have realized the taste can reduce the competitive rivalry (Kurtz, 2008). Competitors Analysis Analysis of the competitive is very important and useful in the sense that the company should know how their rivals are operating and performing. This evaluation is very critical for the use of strategy formulation. A company has to identify the factors both the external as well as the internal to the organisation which can impact the forces. These factors can affect the companys objective and the goals because on these factors they can change their strategy. When KFC came in to the market, they follow the initiates of Burger King and follow the price cut strategy; it was named as the Big King competitor to the Big Mac. When Burger King came to know about this strategy they responded by: BK lowering the prices and cutting the cost on their standardize menu based on burgers, fries and soft drinks. Revenue and growth for BK are the mixture of their strategy but in the late 1990s, the volume was falling especially in US which cause their market share to decline as well. BK boosts their volume by cutting the prices and behaves accordingly to the competitors. They then use their resources and capabilities to turn into a financially strong company. The strategy used by KFC get an aggressive response from Burger King but the burger market in the world today faces a lot of competition between Burger King, McDonalds and KFCs. Source: (Youngman, 1998) Strategic Analysis For the strategic analysis it is very important to define the industries broadly, there should detailed analysis on the competition through which they can focus on the markets that are drawn narrowly in terms of both the products and geography. In the strategic analysis, the process of industries which has many dimensions is divided into segmentations. In an industry, sub markets can be differentiating through Segmentation. A company can sometimes avoid competition if they change their strategy into the segmentation. Burger King has maintained its sales by selling more Whoppers. They analyse probability at the level of customers individuality. Through Segments, key success factors can be differing. In the restaurant industry such as Burger King and McDonalds, the success of an industry can be analyse by segmenting the customers of the fast food and the luxury restaurant, (Grant, 2005). Conclusion Recommendations When the company have enough resources to utilize to its capability, the company just focus on those products for the customers demand more. After the success in the domestic market, company tries to exploit in the international market. But first they will analyse the factors which can affect them in operating in that country. They have to understand the objective that has been set by the competitors and looking into it they should make their own international strategy. There will be an effect on the market share, if the competitor is a large company, this can be a threat to the company who is entering into the market.

Patriarchy in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis :: Metamorphosis essays

Patriarchy in The Metamorphosis Patriarchy, that is, the supremacy of the father in a family and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line, plays a major part in family life. However, the institution of patriarchy is not just limited to European cultures. In this essay, we will examine the instances of patriarchy in "The Metamorphosis" and compare it to instances in Japan. In the beginning of "The Metamorphosis," we can tell from the way Gregor's family is organized that Gregor is the 'father figure,' in that he is the primary breadwinner and the one who makes most of the decisions for his family. On page 1781, we can see Gregor thinking that me would "take charge of the family's affairs again," hence showing that before he turned into a bug, he was the dominant person in the family. He is the only person in the family who actually goes out to earn money. His father has already retired, while his mother and sister, following the standards of that time, do not go out and work. Gregor is the only one who goes out as a traveling salesman, and is responsible for earning money for the whole family. His father stays at home and only "lies wearily buried in bed"(1778) while Gregor goes out on business trips. From this, we can see that Gregor has taken over his father's responsibilities as head of the household. He is earning money and supporting the family while his father has retired and only stays at home, doing nothing. This conforms with the practice of patriarchy in that the son, Gregor in this case, inherits the position and responsibilitles as head of this household from his father. In Japan, the son of a family is expected to take over the responsibilities of taking care of his family when his father retires, similar to how Gregor takes over in his family. The son is also expected to look after his parents after they grow old and retire, similar to how Gregor looks after his retired father and mother. If he does not look after his parents, he is thought of as being 'unfilial' and seen as a bad person. In contrast, daughters are expected to go out and find a good husband and get married, similar to Grete at the end of "The

What drives you up the wall? †Strikes on Transport

There are many things that drive me up the wall one of the main things is when there are strikes on transport. There are strikes on transport on important days like Boxing Day when people will want to go to shops for the sales, why do they have strikes? The employees think that they don’t get enough wages when there is beyond enough. Why should they get an increase in wages when there is bad service, bad manners, bad facial expressions towards customers and a lot more bad things I could go on about?! Whenever there is a strike on transport it causes chaos for many people’s lives such as works that have to travel by train or students or other people who have to go somewhere important. This is all just caused because worker s want a raise. Why can’t they just appeal without being oblivious and ruining other people’s lives? However, it is not only bad for us but for the London Transport company as they are losing millions of pounds which is not admirable. Even if strikes were the only way, the negative effect will be listened to better. Workers right should be allowed but not effecting innocent people (the society) as they have done nothing wrong. There have been many strikes around the world one of the latest, Greek strikes caused disruption to places like hospitals. Another reason is that when there is a strike, tourists cannot travel freely, this is harmful for the city or countries reputation and no one wants that. Here is an ultimatum would you rather lose your job and have no money or go to work and have money even though it is not up to your satisfaction? This is what you have to bear in mind. You have to be happy with amount of money you get paid as some workers get paid less than ?10. 00 a week. In addition to this why are they striking when they get paid ?15, 000 just for working 35hours this is more than what many workers get paid, this drives me up the wall insanely, There are many individuals who will actually appreciate the amount they got. However we are lucky that some of the transport drives weren’t stupid enough to go on strike and continue their work and if they didn’t they are probably going to lose their job. As well as that thanks to the people that came to work because then the company would millions of pounds which could be used on cleaning the transport as it is unhygienic. Transport for London is so bad compared to the trains in china as in china they have clean, fast transport and good service. What could be better than that! However in London we sit on dirty seats which are not cleaned on a daily basis, we are sitting on hundred germs. Having strikes will cause financial problems for many transport companies such as Transport for London, in the Greek Economy there has been severe damage caused by the strikes. As well as that in July 2010 the Greek Railway has been trying to raise over ?400million of loans from the public management. On the same day in Athens people walked off the job shutting down the tubes. These are things that cause damage economically. However, strikes are only allowed if asked permission if not it is illegal and they will be punished with fines and sentences. If the strikes don’t work the strikers will have to go to this person who will make negotiations of how much they should be paid and they will definitely loose. In addition to this the Transport Industry is too important to the society to be having a wage negotiation, when there are many well being who have places to go and people to see. I would not mind if there was strikes if transport was clean and the service was impeccable but no there is rubbish service and very bad conditions. The strikers get paid a fair wage but just don’t appreciate it; I’ll bet there are many people who will be dying for this job. In addition to this there have been many accidents caused by the employer’s exhaustion which causes accidents, so the person who got hurt can sue leaving the company to lose a lot of money. Another reason in which I wouldn’t mind if there was a strike if the transport was safe and strikes for reasonable concessions and not ask unfair and unsustainable benefits. Another fact is that strikes are just to put pressure on Government to change policies. Whatever is the end result, the strike harms the nation, the community, the community and the management. Some people think that people who work on transport have freedom to express themselves and yes this true but what is the point of all of it when it will just cause chaos and havoc. I don’t understand why people feel that they express their selves causing trouble and trying to prove a point. In my opinion I think that strikes on transport should be banned as it is chaotic and unfair. I think it is unfair as the amount of money employees get in transport is so much already it will just make employees lose their job and will have no money. As well as that many people have to travel by transport to get to work and they are losing money too by not going to work. However there are different ways to get your word through to without having a strike which is disruptive. I don’t understand why whenever there is a strike Boris Johnson tells us† get on your bikes and cycle help save the environment. † For example if I wanted to go to the city and I live in Stanmore I would have to cycle for about 3 hours and how are elderly supposed to cycle anyways they will just run out of breath. However instead of taking the bus to a short distance we should save the environment instead of ruining it and you could either walk or cycle. As well as this how are we supposed to manage when there is a sudden strike without no notice- this has happened a few times. If we didn’t have strikes we could save money to have internet connection it the tube/trains or wifi despite this there is always strikes on the most important day for example The Royal Wedding- this is a time when the Transport Company can earn a lot of money in just under an hour. The most agitating thing about public transport is when you can stereotypical, rowdy teens come on and shout in there disruptive, loud voice like they own their transport or listening to music so loud that you could hear from out on the streets. As well as that when you get on the bus and the driver gives you creepy looks while groaning under their breath waiting for you to get your oyster out or your money. When the bus driver sees you running they just slam the door shut and drive off making you wait like another half an hour for another bus, has this ever happened to you? Don’t you feel annoyed and angry that you want to get a rock and just throw it at the drivers face? To conclude I think that there should only be strikes if necessary not for things that are unnecessary or unbeneficial and there shouldn’t be a strike on important days which is very silly as the underground have an advantage of earning money. In addition to this whenever we get on a train we have never actually got good service; instead of being cranky when they got a raise in their wages which is so unfair and causing financial problems in the company risking their jobs. In my opinion I think strikes are the most stupid, aggravating thing to do for resolving things. Public Transport is agitating, hectic and contaminated; they should be trying to fix it not making it worse.

Pinyin Exercise

Chinese Pronunciation Pronunciation Chinese is not a phonetic language, as a result its pronunciation is not related to the written Chinese words (characters). In order for non-Chinese speakers to learn the correct pronounciation, a system called â€Å"Pinyin† was developed to transcribe the sounds of Standard Chinese. Pinyin uses the letters of the familiar English alphabet to help the student determine the pronounciation of the unfamiliar Chiense words. Most Mandarin sounds are easy for English speakers to pronounce although some require more practice than others.Pinyin is also a useful tool for learning new vocabulary and for looking things up in a dictionary as well as for typing Chinese. Other than this, however, it has no practical usage since Chinese people do not read or write in pinyin. Actually, many Chinese people do not know pinyin at all. Therefore, you should learn to read and write in characters as soon as possible. I. The four tones: Chinese is known as a tonal language. Tones are the results of the variation of pitch levels in the pronunciation of a syllable.Each syllable is composed of three components: (a) Initials; (b) Finals; (c) tones. Except for nasal sound like â€Å"n† and â€Å"m†, all Chinese syllables ends with vowels. So we call them â€Å"Final Sounds†. The consonants at the beginning of a syllable are called â€Å"Initial Sounds†. There are altogether 21 initials as shown in Table 2. Initials only refer to the consonants that appear in the initial position of a syllable. Although it is acceptable to have a syllable without an initial, there must always be a final. A final may have one or more vowel sounds and sometimes a consonant ending like -g and -ng .In fact, other than -g and -ng other consonants can’t appear in a final at all. Altogether, there are thirty seven finals as listed in Table 3. There are 4 tones in Mandarin Chinese as illustrated in Table 1. Each Chinese word (character) carries a tone. Perhaps the most important thing to remember at this stage is the fact that different tones of a certain syllable indicate completely different meanings. The features of the four tones are clearly illustrated in the following diagram: Figure 1: Figure 1: a. The four tonesThe representation of tonal pitch contours as numbers in Figure1 is attributed to Yuen Ren Chao, who devised this scale to cover the tonal aspects of the Chinese language as well as other tonal languages. Unlike the music score, it consists of five arbitrary levels and each is labeled from the bottom upwards, 1 through to 5. As with the music score, the lowest line represents the lowest pitch, and the highest line, the highest pitch. The variance of the pitch could be captured using the reference pitch numbers by observing the starting, middle and end-points of the tone.The numbers were then enclosed in two forward slash marks. For example, /55/ would be a high level tone, whilst /11/ is a low level one. /53/ is a high falling tone, /35/ is a mid rising tone, whilst /31/ is a mid falling tone. /214/ is a tone which starts low, falls and then rises again. Short tones can also be represented as a single number for instance a short mid level is /3/. By using the numbers, Tone one is /55/; Tone two is /35/; Tone Three is /21/4 and Tone Four has the pitch level of /51/. The lines in the above table indicate the pitch contours of the four tones.And the four tones are represented with the following symbols (Table 1): Tones First Second Third Fourth Symbols Examples di di di di Table 1: Symbols of tonal accent If we use the musical notes to illustrate on the five scale, the four tones have the following patterns: Figure 2: b. The Four Tones Tone One: Tone One has the highest pitch level for it starts at five and ends up at five. It is near the top of your comfortable range. As a result, you should be able to sound the first tone syllable continuously without effort. ma: maaaaaa†¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Tone Two: Tone Two starts in the middle of your voice range and rises straight toward the level of the first tone. It is similar to the English tone when you are questioning: What?! ma: ma? Tone Three: Tone Three is the lowest tone of all. It starts low and then rises towards the middle high pitch level and has longer duration. Your pitch level should drop until you feel out of breath and then release it. ma Tone Four: Tone Four begins at the top of your comfortable range and proceeds quickly to the bottom. It is short and sounds as if you are being stern. ma Tonal exercise exercise: 1. Listen to the recording and read alound: a-ma ma-ma ma-ma mi-mi mi-mi mi-mi li-li la-ma fa-fa fa-fa fa-fa ni-ni ni-ni bi-di ni-li la-ma ta-ta ta-ta ta-ta ti-ti ti-ti ti-di li-ni ma-la da-da da-da da-da di-di di-di li-ni ni-li la-ma pa-pa pa-pa pa-pa pi-pi pi-pi ni-mi li-ni pa-ma 2. Listen and indicate the tonal accent for the following syllables: ta ting da ding ni ning mi fa ma ping pu hao tu lao hen dong bo nin ming lin II. The initials: As was introduced earlier, there are 21 initials altogether. Initials are similar to the English consonants. However, they differ in that initials only refer to the consonants that appear in the initial position of a syllable.The 21 initials are listed below according to the positioning of one’s mouth in producing the right sounds in Table 2. Table 2 Table of initials Unaspirated Aspirated Labial Dental Guttural Palatal Retroflex Dental Sibilant b(o) d(e) g(e) j(i) zh(i) z(i) p(o) t(e) k(e) q(i) ch(i) c(i) Nasals m(o) n(e) Fricatives fo l(e) h(e x(i) sh(i) s(i) Voiced Continuants r(i) Please note that the initials can not be pronounced without adding certain finals. Please practice with your teacher in class and listen to the audio sounds after class. The initials listed in Row 1 are called labials because the lips must be used to pronounce them.The sounds in Row 2 are dentals because the teeth are employed to produce these sound s. The initials listed in Row 3 are called ‘gutturals†, which means their pronunciation, is controlled by the muscles in the back of the mouth. Actually, since the initials listed in Rows1-3 are very similar to the English consonants, you can achieve their sound very easily. The â€Å"Palatals† in Row 4 needs more practice. When pronouncing j and q, you must first raise the front of the tongue to the hard palate and press the tip of the tongue against the back of the lower teeth, and then loosen the tongue and let the air squeeze out through the channel thus made.The two sounds only differ in that the q is an aspirated sound. To pronounce x, you should raise the front of the tongue towards (almost touching) the hard palate and then let the air squeeze out. In short, j(i) is like j in jeep. q(i) is like ch in cheap and cheese. x(i) like sh in banshee, between the s in see and the sh in she. Refer to Figure 2 for a better understanding. Figure 2: Palatals The initia ls in Row 5 are â€Å"retroflexes†. To pronounce this sound, the tongue is curled back (retroflexed) until the tip touches the front part of the roof of the mouth.The tongue is only a little farther toward the back of the mouth than when pronouncing the initials r in ‘run’. To pronounce zh, ch, the tip of the tongue begins by touching the roof of the mouth, then quickly moving away. The two sounds differ only in that a strong puff of air accompanies with ch sound. zh is kind of like dg in fudge, and ch is like ch in church, but curl the tongue up toward the zh(i) ch(i) roof of the mouth while pronouncing the â€Å"ch† sound. But when produce the sound of sh, r, the tip of the tongue does not ever touch the roof of the mouth but simply rests in a close-by position as illustrated in Figure 3 below. h sounds like sh in English, but you should curl the tongue up sh(i) toward the roof of the mouth while pronouncing the â€Å"sh† sound. r(i) sounds zhr as in pleasure. Please note that r is the only initial that is voiced. zh-ch Figure 3: Retroflexes shi ri Dental sibilants (buzzing or hissing sounds) are listed in the last row. They are called â€Å"Dental sibilants† because the pronunciation of which involves the tip of the tongue placed behind the top of front teeth. The tongue must be farther towards the front than when pronouncing an English s. z, is not too far from ds in â€Å"reads†. , is near the ts in â€Å"carts† though more air should be blown out. Exercises on Initials: 1. Listen and repeat: b: babi baibei p: pipei f: fafang h: hehao d: dadao t: titan l: linli r: ruran j: jiaji q: qiqi x: xiaxiang zh zh:zhizhong ch ch:chuchu sh sh:shisheng z: zizu c: s: cengci sisuo paipao fanfa heihai dedao tiaoting lunluo rengran jinji qinqing xixin zhaizhu chengche shushi zuzong cancun susong baobi papo fafu hehu didian tantu lailin renren jingjia qingqi xixia zhangzhou chachao shensheng zaizao caice sansi benbo p opi fangfa huihuang daidong tingtang lingli rongru jingjie qingqing xinxi zhazhen chachang shanshui zizun cuncao sisui ubi pianpang fenfu huahui dongdan tongtian lanling runri jiajin qinqing xianxiang zhuzhai chuanchu shangshu zangzu cuicu susuan 2. Listen and pronounce the following syllables. Please pay attention to the unaspirated initials and aspirated initials: b-p: piaobo paiban bianpai banping pingpao paobing pingbi pengbi pibao peibei panbi pianpi d-t: tongdeng ditou z-c: zaici caozuo g-k: gekai gongkai kaiguo konggang keku guku kangu kuaigan guke guoku kaigong kuguan cizu zanci zice canzan caizi zaice zacao cezi cazao zican deti daiti tidu tida dianti diaotou tidan dantian ditu ditang 3.Please pronounce the following retroflexes: zhuchu shizhang shishi zhizhu chushi reshui ruoshi chicheng shichang shusheng shaoshu zhashe rizhao ruizhi chishui changchu chuanchang zhenzhong chushu shiren renzhi chushou zhenzheng shenzhi chishui zhengshi zhiran renzhi zhichi caishui chuangshan g chouchu changcheng shice chuzhong rushi zhiru chuanchang shashi shangren rengran ruchang 4. Please practice the following palatals with the recording: pijing qijian qicai qixian jingqi xiaqi xiqi jijin qixiang chuqu chaijian jiuji jiaqi pingxi jianqi pingjing jiaoqi xingjin xiqin qijia qinqie jiqi qixi jiaxiao xianxiang qinjian inxing xiaojing xiangxin xiaji xingqi qingjin jingji jingxi qinxin qingjing qiangquan xiangjin jianqi jiqiao jiajie qingxing 5. Read aloud and compare: b—f:bafang p—f:pifu d—l:daili t—l:tuliao f—h:fahui r—l:luru zh—z:zhizao zh— ch—c:canchuan ch— sh—s:shisi sh— zh—j:zhijing zh— ch—q:chaqi ch— sh—x:xishou sh— jizhe qiche shanxi fabiao fupin lidai liti huifa rangli zizhu chuci sishi zhijin chaiqian xiaoshi binfen pifa dalian tilian fanhuan rili zhuzu changci shensi jiazhi qincha shixi fangbian fangping lada lantian hefa ranliao zengzhan g checi shanse zhiji changqing xishu bufu pingfan danliang tianliang fanhua liren zhize chicu shisanIII. The finals: : The basic vowels: There are altogether six basic vowels in Chinese as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 Basic vowels a is a central vowel. To pronounce it, the tongue remains in a natural, relaxed position, as a in father. o is a rounded semi-high back vowel. It sounds like o as in or, like the wa in wall. You should have the lips rounded to pronounce it. e is an unrounded semi-high back vowel. To produce this vowel, first pronounce o, then change the shape of the mouth from rounded to unrounded. At the same time open the mouth wider.This vowel is different from â€Å"e† in English, which is pronounced with the tongue raised slightly forward. It needs special practice. i is an unrounded high front vowel. The tongue is raised higher than it would be to ea. pronounce its counterpart in English as in tea. u is a rounded high back vowel. The tongue is raised higher tha n it would be to pronounce its counterpart in English. It slightly resembles the o as in English oo To pronounce it: (1) The tongue must be pulled toward the back of the mouth while the lips make a very small opening in front. 2) Imagining that you holds as much water as possible without either swallowing it or spilling any of it out of the lips. (3) Try to whistle the lowest note possible, then vocalize instead of actually whistling. u is a rounded high front vowel. It is a combination of i and u. To produce this vowel, (1) first pronounce i, then modify the shape of the mouth from unrounded to rounded; (2) try to whistle the highest note, but vocalize instead of actually whistling. i also represents two additional special vowels: -i one is an alveolar front vowel, it goes with z, c, s; the other is an alveolar ack vowel, it goes with zh, ch, sh, r. The finals: A final may have one or more vowel sounds and sometimes a consonant ending like -g and ng . In fact, other than -g and -ng other consonants can’t appear in a final at all. Putting altogether, there are thirty six finals as listed in Table 3. Table 3: The finals: Row -a -i -u -i i a ia e ie -i ai Ending -o/-u ei ao ou iao iu ui -n an en -ng -r ang eng ong er iang ing iong uang ueng ian in uan un u ua uo uai -u u ue uan un ei sounds like eigh in sleigh and eight. ao reads as ow like the au in sauerkraut. u sounds like oh, as in soul. an has the sound of ahn, between the an in can and the on in con. en sounds like un as in run, as en in chicken. ang sounds like ahng, a as in father and ng as in sing. eng has the sound of ung as in hung and lung. ong ong(ueng) is like the ung in German jung or, u as in put plus ng as in sing. er crosses between ar and er. ia sounds like ee-ah (quickly, as one syllable), like the ya in yacht. ie reads as ee-eh (quickly), like the ye in yet. iao starts with ee in see and end with ow in now. u iu(iou) sounds like yo as in you or eo as in Leo, close to u in union. ian r eads as ee-en (quickly)( an after i sounds between man and men in English) in in(ien) sounds like een as in seen, like the ine in machine. iang sounds like ee-ahng (quickly) . ing ing(ieng) is similar to ing as in ring. iong goes like ee-ong (quickly), almost like German jung. ua sounds like wa as in wash and the wa in wander. uo sounds like the wo as in wore and the wa in waltz. uai sounds like why or like the wi in wide. ui( ui(uei) goes like way, between we and weigh. uan is similar to wahn, as in wander . n un(uen) is similar to when or the wen in Owen. uang sounds like wahng. ueng starts with u as in put then quickly goes to eng. ue goes like the German umlaut u in uber plus e in ie. uan starts with u and then wan as in wander. un starts with u and then goes on to en quickly. Please note that the vowel quality of some finals varies with different tones. For example, the final iu (you) with the first and the third tone will sound different. Therefore, our focus should be on the accuracy of the tones instead of on the distinctions. Exercises on Finals: 1.Please read the following syllables aloud: o: pomo bopo fotuo e: u: u: er er: ei ei: ao ao: lehe bufu yuju erjiu feiche paomao keke pubu xuqu erhu xuefei gaozhao ou ’zhou nuoruo tongxue zhuisui tanpan renzhen qinxin hundun tese zhuchu quju erxi beihou baodao dou ’ou guocuo hulue huigui ganhan genben pinyin kunlun moluo hege tushu quyu ji ’er leihen laobao shougou tuoluo yuanyue cuihui canzan menzhen xinxin shuncong mopo ji ’e fuwu yunu ersai weisuo baochao goushou cuoluo yuenan hesui shanshi shenchen xinyin zungui ou ou: shouhou uo uo: zuocuo ue: ui ui: xuexiao huicui n an: canlan en en: in in: zhenren binlin un un: chunsun 2. Contrasts: ou—(u)o ou—(u)o:doushuo u—u —u: ei—ui ei—ui: lushu duilei gouduo luxu cuifei shoucuo juzu beiwei tuolou lutu leitui rouguo quchu leizhui ao—ou ao— ou: baochou an—ang an—ang:dan gran en—eng en— eng:zhenzheng in—ing xinxing in—ing: ong—-iong ong—-iong:longxiong uan—un:yuanjuan an— uan—un: luanlun uan— ie— ue: ie— u—iu u—iu iu: jieyue jiuju laorou nanfang zhencheng xinqing yonggong qunxuan chuannuan xuejie qujiu chanshen jiaohao chaoshou bangwan chengren jinling qionglong yuanjun tuandun quexie luxiu shancen qiaogao houtao hangang zhengshen pinqing xiongyong xuanyun shunshuan xieyue jiuqu zhenchan liaokao roudao kangzhan lengshen yingxin jiongpo quanjun chunguan juelie xuliu nanfen daoqiao en—an en— an: sanzhen ao—iao ao— iao:xiaoyao III. Pinyin Romanization-spelling rules: rules: Pinyin Romanization has been the official romanization system in the People's Republic of China since 1958. Some of the finals (in boldface) listed in Table 3 are spelled differently as shown below in Table 4. Row -a -i -u -u -i a e -i ai Ending -o/-u ei ao o u yao you -n an en -ng -r ang eng ong er yang ying yong wang weng i ya ye wu wa wo yu yue wai wei yan yin wan wen yuan yun Table 4: Finals in Pinyin Romanization The spelling rules are summarized as below: Tone marks: We know that the four tones are indicated by the diacritical marks: -, /, /, that appear above the vowels of spelled syllables. There are rules to follow about where to put the diacritical marks. First, if there is a single vowel in the syllable, put it over the vowel. Second, if there is more than one vowel, put it over the vowel in this order: a, o, e, i, or u. When two vowels i and u are together, you put it over the last vowel.Third, if the diacritical mark is over an i, omit the dot. xin –new (adj. ) re –hot (s. v. ) ren – person (n. ) dui – correct (adj. ) leng – cold (s. v. ) liu – to stay (v) Spelling rules: u 1. When the uo final combines with the labial initials b, p, m, f, the â€Å"u† drops out. bo – wave (n. ) po – broken or worn out (adj. ) mo – to rub (v. ) fo – Buddha (n. ) u But the â€Å"u† stays when any other initial is used. duo – much or many (adj. ) cuo -wrong (adj. ) 2. When the u final combines with the palatal initials j, q, or x, the umlaut drops out. This is u because only the u final can go with j, q, or x, but not the u final.Therefore, any time a â€Å"u† comes after j, q, or x, one knows it has to be the u final even though the umlaut is not there. ju (ju) – office or bureau (n. ) qu (qu) – to go (v. ) xu (xu) – to permit (v. ) The only other initials that u combines with are l and n. In these cases, the umlaut stays: nu – female (adj. ) lu – green(adj. ) i i y 3. When the finals beginning with â€Å"i† occur without an initial, the â€Å"i† changes to â€Å"y†. ie > ye – also (adv. ) iao > yao – want (v. ) The three finals i, in and ing are excepti ons to rule three, in which case a â€Å"y† is in, i added while the â€Å"i† remains: i> yi one (num. in > yin to print (v. ) ing > ying hard (s. v. ) i y When the final iu (iou) goes without an initial, the â€Å"i† changes to a â€Å"y† by rule four o and an â€Å"o† is added: iu > you to have (v. ) u u w 4. When the finals beginning with â€Å"u† occur without an initial, the â€Å"u† changes to â€Å"w†. uo > wo – I or me uan >wan – bowl w The u final is an exception to rule five. When it occurs without an initial, the ‘w’ is added: u>wu five (number) u When the ui (uei) and un (uen) finals occur without an initial, the â€Å"u† changes to a w e â€Å"w† by rule five and an â€Å"e† is added: ui > wei – stomach (n. un >wen – to ask (v. ) 5. When the finals beginning with u occur without an initial, the umlaut drops out and a y â€Å"y is added in front. u> yu f ish (n. ) uan > yuan distant (adj. ) 6. If the noun is a place name, then capitalize the first letter. If it is a Chinese name, capitalize the first letter of the surname and given name. beijing> Beijing (Peking) wang xiaoxiao> Wang Xiaoxiao niuyuu> Niuyue (New York) zhang zhong > Zhang Zhong (a name) Spelling exercises: 1. Please correct the spellings for the following syllables: uan> uan> diu> buo> ian> wun > zo> ie> uen> wuei > iu> jan> qong> chuen> wui> yuan > 2. Spell the dictated syllables and add the diacritical marks. ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ IV. Tone sandhi Tone sandhi refers to the sound change in tones when different sounds come together. Sandhi in Sankrit means â€Å"putting together†. Third tone Sandhi: In Mandarin Chinese, the most common tone sandhi rule is that the leading syllable in a set of two third-tone syllables is raised to the second t one. For example, nihao ( , the most common Mandarin greeting, is pronounced nihao. If there are more than two third tones, the same rule applies although other rules may apply. Exercise: Please read the following syllables. hen hao mai jiu shuijiao qi zao caozi yunxu chao mi mijiu jiugui suoyi zao zou liaojie yufa Lao Li yuanzu xiang zou yaogou xizao shuiguo ni hao laohu da gu bie zou xiao jiao Half third tone: If a third tone is followed by the first, second or the fourth tone, the third tone will only keep the falling pitch and remains there instead of rising. Since it is half realized, it is called a half third tone.Actually, a full third tone is only possible when it is phrase final or when it is by itself. The following figure (Figure 5) will indicate the change. Figure 5: Half third tone Exercises Please read the following syllables. Exercises: Niuyue (New York) Beijing (Beijing) laoshi (teacher) caihong (rainbow) wo lai (I will do it. ) wangqiu (tennis) zoulu (to walk) keshi (but ) qing wen (May I ask? ) Faguo nuhai ni shuo (France) (girl) (You speak) Meiguo (America) haokan (good-looking) falu (law) qing zuo (Please sit. ) qing shuo (Please speak. ) hao shu (good book) daqiu (to play a game) ni kan (You look. luyou (to travel) Fourth-tone Sandhi: When a fourth tone is followed by another fourth tone, the first one becomes a variant of the regular fourth tone as illustrated below in Figure 6. Figure 6: Fourth Tone Sandhi As indicated in Figure 6, the modified fourth tone starts as a regular fourth tone does. But its pitch level only drops to Scale 3, half as far as a full fourth. Exercise: Please read the following syllables. duihua (dialogue) guixing (honorable surname) Yidali (Italy) zaijian (goodbye) dianshi (T. V. ) sushe (dormitory) shuijiao (to sleep) shang ke (to go to class) zhaogu (to take care of) ieshao (to introduce) kanbao (to read newspaper) jiaoshi (classroom) Tone Sandhi for yi and bu: Yi (one; once) and bu (no, not) will also undergo t one sandhi under certain conditions. Preceding a syllable with the first, second or third tone, yi becomes yi. Bu keeps the fourth tone without any change. yiqi (together) bu hao (not good) yi jia (a family) butong (not same) yinian (one year) buting (not listen) When preceding a syllable with a fourth tone, both yi and bu become a second tone. yigong (altogether) buhui (can not) yixia (a little bit) buguo (but) yiyang (same) bukan (not to look)When yi and bu are phrase final or used alone, they keep their original tones: yi and bu. Please note that the tone of yi and bu will change only when they mean yi (one; once) bu (no; not). Exercise: Please read the following syllables syllables. yitian (a day) bu leng (not cold) yiding (definitely) yihuir (a moment) bu zhidao (I don’t know. ) yizu (a group) bu zao (not early) yi. ge (one + measure word) bu re (not hot) bu dui (not correct) buqu (not to go) di yi (the first) bu shi (not to be) bu mai (not to sell) bu xing (not okay) bu tai hao(not that good) buda (not big) u lai (not to come) Neutral tone tone: In actual speech, all unstressed syllables are pronounced with a â€Å"neutral tone†, which is sometimes considered as a lack of tone. In most varieties of Mandarin, the second syllable in two-syllable compounds is weaker in tonal prominence than the first one. A neutralized tone takes very little time to pronounce and does not hold or stick to its original tone. When actually pronouncing a neutral tone, one should not consider how a neutral tone sounds but focus on the tonal feature of the syllable that goes before it.Generally speaking, the pitch level of a neutral tone differs when following different tones as indicated in Figure 7. Figure7: Pitch level of neutral tones From Figure 6, we know that when following the first tone, the pitch level of a neutralized syllable is around the middle low pitch, i. e. at Scale 2. When it is after a second tone, the pitch level settles around middle pitch, i. e. Scale 3. When it goes after a third tone (half third tone actually), the pitch level is around middle high pitch, i. e. Scale 4. Its pitch level is the lowest, when a neutral tone is right after the fourth tone, i. . Scale 1. Whether a syllable is neutralized or not, one can’t tell from the Pinyin. In this book, we will either put a dot before a neutralized syllable or simply indicate it without a tone mark. Exercises: Please read the following syllables. xue. sheng (student) xi. huan (to like) di. fang (place) he. qi (gentle) tian. qi (weather) shu. fu (comfortable) ren. shi (to know sb. ) ta. men (they/them) women (we/ us) peng. you (friend) shen. me (what) jue. de ming. zi ge. ge fu. qin ma. ma ye. ye sun. zi (to feel) (name) (elder brother) (father) (mom) (grandfather) (grandson) yin. ei (because) di. di (younger brother) xie. xie (Thank you. ) jie. jie (elder sister) cong. ming (smart) er. zi (son) mu. qin (mother) ba. ba (dad) nai. nai (grandmother) ming. bai (clear ) xing. fu (happy) shi. qing (things) ke. yi (may) suoyi (therefore) ai. hao (hobby) gezi (height) dui. fu (to deal with) gongfu (Konfu) shuo. chu. lai (to speak out) er. duo (ear) guaibude (no wonder) kan. qi. lai (it seems that) xi. huan. shang(to begin to like) shuo. bude (can’t be blamed) The fickle ‘r’ sound: sound: Northerners, especially Beijingese tend to add the fickle ‘r’ to a word. uar (flower) menr(door) baimianr (drug, cocain) nar (where) qiur (ball) dianyingr (movie) dahuor (everybody) xiangweir (fragnant) hua huar (to draw) ge menr (buddy) miantiao (noodles) yucir (fish bone) yi kuair (together) xiao niaor (little bird) xiaohair ( little kid) yi dianr ( a bit) liaotianr (to chat) fan guanr (restaurant) mei zhunr (not sure) mei shir (nothing) xiao huar (joke) changger (to sing) guai wanr ( to make a turn) More Pinyin exercises: 1. Please read the following syllables: tongxue (classmate) waiguo (foreign country) xiao. iao (a Chinese name ) Shanghai (Shanghai) Jiazhou (California) gaoxing (happy) Zhongguo (China) Meiguo (America) peng. you (friend) liuxuesheng (international student) Yingguo (Britain) Lundun (London) xi. huan (to like) zhi. dao (to know) 2. Please read the following sentences: Jintian tian. qi hen hao. (The weather is good today. ) Bu leng bu re. (It is neither cold nor hot. ) Xin tongxue dou hen gao. xing. (New students are very happy. ) Robert shi Meiguo xue. sheng (Robert is an American student. ) Robert , ta you hen duo tongxue. you Meiguo tongxue, ye you waiguo tongxue (He has many classmates. (There are American students. ) (and there are also foreign students. ) , , Ta you yi ge Zhongguo pengyou, (He has a Chinese friend,) xing Wang jiao Wang Xiaoxiao. (whose surname is Wang and is called Xiaoxiao. ) Zhang Yizhong ye. shi Robert de xin peng. you. Robert (Zhang Yizhong is also Robert’s new friend. ) Ta bu . shi Meiguo xue. sheng. (He is not an American student. ) Ta shi Zhong guo liuxuesheng. (He is an international student from China. ) Wang Xiaoxiao shi Beijingren. (Wang Xiaoxiao is from Beijing. Zhang Yizhong bu. shi Beijingren, shi Shanghairen. , (ZhangYizhong is not from Beijing. He is from Shanghai. ) Robert hai you yi. ge Yingguo tongxue jiao Alex. Robert ,? Alex. (Robert also has a classmate from Britain, whose name is Alex. ) Ta ye shi liuxuesheng. (He is also an international student. ) Robert gen Alex dou hen xi. huan Zhongguo. (They both like China. ) Robertand Alex ye dou hen xi. huan Zhongwen. (Also they both like Chinese. ) Ni. shi Meiguo shenme di. fang ren? (Where are you from in the U. S.? ) ren. hi nimen hen gao. xing. (It is my pleasure to know you. ) 3. Please read the following poems: Jing ye si (Li Bai) Chuang qian ming yue guang, Yi shi di shang shuang. ju tou wang ming yue, di tou si gu xiang. (In the quiet night So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed – Could there have been a frost already? Lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight. Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home. ) Chun xiao (Meng Haoran) Chun mian bu jue xiao, Chu chu wen ti niao. Ye lai feng yu sheng, hua luo zhi duo shao. A Spring morning Awake light-hearted this morning of spring, Everywhere round me the singing of birds – But now I remember the night, the storm, And I wonder how many blossoms were broken. Yong e (Luo Bin Wang) e e e, Qu xiang xiang tian ge, Baimao fu lu shui, Hong zhang bo qing bo. (Twisting its neck, , , , the goose is singing to the sky. With its white feather on the green water, the red palms are striking on the clear water. ) Hui xiang ou shu (He Zhizhang) Shao xiao li jia lao da gui, Xiang yin wei gai bin mao cui. er tong xiang jian bu xiang shi, Xiao wen ke cong he chu lai. (Coming home I left home young. I return old; Speaking as then, but with hair grown thin; And the children, meeting me, do not know me. They smile and say: â€Å"Stranger, where do you come from? â€Å") 4. Tongue twisters: Si shi si. Shi shi shi. Shi si shi shi si. Si shi shi si shi. Si shi si shi si shi si. Four is four. Ten is ten. Fourteen is fourteen. Forty is forty. Forty four is forty four. Che shang you ge pen, Pen li you ge ping, ping ping ping, pang pang pang, bu zhi shi pen peng ping hai shi ping peng pen. , , , , , There is a basin in the car, and a bottle in the basin. Bin bin bin, bang bang bang, Not knowing which is hitting which. Shu. shang you zhi xiao taozi, Shu xia you zhi xiao houzi. Feng chui tao shu hua hua xiang, Shu. shang diao xia xiao taozi. Taozi da zhao xiao houzi, Houzi chi diao xiao taozi. (There is a peach on the tree, There is a monkey under the tree. The wind blows and the tree talks, With the wind, the peach falls, Right onto the monkey. And the monkey eats the peach. ) , , ,

Free Essays on Sectinalism- Civil War

North and South The United States of America, the great democratic experiment, was just that. Not since the great Greek culture had a government of, for, and by the people existed. The entire world felt, that on a large scale, democracy would inevitably lead to anarchy; our founding fathers were determined to prove them wrong. But as the political stand off with the British became a secession issue, a great issue split the future nation. Slavery, a southern necessity, both social and economic, threatened the unity of our nation. A nation that would one day be the greatest the world had ever known. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the south the temperate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Cultivation of this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern Colonies, though, were much more dependent on small farms, with closely knit communities. These differences were the se ed of a sectional division that would plague the nation for a century. During the late seventeenth century, this fissure in the ideals of the colonies became apparent. Following the constant political irreverence from Britain, a majority of colonial representatives felt the need for independence. The Declaration of Independence was the document written to do this. It called for an abolition of slavery as well as freedom from British rule. Unfortunately, the South would hear nothing of it. Being strong defenders of states rights, most of the Southern states adhered to their believe in a government less like a supreme authority and more like a dominion of independent states. They would rather stay loyal to their oppressive government than participate in one that shunned their way of life. In order to keep their dreams of independence, they North was forced to make the one cession they did not wish to make. In order to keep a unified nation, the slavery issue w... Free Essays on Sectinalism- Civil War Free Essays on Sectinalism- Civil War North and South The United States of America, the great democratic experiment, was just that. Not since the great Greek culture had a government of, for, and by the people existed. The entire world felt, that on a large scale, democracy would inevitably lead to anarchy; our founding fathers were determined to prove them wrong. But as the political stand off with the British became a secession issue, a great issue split the future nation. Slavery, a southern necessity, both social and economic, threatened the unity of our nation. A nation that would one day be the greatest the world had ever known. During the development of the thirteen colonies, diversity set in early. In the south the temperate climate made the growth of tobacco a suitable and very profitable business. Cultivation of this crop required a lot of land, and therefore settlers lived far apart. Northern Colonies, though, were much more dependent on small farms, with closely knit communities. These differences were the se ed of a sectional division that would plague the nation for a century. During the late seventeenth century, this fissure in the ideals of the colonies became apparent. Following the constant political irreverence from Britain, a majority of colonial representatives felt the need for independence. The Declaration of Independence was the document written to do this. It called for an abolition of slavery as well as freedom from British rule. Unfortunately, the South would hear nothing of it. Being strong defenders of states rights, most of the Southern states adhered to their believe in a government less like a supreme authority and more like a dominion of independent states. They would rather stay loyal to their oppressive government than participate in one that shunned their way of life. In order to keep their dreams of independence, they North was forced to make the one cession they did not wish to make. In order to keep a unified nation, the slavery issue w...

Study of Nurse Workarounds in a Hospital Using Bar Code Medication Research Paper

Study of Nurse Workarounds in a Hospital Using Bar Code Medication Administration System - Research Paper Example The implementation of BCMA technology might impact negatively on the nurses’ attitudes toward the medication administration process. This, in turn, might make work processes more difficult to nurses while administering medication to patients. This paper will provide a response to Goodner’s journal article as regards to nurses’ perception to the use of BCMA system and then provide my judgment over the issue. It will also review three other journal articles to demonstrate if they agree with my viewpoint. Finally, the paper will list my evaluation and three points of criteria used in my judgment. Research reveals that medication errors are the most frequently experienced preventable errors at (19%) according to Gooder (2011). Gooder notes that most (34%) medication errors take place during medication administration. The impacts of these errors are directly related to patients and can cause grave injuries. It is for this reason that the Institute of Administration (IOM) recommended the introduction of bar coded medication administration system (BCMAs) as a solution to medication administration errors. This, argues Gooder, will reduce medication errors by about 86%. This is true because it will enhance the prevention of patient injuries, which have characterized most of today’s hospitals. On the other hand, the technology will also improve the overall quality of services offered in the hospital. With the application of the technology, there will be faster administration of medication and improved accuracy in service delivery. This will improve the overall satisfaction o f patients. In spite of the benefits of the BCMA system as regards error reduction, Gooder notes some concerns about its safety and effectiveness. Among the concerns is the non-compliance with the BCMA system by nurses in many hospital settings.

The intrusion of new technologies into the life-world lies at the Essay

The intrusion of new technologies into the life-world lies at the heart of the story about 20th century modernity - Essay Example For the modern geographer, the nature of time and space, the relationship between technological innovation and social space, the implications of the modern condition in the construction of subjectivity in the context of the technological advancements especially the impact of industrialization and the spread of manufacturing houses in the twentieth century, become essential studies. Use of technology has provided a choice, to act responsibly given the type of tool in hand or, to reject; to choose selectively and communally and to make a conscious choice of weeding out the superfluous and bettering what is perceived to be good (Robinson, 2001). This dissertation shall analyze the advent and progress of industrialization, concept of factories as the spatial basis of modernity, its impact on the society its, especially in relation to the concepts of time and space, and the economic implications, through various perspectives of modern philosophers and geographers like, Max Weber, David Ny e, Michel Foucault, Georg Simmel, Marshall Berman, Henri Lefebvre, to name a few. In the process, it is attempted to study the relevance of their observations, their limitations, drawing attention to their future connotations for the future. The Industrial Revolution: The term 'technology' was born in 1828 and spread with the railroads. The very first of such technologies is the rise of the telegraph system, which allowed important news to be transmitted across the country with rapid speed, and more pointedly the stock quotes, that aided the stock market bloom. Then, the railroad system, that allowed goods and people, to travel around anywhere at a faster pace. The importance of the railways was not only its speed and automation, but that it gave its riders freedom. Nye (1994) has wondered "What better way to measure oneself against nature than through the great works of manufacturing and engineering" Even more speed was achieved with the advent of the petroleum system, which with the use of pipes and railroads, was utilized move products and people. Then the telephone system that allowed people to interact with each other over long distances. This was closely followed by the advent of the electric system, which was deve loped by Thomas Edison, with the aid of Michael Faraday's electric generator. When Edison invented the light bulb, he founded the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York. Very rapidly, almost within months, the world was witnessing a great transformation. Consequently, the United States of America and the European nations were being transformed from agricultural societies to those that were industrially dependant societies. Many farmers and other people were giving up the rural life and moving to urban and city areas to find jobs in factories. The Rise of the Factory: The history of technological revolutions in the past two centuries may be said to have started with the Industrial Revolution of 1760-1830, which witnessed the "rise of the factory." (Mokyr, 2001) Actually, there have been numerous precedents for large-scale enterprise and for people working in large plants