Conjugate Trouver (to Find) in French

Conjugate Trouver (to Find) in French In French, the verb  trouver  means to find. This is a little easier to remember if you think of finding a treasure trove. Beyond that, youll also need to memorize the verbs conjugations in order to say things like the present tense finding and the past tense found. A quick lesson will introduce you to the essential conjugations of  trouver  youll need. The Basic Conjugations of  Trouver Verb conjugations in French are a little trickier than they are in English. Where we use -ing and -ed endings to indicate the present and past tenses, French uses a new ending for each subject pronoun within each tense. That means you have more words to memorize. The good news for French students is that  trouver  is a  regular -er verb. It follows the most common conjugation patterns found in the French language, so the endings you learn here can also be applied to a number of other verbs. Well begin the lesson with the indicative mood, which includes the basic present, future, and imperfect past tenses. Once you know that the verbs radical (or stem) is  trouv-, you can apply the appropriate ending. The chart will help you study these words. Simply pair the subject pronoun with the proper tense for your sentence. For example, I am finding is  je trouve  and we found is  nous trouvions. Practicing these in context will speed up your memorization and there are many common  expressions with  trouver  that can help you out. Present Future Imperfect je trouve trouverai trouvais tu trouves trouveras trouvais il trouve trouvera trouvait nous trouvons trouverons trouvions vous trouvez trouverez trouviez ils trouvent trouveront trouvaient The Present Participle of  Trouver For regular verbs, adding -ant to the verb stem forms the present participle. For trouver, that creates the word trouvant. Trouver  in the Compound Past Tense Beyond the imperfect, you can also use the compound past tense known as the  passà © composà ©. This requires a simple construction using the  auxiliary verb  avoir  and the  past participle  trouvà ©. The only conjugation you need to worry about here is for  avoir.  Youll use the present tense that matches the subject, then attach the past participle. For example, I found is  jai trouvà ©Ã‚  and we found is  nous avons trouvà ©. More Simple Conjugations of  Trouver Among the other simple conjugations youll want to study for  trouver  are the subjunctive and the conditional. They both have some degree of uncertainty in the act of finding, with the conditional implying that its dependent on something else happening. There may also be times when youll encounter or use the passà © simple  or  imperfect subjunctive. However, all of the other forms should be your top priority as these are only used on occasion. Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je trouve trouverais trouvai trouvasse tu trouves trouverais trouvas trouvasses il trouve trouverait trouva trouvà ¢t nous trouvions trouverions trouvà ¢mes trouvassions vous trouviez trouveriez trouvà ¢tes trouvassiez ils trouvent trouveraient trouvà ¨rent trouvassent The imperative  form  is the only one that doesnt require the subject pronoun. Its used in short sentences and instead of  tu trouve, you can simplify it to  trouve. Imperative (tu) trouve (nous) trouvons (vous) trouvez

Color Psychology Essay

Color Psychology Essay Color Psychology Essay â€Å"Douglas and Jaelyn are plunked down next to each other playing with dinosaurs. They don't seem to be interacting, but every now and again, one of them will check out the other. And when Jaelyn segues to a different play area, Douglas follows.† (http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/baby-parallel-play.html) Parallel play is one of the of human psychology. , that we are still uncovering new information about. Play is one of the most essential things that form a child’s life, personality, interests and opinions. However, not all children have a happy childhood. Children of wars, or from abused families, for example. Some children live in rural areas, without companionship from siblings or friends. Solitary play helps the growth of kids without friends around them. Imagination is a child’s greatest tool and is used to its full advantage. From blocks to painting, to dolls and puppets, to running around in a back yard or laughing with friends, play extends everywhere. What is parallel play? Mildred Parten born in 1902, who wrote an article in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, where this was discussed, named the idea of parallel play. Parten also named other types of play such as cooperative, solitary and onlooker. In a â€Å"social participation act† with forty preschool children, she compared and contrasted play behaviors. Put simply, as she described it, parallel play is when two children are in a room together, possibly even playing with the same toys-but not interacting. Cooperative play however, is just about the opposite of that. Cooperative play is when children interact. Usually children transfer from parallel play between the ages of two and three years old (Social and Personality Development - William Damon -Secondary source) when a child is still in preschool. Sometimes parents mistake the growing into cooperative play for the child growing out of parallel play. Some children that grow into cooperative play do so later than others. Interference from a parent or teacher can influence this and can prove to be unhealthy. Even though kids grow into coopereative play, no matter what their stage is they still engage in parallel play as well. Parten had identified the concept of parallel play to understand social development of people better. After she completed her doctoral course in 1929 (genealogy.org), she developed the five types of play- parallel, onlooker; solitary, unoccupied, associative and cooperative (Social and Personality Development - William Damon -Secondary source) . As William Damon states in his book â€Å"Social and Personality Development solitary play helps children develop on their own. Without toys, children use their imagination. Without friends, children use their imagination. Imagination is one thing that never dies no matter what, because it fosters a child’s natural curiosity, if not pushing it gently to its limits. Onlooker behavior occurs when a child does not participate in a game or a movement with the rest of a group. follows. He simply does not feel like participating, though he may be friendly with other children. Parallel play is mentioned above. Associative play is full-blown cooperative play. A child will play with his friends, and probably include talking in the activity. If he is- observed, he will show more interest in his friends and/or environment then the toys around him, although hey will still pay some attention to the toys. Cooperative play begins as mimicry. At this stage, when a child sees something similar to what he has in his possession, he will be interested. Mimicry could be eating the same food, having the same toy, or even imitating body movements. 1. As William Damon states in his book â€Å"Social and Personality Development† solitary play helps children develop on their own. Without toys, children use their imagination. Without friends, children use their imagination. Imagination is one thing that never dies no matter what, because it

Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy - Essay Example Duchenne muscular dystrophy or Pseudohypertrophic muscular dystrophy or Muscular dystrophy- Duchenne type is an X-linked neuromuscular disorder of muscle caused by an absence of the protein dystrophin. DMD was named in recognition of Dr. G. Duchenne de Boulogne from France around 150 years ago. He was the first person to attribute the signs and symptoms to a distinct familial disease entity. The gene responsible for it is DMD gene which is known to be the largest gene encoding the muscle protein, dystrophin the discovery of this gene was made around 20 years ago. Dystrophin provides structural stability to the dystroglycan complex (DGC) present on the cell membrane as it attaches with the inner surface of the muscle fiber membrane. A mutation in the DMD gene residing in Xp21 region of the X-chromosome, hampers the production of dystrophin protein causing progressive loss of muscle function and weakness (Partridge, 2007). It starts with the lower limbs and gradually covers the entire musculature. DMD is rapidly progressing form of muscular dystrophy affecting male with a frequency of 1 in 3500 infants (Chamberlain, 2006). It is observed that the affected boys start manifesting symptoms of disease early in life usually before 5 years of age. They become powerless and are unable to walk and are restricted to wheel chair during their late childhood or early teen years. Patients usually develop various complications related with respiratory insufficiency and/ or cardiomyopathy as the disease progresses. Death occurs at by late teen age or in the early twenties (Chamberlin, 2006). It is essential to provide appropriate treatment to overcome the basic genetic defect, either through medical, surgical, and rehabilitative approaches to make the patient comfortable (Sussman, 2002). Symptoms Before the age of 6 years symptoms start becoming obvious, although they are visible in early infancy. There are three clinical stages: an ambulatory stage, an early nonambulatory stage, and a late nonambulatory stage. Ambulatory Stage- This is between two and four years of age, at this stage, symptoms start appearing. Symptoms show weakness of forward head flexion and a inadequate capability to sit up persist beyond infancy leading to poor motor development, deficient memory skills and they gradually reduce their ability to cope with their peers both physically and mentally. Heel cord and elbow flexion contractures are also apparent. In rare cases, obstructive sleep apnea also develops along with facial soiling. The ECG readings show- Q waves leads in the lateral precordial while tall R and deep S waves leads in early precordial (Chamberlain, 2006). If glucocorticoids are not given then by the age of nine years, the child starts lacking ability to rise from supine to standing position and to climb stairs or arise from a chair and are able to ambulate with braces. Early Nonambulatory Stage- This stage is between 10 and 12 years, the patient becomes dependent on wheel chair and flexion contractures at the ankle and elbow becomes more obvious. In this stage aquatic therapy may slow the progression. The dependency on wheel chair develops scoliosis and the patient needs orthopedic consultation along with radiological evaluation. The average strength of the patient starts declining at the age of 9 years. Late Nonambulatory Sta

Paraphrasing Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Paraphrasing Practice - Essay Example a woman who is not physically and psychologically ready to have a child would lead to many complications that may be hazardous to human community as well, because a child who is not needed/accepted by his mother/parents can pose more threat to the world than a fetus that is medically removed before it becomes a living organism/individual. a. My understanding of the statements of friend changed drastically after I used active listening. At first, I was prejudiced against his view and thought that he was arguing for free sex, without taking into account the serious problems that it would create. However, once I slowed down to paraphrase his statements, I began to see how I misinterpreted some of his views, and could have argued against those in an infuriated state of mind. He got sufficient time to explain his point of view clearly because I held my views until his argument, my paraphrasing, and his corrections/approval of how I comprehended them. I came to know that he had formed a perception regarding the topic on the basis of careful observation, and not on impulse. He did not want to promote irresponsible man-woman relationships, but was adamant that one has to take into account the present state of affairs when discussing a serious issue that dealt with it. I understood his points of view regarding the situations where a woman gets pregnant our of rape or incest, and the cases where a pregnant woman is not mature enough to deal with becoming a mother, or where the failure of contraceptive measures fail even among married couples who have decided that their family is complete. If I had voiced my views vehemently without trying to understand his point of view, we would just have argued for a long time with no use at all, as if speaking in entirely different languages. b. The wide gap that existed among the views of my friend and me narrowed to a great extent as a result of active listening. Both of us took quality time to pause, understand the other’s

No Phones in School Essay Example for Free

No Phones in School Essay Cell phones are good for education. Cell Phones are good for education for many reasons. First you can use cell phones for research purposes. Although most schools have at least 1 computer in the classroom and a computer lab, sometimes this still isn’t enough. It can also be expensive to provide a computer to each student at school, so a good option is to use cell phones for research instead. Next, I want to talk about why apps are good for education. Some people think that some apps are bad and kids will get distracted and use them in class. And the truth is that cell phones have many educational apps as well. Which do you think would be more fun and exciting for a student? Either studying with a boring book that is hard to understand, or playing an educational app that is still studying, but much more exciting. I would definitely choose the second choice. Here are some good features of phones that are good for school: 1.Calculator. It doesn’t matter if your phone is expensive or not, almost every single phone has a calculator. Lots of students are required to have a calculator as one of their school supplies, but if they have one on their phone, then they don’t have to get one. 2. Stop Watch. Lots of phones have a stopwatch, which can be used in science class. I know that when I was in public school we used stopwatches all the time for experiments, and the teacher only had 3 stopwatches so we had to take turns. 3. Dictionary. Cell phones can be used as a dictionary, which can be VERY useful in a classroom setting. You can always search on the Internet for the definition, or if you classroom or school doesn’t have wi fi, you can text to 466-456 the word you need defined and Google will text you back the definition of that term.

Educational Goals and Philosophy Essay -- Education Teaching Teachers

Educational Goals and Philosophy Teaching has always been an honorable and valued profession. With teaching you instill the knowledge and values that the student will take with them throughout life. I have volunteered at the elementary school with my children and have enjoyed watching the encouragement and nurturing of these teachers towards their students. I felt that I have the ability to nurture and share in the wonderment of the knowledge that prevails around us. To achieve this goal I will strive to give these students the understanding, love, and confidence that they need to prepare them for their journey in life. I plan to teach special education. I believe that these children need more patience and understanding towards their academic goals. I have always had a warm spot in my heart for these children. Many of these children do not receive the positive attitude at home that they can succeed and meet challenges in their life. I want them to recognize their challenges and to raise their self-esteem, so that they can achieve every goal in life. I feel that these students have the potential and ability to gain the knowledge and to make a valuable impact on today’s society. It will be my job, as a teacher; to make sure that the correct technique is being demonstrated to ensure that these students reach their full potential. The main goal to any teaching technique is to give confidence to that student that he/she can do anything. There is no obstacl...

Geosciene Online Quiz Question and Answers

The Geosci Motherload Unit 1 – Science! |1. |The US government, and most other governments of the world, provide support for scientists but not for astrologers, palm readers, or telephone | | |â€Å"psychics†. Why do governments support scientists? | | |A. | | |Scientists are amazingly sexy, and government functionaries simply cannot control themselves in the presence of such overwhelming sexiness and | | |throw money at the scientists (sometimes tucking tens and twenties into the pockets of the scientists’ lab coats). | | | | |B. | | |Scientists use a careful method, and governments are always committed to supporting the use of careful methods. | | | | | |C. | | |Scientists help humans do useful things, which makes the humans healthier, wealthier, etc. , and governments often like to support health and | | |wealth. | | | | |D. | | |Scientists all drink Diet Pepsi because they think it makes them look sexy, and governments are all controlled by the powerful Pe psi | | |Corporation and so the governments support the Diet-Pepsi-drinking scientists. | | | | | |E. | | |Scientists learn the Truth, and governments are always deeply committed to learning the truth. | | | The government is often interested in seeing people live longer, or improving the economy, or having better and more-accurate explosive devices for the military, or in many other things that improve our lives, and science plus engineering and scientific medicine are better than any other human activity at delivering these. A cynic might say that politicians are often not all that interested in finding the Truth.And a realist would note that science is being improved all the time, and because you cannot improve on the Truth, science has not (yet? ) learned the Truth. There are many methods in the world, some of them are careful, and many of them are not funded by the government. Some of our spouses or significant others may think that some scientists are sexy, but many other se xy persons are not funded by the government. One of the professors has been known to drink a competitor of Pepsi on occasion, and some scientists refrain from soft drinks entirely. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |C | |Your Response: |C | |2. |What is an accurate description of the job of a scientist? | | |A. | |The scientist does only things that require high-tech equipment. | | | | | |B. | | |The scientist invents new ideas, and goes on to show that some of those ideas are false. | | | | | |C. | | |The scientist learns the Truth through careful application of the scientific method. | | | | | |D. | |The scientist does only things that show how sexy being a scientist really is, causing down-trodden non-scientists to lose control of | | |themselves with carnal lust for the scientist. | | | | | |E. | | |The scientist Invents new ideas, and then goes on to prove that some of those ideas are True. | | | | Much of the fun in science is coming up with great new ideas (h ypotheses, if you like fancy words).But for your new idea to â€Å"win†, you have to show that it does better than old ideas, so you have to prove those old ideas false (or incomplete, or not-quite-right, or whatever â€Å"nice† word you might prefer). The scientific method is a powerful way for humans to learn to do things, and learn what does and doesn’t work, but the results of science are always open to improvement, so are not claimed to be Truth, and probably are not Truth. Some scientists still use pencils and look at things, and there are probably a few non-sexy scientists around somewhere. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |3. |Newton’s ideas on physics â€Å"won†, and Aristotle’s ideas were kicked out of science and over into history. Why? | | |A. | | |Newton’s ideas appealed to dead white European males, whereas Aristotle’s didn’t because Aristotle wore a toga all the time. | | | | | |B. | |Newton’s ideas did a better job of predicting how nature would behave. | | | | | |C. | | |Newton’s ideas appealed to dead white European males, whereas Aristotle’s didn’t. | | | | | |D. | | |Newton’s ideas were more elegant, and so were intellectually favored. | | | | | |E. | | |Newton won the Nobel prize. | | | |Unlike painting or literature, scientific inquiry has a well-defined procedure for figuring out if Newton's ideas are better or if Aristotle had it right all along. In looking at a painting, we can ask different people what they think, or we can make up our own mind on whether we like it or not, and that is perfectly valid. In science, we have to ask: does the idea fit with the way the world works? Can I predict the speed of a falling object better using Newton's ideas or Aristotle's? As it turns out, Aristotle’s ideas didn’t predict things very well, and Newton’s did. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |4. |Scientists often speak of consensus—the scientific community agrees that a particular theory is better than the competitors.What is such | | |scientific consensus based on? | | |A. | | |The insistence of a single scientist that he or she is correct. | | | | | |B. | | |A number of different experiments by different people that all had outcomes that were predicted accurately by the favored theory and not by | | |the competitors. | | | | | |C. | | |Statements in the old textbooks that the scientists studied when they were in school. | | | | | |D. | |The decision of the Nobel prize committee to give the inventor of the idea a lot of money. | | | | | |E. | | |A single experiment had an outcome that was predicted accurately by the favored theory and not by the competitors. | | | | Agreement on scientific theories is a contentious, drawn-out, and sometimes acrimonious business. Scientists are no better (and no worse! ) than everyb ody else: we think we are right and those who disagree with us are dunderheads!I put forward my idea, and the experiments that I did that show the idea is a good one†¦ then everybody else piles on and pooh-poohs my idea. BUT, they go out and do experiments that try and show my ideas are wrong†¦ and they can't do it! So eventually all those experiments accumulate, and finally people agree that my idea is a good one. (Sometimes accompanied by a sneer: â€Å"†¦ but of course I knew that all along. I just didn't bother to publicize it†¦ † I told you, scientists are no better and no worse than the rest of the world. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |5. |Your job depends on you finding the best available information on a particular technical topic. Where should you concentrate your search if | | |you want to do it right and keep your job? | | |A. | | |Watch cola commercials on football bowl games. | | | | |B. | | |Locate articles in weekly news magazines analyzing the views of public officials on the technical issue, as reported in the newspapers. | | | | | |C. | | |Get on the web and go looking for the pages posted by â€Å"think-tanks† headquartered near Washington. | | | | | |D. | | |Scan databases of newspaper articles to find the views of public figures on the technical issue. | | | | |E. | | |Find and study refereed scientific articles in learned journals. | | | | No source of information is perfect, but the refereed articles in learned journals put immense effort into â€Å"getting it right†. The web has reliable information, of course, but probably most of the information on the web is not especially reliable. The web is very inexpensive, and lots of people put junk on it.Think tanks also often are pushing an agenda, and try to â€Å"spin† information their way. Most newspapers are around for the long haul, and try to make the news fairly accurate, although some news papers do have agendas, and the editorial pages are not especially accurate. But, if the report is on the views of a public figure, the newspaper may accurately report what the public figure said, but what the public figure said may be less than completely accurate. Some magazines are quite good and careful, but many are pushing a belief or just overhyping things to tease you into buying the magazine.And while you are welcome to believe that drinking a particular cola makes you sexy†¦ don’t count on it. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |E | |Your Response: |E | |6. |Before they can be published, scientific papers must be peer-reviewed. This means that: | | |A. | | |Some other scientific experts read the papers and guarantee that they are True. | | | | |B. | | |Some other scientific experts read the papers and provide quality control by eliminating many mistakes. | | | | | |C. | | |Government bureaucrats read the papers, to be sure that the papers do not i nsult the political positions of the current officeholders. | | | | | |D. | |Everyone in the world is given the opportunity to comment on the papers through a specially maintained blog. | | | | | |E. | | |An editor reads the papers, to make sure that all the semicolons are in the correct places. | | | | Reviewers work hard to identify errors of any sort, almost always identify many, and then the reviewers and editors insist that those errors be fixed before publication.Review is done voluntarily by scientists; this is part of the cost of being a member of this great human undertaking. Science doesn’t claim Truth; although science strives to be as accurate as humanly possible, that is often well short of Truth. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |7. |What is more accurate about the Earth? | | |A. | |The Earth is formed of flat, vertical layers; one runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, and then others are layered on to the sides o f | | |that. | | | | | |B. | | |The Earth is formed of flat, horizontal layers, a little cap at the South Pole, then a layer above that, and a layer above that, all the way | | |up to a little cap at the North Pole. | | | | | |C. | |The Earth is formed of concentric layers (something like an onion–a central ball with a shell around it, and a shell around that†¦), but with | | |a giant hole on one side where the moon-making collision blasted pieces off. | | | | | |D. | | |The Earth is homogeneous; when it melted, it got all mixed up. | | | | | |E. | |The Earth is formed of concentric layers (something like an onion–a central ball with a shell around it, and a shell around that†¦); when the | | |planet melted, it separated into layers. | | | | The planet is onion-like, with an inner core, then an outer core, a mantle (which has several sub-layers), and a crust. The moon-making collision did happen, but the planet got hot enough to separate again. The plane t separated after melting largely or completely, with the densest stuff falling to the center and the lowest-density stuff floating to the top. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |E | | | | |8. |Geologists get to play with chemistry, physics, biology†¦ and history! And what a history you will meet as you work your way through the | | |course.Starting at the beginning, the textbook provides the scientifically accepted start of the story†¦ and promises that you’ll get to | | |explore some of the evidence for that scientific view, later in the semester. Meanwhile, which is more nearly correct of the scientifically | | |accepted view? | | |A. | | |The Earth is eternal, having been here forever and promising to be here forever. | | | | | |B. | |The Earth formed from the falling together of older materials, about 4. 6 billion years ago. | | | | | |C. | | |The Earth formed in the Big Bang, about 6000 years ago. | | | | | |D. | | |The Earth was assembled by g igantic space beavers, which gnawed down the primordial tree of life and piled its branches together to form the | | |planet. | | | | | |E. | |The Earth formed when the Big Bang caused older materials to fall together, about 14 billion years ago. | | | | The Big Bang is estimated as having occurred about 14 billion years ago. Stars that eventually formed in the wake of the Big Bang led to production of elements such as iron and silicon that are common in the Earth—we are formed from second-generation stardust, which â€Å"got it together† to make the planet about 4. 6 billion years ago. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |9. |National Parks are: | | |A. | | |Regions containing key biological resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of future generations. | | | | |B. | | |Regions containing key geological resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation. | | | | | |C. | | |Regions contai ning key cultural resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation and future generations. | | | | | |D. | |Regions containing key biological, geological or cultural resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation and | | |future generations. | | | | | |E. | | |Regions containing key roller coasters that have been set aside for the enjoyment of you and your immediate friends. | | | | Old Faithful, the giant sequoias, and Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings are waiting for you, and your grandchildren. [pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |D | |Your Response: |D | |10. You find two neutral atoms. Each has 8 protons in its nucleus, but one has 7 neutrons, and the other has 8 neutrons. It is correct | | |to state that: | | |A. | | |The two atoms are from two different elements. | | | | | |B. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different ions of that element. | | | | |C. | | |The two ato ms are from the same cola, but presented in different packaging. | | | | | |D. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isotopes of that element. | | | | |E. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isopleths of that element. | | | | The element is determined by the number of protons, so if each atom has the same number of protons, the atoms are the same element. Changing the number of neutrons primarily affects the weight, giving a different isotope of the same element. Changing the number of neutrons too much can introduce radioactivity, so the isotope won’t hang around forever. ) Ions are made by gaining or losing electrons. Isopleths are lines on a map connecting places with the same concentration of something that someone has measured, not exactly relevant here. And cola requires making atoms into molecules, and then mixing molecules of several sorts (water, sweetener, coloring agent, flavoring agent, perhaps caffeine) to mak e cola. [pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |D | |Your Response: |D | |11. You get some stuff, and start taking it apart. But, you are restricted to the use of â€Å"ordinary† means (fire, sunlight, your digestive| | |system) and you cannot use atom smashers or atom bombs. What is the smallest piece that you are likely to be able to produce: | | |A. | | |A quark | | | | | |B. | | |A nucleus | | | | |C. | | |A proton. | | | | | |D. | | |An atom | | | | | |E. | |A neutron. | | | | We can break matter down into atoms (Greek for â€Å"not cuttable† because the Greeks didn’t have atom smashers or other exotic tools that would allow cutting atoms into smaller pieces). All of the wrong answers here are smaller pieces of atoms, but cannot normally be isolated by â€Å"ordinary† tools. [pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |D | |Your Response: |D | |12. Ignoring good manners, you start rooting around in the nucleus of a p oor, unsuspecting atom, to see what is in there. What are you | | |most likely to find? | | |A. | | |Only neutrons. | | | | | |B. | | |Neutrons, usually with some electrons hanging around among the neutrons. | | | | | |C. | | |Protons, usually with some electrons hanging around among the protons. | | | | |D. | | |Protons, usually with some neutrons hanging around among the protons. | | | | | |E. | | |Only protons. | | | | The simplest nucleus is the single proton in â€Å"ordinary† hydrogen.All other nuclei include protons and neutrons. Electrons make the cloud around the nucleus. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |D | |1. |What is an accurate description of the job of a scientist? | | |A. | | |The scientist invents new ideas, and goes on to show that some of those ideas are false. | | | | |B. | | |The scientist learns the Truth through careful application of the scientific method. | | | | | |C. | | |The scientist Invents new ideas, and then goes on to prove th at some of those ideas are True. | | | | | |D. | |The scientist does only things that show how sexy being a scientist really is, causing down-trodden non-scientists to lose control of | | |themselves with carnal lust for the scientist. | | | | | |E. | | |The scientist does only things that require high-tech equipment. | | | | Much of the fun in science is coming up with great new ideas (hypotheses, if you like fancy words).But for your new idea to â€Å"win†, you have to show that it does better than old ideas, so you have to prove those old ideas false (or incomplete, or not-quite-right, or whatever â€Å"nice† word you might prefer). The scientific method is a powerful way for humans to learn to do things, and learn what does and doesn’t work, but the results of science are always open to improvement, so are not claimed to be Truth, and probably are not Truth. Some scientists still use pencils and look at things, and there are probably a few non-sexy scient ists around somewhere. [pic]|Points Earned: |0/1 | |Your Response: |B | |1. |Most Americans support science because: | | |A. | | |The scientific method allows scientists to learn the Truth. | | | | | |B. | | |All scientists are sexy. | | | | | |C. | |All Americans are bored silly by science. | | | | | |D. | | |All Americans are fascinated by science. | | | | | |E. | | |Science has helped make our lives easier, safer, etc. | | | | Without science and technology, the great majority of us would be dead, so we tend to be supporters of science.Although we know that science works, we’re never sure that it is completely right. Students so often discover things that professors missed, or that professors got wrong, that scientists would be silly to claim Truth. Comparing the TV ratings of the latest hit to the ratings of the latest science program on public broadcasting shows that many Americans are not fascinated by science, but the science-show ratings are above zero, so some people are fascinated by science. And hope as we might, it is unfortunately clear that not every scientist is sexy (just most of them are†¦). [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |E | | | | |2. |What is an accurate description of the job of a scientist? | | |A. | |The scientist invents new ideas, and goes on to show that some of those ideas are false. | | | | | |B. | | |The scientist learns the Truth through careful application of the scientific method. | | | | | |C. | | |The scientist does only things that show how sexy being a scientist really is, causing down-trodden non-scientists to lose control of | | |themselves with carnal lust for the scientist. | | | | |D. | | |The scientist does only things that require high-tech equipment. | | | | | |E. | | |The scientist Invents new ideas, and then goes on to prove that some of those ideas are True. | | | | Much of the fun in science is coming up with great new ideas (hypotheses, if you like fancy words).But for your new idea to â€Å"win†, you have to show that it does better than old ideas, so you have to prove those old ideas false (or incomplete, or not-quite-right, or whatever â€Å"nice† word you might prefer). The scientific method is a powerful way for humans to learn to do things, and learn what does and doesn’t work, but the results of science are always open to improvement, so are not claimed to be Truth, and probably are not Truth. Some scientists still use pencils and look at things, and there are probably a few non-sexy scientists around somewhere. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |A | |Your Response: |A | |3. |The final arbitrator between two alternate theories (for example Aristotle’s and Newton’s ideas) is: | | |A. | | |A public opinion poll conducted by Gallup, ABC News, and Fox News. | | | | |B. | | |Nature, and experiments conducted to test each idea. | | | | | |C. | | |A committee of â€Å"wise men† who gather twice a year to arbitrate such disputes. | | | | | |D. | | |The Nobel Prize Committee in Stockholm, Sweden. | | | |Unlike painting or literature, scientific inquiry has a well-defined procedure for figuring out if Newton's ideas are better or if Aristotle had it right all along. In looking at a painting, we can ask different people what they think, or we can make up our own mind on whether we like it or not, and that is perfectly valid. In science, we have to ask: does the idea fit with the way the world works? Can I predict the speed of a falling object better using Newton's ideas or Aristotle's? As it turns out, Aristotle’s ideas didn’t predict things very well, and Newton’s did. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |4. |When scientists agree that a particular scientific theory is a good one, and the scientists use that theory to help make new things, cure | | |diseases, etc. that â€Å"agreement† came about because: | | | A. | | |A single experiment had an outcome that was well-predicted by that theory. | | | | | |B. | | |A single, well-respected scientist put forward the idea. | | | | | |C. | | |That's what it says in all the books. | | | | | |D. | | |The Nobel prize committee gave the inventor of the idea a lot of money. | | | | | |E. | |A number of different experiments by different people all had outcomes that were well-predicted by the theory. | | | | Agreement on scientific theories is a contentious, drawn-out, and sometimes acrimonious business. Scientists are no better (and no worse! ) than everybody else: we think we are right and those who disagree with us are dunderheads! I put forward my idea, and the experiments that I did that show the idea is a good one†¦ then everybody else piles on and pooh-poohs my idea. BUT, they go out and do experiments that try and show my ideas are wrong†¦ nd they can't do it! So eventually all those experiments accumulate, and finally people agre e that my idea is a good one. (Sometimes accompanied by a sneer: â€Å"†¦ but of course I knew that all along. I just didn't bother to publicize it†¦ † I told you, scientists are no better and no worse than the rest of the world. ) |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |E | |Your Response: |E | |5. Which is more likely to contain reliable information? | | |A. | | |A web page posted by an independent â€Å"think-tank†. | | | | | |B. | | |A magazine article summarizing recent newspaper and television reports. | | | | | |C. | | |A refereed article in a learned journal. | | | | | |D. | | |The views of public figures reported in a newspaper article. | | | | |E. | | |A cola commercial. | | | | No source of information is perfect, but the refereed articles in learned journals put immense effort into â€Å"getting it right†. The web has reliable information, of course, but probably most of the information on the web is not especially reliable. The web is very inexpensive, and lots of people put junk on it.Think tanks also often are pushing an agenda, and try to â€Å"spin† information their way. Most newspapers are around for the long haul, and try to make the news fairly accurate, although some newspapers do have agendas, and the editorial pages are not especially accurate. But, if the report is on the views of a public figure, the newspaper may accurately report what the public figure said, but what the public figure said may be less than completely accurate. Some magazines are quite good and careful, but many are pushing a belief or just overhyping things to tease you into buying the magazine.And while you are welcome to believe that drinking a particular cola makes you sexy†¦ don’t count on it. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |C | |Your Response: |C | |6. |What is accurate about peer review of scientific papers? | | |A. | | |It insures that they are True. | | | | |B. | | |It almost alway s leads to the recommendation that the papers be published without changes. | | | | | |C. | | |It is why we call scientific papers â€Å"primary sources†. | | | | | |D. | | |It provides quality control by eliminating many mistakes. | | | | | |E. | |It is primarily done by government bureaucrats hired for that purpose. | | | | Reviewers work hard to identify errors of any sort, almost always identify many, and then the reviewers and editors insist that those errors be fixed before publication. Review is done voluntarily by scientists; this is part of the cost of being a member of this great human undertaking.Science doesn’t claim Truth; although science strives to be as accurate as humanly possible, that is often well short of Truth. Asking grandpa what school was like in his childhood gives you a primary source (grandpa), even if he insists that he walked 20 miles through neck-deep snow, uphill both ways. Some primary sources have selective memories. |[pic]|Points Ea rned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |D | |Your Response: |D | |7. The Earth is layered. Most geologists believe that this layering originated primarily because: | | |A. | | |The denser material fell together from space first, and then the less-dense material fell in later. | | | | | |B. | | |The Earth partially or completely melted soon after it formed, and the denser materials fell to the center. | | | | | |C. | |Graham Spanier decreed that it be, so it was. | | | | | |D. | | |The Earth has been separating bit-by-bit for billions of years as the cold oceanic slabs sink all the way to the center and pile up. | | | | | |E. | | |The Moon flew out of the Earth after a great collision with a Mars-sized body, causing the Earth to spin faster and separate. | | | Melting allows things to sort out more easily. Think of the rocks and snow and ice and salt and squirrel parts that stick on the bottom of your car when you drive in a snowstorm, and how they sort themselves out when they melt in t he garage or in the spring. Much evidence points to early separation of the Earth into layers, before the collision with a Mars-sized body that blasted out the material that made the moon, although a little bit of separating may still be going on.The type of material falling together to make the planet may have changed as the planet formed, but this doesn’t seem to have been too important in controlling things. And mighty as Graham Spanier is, this was a bit before his time. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |8. |The Earth has a fascinating history, which this class has just begun to explore.Which is more nearly correct, according to the scientific | | |interpretation presented in the text? | | |A. | | |The Earth has been here forever. | | | | | |B. | | |The Earth formed in the great Pepsi flood, when Graham Spanier’s private reservoirs burst open and flooded Pennsylvania. | | | | | |C. | | |The Earth formed in the Big Bang, abo ut 4. 6 billion years ago. | | | | |D. | | |The Earth formed about 4. 6 billion years ago, well after the Big Bang, as materials made in stars fell together to form the planet. | | | | | |E. | | |The Earth formed in the Big Bang, about 6000 years ago. | | | | The Big Bang is estimated as having occurred about 14 billion years ago.Stars that eventually formed in the wake of the Big Bang led to production of elements such as iron and silicon that are common in the Earth—we are formed from second-generation stardust, which â€Å"got it together† to make the planet about 4. 6 billion years ago. |[pic] |Points Earned: |0/1 | |Correct Answer: |D | |Your Response: |C | |9. National Parks are: | | |A. | | |An invention of the Romans, to overcome the â€Å"tragedy of the commons† that caused them to invade the food-service buildings of the neighboring | | |Greeks. | | | | | |B. | | |An invention of the United States that has spread around much of the world, as a wa y of protecting some of the finest parts of the world. | | | | | |C. | |A U. S. government program to provide roller-coaster rides for disadvantaged grandparents. | | | | | |D. | | |An invention of the United States, which has been routinely ignored by the rest of the world because they really don’t like us. | | | | | |E. | | |An invention of Greenlandic people, who set aside the northeastern part of the island as the world’s first national park. | | | Yellowstone was the first National Park, but now you can find National Parks scattered across the planet, preserving key areas for the enjoyment of this generation and for future generations. |[pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |10. |You find two neutral atoms. Each has 8 protons in its nucleus, but one has 7 neutrons, and the other has 8 neutrons. It is correct | | |to state that: | | |A. | | |The two atoms are from the same cola, but presented in different packaging. | | | | |B. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isopleths of that element. | | | | | |C. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different ions of that element. | | | | |D. | | |The two atoms are from two different elements. | | | | | |E. | | |The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isotopes of that element. | | | | The element is determined by the number of protons, so if each atom has the same number of protons, the atoms are the same element.Changing the number of neutrons primarily affects the weight, giving a different isotope of the same element. (Changing the number of neutrons too much can introduce radioactivity, so the isotope won’t hang around forever. ) Ions are made by gaining or losing electrons. Isopleths are lines on a map connecting places with the same concentration of something that someone has measured, not exactly relevant here. And cola requires making atoms into molecules, and then mixing mo lecules of several sorts (water, sweetener, coloring agent, flavoring agent, perhaps caffeine) to make cola. [pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |E | |Your Response: |E | |11. |You get some stuff, and start taking it apart.But, you are restricted to the use of â€Å"ordinary† means (fire, sunlight, your digestive| | |system) and you cannot use atom smashers or atom bombs. What is the smallest piece that you are likely to be able to produce: | | |A. | | |A neutron. | | | | | |B. | | |An atom | | | | | |C. | | |A proton. | | | | |D. | | |A nucleus | | | | | |E. | | |A quark | | | | We can break matter down into atoms (Greek for â€Å"not cuttable† because the Greeks didn’t have atom smashers or other exotic tools that would allow cutting atoms into smaller pieces).All of the wrong answers here are smaller pieces of atoms, but cannot normally be isolated by â€Å"ordinary† tools. |[pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |12. |Chemical reactions involve: | | |A. | | |The sharing or trading of partons. | | | | | |B. | |The sharing or trading of quarks. | | | | | |C. | | |The sharing or trading of protons. | | | | | |D. | | |The sharing or trading of neutrons. | | | | | |E. | | |The sharing or trading of electrons. | | | |The clouds of electrons around the nuclei of atoms serve as the Velcro of the universe. Atoms gain or lose electrons and then stick together by static electricity, or else share electrons and stick together inside the shared cloud. The nuclei with their protons and neutrons (which are themselves composed of quarks, which also were called partons at one time) are the things held together by the electronic Velcro of chemistry. |[pic|Points Earned: |1/1 | |] | | | |Correct Answer: |E | |Your Response: |E | |1. Ignoring good manners, you start rooting around in the nucleus of a poor, unsuspecting atom, to see what is in there. What are you most likely | | |to fi nd? | | |A. | | |Neutrons, usually with some electrons hanging around among the neutrons. | | | | | |B. | | |Only neutrons. | | | | | |C. | | |Protons, usually with some neutrons hanging around among the protons. | | | | | |D. | |Protons, usually with some electrons hanging around among the protons. | | | | | |E. | | |Only protons. | | | | The simplest nucleus is the single proton in â€Å"ordinary† hydrogen. All other nuclei include protons and neutrons. Electrons make the cloud around the nucleus. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Your Response: |C | |2. Opinion polls show most residents of the US do not believe they understand science very well, but they do favor more government support of | | |science. Why do most US residents favor government support of science? | | |A. | | |Scientists are so breath-takingly sexy that most people are drawn through sheer carnal lust to support the scientific enterprise. | | | | | |B. | | |Science is so boring that almost everyone uses public-broadcasting science programming as a sleep aid, and government funding is needed to | | |insure a steady supply of boredom. | | | | |C. | | |Science has helped make our lives healthier, wealthier, easier, safer, etc. , and people hope that more funding of more science will provide | | |even more health, wealth, ease, safety, etc. | | | | | |D. | | |Science is simply so fascinating that almost everyone can’t wait to see what will be discovered next. | | | | | |E. | |Scientists apply their scientific method, which allows them to learn the Truth. | | | | Without science and technology, the great majority of us would be dead, so we tend to be supporters of science. Although we know that science works, we’re never sure that it is completely right. Students so often discover things that professors missed, or that professors got wrong, that scientists would be silly to claim Truth.Comparing the TV ratings of the latest hit to the ratings of the latest science prog ram on public broadcasting shows that many Americans are not fascinated by science, but the science-show ratings are above zero, so some people are fascinated by science. And hope as we might, it is unfortunately clear that not every scientist is sexy (just most of them are†¦). |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Your Response: |C | |3. In chemistry, the type of an atom (what element it is) is determined by: | | |A. | | |The number of electrons it exchanges with its neighbors. | | | | | |B. | | |The number of protons it has in a cloud around the nucleus. | | | | | |C. | | |The number of neutrons it has in a cloud around the nucleus. | | | | | |D. | |The number of neutrons it contains in its nucleus. | | | | | |E. | | |The number of protons it contains in its nucleus. | | | | Physicists change the name when the number of charged, massive protons in the nucleus changes. Adding one proton makes a HUGE difference to how an atom behaves, and so deserves a new name. The neutrons hang a round in the nucleus to keep the protons from kicking each other out. Exchanging electrons is important, but doesn’t change the element type. [pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Your Response: |E | |4. |What is an accurate description of the job of a scientist? | | |A. | | |The scientist Invents new ideas, and then goes on to prove that some of those ideas are True. | | | | | |B. | | |The scientist does only things that show how sexy being a scientist really is, causing down-trodden non-scientists to lose control of | | |themselves with carnal lust for the scientist. | | | | |C. | | |The scientist learns the Truth through careful application of the scientific method. | | | | | |D. | | |The scientist does only things that require high-tech equipment. | | | | | |E. | | |The scientist invents new ideas, and goes on to show that some of those ideas are false. | | | Much of the fun in science is coming up with great new ideas (hypotheses, if you like fancy words). But for your new i dea to â€Å"win†, you have to show that it does better than old ideas, so you have to prove those old ideas false (or incomplete, or not-quite-right, or whatever â€Å"nice† word you might prefer). The scientific method is a powerful way for humans to learn to do things, and learn what does and doesn’t work, but the results of science are always open to improvement, so are not claimed to be Truth, and probably are not Truth.Some scientists still use pencils and look at things, and there are probably a few non-sexy scientists around somewhere. |[pic]|Points Earned: |0/1 | |Your Response: |A | |5. |What is more accurate about the Earth? | | |A. | | |The Earth is formed of concentric layers (something like an onion–a central ball with a shell around it, and a shell around that†¦); when the | | |planet melted, it separated into layers. | | | | |B. | | |The Earth is formed of flat, vertical layers; one runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, and th en others are layered on to the sides of | | |that. | | | | | |C. | | |The Earth is formed of flat, horizontal layers, a little cap at the South Pole, then a layer above that, and a layer above that, all the way | | |up to a little cap at the North Pole. | | | | | |D. | |The Earth is formed of concentric layers (something like an onion–a central ball with a shell around it, and a shell around that†¦), but with | | |a giant hole on one side where the moon-making collision blasted pieces off. | | | | | |E. | | |The Earth is homogeneous; when it melted, it got all mixed up. | | | | The planet is onion-like, with an inner core, then an outer core, a mantle (which has several sub-layers), and a crust.The moon-making collision did happen, but the planet got hot enough to separate again. The planet separated after melting largely or completely, with the densest stuff falling to the center and the lowest-density stuff floating to the top. |[pic|Points Earned: |0/1 | |] | | | |Your Response: |E | |1. |The US government, and most other governments of the world, provide support for scientists but not for astrologers, palm readers, or telephone | | |â€Å"psychics†. Why do governments support scientists? | | |A. | |Scientists all drink Diet Pepsi because they think it makes them look sexy, and governments are all controlled by the powerful Pepsi | | |Corporation and so the governments support the Diet-Pepsi-drinking scientists. | | | | | |B. | | |Scientists help humans do useful things, which makes the humans healthier, wealthier, etc. , and governments often like to support health and | | |wealth. | | | | |C. | | |Scientists are amazingly sexy, and government functionaries simply cannot control themselves in the presence of such overwhelming sexiness and | | |throw money at the scientists (sometimes tucking tens and twenties into the pockets of the scientists’ lab coats). | | | | | |D. | | |Scientists use a careful method, and governments are always committed to supporting the use of careful methods. | | | | |E. | | |Scientists learn the Truth, and governments are always deeply committed to learning the truth. | | | | The government is often interested in seeing people live longer, or improving the economy, or having better and more-accurate explosive devices for the military, or in many other things that improve our lives, and science plus engineering and scientific medicine are better than any other human activity at delivering these.A cynic might say that politicians are often not all that interested in finding the Truth. And a realist would note that science is being improved all the time, and because you cannot improve on the Truth, science has not (yet? ) learned the Truth. There are many methods in the world, some of them are careful, and many of them are not funded by the government. Some of our spouses or significant others may think that some scientists are sexy, but many other sexy persons are not funde d by the government.One of the professors has been known to drink a competitor of Pepsi on occasion, and some scientists refrain from soft drinks entirely. |[pic]|Points Earned: |1/1 | |Correct Answer: |B | |Your Response: |B | |2. You hang around with the professor, who is a scientist when he’s not teaching. You observe that the professor learns a lot about how certain | | |parts of the world behave, and the professor then uses that information to successfully predict the outcome of an experiment. What does this | | |demonstrate? | | |A. | | |The professor’s knowledge is True; the professor couldn’t have made the successful prediction without knowing exactly what is going on. | | | | | |B. | |The professor was lucky; no professor could ever know what is going on, so a professor who successfully predicted something must be really | | |lucky. | | | | | |C. | | |The professor’s knowledge is close to being True; no professor really knows what is going on , but some professors are sort of close to knowing| | |what is going on. | | | | | |D. |

Kpmg Analysis

An overview of what the company does its history and its product/service range KPMG is a multinational leading professional services firm, which deals with both audit and tax with over 10,000 partners and staff. They have achieved a vast amount of awards for both employment and health and safety, and this in turn reflects their dedication to excellence in their services. In 2008, KPMG merged with other firms in Europe, which formed KPMG Europe LLP. This therefore makes the company the largest integrated accountancy firm in Europe, with the headquarters based in Frankfurt. KMPG has a wide range of human resources, and these results in a diverse and highly skilled workforce. Furthermore, it can be seen that KPMG treat their workforce as an intangible resource, and this contributes to the firm’s competitive position. KPMG deal with three key areas: audit, tax and pensions and advisory. Their audit department deals with decision making within capital markets (KPMG, 2011 p. 1). Therefore, they provide a service to stakeholders, by ensuring that they are able to independently audit organizations. Their tax and pensions function helps individual organizations to reduce their tax burden and to ensure they meet the highest levels of compliance. Therefore, this involves key areas such as corporate reputation, pensions, and effective tax rates. Finally, they offer advisory support, which supports businesses through their business life cycle. This therefore helps and encourages firms to develop within regulatory environments. An analysis of the firm’s macro-environment Table 1: PEST analysis Political Increased governmental regulation. Increased taxes reducing consumer spending and corporate spending. Focus on environmental governance for example: environmental auditing. Economic Difficult and restrictive economic times. Businesses closing down on the UK high street. Unstable economic times, which has resulted in an increased focus on the financial sector. Social Consumer demand for CSR. Social concerns over the stability of the economy – this result, in firms such as KPMG coming under increasing scrutiny. Technological Integration of economies – the need for global expansion. Boundless economy – technology has facilitated 24-hour communication across borders. Advances in technology, which can be used to promote the detailed nature of KPMG’s services. The PEST analysis highlights a dynamic environment, which is ever changing. In particular, it can be seen that the company must utilize strategic tools to understand and deal with many of the issues presented in the PEST analysis. At present, the main difficulties facing the firm are in the economic and political environment. The economic recession has resulted in a scrutiny of the financial sector, and this in turn demands a need to offer an increasingly integral service. Furthermore, the secondary result of which has been increased regulation, which, not only affects KPMG itself but the many services it offers to its clients. An analysis of the company’s microenvironment Figure 1: Porter’s Five Forces Porter’s five Forces model is an excellent tool for understanding how powerful is a company in its particular business environment. It is very useful, because it can recognize the business’s strength in the competitive market and the possible future position will occur if the company thinks to change its plans. As a result the firm can take benefit in a condition that has power; also it can avoid any wrong steps in the future. On the other hand it can improve a situation that seems to has weaknesses. †¢Competitive rivalry: As KPMG belongs to a market that can be defined as oligopoly; the level of competition is not too high. This kind of market is controlled by the â€Å"Big Four† because they share a huge proportion of the market. Because of this the firms have the power to have high fees. †¢Power of Suppliers: The main purpose of KPMG is the provision of services. As a result of this, the major asset of the business is its own individual’s employees and members. For that reason the firm should seek to keep and extend its talents and trying to hire more qualified accountants. †¢Power of buyers: Customers are powerful in that kind of market. They can easily switch to another competitive firm because the costs of doing this aren’t too high. In addition the services provided by the â€Å"Big Four† are similar and with the same standard and this makes even easier the decision of a customer to move to a similar firm. †¢Threads of substitutes: The thread of possible substitutes in the accounting services is very small because there are not obvious substitutes of those services in the market. †¢Threats of new entrants: The market is conquered by the â€Å"Big Four† so the barricades of new entries in the market are very high. However, it is more common that small firms do not choose one of the big firms. As a result of this there is some space left for new small companies to enter the market. Table 2: SWOT Strengths 1)Asset leverage 2)High research and development focus. 3)Areas of online growth. 4)Strong management team, substantial focus on HR. )Strong brand equity 6)Strong financial position, which allows the firm to internationalize. 7)Strong European presence. 8)Competitive pricing of services. Weaknesses 1)Weak focus on real estate. 2)Vulnerability to litigations over gross negligence in audit practice. 3)Over-reliance on European market – need to understand more developing markets such as China and India (Wilson and Purushothaman, 2003 p. 19). Opportunities 1)Product and service expansion 2)Entry into emerging markets. 3)Future acquisitions. 4)Increased expenditure on infrastructure could increase demand for advisory services. Threats 1)Dynamic and competitive environment. 2)Increased regulation, resulting in a need for a throughout service. 3)Exchange rate fluctuations 4)Changes in the economic environment. 5)Global economic slowdown. The SWOT analysis indicates that the firm has strengths, which aid their position in a competitive market. Furthermore, it can be noted that the firm use such strengths to position themselves in the marketplace; in turn this promotes the resource-based view of strategy which focuses around the notion of ‘core competencies’ (Barney, 1991 p. 99). The threats outlined can be responded to by reviewing the macro environment, and the implementation of strategic tools, which may help to overcome any weaknesses. Finally, the opportunities outlined suggest that the firm should internationalize outside of Europe, this would extend the firms client base, and would allow them to tap in to developing markets such as China and India. This is in line with the BRICS study (Wilson and Purushothaman, 2003 p. 19): which, indicates that by 2050 China will be the world’s largest economy. Thus, an appreciation of the Eastern world is needed by KPMG to ensure success in the future. Evidence of an audit of key competences within the company The first key competency KPMG have is ‘reputation’ this is an intangible asset and one, which sees KPMG respected for a high caliber of services. This is the result of professional, and skilled staff, and a vast extent of knowledge, which can be applied to a vast array of business situations. Reputation is needed when offering such services which, require throughout and exact processing, for example: firms trust KPMG to handle aspects such as Tax and financial advisory, and thus often reputation is a key driver of success in this market. This is linked to the competency of professionalism, in which, strong ethical values of integrity and honesty provide the foundation for the firms work. Moreover, a key competency of the firm is their ability to develop a strong and skilled workforce. A focus on staff as an intangible resource; is something which aids the firms competitive advantage. For example: as Barney (1991 p. 99) notes: it is important that a firm have competencies which are unable to be imitated by their competitors, this in turn allows the firm to gain a strong position in the market and reduce competition. Therefore, it can be seen that the firm have a key competency of transforming the HR system to one which supports overall organizational learning, this is seen as something which supports competitive positioning (Pucik, 1988 p. 1). Accountability is a competency, which drives KPMG’s success. First and foremost, the company is operating in a dynamic, which demands transparency. Thus, the firm can be seen to take accountability for their actions, and this is something, which is supported by the firm’s organizational culture. Organizational culture is defined by Schein (2010 p. ) as ‘the shared norms and values, which are deeply rooted within an organization’. KPMG have a positive culture, which is upheld by values of customer service, customer satisfaction and the building of strong and meaningful relationships. Organizational culture can be seen as a competency, as it values can be translated into tangible resources such as increased clients, and stronger ex ternal relationships. This is linked to KPMG’s focus on making an impact, their clients expect the firm to make an impact and in turn build strong business relationships. Therefore, a strong organizational culture, which upports such values, supports the overall strategic direction of the firm. Needed in a dynamic environment, is the ability to be flexible and problem solving in an open, and innovative manner. These are two competencies which KPMG can be seen to have, in particular these are competencies which highlight how the firm has a key aim to be able to analyze complex data and reach an appropriate solution, in a manner which is simple for their clients to understand. Thus, in summary, it can be seen that the firm have an ability to translate their key, core competencies to contribute to the strategic success of the firm. The most important competencies to the firm are those, which are intangible in nature, as these are aspects, which cannot be imitated easily by their competition. In turn, such intangible resources often result in tangible results, as we can often see a link between the two. For example: higher levels of customer service are likely to result in a larger client database. A forecast of likely future prospects for the company’s market and recommendations as to how it should react to potential changes The ability of a firm to respond effectively to change is vital to the modern day organization operating in a dynamic environment. KPMG have a strong focus on their human resources, and this has resulted in the development of a workforce, which are committed to the strategic goals of the firm. Thus, as Hayes (2010 p. 12) notes a flexible workforce is needed to remain competitive, and therefore the firms reaction to any potential changes in the market is likely to be aided by their investment in their staff. KPMG’s future market is threatened by increased regulation. For example: in 2007 the company was found guilty of criminal wrong doing with regards to tax fraud (Department of Justice, 2007 p. 1). Such ethical wrongdoings damage company reputation, and this in turn is something, which is likely to affect the future of the firm. A firm such as KPMG gains a vast amount of business from reputation, and thus any damage to such may have a negative effect on their future clients. Therefore, in order to respond to increased regulation, the firm must ensure the highest ethical conduct at all times, and high levels of transparency. In addition, KPMG’s clients are faced with increased legislation regarding business reports, and thus, this promotes a need for a thorough service from the firm. Changing legislation will have a result on the firm itself, and increased expenditure is likely to be needed to ensure that all workers have the skills necessary to carry out an effective service. With regards to the external environment, developments in trends are resulting in future changes for the company. Firstly, the company is offering in a dynamic environment, and therefore is required to thrive and not just simply survive. In order to respond to competition it is important that the firm looks forward to the future, and implements a system of strategic planning. In turn, the firm should seek to provide accurate and insightful information to all of their clients, which will result in the firm adapting the finance function to enable their clients to survive during turbulent, economic times. Moreover, due to the economic climate, the needs of their consumers are changing. In order to respond to such a trend, KPMG must simplify complex business issues in a manner, which promotes a greater alignment of business processes. Many firms in a difficult, economic environment often have a short-term focus, and this is something which KPMG themselves need to steer away from, and something which they have to dis-persuade their firms from doing so. Instead, a focus on sustainable business is needed which, in turn will enable more than just reduced short-term costs. Thus, in summary the economic climate has created a difficult environment for both KPMG and their clients, and in order to survive such times and prosper in the future, the firm must position the company in a manner, which promotes success. The final trend portrayed in this section is an increased focus on corporate social responsibility. This is something which is required both from the company itself and it can be seen that KPMG’s CSR actions may influence the decisions of their clients. At present, KPMG have a strong belief that social responsibility and business success go hand in hand, and thus promote charitable donations, volunteering from their workforce and a key emphasis on the environment. In the future, a greater emphasis will be put on corporate social responsibility, and KPMG must respond to such changes by conducting environmental audits, promoting stakeholder theory, and an overall dedication to the cause. Strategy can be used to conduct external analysis, and such analysis will enable a firm such as KPMG to respond to future changes in the market. For many firms, their relevant success or failure is dependent on the ability to strategically align themselves to the external environment (Henry, 2007), and as many markets, in particular the financial market are as dynamic as ever, it is important that the firm are able to discern any trends which may later alter the firm’s strategy. As shown in this paper, the environment consists of both the macro and microenvironment, and this in turn is something, which promotes the complexity of the market. In turn, it is often thought that the competitive environment is the one, which has the most direct impact on the firm; however, it is the more external macro environment, which creates the most problematic situations for the firm, in particular, if a firm is unprepared for change. Dill (1962 p. 12) states that ‘at the one level the environment is not a very mysterious concept, it means the surroundings of the organization, and the concept becomes challenging when we try to move from its simple description to an analysis of its properties’. Thus, it is recommended that KPMG partake in environmental analysis in order to provide the companies with the opportunity to discern trends, and then from these trends create strategies, which enable the firm to best position itself. By using internal strategic capabilities such as reputation, the firm may be able to diversify into other markets, which are noted as being both less challenging and competitive. The prediction of the future is difficult, and is always uncertain due to discontinuities. However, by scanning the environment, the firm can be able to detect any weak signals, weak signals are those trends which ‘may be largely insignificant due to the fact that there impact is yet to be felt, however, the careful monitoring of such can result in the firm being better strategically adept for such uncertainties’ (Henry, 2007 p. 8: Van der Heijden, 1996). Van der Heijden (1996) notes how there are three different types of uncertainties, which all play a part in the external environment. These being: structural uncertainties, risk, and unknowable. Of these both structural uncertainties and unknowable’s are the two most difficult to comprehend, due to the fact that these are events which either cannot be imagined or do not offer any evidence of such a probability. Thus, noted in the literature, is the tool scenario planning (Schoemaker, 1995) which, can be used to deal with even the most unimaginable of events (Porter, 1998). If KPMG were able to adopt the concept of scenario planning, they would be more likely to gain a strong competitive position. Scenario planning is a tool, which can be seen to ‘stand out’ due to its ability to ‘capture a whole range of possibilities in great detail’ (Schomaker, 1995). Thus, it can be seen that scenario planning aims to overcome the under and over prediction of change, it does so by adopting a middle ground, in which, it considers both unknowable and uncertain events. Word count:2546 References Barney, JB (1991) ‘Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’. Journal of management, 17 (1) pp. 99-120. Department of justice (2007) ‘KPMG to pay $456 million for criminal violations in relation to largest ever tax shelter fraud case’ [online]. Available from: – http://www. justice. gov/opa/pr/2005/August/05_ag_433. html [Accessed 18. 03. 11]. Dill, W. ‘The impact of environment on organizational development' In Mailick, S. and E. Van Ness (eds) Concepts and Issues in Administrative Behavior. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1962. Henry, AE (2007) ‘Understanding strategic management’. Oxford University Press: Oxford. KPMG (2011) ‘What we do’ [online]. Available from: – http://www. kpmg. com/UK/en/WhatWeDo/Pages/default. aspx [Accessed 19. 03. 11]. Porters fives forces model : Industry analysis model [online]. Available from: http://www. learnmarketing. net/porters. htm [Accessed 21. 03. 11] Porter, ME (1998) ‘On competition’. Harvard University Press: Harvard, Boston. Pucik, V (1988) ‘Strategic alliances, organizational learning, and competitive advantage: the HRM agenda’. Human resource management, 27 (1) pp. -16. Schein, EH (2010) ‘Culture and leadership’. John Wiley and Sons: London. Schoemaker, PJH (1995) ‘Scenario planning: a tool for strategic thinking’. Sloan management review, 36 (2) pp. 25-32. Van der Heijden, K. (1996), Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation, Wiley, New York, NY. Wilson, Purushothaman (2003) ‘Dreaming with BRICS: the path to 2050’. Global economics paper 99, [online]. Available fr om: – http://antonioguilherme. web. br. com/artigos/Brics. pdf [Accessed 20. 03. 11].

British soaps Essays

British soaps Essays British soaps Essay British soaps Essay Once again however, we must question these ideas of why a soap might be representative of real life. I mean is life really full of cliff-hangers? Is the domesticated life still merely focused on the female sex? As all these soaps appear to portray, are there so few ethnic minorities in every community? I would like to suggest that the answer to all of these questions is no and the reason for this is that soaps do not truly represent real life; I shall continue my evaluation. The ways in which soaps are fundamentally constructed hold great appeal for the viewer.If you might consider three of the most significant British soaps Coronation Street, EastEnders and Hollyoaks it is plain that the focus is placed upon the inter-relationship of a group of characters in a typically working-class setting. Indeed, soap opera story lines are based largely on the problems encountered within personal relations and family life; the content is essentially humanised. A mundane quality is evoked, as the lifestyles of the characters on screen are not so vastly different from our own.The claims that have been made by the producers of these soaps, in that they are ultimately designed to represent the realities of working class life and confront social problems appear to be not so far from the truth. Viewers do profess to gain pleasure from this social realism. Yet, at the same time, soaps do not claim to offer single solutions to the problems they portray, but explore all the relevant possibilities. There are no objective truths, no answers, no permanent securities, no uncompromised actions and no absolutes.In response to this idea, Livingstone states I would argue that these features only serve to further emphasise that this genre really is reflective of a real life that holds few certainties for anyone. This statement from Livingstone is suppositional. It depends on how you view life. For example, if you see life as holding no certainties or future certainties then you would agree with his statement. However, if you are more positive thinker and think life takes a particular form and a particular direction then you would be more inclined to disagree with it.I myself disagree with his statement as I believe that soaps simply are not truly representative of real life, certainly not my life, any of my friends or familys lives anyway. Soap operas contain a very large number of characters, and this in turn provides the audience with diverse points of view with which to identify. Furthermore, it is impossible to identify one single hero or heroine within the bounds of a particular soap, so the viewer feels rather more a part of the actual community than an observer who is being lectured to on social, moral and personal issues.Interest is distributed throughout an entire community of characters, and this actually serves to make any character dispensable. It is more than possible for characters known to viewers for many years to disappear off the screen, and this has often caused uproar amongst dedicated followers. For example: The strange demise of Dirty Den caused uproar amongst the audience while his even stranger recent return has been a popular addition to the cast. What we must ask ourselves here is, how many people return from the dead in real life?Certainly, Den was supposed to have not died, well, that was the script writers explanation, but millions of Great Britain saw his disappearance and although the actual death was not seen due to its potential vulgarity not being allowed to be shown at the time, it was certainly represented to the audience as if that was the end of Dirty Den. Stereotypes certainly exist throughout life and they often lie beneath the surface of given characters, and viewers often find this satisfying in that they have something to identify with.Often, it is possible to argue, these characters are mere token gestures that the soap must include, so as to present a seemingly accurate picture of diverse, contemporary society. For example: The ? are the token minority, Asian family in EastEnders ; Mark Fowler is the token HIV victim while Pauline Fowler is the token family pillar, Phil Mitchell is the token animal, while; Zoe and Kelly are the token young tarty temptresses, while Kat is the token slag (well, certainly was before her marriage), but who knows how the Kat and Alfie story will progress?Coronation Street follows a similar character stock: Vera Duckworth as the gossip; The Websters as the token young family in financial difficulty; Tracey Barlowe as the token bitch, Ken Barlowe as the token pillar of the community, and so on. These stereotypes become real people to the average viewer; an extension of their personal and social networks, and aspects of their daily lives; these are people with whom we are supposedly already well-acquainted. Of course as a viewer I recognise these stereotypes and can relate to them in some way or another.However, I can quite honestly say that I do not know as many people as this that have as many problems as these soap stars do, and get through as many problems as they do, the list goes on. In my mind, soaps are not representative of real life. I would argue that those that are attracted to soaps are attracted to them because soaps tease them with an exaggerated version of their desire for a constant flow of contact and excitement increasingly absent in reality.In comparison to soaps, our everyday lives are uninteresting. The less people work and live in the same locality, let alone live and work with their neighbours, the more this fantasy ideal is portrayed in the representations of community. The more anonymous and superficial our contact with our neighbours is, the less information we have to gossip about them, the more one knows, and can gossip, about the fictional characters in Eastenders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks or whatever.The less our interest in guessing the development of our friends lives, the greater our attraction to the abstract game of predicting whats going to happen to that character that millions of other spectators are trying to guess about. The more threatening and discomforting the streets become, the more consoling it is to consume fictional conflicts in the safety and comfort of our misappropriately-named living rooms.The more slow-plodding our real lives are, the more fast-paced the unfolding of the plot lines in soaps become: things that would normally take a year to develop in real life, take a week or less in the soaps. For example pregnancies seem to only take three or four months as opposed to the standard nine (the Tracey Barlowe plot line in Coronation Street being a current example). Effectively the view of the audience is that Fiction is stranger than truth, and so very much more interesting.

Simulate a Dice Roll With C Code

Simulate a Dice Roll With C Code This application uses the srand() function to seed the random number generator. The function Random(n) returns an integer in the range of 1 to n. The int array totals holds the total counts for the scores 3 to 18. It then loops 10 million times. This number is defined as a const but if your compiler doesnt support const, uncomment the #define instead. Each dice, d1, d2 and d3 holds the Random() generated dice roll die roll and the element for the combined dice score (in the range 3-18) is incremented. The last part prints out the totals to see that it generates throws in accordance with the probabilities. A 6 sided dice has an average score of 3.5, so three dice should average about 10.5. The totals for 10 and 11 are roughly the same and occur about 12.5% of the time. Here is the output of a typical run. It takes no more than a second. Rolling Ten Million Dice 3 461304 1386085 2772786 4626077 6953818 9720209 115834710 125367111 124926712 115648013 97200514 69287415 46245216 27757517 13914218 46163 // dicerolls.c :#include time.h /* Needed just for srand seed */#include stdlib.h#include stdio.hconst tenmillion 1000000L;/* #define tenmillion 10000000L */void Randomize() {srand( (unsigned)time( NULL ) ) ;}int Random(int Max) {return ( rand() % Max) 1;}int main(int argc, char* argv[]){int i;int totals[19];printf(Rolling Ten Million Dice\n) ;Randomize() ;for (i3;i18;i)totals[ i ]0;for (i0;i tenmillion;i){int d1Random(6) ;int d2Random(6) ;int d3Random(6) ;int totald1d2d3;totals[ total ];}for (i3;i18;i){printf(%i %i\n\r,i,totals[ i ]) ;}return 0;}

Supply Chain Management in the Argri Foods Sector within UK and Research Paper

Supply Chain Management in the Argri Foods Sector within UK and Northern Ireland - Research Paper Example Over the past few years, companies having been focusing on reducing the number of suppliers that they have so as to harness effective relationships that is build more on collaboration (Ponce-Cueto, Garcia-Sanchez, and Ortega-Mier, 2010: 111). Indeed supplier relationship which had in the past been ignored is presently growing to be an influential aspect of the retail supply chain and businesses as well. Lintukangas and Kahkonen (2010:107) show that supplier relationship which essential in connecting a business to the supplier network, is critical in increasing a firm’s competitiveness as the company is able to exploit synergies from such relationships. This increases the effectiveness of supplier relationship management thereby increasing business performance. Such views are also shared by Jiang, Henneberg and Naude (2012) who note that supplier relationship management which thrive in trusting and dependent environments are critical for the enhancing business objectives where the quality of such relationships determine level of trust. Problem Statement Though there have a wide array of research on how best to manage relationships within the supply in order to enhance the performance of an organizational (Olurunniwo et al, 2011; Leeman, 2010; Croxton et al, 2001), the evolving nature of the retail supply chain necessitates constant change in the way it is managed. Such changes that have over the recent past been impacting the supply chain include changes into multi-tier network of relationships, the increasing practice of outsourcing key supply chain processes within the retail sector and the impacts of the recession in the way the way that retailers carry their business and relate to the suppliers. This necessitates a study in this area into how such... This essay approves that in analyzing data in this research study, repeated themes and ideas gathered from the interview answers will be identified in order to give meaning to the data collected. The data gotten will be constantly compared both with the reviewed literature and with other respondent’s answers in order to determine a pattern and meaning. Common elements within the smaller retailers will also be analysed and identified in order to understand what these have in common, while common elements, themes and ideas from the large retailers will also be analysed in order to be able to understand what these share. This report makes a conclusion that it is not possible to explore and reach out to all the retail supply players and to relevant business entities since there are quite many businesses with different business operations. This follows the fact that the research focuses on retail supply chain which is crowded with diverse businesses. The research will therefore have some bias in a way as regards reaching out to particular relevant businesses. In addition, the research will cover only one specific geographic region and therefore may not be representative of all geographic regions and especially the global environment. In addition, getting access to some executives in some companies may need a lot of dedicated efforts in order to get an appointment set. Though the study is limited by these constraints, the results could have important practical implications to the retail industry.

An introduction for the germination experiment Lab Report

An introduction for the germination experiment - Lab Report Example Seed germination process is comprised of several steps. First, the seed absorbs water from the surrounding environment through osmosis. Water absorbed activates enzymes, increases the rate of respiration and leads to duplication of plant cells. Secondly, the chemical energy stored as starch is converted to sugar and serves the embryo as food during the process of germination. The embryo is nourished and enlarged resulting in seed coat burst. Lastly, a root tip known as the radicle emerges from the seed and grows downwards to anchor the seed. The radicle enables the embryo to absorb water and minerals from the soil (Jirage 1). A study on the effects of treatment on seed germination will be carried out as a laboratory experiment. The experiment will involve a non-dominant maize seed and a treatment acid. The experiment will comprise three setups. The first set-up will involve low level of the acid and the second will contain high levels of the acid. The third set-up will be a control- experiment that will not involve any treatment. Pre-treating with an appropriate concentration of Gibberellic acid (hormone G A3) plays an import role in the induction of tolerance to salinity. Additionally, it helps the seed overcome the environmental stress, such as osmotic effects, nutritional imbalance and ionic toxicity. This can be achieved through strong root and shoot length that gives a response to salt stress (Jamil