Inequalities on ACT Math Strategies and Practice

Inequalities on ACT Math Strategies and Practice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Inequality questions come in a variety of shapes and forms on the ACT, but, no matter their form, you will see approximately three inequality questions on any given test. This means that inequality questions make up 5% of your overall ACT math test. Now, 5% of your test might not sound like a lot, but with only a quick brush-up on inequalities, that's an additional 5% of your questions that you're bound to rock! This will be your complete guide to inequalities on the ACT: what they are, the different types of ACT math problems on inequalities, and how to solve them. What Are Inequalities? An inequality is a representation that two values are not equal or that two values are possibly not equal. There are different types of inequalities and different symbols to denote these different relationships. ≠  is the "unequal" sign. Whenever you see this sign, you know that two values are not equal, but nothing more. We don't know which value is greater or less than, just that they are not the same. If we have $y ≠  x$, we do not know if $y$ is greater or less than $x$, just that they do not equal one another. is the "greater than" sign. Whichever number or variable is facing the opening of the sign is always the larger of the two values. (Some of you may have learned that the sign is a "crocodile" and that the crocodile always wants to eat the larger value). For instance, $x 14$ means that $x$ can be anything larger than 14 (it can even be 14.00000000001), but it cannot be 14 and it cannot be less than 14. is the "less than" sign. Whichever number is facing away from the opening of the sign is the lesser of the two values. This is just the greater than sign in reverse. So $14 x$ is the exact same equation we had earlier. $x$ must be larger than 14, 14 must be smaller than $x$. ≠¥ is the "greater than or equal to" sign. This acts exactly the same as the greater sign except for the fact that our values can also be equal. Whereas $x 14$ meant that $x$ could only be any number larger than 14, $x ≠¥ 14$ means that $x$ could be equal to 14 or could be any number larger than 14. ≠¤ is the "less than or equal to" sign. Just as the less than sign acted as a counter to the greater than sign, the less than or equal to sign acts counter to the greater than or equal to sign. So $x ≠¥ 14$ is the exact same thing as saying $14 ≠¤ x$. Either way, we are saying that 14 is less than or equal to $x$, $x$ is greater than or equal to 14. Each symbol describes the relationship between two values, but we can also link multiple values in a string. For instance, we can say: $5 x 15$ This gives us both an upper and a lower limit on our $x$ value, because we know it must be both larger than five and less than 15. If we only had $5 x$, the upper limit of $x$ would stretch into infinity, and the same with the lower limit if we only had $x 15$. For tips on how to keep track of which signs mean which, check out this article. The inequality crocodile is always hungry for the most it can get, om nom nom. How to Represent Inequalities We can represent inequalities in one of three different ways: A written expression A number line A graph Let's look at all three. Inequalities as written expressions use only mathematical symbols and no diagrams. They are exactly what we have been working with above (e.g., $y 37$). An inequality number line allows us to visualize the set of numbers that represents our inequality. We use a dark line to show all the numbers that match our inequality, and we mark where the inequality begins and/or ends in two different ways. To mark the beginning of an inequality that is "greater than" or "less than," we use an open circle. This shows that the starting number is NOT included. To mark the beginning of an inequality that is "greater than or equal to" or "less than or equal to," we use a closed circle. This shows that the starting number IS included. We can also combine these symbols if our inequality equation requires us to use two different symbols. For instance, if we have $-3 x ≠¤ 3$, our number line would look like: And finally, we can have inequalities in graphs for any and all types of graphs on the coordinate plane (more on the coordinate plane coming soon!). "Greater than" will be above the line of the graph, while "less than" will be below the line of the graph. Greater: This is true no matter which direction the line of the graph extends. Less: In terms of markings, inequality graphs follow the same rules as inequalities on number lines. Just as we use an open circle for "greater than" or "less than" inequalities, we use a dashed line for inequality graphs that are "greater than" or "less than." And just how we use a closed circle for "greater than or equal to" or "less than or equal to" inequalities, we use a solid line for our graphs that are greater or less than or equal to. And now to dive right in to ACT inequality problems! (Awkward flailing optional). Typical ACT Inequality Problems There are three different types of inequality questions you'll see on the ACT, in the order from most to least common: #1: Solve an inequality equation (find the solution set) #2: Identify or answer questions about an inequality graph or number line #3: Find alternate inequalities that fulfill given information Let's look at each type- what they mean and how you'll see them on the ACT. #1: Solving an Inequality Equation This is by far the most common type of inequality question you'll see on the ACT. You will be given one or two inequality equations and must solve for the solution set of your variable. Inequality problems work exactly the same way as a single variable equation and can be solved in the same way. Just think of the inequality sign as being the same as the equals sign. So you will perform the same actions (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) on each side. For instance: $9 + 12x 45$ $12x 36$ $x 3$ The only difference between equations and inequalities is that the inequality sign flips if you multiply or divide each side by a negative. For instance, $10 - 4x 50$ $-4x 40$ $x -10$ Because we had to divide each side by -4, we had to reverse the sign of the inequality. Alternatively, we can also use the strategy of plugging in answers (PIA) or plugging in numbers (PIN) to solve our inequality problems. Because all ACT math problems are multiple choice, we can simply test out which answers match our equation (and which do not) or we can choose our own values for x based on the information we know, depending on the problem. Let's look at an example of how this looks on the ACT, whether we solve the problem algebraically or by PIA. The inequality $3(x+2)4(x-3)$ is equivalent to which of the following inequalities? F. $x-6$G. $x5$H. $x9$J. $x14$K. $x18$ Solving Method 1: Algebra First, distribute out the variable on each side. $3(x + 2) 4(x - 3)$ $3x + 6 4x - 12$ Now, we must isolate our variable just as we would with a single variable equation. $6 x - 12$ $18 x$ Just as we saw back in our definitions, we know that we can also flip the inequality sign if we also switch the sides of our values. So $18 x$ is the same as saying $x 18$. Our final answer is K, $x 18$ Solving Method 2: Plugging in Answers Though it will often take a little longer, we can also solve our inequality problems by testing out the values in our answer choices. Let's, as usual when using PIA, start with answer choice C. Answer choice C says $x$ is less than 9, so let us see if this is true by saying that $x = 8$. If we plug in 8 for $x$ in the equation, we'll get: $3(x + 2) 4(x - 3)$ $3(8 + 2) 4(8 - 3)$ $3(10) 4(5)$ $30 20$ This is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is the correct answer. Just because we know that $x$ can be equal to 8 or less doesn't mean it can't also be greater than 8. All we know for sure is that we can eliminate answer choices F and G, since we've problem that $x$ can be larger than each of them. So let us now go the opposite route and look at the highest value $x$ can be, given our answer choices. Answer choice J gives us $x 14$ and answer choice K says that $x 18$, so what would happen is we gave $x$ a value between the two? Let us say that $x = 16$ $3(x + 2) 4(x - 3)$ $3(16 + 2) 4(16 - 3)$ $3(18) 4(13)$ $54 52$ Because our inequality works for $x = 16$, we know that $x$ can be greater than $x 14$ and can, therefore, be greater than all the answer choices except for answer choice K (the answer choice that gives us our largest possible value for $x$). This is enough to tell us that our final answer is K. Our final answer is, again, K, $x 18$ #2: Inequality Graph and Number Line Questions For these types of questions, you will be asked to identify a graph or a number line from a given equation. Alternatively, you may be asked to infer information from a given inequality graph. Either way, you will always be given the graph on the coordinate plane. We know that the sum of $x$ and $y$ must be greater than 1, so let us imagine that one of those two variables is equal to 0. If we say that $x = 0$, then y alone has to be greater than 1 to make the sum of $x$ and $y$ still be greater than 1. We also know that we indicate that a value is "greater than" on a graph with a dashed line at the value in question and a filled in area above the value. The only graph with a dashed line at $y = 1$ and that has a shaded area above this value is graph J. This means graph J is more than likely our answer, but let's confirm it just to be safe. Because the sum of $x$ and $y$ must be greater than 1, the alternative possibility to $x = 0$ and $y 1$ is that $y$ equals zero, so $x$ must be greater than 1. To show this, we would need a dashed line at $(1, 0)$ and a shaded area above it, all of which graph J has. Now, to finish confirming that graph J is indeed our answer, we would simply do what we did to locate the lower limit of our graph in reverse so that we can find the upper limit. If $x + y 2$, then, when $x = 0$, $y$ must be less than 2, and when $y = 0$, $x$ must be less than 2. This would give us dashed lines at $(0, 2)$ and $(2, 0)$, both of which are on graph J. Our final answer is J. #3: Finding Alternate Inequality Expressions The rarest form of inequality questions on the ACT will ask you to use given inequalities and find alternate inequalities that must be true based off this given information. Let's look at one of these in action, to better see how this type of question works. If $x$ and $y$ are real numbers, such that $x1$ and $y-1$, then which of the following inequalities must be true? A. $x/y1$ B. $|x|^2|y|$ C. $x/3-5y/3-5$ D. $x^2+1y^2+1$ E. $x^{-2}y^{-2}$ There are two different ways we can solve this problem, by plugging in our own numbers or by working through it based on our logic and knowledge of algebra. We'll go through both methods here. Solving Method 1: Plugging in Numbers (PIN) Because we have a problem with multiple variables in both the problem and in the answer choices, we can make life a little easier and give our variables numerical values. Now, we do have to be careful when using this method, however, because there are infinite variables to choose from for both $x$ and $y$ and so more than one answer choice might work for any given variables we give to $x$ and $y$. If two or more answer choices work, we must simply pick new variables- eventually only the correct answer will be left, as it must work for ALL values of $x$ and $y$. When it comes to picking our values for $x$ and $y$, we can also make life easy by picking values that are easy to work with. We know that we must divide both $x$ and $y$ by 3 in answer choice C, so let us pick values that are divisible by 3, and we know we must square our values in several answer choices, so let us pick numbers that are fairly small. Now let's just say that $x = 6$ and $y = -9$ (Why those numbers? So long as they fulfill the given information- and they do- then why not!) And let us plug these values into our answer choices. Answer choice A gives us: $x/y 1$ If we plug in our values, we get: $6/{-9}$ $-{2/3}$ This is NOT greater than 1, so we can eliminate answer choice A. Answer choice B gives us: $|x|^2 |y|$ If we plug in our values, we get: $|6|^2 |-9|$ $36 9$ This is correct, so we will keep answer option B in the running for right now. Answer choice C gives us: $x/3 - 5 y/3 - 5$ If we plug in our values, we get: $6/3 - 6 {-9}/3 - 5$ $2 - 6 -3 - 5$ $-4 -8$ This is correct, so we will keep answer option C in the running for now as well. Because B and C are both correct, we will need to come back and test them both again with different values later. Answer choice D gives us: $x^2 + 1 y^2 + 1$ $6^2 + 1 -9^2 + 1$ $36 + 1 81 + 1$ $37 82$ This is NOT true, so we can eliminate answer choice D. Answer choice E gives us: $x^{-2} y^{-2}$ $6^{-2} -9^{-2}$ $1/{6^2} 1/{-9^2}$ $1/36 1/81$ Now this is indeed true, but what if we had chosen different values for x and y? Let's say that we said $x = 9$ and $y = -6$ instead (remember- so long as the numbers fit with the given information, we can use any values we like). $x^{-2} y^{-2}$ $9^{-2} -6^{-2}$ $1/{9^2} 1/{-6^2}$ $1/81 1/36$ Whoops! Answer choice E is no longer correct, which means we can eliminate it. We are looking for the answer choice that is always true, so it cannot possibly be answer E. Now we are left with answer choices B and C. Let's look at them each again. While we saw that our values for $x$ and $y$ meant that answer choice B was indeed true, let's see what would happen if we choose a much smaller value for $y$. Nothing is stopping us from choosing -6,000 for $y$- remember, all that we are told is that $y -1$. So let us use $y = -6,000$ instead. $|x|^2 |y|$ $|6|^2 |-6,000|$ $36 6,000$ This inequality is NOT true anymore, which means we can eliminate answer choice B. This means that answer choice C must be the right answer by default, but let's test it to make absolutely sure. Let us try what we did with answer option E and reverse the absolute values of our $x$ and $y$. So instead of $x = 6$ and $y = -9$, we will say that $x = 9$ and $y = -6$. $x/3 - 5 y/3 - 5$ $9/3 - 5 {-6}/3 - 5$ $3 - 5 -2 - 5$ $-2 -7$ No matter how many numbers we choose for $x$ and $y$, answer choice C will always be correct. Our final answer is C, $x/3 - 5 y/3 - 5$ Solving Method 2: Algebraic Logic As we can see, using PIN was successful, but required a good deal of time and trial and error. The alternative way to solve the problem is by thinking of how negatives and positives work and how exponents and absolute values alter these rules. We know that $x$ must be positive and $y$ must be negative to fulfill the requirements $x 1$ and $y -1$. Now let us look through our answer choices to see how these expressions are affected by the idea that $x$ must always be positive and $y$ must always be negative. Answer choice A gives us: $x/y 1$ We know that any fraction with a positive numerator and a negative denominator will be negative. And any negative number is less than 1. Answer choice A can never be correct. Answer choice B gives us: $|x|^2 |y|$ An absolute value means that the negative sign on $y$ has been negated, so this might be correct. But y can be any number less than -1, which means its absolute value could potentially be astronomically large, and $x$ can be any number greater than 1, which means its absolute value might be comparatively tiny. This means that answer choice B is not always correct, which is enough to eliminate it from the running. Answer choice C gives us: $x/3 - 5 y/3 - 5$ Now let's look at each side of the inequality. We know that any fraction with a positive number in both the numerator and in the denominator will give us a positive value. This means we will have some positive value minus 5 on the left side. We also know that any time we have a negative value in the numerator and a positive value in the denominator, we will have a negative fraction. This means we will have some negative value minus 5 on the right side. We also know that a negative plus a negative will give us an even greater negative (a smaller value). If we put this information together, we know that the left side may or may not be a negative value, depending on the value of $x$, but the right side will only get more and more negative. In other words, no matter what values we give to $x$ and $y$, the left side will always be greater than the right side, which means the expression is always true. Now this should be enough for us to select our right answer as C, but we should give a look to the other answer choices just in case. Answer choice D gives us: $x^2 + 1 y^2 + 1$ We know that if we square both a positive number and a negative number, we will get a positive result, so the negative value for $y$ is no longer in play. This inequality will therefore be true if the absolute value of $x$ is greater than the absolute value of $y$ (e.g., $x = 10$ and $y = -9$), but it won't be true if the absolute value of $y$ is greater than the absolute value of $x$ (e.g., $x = 9$, $y = -10$). This means that the inequality will sometimes be true, but not always, which is enough to eliminate it. Finally, answer choice E gives us: $x^{-2} y^{-2}$ We know that a number to a negative exponent is equal to 1 over that number to the positive exponent (e.g., $5^{-3} = 1/{5^3}$). This means that each value will be a fraction of 1 over the square of our $x$ and $y$ values. This will give us two positive fractions and $1/{x^2}$ will only be larger if the absolute value of $x$ is smaller than the absolute value of $y$. But, because our $x$ and $y$ values can be anything so long as $y$ is negative and $x$ is positive, this will only sometimes be true. We can therefore eliminate answer choice E. This leaves us with only answer choice C that is always true. Our final answer is C, $x/3 - 5 y/3 - 5$ "Win a war," "Rock the ACT"- we'd say the two are basically one and the same. ACT Math Strategies for Inequality Problems Though there are a few different types of inequality problems, there are a few strategies you can follow to help you solve them most effectively. #1: Write Your Information Down and Draw It Out Many problems on the ACT, inequalities included, appear easier or less complex than they actually are and can lead you to fall for bait answers. This illusion of ease may tempt you to try to solve inequality questions in your head, but this is NOT the way to go. Take the extra moment to work your equations out on the paper or even draw your own diagrams (or draw on top of the diagrams you're given). The extra few seconds it will take you to write out your problems are well worth the points you'll gain by taking the time to find the right answer. #2: Use PIN (or PIA) When Necessary If all you know about $x$ is that it must be more than 7, go ahead and pick a value for $\bi x$. This will help you more easily visualize and work through the rest of the problem, since it is generally always easier to work with numbers than it is to work with variables. As you use this strategy, the safest bet is to choose two values for your variable- one that is close to the definition value and one that is very far away. This will allow you to see whether the values you chose work in all instances. For instance, if all you know is $x 7$, it's a good idea to work through the problem once under the assumption that $x = 8$ and another time under the assumption that $x = 400$. If the problem must be true for all values $x 7$, then it should work for all numbers of $x$ greater than 7. #3: Keep Very Careful Track of Your Negatives One of the key differences between inequalities and single variable equations is in the fact that the inequality sign is reversed whenever you multiply or divide both sides by a negative. And you can bet the house that this is what the ACT will try to test you on again and again. Though the ACT is not engineered to trick you, the test-makers are still trying to challenge you and test whether or not you know how to apply key mathematical concepts. If you lose track of your negatives (an easy thing to do, especially if you're working in your head), you will fall for one of the bait answers. Keep a keen eye. #4: Double-Check Your Answer by Working Backwards (Optional) If you feel unsure about your answer for any reason (because so many of the answer choices look the same, because you're not sure if you handled the issue of negative numbers correctly, etc.), you can work backwards to see if your expression is indeed correct. For instance, let us look at the inequality we had earlier, when talking about the function of negatives on inequalities: $10 - 4x 50$ Again, we would go through this just as we would a single variable equation. $-4x 40$ $x -10$ But now maybe that answer doesn't feel right to you or you just want to double-check to be sure. Well, if we're told that $x$ must be greater than -10 to fulfill the inequality, let's make sure that this is true. Let us solve the expression with $x = -9$ and see if we are correct. $10 - 4x 50$ $10 - 4(-9) 50$ $10 + 36 50$ $46 50$ This is correct, so that's promising. But we found that $x$ needed to be greater than -10, so our expression should also be INCORRECT if $x$ were equal to -10 or if $x$ were less than -10. So let us see what happens if we have $x = -10$. $10 - 4x 50$ $10 - 4(-10) 50$ $10 + 40 50$ $50 50$ The inequality is no longer correct. This means that we know for certain that the solution set we found, $x -10$ is true. You will always be able to work backwards in this way to double-check your inequality questions. Though this can take a little extra time, it might be worth your peace of mind to do this whenever you feel unsure about your answers. Ready, set? It's test time! Test Your Knowledge Now let's put all that inequality knowledge to the test on some real ACT math problems. 1. The inequality $6(x+2)7(x-5)$ is equivalent to which of the following inequalities?A. $x-23$B. $x7$C. $x17$D. $x37$E. $x47$ 2. 3. If $r$ and $s$ can be any integers such that $s10$ and $2r+s=15$, which of the following is the solution set for $r$? A. $r≠¥3$B. $r≠¥0$C. $r≠¥2$D. $r≠¤0$E. $r≠¤2$ 4. Which of the following is the solution statement for the inequality shown below? $-51-3x10$ F. $-5x10$G. $-3x$H. $-3x2$J. $-2x3$K. $x-3$ or $x2$ 5. Answers: E, E, E, H, D Answer Explanations 1. This is a standard inequality equation, so let us go through our solve accordingly. First, let's begin by distributing out our equation. $6(x + 2) 7(x - 5)$ $6x + 12 7x - 35$ $12 x - 35$ $47 x$ Because we did not have to divide or multiply by a negative, we were able to keep the inequality sign intact. And because the expression $47 x$ and $x 47$ mean the same thing, we can see that this matches one of our answer choices. Our final answer is E, $x 47$ 2. We are given two graphs with equations attached and we must identify when one equation/graph is less than the other. We don't even have to know anything about what these equations means and we do not have to fuss with solving the equations- we can simply look at the diagram. The only place on the diagram where the graph of $y = (x - 1)^4$ is less than (aka lower than) the graph of $y = x - 1$ is between $x = 1$ and $x = 2$ on the coordinate plane. In other words, this inequality is true when $x 1$ and when $x 2$, or $1 x 2$. Our final answer is E, $1 x 2$. 3. We know that $s 10$ and it must be an integer, so let us make life easy and just say that $s = 11$. Now we can use this number to plug into the equation. $2r + s = 15$ $2r + 11 = 15$ $2r = 4$ $r = 2$ We know that $r$ can be equal to 2 and that it is the nearest integer to our definition. This means that our answer will either be C or E. So let us now find which direction our inequality sign must face. Let's now try one integer larger than 11 to see whether our solution set must be less or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 2. If we say that $s = 12$, then our equation becomes: $2r + s = 15$ $2r + 12 = 15$ $2r = 3$ $r = 1.5$ We can see now that, as $s$ increases, $r$ will decrease. This means our solution set will be that $r$ is equal to or less than 2. Our final answer is E, $r≠¤ 2$ 4. Though this problem is made slightly more complex due to the fact that it is a double inequality expression, we still solve the inequality the same way we normally would. $-5 1 - 3x 10$ If we think of this expression as two different inequality equations, we would say: $-5 1 - 3x$ and $1 - 3x 10$ So let us solve each of them. $-5 1 - 3x$ $-6 -3x$ Because we now must divide by a negative, we must reverse the inequality sign. $2 x$ And now let's solve our second expression: $1 - 3x 10$ $-3x 9$ Again, we must reverse our inequality sign, since we need to divide each side by a negative. $x -3$ Now, if we put the two results together, our expression will be: $-3 x 2$ Our final answer is H, $-3 x 2$ 5. Because we have a number line with two closed circles, we know that must use less than or equal to and greater than or equal to signs. We can see that the right side of the graph gives us a set of numbers equal to or greater than 3, which means: $x ≠¥ 3$ The left side of the graph gives us a set of numbers less than or equal to -1, which means: $x ≠¤ -1$ Our final answer is, therefore, D, $-1 ≠¥ x$ and $x ≠¤ 3$. And now, your reward for solving your inequality problems is oodles of Cuteness. The Take-Aways Inequalities are so similar to single variable equations that it can be easy to treat the two as the same. The test-makers know this, so it pays to be careful when it comes to your inequality questions. Remember the key differences (multiplying or dividing by a negative reverses the sign, and you can flip your inequality signs so long as you flip both sides of the expression) and keep careful track of the details to avoid all the common pitfalls and bait answers. After you've mastered the art of answering your inequality questions, that's another 5% of the test that you've dominated. You're well on your way to that score goal of yours now! What's Next? Want to brush up on any of your other math topics? Check out our individual math guides to get the walk-through on each and every topic on the ACT math test. Been procrastinating on your ACT studying? Learn how to get over your desire to procrastinate and make a well-balanced study plan. Running out of time on the ACT math section? We'll teach you how to beat the clock and maximize your ACT math score. Looking to get a perfect score? Check out our guide to getting a perfect 36 on ACT math, written by a perfect-scorer. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math lesson, you'll love our program. Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

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Living in Dorms - Essay Example Just like a metropolitan city, the dorm has its own network of corridors, individual (single) rooms, a 125 seat theater, a 24 hour coffee station, a fitness centre and a dining room with open-air seating. The rooms have been specially designed to be properly ventilated and create a peasant environment in the room so that the student can comfortably focus his complete attention towards his studies without any disturbance. Dormitory is not only a place for students to live in but also a place to learn how to live. There are many activities such as sports, singing competition, celebration for festivals, and gatherings customized for dormitory students to learn as well as to enjoy their dormitory life. Not only is the dormitory a place where students stay and study, it is also a positive environment where students integrate their intellectual, social and emotional development and inspire one another in their learning and research through social activities. Students coming from all corners of the world, their life at MIT, including residential life, social life, extracurricular activities, et cetera, is as important a part of the educational experience as class-work. ... The more people you interact with, and the more diverse that set of people is, the more you will learn. What the students wants is a lifestyle in which they can do their studies while carrying on their other activities simultaneously, else they loose focus on either of the fields. Recommendation regarding this aspect include that MIT should focus more of its resources towards supporting "community" housing, student life activities, social events, athletics, recreation; the types of things that allow people to interact and help make students and faculty feel that they are part of a larger community of scholars. It is within these informal settings that some of the best learning occurs at MIT. This required integrating the separate elements bringing together people from different living groups, and most importantly, bringing together faculty, students, and staff. That's why the 'Founders Group' of the dorm that was formed included both faculty as well as students. Residential life acti vities ideally should be controlled by the students who live in the dorm, using house taxes and elected governments to control their own programs. This teaches the students how to manage themselves, their expenses, events, activities and fellow-beings. The idea behind this was to encourage and measure students' ability to work together as a group, to make decisions for themselves, and to take leadership as a key element of the community education. Freshmen-on-campus decision was extremely opposed by many of the students, feeling that it was an attempt by the administration to take away students' very freedom and bring them under closer oversight and control by the administration. The student saw it

New Labour and Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New Labour and Globalisation - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that New Labour’s economic policies are focused on sustained economic growth for the country, emphasis on cutting down inflation and unemployment rates and use of measures to cope with globalization for the best economic interests of UK. New Labour has also focused on globalization as the best political strategy for promoting British economic growth. Whether this has been done to exploit or cope with the social and political consequences of a global economy remain a controversial issue. Barry and Patterson discuss globalization policies within the context of ecological modernization and environmental reforms suggesting that globalization has to be understood in terms of political, social and environmental issues. Barry and Patterson analyze New Labour’s approach to globalization as aimed to create opportunities for ecological modernization and in some policy areas and hinder in some others. Thus Labour’s focus on global ization has its own advantages and disadvantages as far as environmental policy measures are concerned. Some of the prime areas of development are renewable energy strategy, transport policy, and genetically modified food. The issues of environmental degradation and environmental policy measures have direct implications for globalization and thus it is important to consider environmental aspects of globalization within Labour policy measures.... and equity, Hopkin and Wincott suggest that the European states are less flexible and may have to become more open to changes for successful social and economic reforms. Considering this, the economic reforms and approach to globalisation as taken by New Labour may be considered as comparatively rigid and a more flexible policy could be recommended. Cerny and Evans (2004) argue that the state policies are always aimed at restructuring the state to stabilise national polity and promote domestic economic growth. Some state political approaches are focused on reform of political institutions, functions and processes in keeping with the needs of globalisation. Apart from adapting to internal social and political problems, national political leaders take on processes of political and social coalitions to overcome structural and even functional constraints in the form of state intervention. All of state's policies are focused on promoting, sustaining and expanding an open and liberal global economy to take full advantage of the benefits of such systems. However Cerny and Evans claim that too much emphasis on the role of individual political leaders can undermine the generic functions of the state in terms of public interest and social justice and can also lead to social conflicts. Considering the case of New Labour's policy agenda, in UK, Cerny and Evans note that the British state has been undergoing a continual transformation to adapt to global realities through state action. The fact that Blair's government is focused on adapting to the changing needs of globalisation only highlights policy issues that are established by New Labour to promote economic and social growth. The question of whether New Labour is exploiting, coping with or actively supporting globalisation

The Great Leap Forward launched by Mao in 1958 Essay Example for Free

The Great Leap Forward launched by Mao in 1958 Essay When the Communist party came to power in 1949 after a brutal war against the Nationalists, China was in a devastated state. War against Japan had resulted in the destruction of many of its cities including Beijing. Chinas people were left scared with the horrific memories of the Japanese armys horrendous acts. Rescuing China from the gutter was to prove to be a difficult task for Mao Zedong and his communist comrades. In order to understand the fundamental problems with the Great Leap Forward, previous reforms must be considered in order to fully assess the reasons for the its failures. One of Chinas most notorious problems was land ownership. Most of Chinas land was owned by cruel landlords. Peasants were being exploited and were forced to work long hours for poor pay and terrible living conditions. Mao used this in order to take a fundamental step in assuring that he had total control over the people. He introduced the policy of land reform. Mao re-distributed 40% of Chinas land and gave it to the peasants. This proved to be a truly brilliant political decision as he swept the hearts of the peasants on his side. He realised that as 90% of Chinas population were peasants, he needed to appeal to the masses. This policy was considered a success as an estimated 60% of the entire population benefited form the reform. However, this was to be a sign of Maos disregard for human life as this policy resulted in the death of 2 million landlords, by means of public execution during struggle meetings. Mao also started an early form of collectivisation, by 1952, 40% of peasants were collectivised. The next step was the encouragement of cooperatives, these favoured central management of land under private ownership, and by 1956 80% of peasants were part of cooperatives. The important factor of the land reform policy is that Mao was able to gain support from the peasants, the same peasants he would later use to conduct the Great Leap forward. Despite claiming to be a Marxist, Mao considered rural peasants to be the seeds of agricultural success but thought that industrial peasants were the backbone of the economy. The Great Leap Forward was to be the second economic reform Mao was to launch in China. Inspiring himself from Stalins economic model, in 1953 Mao launched the first 5 year plan. This plan was to be extraordinarily successful. The first of his 5 year plans set high production targets in oil, steel, pig iron and chemical fertiliser. Most of these targets were achieved, notably steel production quadrupled. Mao was able to cut inflation down from 1000% to only 15% by introducing a new currency the Yuan. Maos reforms were all interlinked. He used his social reforms to back up his economic reforms. Mao made revolutionary changes to womens lives in modern China. New sets of laws were introduced giving women the right to work, education and custody rights over their children. This was a significant improvement from the harsh days of foot binding. Mao also deemed it important to educate the Chinese population, another success was his improvement of literacy, and by his death 90% of China was literate. Not only did Mao revolutionise Chinese social life, but he put an end to corruption the government. However, these changes were to contribute to the launch of the great leap forward in a crucial way, by giving women the right to work Mao had significantly enlarged his work force which was important considering his beliefs in mass mobilisation. By the time the he announced the launch of the great leap forward 70% of women were employed. The success of the first 5 year plan can be explained by several factors. The targets set were plausible and most importantly Mao had the help of Russian economic and agricultural experts. However Mao deeply mistrusted experts. Some may argue that this was one of the main reasons for launching the hundred flowers campaign. In order to lure out intellectuals and opposition Mao gave a speech in 1957. During this speech Mao encouraged the intelligentsia to constructively criticize the communist party. At first the movement was slow to take of but once Mao forced the media to get behind it, people started speaking their minds about Maos regime. Communist party members were being heavily criticized and the Chinese people demanded reform. Mao, not uncharacteristically decided to reverse the policy in May 1957. This was to result in a crackdown on the intelligentsia known as the anti rightist campaign. Over 300,000 people were sent to labour camps. The hundred flowers was not simply a way at removing the intelligentsia, it was a way of removing Maos opponents, and this was to make the launch of the Great leap forward less difficult and certainly less questioned for the few experts that remained would be too terrified of speaking against the communist party chairman. The scene is now set for the introduction of the Great Leap Forward. Mao dreamed of transforming China into one of the worlds leading economic powers. Maos dream was to become Chinas nightmare with the launch of the great leap forward in 1958. Maos goal was to transform China into an economic superpower overnight. Many peasants knew little of what the Great Leap forward was for, most thought it was simply a plan to overtake major capitalist countries. However, to serve a higher purpose, Mao saw nuclear power as an essential element to become a superpower. However Maos secrete ambition was expensive. In order to mobilise labour, Mao had to further collectivise cooperatives in the rural parts of China. Mao believed that industry and agriculture were equally important, hence the slogan walking on two legs. However, the first 5 year plan had been beneficial to industry but agriculture had stagnated. One of Maos main concerns was Chinas population was outgrowing food production. In 1957 food production had grown 1% whilst the population had grown by 2%. Mao was distraught by the fact that the countrysides production was being used up in by the rural population. This posed a real economic problem for China. It meant that industry was not going to be sufficiently supported by agriculture and thus meant that Maos ambitions could not be realised. Maos answer to this problem was to decentralise control and enable enlarged agricultural units produce food and industrial products. These new super collectives would be known as Peoples Communes. These communes were under the control of local cadres whos main order were to extract as much labour as possible from the peasants. These cadres forced peasants were forced to hand over their property, thus reversing his policy of Land reform. The first of people communes was created in Henan in April 1958. It was composted of 27 collectives with over 9369 households joined together, by December 1958, 740,000 cooperatives had been turned into 26,000 communes. Mao had successfully militarised Chinas society, militia units squads were formed and were composed of everyone between 15 to 20 years of age. Living conditions in the communes were nothing short of appalling. Peasants eat, slept and washed together. All privacy was swept away from them, Mao even considered getting rid of peoples names and replacing them with numbers. According to Jung Chang and Jon Halliday Mao aim was to dehumanise Chinas 550 million peasants and turn them into the human equivalent of draft animals Mao had betrayed the peasants and was going to trade the peasants life for economic growth. Mao expected far too much from these communes. This may explain why the harvest predictions were astronomically high. Mao would have done well to examine the previous harvesting results. The normal yield was a ton per acre. The previous harvest of 1957 yielded a poor 195 million tons of grain. In 1958 Mao announced that the harvest figures for that year had been 430 million tons, western experts place this figure around 200 million tons. This demonstrates how much the production figures were exaggerated. Mao s political secretary Chen Boda told Mao that China was accomplishing in a day what it took capitalist states 20 years to accomplish. Production actually decreased during the Great Leap Forward by significant amounts, the harvest of 1959 was yielded a disappointing 170 million tons the CCP reported it at 282 million tons. This figure was to get even lower in 1960 when it fell to 143 million tons. This can be attributed to poor agricultural techniques. Close planting and deep ploughing were considered to be at the hear t of agricultural success. During these years Mao was asked how he intended to pay for his newly ordered soviet heavy machinery. Mao answered by claiming that China has unlimited food supplies. Consequently China increased its food exports towards Russia.

Avian Influenza and Its Expected Ramifications Essay -- Disease/Disord

Over the past fifteen years H5N1 influenza (also known as Avian Flu or Bird Flu) has become a common topic of speculation and debate worldwide, causing quite a bit of confusion about its possible impacts on our society. At this point in time it is generally recognized by the international medical community that Avian Flu is bound to become a pandemic, most likely within the next ten years. Research on Avian Flu and its effects have led many scholars to make grave predictions of major global turmoil while a small portion of medical scientists remain skeptical, believing we will have enough time to thoroughly prepare for the outbreak. The one thing that nearly all health professionals seem to agree upon is that the avian flu will surely have a large impact on the development of humankind. To truly understand the threat of this disease and what we must do to prepare for it, we need to look at the issue from multiple angles and consider what the spread of a disease so lethal and so pron e to mutation would mean for our daily lives, health professionals, laws and government procedures, and of course the continuation of the human race. It is necessary in order to understand Avian Flu's impacts on society to first understand what H5N1 influenza is. Like any virus, influenza viruses cannot reproduce on their own the way bacteria can. Technically, viruses aren’t even alive because in order for them to reproduce, they must take over the living cell of another organism. This makes all viral diseases notoriously hard to cure because modern research has yet to reveal a medication or procedure that can kill a virus without killing its host. The best medications that we currently have available to treat viruses can only prevent the virus fro... ...pe.com/viewarticle/757540>. Swain, James C., Linda L. Chezem, Caroline S. Cooper, Kim B. Norris, Carolyn T. Ortwein, Ronald J. Taylor, Fred Wilson, Francis Schmitz, Daniel O'Brien, Clifford Reeves, Elaine Snyder, 13) Thomas, James C., and Siobhan Young. "Wake Me Up When There's a Crisis: Progress on State Pandemic Influenza Ethics Preparedness." American Journal of Public Health 101.11 (2011): 2080-082. ProQuest. ProQuest, 24 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. . 14) Thomas Rhatigan, Joseph A. Trotter, Christopher Billeter, and Lenzing Lahdon. "Guidelines for Pandemic Emergency Preparedness Planning: A Road Map for Courts." CDC.gov. Center for Disease Control, Apr. 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. .

Evaluation Of Work In Progress †Blue Remembered Hills Essay

For the past term and a half I have been studying Blue Remembered Hills as part of my Drama Coursework and a couple of weeks ago I performed an extract from the play with three fellow students. I will be writing about my Work In Progress and how well we worked together as a group to make our performance successful. To do this I will be focusing on the rehearsal process and the final performance. The Rehearsals. The rehearsals went very well, with steady progress throughout each session. The main strengths were the whole groups ability to pick up words, stage directions and changes quickly, for example when we decided to use a domino effect for our entrance. This effect was put in close to the end of our whole rehearsal process but we never had any problems with it and no one forgot it either. We also had all our lines learnt by the fourth lesson which meant we could get on with focusing on our stage directions and character analysis. Our main weaknesses were our character analysis, for example one of our group members found it hard to perform as his character because his personality was very different to his characters and his volume was a slight issue as well. I also found it hard to perform as my character because at the beginning I would let the status slip slightly at the wrong moment and I wasn’t seen as the bully anymore, I would also have to be careful about my pitch because I was playing a boy and sometimes my voice would come off girly and high pitched. One of our main problems was that some of us had other commitments like work or clubs that made it hard to organise lunchtime or after school rehearsals this affected our rehearsal process because when we managed to organise a rehearsal it had to be a short one or someone might have forgotten or not been able to make it, so it was hard for our teacher to asses our work and give us feedback if there was someone missing. We over came our problem by working extra hard in our lesson time so we could pay off for it that way. We also tried to work outside a lot so it could help us imagine our surroundings and the sort of things a seven year old would do outside. I found my strengths were my ability to incorporate ideas into our work and give constructive criticism. I don’t feel there was a directors role because we all had ideas and were able to give each other advice on their character build up. I felt I was able to help the group improve practise by asking for line reruns and workshops to improve our overall characters. My main weakness was character analysis (as above) mainly because, as a group, we didn’t do enough character analysis and this could have helped me. I feel my contribution benefited the rehearsal process because I could keep the group focused on a task and I was a good team player. I fell I could have helped others in my group more without feeling I was going to offend them because it affects the whole group dynamics if one person is unsure and it shouldn’t have to be a hindrance. The demands of working in a group are to not mess around or waste time, because you have to put as much effort in as your group members otherwise it isn’t fair, and you are putting the whole group in jeopardy and therefore are not able to make a satisfactory performance. The Performance In our final performance the domino effect worked really well as opening the scene because it gave us all the energy we needed to open the scene as seven year old boys. The thing that didn’t work well was the dirt on the floor, the sticks were fine, it was just the debris and mud on the floor that didn’t work. We put it there to make the scene more site-specific but it was unnecessary because we didn’t need to use it as a prop and had to sweep it up afterwards as well!! Our strengths as a group was our ability to stay in character even when we weren’t speaking because this helped to keep the energy levels high and keep the performance interesting. As an individual performance my strengths were my volume and diction because I felt I carried my words out so everyone could hear me. My weaknesses were my body language and pitch because I would often slip out of my characters voice and body language. For example when I am fighting with John I would lead from my chest which isn’t manly. I felt our group created a performance that clearly expressed a theme suited to our target audience. We achieved this by developing skills which enabled us to broaden our minds and act as seven year olds. I was able to play my character because: My voice was mainly boyish and I was able to pull off bully mannerisms; My body language was like a seven year old because instead of sitting I would squat, or I would fold my arms to show stroppiness when someone does something I don’t like; My facial expressions suited the mood I was in or the situation that was happening, like when the atmosphere dropped when everyone looked at the squirrel in guilt I changed my facial expression to look uncomfortable or guilty; My gestures were large and clumsy like that of a child like when we were trying to get the squirrel out of the tree I would wave my stick or hurl stones at it; And my interactions with others on stage were that of a higher status character and sometimes very nasty because I was a bully and carried the higher status, likely after my fight with John I stuck my tongue out at him and made other nasty gestures towards him. Overall I felt that my performance and our overall work in progress was a success and we worked very well as a group to make our performance successful.

What Are the Main Benefits of Immigration to the United States of America

What Are the Main Benefits of Immigration to the United States of America? When the question is about immigration, usually it is related to movement of people from one country to the other one. To talk about the Unites States of America, the notion of immigration is highly-debated in different areas, especially in the political one. For a long time, immigrants were the ones who created the history of the whole country. The United States of America is the country, which was founded by immigrants long time ago, but even nowadays a great number of people still flock here. Why do they come? They are looking for political freedom and an opportunity to achieve the aims they failed to achieve at home. No matter what, the USA is still the land of opportunities. Among the reasons why people prefer to live in the United States of America is the one that they are planning to make up a successful marriage which is quite possible. They are looking for better employment. The majority of immigrants agree to change their place of living in order to forget about poverty and leave behind unemployment in their mother countries. They hope to find better fortune elsewhere than at home. One of the main beneficial factors which causes immigration of millions of people is the education factor. People want to study at the corruption-free good colleges and universities and they are able to do that in America. To talk about illegal immigrants, in the United States of America they get an opportunity to earn more money, than at their homelands and have relatively better life style. To cut the long story short, it would be better to name the basic and the most important factors, which attract people to go to the USA and make living in this country much more beneficial, than in their motherland: political liberty, religious broadmindedness, better economical opportunities, high standard educational level.