Social Identity and the Service-Profit Chain Essay Example for Free

Social Identity and the Service-Profit Chain Essay MOS Article Review Social Identity and the Service-Profit Chain By Christian Homburg, Jan Wieseke Wayne D. Hoyer Journal of Marketing Volume 73(March 2009) It is very important to understand that if performance meets expectations, the customer is satisfied; if not, dissatisfaction results. Thus a core assumption is that by improving performance, firms can also increase satisfaction. Customers expect what they are now receiving and in a sense they keep upping the ante so it becomes increasingly difficult to meet or exceed customer expectations. Now there are two SPC paths: conventional and the social identity based path. Both of them are complementary. In other words firms that successfully manage both SPC paths tend to perform better than firms that are successful in only managing either the satisfaction or the social identity based path. The main elements of the social identity approach are self-categorization theory and social identity theory. Self categorization theory suggests that human beings have a need to simplify the social world by categorising people into groups. People perceive themselves as belonging to a particular group or category. According to social identity theory people strive for positive self-esteem and try to accomplish this by enhancing their social identity. Moreover it is true customers self-definitional needs can be partially fulfilled by the companies they patronise. For example users of Apple computers strongly identify with the company and this identification is related to how they define themselves as individuals. Thus customer-company identification helps a person clarify his or her self concept and to gain positive self-appraisal through a positive company appraisal. In today’s era of unprecedented corporate influence and consumerism, certain companies represent and offer attractive, meaningful social identities to consumers that help them satisfy important self-definitional needs. Strong identification occurs when company becomes personally relevant for consumers and personal relevance creates the potential for emotional reactions. Although some people perceive a close relationship between commitment and identification, there is consensus that identity and commitment are distinguishable in terms of their essential meaning. The key distinction is that identification includes both a self-definitional and an emotional meaning for a person while commitment does not reflect the cognitive element of psychological oneness and self definition that identification does. Hypothesis for the social identity based path of the SPC

How to Write a Nursing Essay

How to Write a Nursing Essay Getting Started – The Planning Phase The key to success when writing a nursing essay is the detail applied when planning the piece. It is essential to create a clear and robust essay structure, taking into account all of the learning outcomes expected of the finished piece. As well as understanding the essay title it is also important to become fully acquainted with the learning outcomes which are included as standard with all essays, as these form a pivotal part of the students overall understanding of what is required of them when submitting their work. Most importantly in the planning phase it is advisable to return to the course tutor or module leader if there is any doubt as to what is expected of the essay, although feasible to do so, clarifying important queries once the essay is underway may well be too late as it may result in a significant content or structural change to hard work already carried out. A well planned essay will consider the following: Clarity as so what is being asked of the essay is the title clear? Having a full understanding of the style of work required i.e. reflective account, literature review and so on. Brainstorm – this is an easy yet helpful way of deciding on key content. Write headings of key points to include then start to build upon these. Where is the word count weighted – there is often an allocation of the percentage of marks which will be gained from each segment such as introduction, discussion and conclusion, be clear about this in the plan. Where is information for content to be accessed? A literature search should be carried out as early as possible. How much time is available to complete the work? Make a plan of time usage and stick to it, never leave writing until the last minute as it will certainly detract from the quality of the finished piece. The Introduction To obtain a good mark, students are expected to provide a robust and strong introduction to the essay, this indicates to the marker that the student fully understands what is expected of them, and also gives an indication of the content to follow in the discussion. When referring in the introduction what will be included in the essay, it is crucial that these intentions are followed through and the content included reflects this, and if detail is not guaranteed to appear in the text then it is advisable to keep information brief in the introduction. Always consider that the contents of the introduction can always be altered once the main body of the essay is complete, that way it ensures that the intended content is referred to appropriately in the introduction. The marker will expect to see references used from the offset however in the introduction these can be kept to a minimum and used purely to support the key features and the subject the essay is intended to focus on. The Discussion This is the student’s platform to exhibit their knowledge of the subject they are writing about. Having undertaking a thorough essay plan the content itself will have been clarified, the more complex undertaking will be to source and correctly apply theories within the discussion that give weight and credence to the level of understanding of the subject the student is required to write about. The discussion needs to be broad and relatively unbiased (unless it is specifically required to emphasise one side of an argument), providing the marker with well-rounded and up-to-date knowledge of the subject, which indicates that the student has read widely around the subject matter, and has subsequently acquired a good understanding of this. The discussion forms the bulk of a standard essay and is where the student must include all of the relevant points they intend to include in the essay. It is within the discussion that the student must display the evidence collected to address the question or proposed topic for discussion. The Conclusion It is essential at this stage of the essay not to present new information, or bring in additional threads to the discussion. The conclusion is intended to be a segment whereby the student is able to offer informed opinions about the information, facts and arguments provided within the discussion. It is here that information can be validated or challenged, and commonly, where appropriate, recommendations for future practice are made allowing the student to apply theories which have been born from the discussion. As with the introduction a conclusion is required to have a strong impact and leave the marker with no doubt as to whether the original question has been answered sufficiently. Referencing In the UK the ‘Harvard System’ is most commonly used as the academic referencing style of choice. Although for many first-time essay writers understanding referencing can be tantamount to learning a new language, once a solid grasp of the style is obtained it can then be comfortably applied to essays. It is important that students acknowledge that the use of referencing is extremely influential to a pass or fail therefore accuracy is essential to further enhance the over all mark. The purpose of referencing is that the student is able to illustrate a wide research of the chosen topic, and in doing so is able to trace where information has been obtained by means of providing a clear and concise reference list. In Summary It is important to understand that all universities adopt subtle variations in marking systems and as such it is the student’s responsibility to familiarise themselves with their place of study and what is expected of them. Providing strong attention and detail is applied to the planning, structure, information (argument), presentation and referencing of the essay then a student can expect to obtain a pass. The ‘pass’ grade attained will depend on what degree the learning outcomes have been met and fortunately students are able to establish a good understanding of the expectations of the marker by familiarising themselves with the provided ‘marking criteria,’ relating to the academic level they are working towards.

Middle Child :: essays research papers

The Art of the Middle Child   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What if you had the opportunity to see something you had never seen before. Would you take a camera? Would you go? Would you give it a thought? This is what goes through the mind of a person like me. More specifically a middle child, they put way too much thought into things. I am Josh, and I am a middle child. I’ve said it once and one more time wont hurt, being a middle child was hard let me tell you about me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wouldn’t it be funny if we were taught from the top down, makes as much sense as building a house starting with the roof and ending with the foundations? Sometimes is done like this quite often, as a result we have a distinct variety of people known as â€Å"Middle Child Syndrome.† Middle Child Syndrome is not something that occurs often in a family, usually only once but it may happen more than once, I would pick up a book on the subject sometime if you are still curious after reading this. There are a lot of qualities that go into the recipe of making the middle child. Lets go into describing them in terms of myself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have fought to keep an image of myself that I believe should be maintained. When something has come along in the past I have done what I could to keep what I could. A famous speaker once said: â€Å"I believe in coming out and being plain and honest with that which should be made public, and in keeping yourselves that which should be kept. If you have your weaknesses, keep them hid from your brethren as much as you can. You never hear me ask the people to tell their follies†¦ do not tell our nonsensical conduct that nobody knows of but yourselves.† Look at the third from last line, â€Å"†¦If you have your weaknesses, keep them hid from your brethren,†--keep them hid. I have pride in my honesty but I have made my mistakes. When I was the age of 11, approximately, I had taken my sister out for a walk. She was about 6 years old and had to be watched like a hawk. I had not got along wither for quite sometime and would blame things on her when we had disputes; everyone in my family had known that. Every time that something happened, I would find a way to pin the situation on my little sister.

Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry Essay -- essays research papers

"Jeremy Simms & TJ Avery are two relativly minor characters in the story ROTHMC. However, they both reinforce the themes." Discuss Aprox 1000 words There are many important Themes in the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. These themes include: racial prejudice, loyalty, honesty, friendship, personal integrity and respect for others. Although Jeremy Simms and TJ Avery are fairly minor people in the book, their characters are used to inforce and strengthen the themes of the novel. We first meet TJ Avery when Cassie, Stacey, Little Man and Christopher-John are walking to school. Right from the very start we find out that none of them actually likes TJ, except for Stacey. The reader sees that he is a liar, a cheat and a coward. He is ashamed of being black and he lets the Logan family down in many ways throughout the novel. One of the ways that he lets them down is when he gets Miz Logan fired. He went up to the store and told Kaleb Wallace that Miz Logan failed him on purpose and that she was destroying school property. “...I got fired...Harlen Granger came to the school with Kaleb Wallace and one of the school board members. Somebody told them about those books I’d pasted over...but that was only an excuse.'; (Pg 151) This highlights some of the themes by TJ’s total lack of loyalty and personal integrity. One of TJ’s biggest mistakes in the book is befriending two white boys, R.W. and Melvin Simms (Jeremy’s brothers). He thinks they are his friends and he doesn’t know that they are just using him. By hanging around with these two he ends up getting himself in a lot of trouble. They talk him into stealing the ‘pearl-handled pistol’ from the Barnett’s store. “R.W. broke the lock off the gun case with an axe and gave TJ the much-longed- for gun.'; But it goes terribly wrong and TJ wants out, R.W. and Melvin force him to stay. “...R.W. whopped Mr Barnett solidly on the head from behind with the flat of the axe...Mrs Barnett dashed across the room and flailed into R.W....Trying to escape &n... ...bsp;“‘Thanks Jeremy, it’s real nice’, Stacey said. ..... As Jeremy reached the door, I cried After him, ‘Merry Christmas, Jeremy!’ He looked back and smiled shyly. ‘Merry Christmas to y’all too.’'; Although Jeremy would make a much better friend than Stacey, Mr Logan doesn’t want Stacey to get too friendly with Jeremy. “‘...Right now you and Jeremy might get along fine but, in a few years he’ll think of himself as a man and you’ll still be a boy to him...’'; (Pg 129) Its rather ironic really, Jeremy is a white boy who wants to be black and TJ is a black boy who wants to be white. Although they are both minor characters in the novel, they help to inforce the themes. Jeremy shows this by possesing all the good characteristics, while TJ reinforces the themes by being the complete opposite to Jeremy. Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry Essay -- essays research papers "Jeremy Simms & TJ Avery are two relativly minor characters in the story ROTHMC. However, they both reinforce the themes." Discuss Aprox 1000 words There are many important Themes in the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. These themes include: racial prejudice, loyalty, honesty, friendship, personal integrity and respect for others. Although Jeremy Simms and TJ Avery are fairly minor people in the book, their characters are used to inforce and strengthen the themes of the novel. We first meet TJ Avery when Cassie, Stacey, Little Man and Christopher-John are walking to school. Right from the very start we find out that none of them actually likes TJ, except for Stacey. The reader sees that he is a liar, a cheat and a coward. He is ashamed of being black and he lets the Logan family down in many ways throughout the novel. One of the ways that he lets them down is when he gets Miz Logan fired. He went up to the store and told Kaleb Wallace that Miz Logan failed him on purpose and that she was destroying school property. “...I got fired...Harlen Granger came to the school with Kaleb Wallace and one of the school board members. Somebody told them about those books I’d pasted over...but that was only an excuse.'; (Pg 151) This highlights some of the themes by TJ’s total lack of loyalty and personal integrity. One of TJ’s biggest mistakes in the book is befriending two white boys, R.W. and Melvin Simms (Jeremy’s brothers). He thinks they are his friends and he doesn’t know that they are just using him. By hanging around with these two he ends up getting himself in a lot of trouble. They talk him into stealing the ‘pearl-handled pistol’ from the Barnett’s store. “R.W. broke the lock off the gun case with an axe and gave TJ the much-longed- for gun.'; But it goes terribly wrong and TJ wants out, R.W. and Melvin force him to stay. “...R.W. whopped Mr Barnett solidly on the head from behind with the flat of the axe...Mrs Barnett dashed across the room and flailed into R.W....Trying to escape &n... ...bsp;“‘Thanks Jeremy, it’s real nice’, Stacey said. ..... As Jeremy reached the door, I cried After him, ‘Merry Christmas, Jeremy!’ He looked back and smiled shyly. ‘Merry Christmas to y’all too.’'; Although Jeremy would make a much better friend than Stacey, Mr Logan doesn’t want Stacey to get too friendly with Jeremy. “‘...Right now you and Jeremy might get along fine but, in a few years he’ll think of himself as a man and you’ll still be a boy to him...’'; (Pg 129) Its rather ironic really, Jeremy is a white boy who wants to be black and TJ is a black boy who wants to be white. Although they are both minor characters in the novel, they help to inforce the themes. Jeremy shows this by possesing all the good characteristics, while TJ reinforces the themes by being the complete opposite to Jeremy.

A Case Study of the International Finance Corporation in Nigeria :: Economics Business Case Study Essays

IFC Mission- ‘To promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries.’ â€Å"The World Bank’s role, in my opinion, is to help improve the business environment in the developing countries so that the private sector can drive growth.†- Mr. Peter Woicke, Executive Vice President of the World Bank Group (WBG) in charge of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) - Lagos, August 2004. At the time Mr. Woicke was speaking, IFC involvement in Nigeria had reached $200million in investment commitments, a figure quickly surpassed in less than a year from that date (as at June 2005, IFC investment in Nigeria was to the tune of $290million). This was in spite of the fact that only five short years before (in 1999), IFC was doing practically no business in Nigeria and merely had a functional working office in Lagos. Mr. Woicke went on to say- â€Å"We have increased our exposure since democracy returned from almost nothing to almost $800 million and an exposure at the IFC of about $200 million. We have made a bigger bet to have the bank (WB) and the IFC work on Nigeria’s problems together. We were quite instrumental in advising the government on reforms in the telecom sector. We have been pushing very hard for privatization of other sectors.† Clearly, the advent of democracy had re-ignited interest in Nigeria. The initiation of a reform agenda by the new government was also playing a part in this renewed interest in Nigeria. Beyond financial commitments however, IFC was beginning to offer a great deal of other services towards developing the economic environment of business in Nigeria. As Mr. Woicke put it- â€Å"I actually think we should increase our presence quite (in Nigeria) dramatically. We don’t necessarily want to lend tons of money to Nigeria, because Nigeria has lots of resources. We can contribute in terms of providing advice, transferring technology, providing technical know-how in social, environmental and corporate governance issues† Indeed, the nature of IFC operations globally and increasingly in Nigeria were such that contribution was becoming greater in terms of technology, advice, social development, environmental assistance, corporate governance and ethical issues, and global competitiveness concerns. IFC had begun to realize that their market, and indeed their business model had reached a pivotal moment wherein clients had begun to expect more than just project finance deals and long term syndications. Governments were asking for help on private sector issues that went far beyond privatization or concession structuring. There had arisen a case for IFC involvement as much in the Economic as in the Social, Environmental, Technological, Global and indeed perhaps ultimately- Political Environment of Business. II. IFC- HISTORY AND EVOLUTION The International Finance Corporation (IFC) was founded in 1956 to

Academic Reading and Writing

CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING Learning Unit 2: READING SKILLS By the end of this session, you should be able to: identify what the writer has stated literally (read the lines) infer what the writer has stated (read between the lines) apply ideas within the text to what you already know (read beyond the lines) A. Reading Academic Texts Academic texts are relatively formal in structure and style. They might be textbooks or just straightforward texts.To increase the amount of information that you can extract from a single reading of a section, chapter or article in an academic text, you need to use efficient academic reading strategies. Some of the skills which are essential in academic reading are skimming and scanning for specific information or details, making inferences based on what is stated and applying ideas with the text to what you already know. B. Identifying Specific Information To identify specific information, you should begin b y scanning the topic sentences (i. e. he sentence which makes the point of the paragraph and which is usually the first sentence of the paragraph). Locating the topic sentence helps you to stay focus on finding the needed information. Task 1 Read the following passage and provide the most appropriate answers for the corresponding questions. Social Influence 1 Of the many influences on human behaviour, social influences are the most constant. When we hear the term social influence, most of us think of attempts of someone to persuade us to change our actions or opinions. The television usually comes to mind.However, the major influence on people is people’s presence. Many of the most important forms of social influence are unintentional and the effects we humans have on one another occur due to the fact that we are in each other’s physical presence. In 1898, a psychologist named Triplett made an interesting study. In checking the speed records of bicycle racers, he notic ed that better speed records were obtained when cyclists raced against each other than when they raced against the clock. This observation led Triplett to perform another experiment. He asked children to turn a wheel as fast as possible for a certain period of time.Sometimes two children worked at the same time in the same room, each with his wheel; at other times, they worked alone. The results confirmed his theory that children worked faster in co-action, which is when another child doing the same thing was present. Therefore, the experiments proved that humans perform significantly better with the presence of another person when doing a task. 2 ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 48 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 3 Soon after Triplett’s experiments, it was discovered that the presence of a passive spectator was enough to improve one’s performance.This was discovered in an experiment on muscular effort by Meumann in 1910, who found that subjects lifted a weight faster whenever the psychologist was in the room. Later experiments have confirmed this audience effect that provides several contributions to humans. Firstly, it helps to motivate a person to perform better. Secondly, it drives a person to break the psychological barrier. This is apparent in sport competitions in which crowds have a great effect on athletes’ performance, and it is normally referred to as home-ground advantage. For example, footballers tend to win more matches hen playing in front of their own fans. It appears that co-action and audience effects in humans are caused by the individual’s cognitive concerns about competition and the evaluation of performance that others will make. We learn as we grow up that others praise or criticize, reward or punish our performances, and this raises our drive level when we perform in front of others. Thus, even the early studies of co-action found that if all elements of competition are removed, co-action effects are reduced or eliminated. Similarly, audience effects are a function of a person’s interpretation of how much he is being evaluated. adapted from Simon, 2010) 4 1. Based on the information provided in paragraph 1, what is the main influence in changing a person’s behaviour and views? ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 2. What does the underlined phrase â€Å"comes to mind† in paragraph 1 mean? ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 3. According to the passage, what was the result of Triplett’s two co-action experiments in 1898? ___________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 4. Briefly explain TWO (2) reasons that caused the existence of co-action and audience effects in humans. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 49 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING C. Making Inferences Writers often tell you more than they say directly. They give you hints or clues that help you â€Å"read between the lines†.Using these clues to give you a deeper understanding of your reading is called inferring. When you infer, you go beyond the surface details to see other meanings that the details suggest or imply (not stated). Task 2 Warming-Up: Try to infer the possible message of the following cartoons. Discuss the messages with your peers and explain why your message is acceptable. Possible message: ______________________________ ______________________________ Possible message: ______________________________ ______________________________ ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READ ING-SKILLS 50 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMASPBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING Task 3 Making Inferences: Read the short excerpts taken from several academic articles and answer the questions given. Excerpt 1 During the recession of the mid-1980s, there was an increase in graduate unemployment in Malaysia. With the recovery of the economy towards the end of the 1980s, graduate unemployment was slightly reduced thanks to government’s effort to create more jobs. However, graduate unemployment that existed during the 1998 currency crisis still persists until today as many companies were forced to merge and lay off workers.It has been reported that the number of unemployed graduates had increased from 45,000 in 2000 to 85,000 in 2005 (Sim, 2006). What is the main cause of the increasing rate of graduate unemployment in Malaysia? A. Limited job opportunities due to economic instability. B. Currency crisis in 1998 reduced salary of many jobs. C. Lack of efforts by the gover nment to improve the economy. D. The impact of the global economic recession in the mid-1980s. Excerpt 2 Students are required to take English exam as a compulsory requirement for entrance to public university.MUET (Malaysian undergraduate English Test) result for new entry student for the 2007/8 intake at one public university which can be considered as a typical sample for other public universities indicated that most students scored below the satisfactory level in English competency. From the population of 2916 new students’ intake at this public university, about 72. 7% has a score of Bands 1, 2 and 3. This is because all they need is to get the MUET certificate regardless of their Bands (Mohini, 2008). Why did many students still score below the satisfactory level though MUET is a compulsory entrance requirement?A. Students lack initiatives to improve their English. B. English is often taken for granted since it is accepted as unimportant. C. Majority of the programmes a t university does not have a minimum Band requirement. D. A high MUET band is not a necessity for university entrance. Excerpt 3 It is all too apparent in this study that many students, often very good students, suffer needlessly when doing group assignments. While some academics might claim that it is good to let students face problems arising from group work, it is pointless having them to face problems that they will not see in the workplace.Simply making students do assignments together is not preparing them for team work in industry. It is not simulating â€Å"real life in industry†. It causes stress to many students and gives them grades they do not deserve, especially when the better ones are penalized for the lack of efforts by others (Ford & Maurice, 2011). Why do good students suffer from doing group assignments? A. Group assignments reduce lecturers’ marking load. B. Group assignments do not relate to their future work life. C. Group assignments’ grad es do not reflect their actual ability.D. Group assignments help them manage problems when working together. ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 51 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING D. Reading Practice Task 3 Read the passage below and choose the best answers (A, B, C or D) for the questions that follow Break Your Bad Habits By Amy Novotney As an undergraduate student, you probably got A's despite less-than-ideal study habits: reading in front of the television, staying up all night cramming, checking e-mail every 10 minutes while working on a paper.These behaviors may have cut it in college, but graduate school calls for a better set of strategies, says University of Virginia psychology professor Daniel Willingham, PhD. According to psychology faculty and other experts, here are the top five habits that hold graduate students back: 1. Highlighting. Dog-earing pages and highlighting journal article passages are popular but worthless exercises wh en it comes to helping you remember information later on, Willingham says. That's because they don't require students to engage with the material.Instead, he suggests students find a more active strategy that forces them to think about the meaning of what they're reading. This might be something as simple as taking notes on important points, outlining how journal articles fit together or spending a moment after reading a paragraph to reflect on how it fits into a piece's bigger picture. In a study by Pintrich and De Groot (1990), students who asked themselves â€Å"why? † at the end of each sentence while reading a factual passage about a university were significantly more likely to remember important points than students who were simply told to read the passage and remember it. . Cramming for exams. When you pull an all-nighter, your memories of the concepts you’re studying becomes associated with a particular time and environment, making them harder to retrieve, says Willingham. That's bad news for crammers, as most tests aren't handed out at 2 a. m. There are several reasons why distributing your studying throughout the semester is more long-lasting. One is that your brain doesn't make that association because the knowledge is cued and retrieved at many different points over time.Willingham's claims are backed up by Webb and Sheeran’s (2006) meta-analysis of 317 experiments examining the spacing of student study periods. The authors found that when participants studied at two different points in time, they recalled a greater percentage of the material than when the same amount of study time was nearly uninterrupted. 5 10 15 20 25 30 ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 52 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 3. Unhealthy eating. With both time and money in short supply, graduate students often skip lunch when rushing to class or hit the vending machine for a late-night snack.Yet the high-fat, empty-calo rie foods they often choose don't provide the energy needed to work effectively, and can also take a toll on the brain. A study by Manos (1999) linked memory loss to a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol. And a 2008 meta-analysis of 160 studies examining food's effect on the brain showed that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in salmon, walnuts and kiwi fruit, improve learning and memory (Hillman & Erickson, 1999). 4. Multitasking. Many students pride themselves on their ability to attend to several tasks at once, but multitasking undermines efficiency, according to a study by Miller (2006).It takes extra time to shift mental gears every time you switch tasks—that means when you sit down to work, close your e-mail program so it doesn't distract you. â€Å"If you ask any graduate student what they do first when they sit down to study, 99 percent say they check their e-mail, and then the next thing you know, an hour has gone by,† Miller says. When you're studyi ng, you may even need to disable your Internet connection and turn off your cell phone, she says. 5. Assuming you remember what you've read.According to a Pickering and Ferreira’s (2006) meta-analysis of 30 years of research, we aren't very good at assessing how well we understand something. You may feel well-versed in the social psychology theories you learned in class after reading over your notes several times, but familiarity doesn't mean you'll be able to recall the material for a test, Willingham says. To gauge whether you've studied enough, explain the material to someone else or create a test for yourself, he says. â€Å"Quizzing one another is the No. 1 thing I recommend to students,† Willingham says. It's a much more realistic assessment of what you know because it forces you to get inside the professor's head and think about what they are likely to ask about the material. † (adapted from Novotney, 2009) 35 40 45 50 55 60 For Questions 1-5, choose a wor d/phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined word as used in the text. 1. Dog-earing pages †¦ (line 9) A. m a r kin g wit h book m a r ks B. dr a win g pict u r es on pages C. foldin g t h e cor n er s of pa ges D. wr it in g down n ot es on t h e side 2. †¦ making them harder to retrieve (line 24) A. or ga n ise B. pr ocess C. r eca ll D. t im u la t e ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 53 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 3. †¦ can also take a toll on the brain (line 38) A. ch a r ge B. disast er C. ba d effect D. lou d r in gin g 4. It takes extra time to shift mental gears †¦ (line 45) A. speed up wor k B. slow down t h inkin g C. t h in k a t a n a lyt ica l level D. ch a n ge focu s of concen t r a t ion 5. You may feel well-versed in †¦ (line 54) A. com pet en t B. en t h u siast ic C. h a bit u a l D. r em em ber For Questions 6-15, choose the most appropriate answers based on your reading. . Which of t he following is an ideal study habit for undergraduate students? A. Studying while watching television. B. Studying into the wee hours of the morning. C. Interacting in emails while doing an assignment. D. Searching the internet for information on assignments. 7. Which sentence contains the main idea for the paragraph on highlighting? A. Dog-earing pages and highlighting journal article passages are popular but worthless exercises when it comes to helping you remember information later on, Willingham says B. That's because they don't require students to engage with the material. C.Instead, he suggests students find a more active strategy that forces them to think about the meaning of what they're reading D. This might be something as simple as taking notes on important points, outlining how journal articles fit together or spending a moment after reading a paragraph to reflect on how it fits into a piece's bigger picture. 8. According to the paragraph 2, why are crammers unable to r emember what they studied the night before? A. Memory is better at night but tests are usually not conducted at night. B. People usually lose their concentration if they study in one long sitting. C.What is studied is stored in the memory as a single episode and is not easily recalled. D. The amount of time spent studying in one night is less than that for a whole semester. ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 54 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 9. Why do students end up with unhealthy eating habits that affect their memory and learning? A. Food stalls are not open at night. B. They are busy and short of money. C. High-fat, empty-calorie food is tasty. D. They have lectures during lunch hour. 10. What food should students avoid if they want to improve their memory and learning?A. Fish. B. Fries. C. Fruits. D. Nuts. 11. What is the main idea for the paragraph on multitasking? A. Multitasking is an ability to be proud of. B. Multitasking is not an efficient way to study. C. Checking email should not be part of multitasking. D. Internet connection is a distractor when multitasking. 12. What is the author not saying in paragraph on multitasking? A. Students should do the less mentally taxing tasks first. B. It is better to finish one task first before starting another. C. Email, internet connection and cell phones are distractive. D. To save time, graduate students should not check their email. 3. Why do students often assume they remember what they have read? A. They are familiar with it. B. They have copied the notes. C. They have attended the lecture. D. They can explain it to someone. 14. According to Willingham, which is the best way to assess how well we understand something? A. See whether we can recall the information in the lecture. B. Find out whether we can do the test given by the lecturer. C. Ask each other questions on the information in the lecture. D. Set a test on the lecture and answer the questions ourselves . 15. Which text? A. B. C. D. f the following less-than-ideal study habits is not an idea found in the Eating at irregular hours. Doing last-minute studying. Reading articles superficially. Doing many things at one time. ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 55 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING Task 4 Read the passage below and choose the best answers (A, B, C or D) for the questions that follow. The Record-breaking Book 1 The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records.Created in 1955 after a debate concerning Europe's fastest game bird, what began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords to promote Guinness, an Irish drink, became one of the bestselling copyright titles of all time. In time, the book have sold 120 million copies in over 100 countries, quite a leap from its humble beginnings. 2 In its early years, the book aims to satisfy man's curiosity about the natural world around him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, travelled the globe to collect facts.It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the best. It was during this period that some of the hallmark Guinness Records were documented, answering such questions as â€Å"What is the brightest star? † and â€Å"What is the biggest spider? † 3 Once aware of the public's thirst for such knowledge, the book's authors began to branch out to cover little-known facts. They started documenting human achievements as well.A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness Book gave people a chance to become famous for accomplishing extraordinary and often pointless tasks. Records were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik's Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979, a man yodelled non-stop for ten and a quarter hours. 4 In its latest form, the book has found a new home on the internet. No longer restricted to the physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly infinite facts concerning such topics as the most powerful combustion engine, or the world's longest train.More and more facts and achievements are added. While there is no denying that each of these facts has its individual attraction, the increasing number of strange achievements represents an important change from the education-oriented facts of earlier editions. It seems Guinness World Records has changed its focus to cater to the audience that wants entertainment more than educational values. 5 Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records has changed over decades to provide insight into the full variety of modern life.Although one may be more likely to learn abo ut the widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a Civil War, the Guinness World Records website offers a peek into the future of fact-finding and record-documenting. (adapted from Michael & Timothy, 2012) ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 56 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 1. What caused the introduction of Guinness Book of Records in 1955? A. The search for bestselling titles. B. The debate by several pub landlords. C. The marketing tool to promote Guinness. D. The arguments on the Europe's fastest game bird.What was the main purpose of Guinness Book of Records in its early years? A. To document various life happenings B. To let the fact finders do the superlatives. C. To fulfil the curiosity within each human being. D. To travel around the world and find unbelievable facts. As used in paragraph 2, which is the best definition for â€Å"principal†? A. main B. belief C. senior D. original How did the Guinness Book r eality television show give people a chance to become famous? A. By accomplishing a task within a given time. B. By showing off their eating and singing habits. C. By presenting their skills in front of the audience. D.By performing strange and usually pointless tasks. 2. 3. 4. 5. What is the primary benefit of making Guinness World Records available online? A. It is more environmental friendly. B. It helps to save the cost of printing the book. C. The book can be sold to a larger number of readers. D. More facts can be added without the restriction of the paper. According to the author, the major difference between older editions of the Guinness Book of Records and the new Guinness World Records website involves A. a move from fact-finding to the recording of achievements B. a change in focus from educational to entertaining material C. departure from book sales being limited to local pubs and bars D. an end to the use of educational facts as a means to promote Guinness Why does Gu inness World Records include more strange achievements? A. It adds entertainment values to the records. B. It allows more people to achieve the impossible. C. More people were capable of doing weird things. D. The education-oriented facts are very hard to find. 6. 7. ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 57 CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE STUDIES, UNIMAS PBI 1032: ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 8. As used in paragraph 4, which is the best definition for â€Å"infinite†?A. certain B. excellent C. unlimited D. very little Which of the following statements is TRUE? A. The reality television show for Guinness Book of Records was a failure. B. The title for the Guinness Book of Records was derived from an Irish bird. C. Norris and Ross McWhirter were the first fact-finders for Guinness Book of Records. D. Changes to Guinness Book of Records are expected in the future since many people dislike reading silly records. What does the author imply by â€Å"Guinness World Records website offers a peek int o the future of fact-finding and record-documenting† (paragraph 5)?A. Guinness World Records website will continue to be more entertainmentbased. B. Finding facts on various records to fit into the website would be harder in the future. C. The need for Guinness World Records website to be maintained for future generations. D. The Guinness World Records website may not be visited in the future since it has excluded educational facts. 9. 10. IMPORTANT NOTE: In the final exam, the reading section will only include multiple-choice questions (MCQ) ARW-SEM2-2013-LU2-READING-SKILLS 58

Overcoming the Odds

Overcoming the Odds In life there will always be obstacles that are placed before us. Some will be easy and others will be difficult. I could remember a few incidents that made me think I would not be able to overcome certain roadblocks to achieve my goals. It was the summer of 2009; we had just got back home from Antigua & Barbuda of the sixth CVC Basketball Classic tournament. My high school coach had received a letter of acceptance to Word of Life Traditional School in Wichita, Kansas awarding me a full scholarship to play basketball for their school.At that time my mother was unemployed and we were not receiving help from other family members. The only thing that was going through my mind was saying, â€Å"Yes, I’ve got a school abroad to better myself and make my mother proud. † When I was looking at my mother’s face as she read the letter; it was full of happiness and stress at the same time. The ticket to Kansas was around eight hundred to one thousand dol lars, school was opening in less than three weeks, and we did not have a dollar for my ticket or living expenses.My mother and I had asked family members, friends, and private companies. It has been three weeks and we only had received five hundred dollars. All I could do is cry realizing I can’t go. As my mom witnessed my pain and frustration, she held me and said â€Å"God knows best and everything happens on his time, not ours. He wouldn’t bring us this far to fail. † The first week of school had passed and things was still looking bleak. That Friday morning I was shooting on the basketball court trying to clear my head.This guy saw me and asked me why I was not in school I told him about my situation. The man pulled out his wallet and gave me his card and told me to stop by his office that afternoon. Later that day I went to his office and he handed me a check for one thousand dollars. He said, â€Å"always work hard and follow your dreams and you will alwa ys have support,† I got up and thanked him for giving me an opportunity to pursue my dreams, believing in me, and how I will forever be grateful for his kindness.Once I left the office, I ran all the way home with tears in my eyes and out of breath to show my mom the check. She dropped to her knees and said, â€Å"Thank you Lord I know you would make it come through for my baby. † That weekend I spent packing my bags to leave on Tuesday morning. My mother sat down with me and told me that she wasn’t going to take this journey with me, she was frighten because I was only fifteen, and I have never been anywhere out of the country without her. The thought of now having to go to a strange state where I do not know anyone.She had second thoughts about me going. I said to her it cannot be that hard to do this and I am covered in the blood of Jesus. When Tuesday came it was that time to say goodbye, my mother started crying I held her and told her it will be ok even tho ugh I was scared yet I had to embrace it also trying to hold back the tears. All in all some things might seem impossible for you; as long as you stick with it, you will be successful. Going through this has truly made me stronger person physically, mentally, and it also has helped me grow to be more mature.