The Manifestations Of Organized Crime Among Roma - 1262 Words

The Manifestations of Organized Crime Among Roma in Romania Abstract - Organized crime captures the attention of the entire society, generating insecurity and fear among citizens. When talking about organized crime, especially among the Roma, although the terminology refers to extremely serious criminal deeds, initially we are tempted to think about the frequent methods used to sensitize that the Roma people abuse of: begging, marketing of products or metalworking. The sense of security among citizens is becoming less and less common. And as the theme dealt with in this paper refers to organized crime among the Roma - which leads us to think about a cause of insecurity in today s society - we will make a general analysis of the†¦show more content†¦Beccaria, Quetelet and Lombrosso admit the essential abnormality of the criminal behavior: each advocates its eradication in his own way, indicating the approach that is, in each point of view, the most effective in fulfilling this task. Firstly, the solution is to build a criminal law bas ed on democratic principles and reason. Secondly, it is important to find the social causes of delinquency in order to direct the actions of the public authorities towards the moralizing of the offenders. Lastly, crime is a pathological conduct, and it must be cured on the basis of individual treatment which only uses in certain cases the instruments of law (Ogien, 2002, p. 21). The offense of establishing an organized criminal group is a criminal offense of a particular gravity, which is punished with up to 10 years of imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the offenses for which the group was formed. Moreover, when the purpose for which the group was formed is reached, the conjuncture of offenses will result in a higher penalty. A.The evolution of the phenomenon In Romania, organized crime developed immediately after the revolution in 1989, with ramifications in almost all its spheres of manifestation. OverShow MoreRelatedA Critical Review of â€Å"the Ambiguities of Football, Politics, Culture, and Social Transformation in Latin America† by Tamir Bar-on.14147 Words   |  57 Pagesmatches in the stadiums and on television, will be used by the international French Evangelical Alliance called Sport et Foi Mondial 98 (Sport and Faith World Cup 98) to bring the Gospel to the greatest number of people in the world: Chaplaincy work among the athletes, a Bible-Expo at a strategic location, evangelical street concerts, evangelical messages and banners in the stadiums, etc. In this instance, the new pagan and secular religion of football clashes with the traditional Christian Church -Read MoreArt History7818 Words   |  32 Pageslove of beauty, the need for beauty o Separates man from the animals o Civilization #61607; Around 5,000BC #61607; Literacy • Writing and reading #61607; Urban Life • Division of labor Ââ€" farmers, merchants, kings, priest, etc. #61607; Organized Religion • Before civilization, there was just shamanism #61607; Monumental architecture • Great Wall, Coliseum o Cradles of Civilization #61607; Cannot trace civilization back any further #61607; All started around same time #61607; AllsRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 PagesPhysical Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Job-Related Mental Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Burnout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Violence and Crime in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 External Impacts on Human Resources—Legal Protections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Equal Employment Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and OtherRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesOrganizational Behavior: Experiences and Cases, Journal of Experimental Education, Journal of Applied Measurement, and more. Work–life and career focused—All self-assessments are focused to help individuals better manage their work lives or careers. Organ ized in four parts, these instruments offer you one source from which to learn more about yourself. Choice of formats—The Prentice Hall Self-Assessment Library is available in CD-ROM, online, or print format. Save feature—Students can take the self-assessments

Lamb The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 22 Free Essays

string(20) " Josh and I waited\." Chapter 22 Tamil, as it turned out, was not a small town in southern India, but the whole southern peninsula, an area about five times the size of Israel, so looking for Melchior was akin to walking into Jerusalem on any given day and saying, â€Å"Hey, I’m looking for a Jewish guy, anyone seen him?† What we had going for us was that we knew Melchior’s occupation, he was an ascetic holy man who lived a nearly solitary life somewhere along the coast and that he, like his brother Gaspar, had been the son of a prince. We found hundreds of different holy men, or yogis, most of them living in complete austerity in the forest or in caves, and usually they had twisted their bodies into some impossible posture. The first of these I saw was a yogi who lived in a lean-to on the side of a hill overlooking a small fishing village. We will write a custom essay sample on Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 22 or any similar topic only for you Order Now He had his feet tucked behind his shoulders and his head seemed to be coming from the wrong end of his torso. â€Å"Josh, look! That guy is trying to lick his own balls! Just like Bartholomew, the village idiot. These are my people, Josh. These are my people. I have found home.† Well, I hadn’t really found home. The guy was just performing some sort of spiritual discipline (that’s what â€Å"yoga† means in Sanskrit: discipline) and he wouldn’t teach me because my intentions weren’t pure or some claptrap. And he wasn’t Melchior. It took six months and the last of our money and we both saw our twenty-fifth birthdays before we found Melchior reclining in a shallow stone nook in a cliff over the ocean. Seagulls were nesting at his feet. He was a hairier version of his brother, which is to say he was slight, about sixty years old, and he wore a caste mark on his forehead. His hair and beard were long and white, shot with only a few stripes of black, and he had intense dark eyes that seemed to show no white at all. He wore only a loincloth and he was as thin as any of the Untouchables we had met in Kalighat. Joshua and I clung to the side of the cliff while the guru untied from the human knot he’d gotten himself into. It was a slow process and we pretended to look at the seagulls and enjoy the view so as not to embarrass the holy man by seeming impatient. When he finally achieved a posture that did not appear as if it had been caused by being run over by an ox cart, Joshua said, â€Å"We’ve come from Israel. We were six years with your brother Gaspar in the monastery. I am – â€Å" â€Å"I know who you are,† said Melchior. His voice was melodic, and every sentence he spoke seemed as if he were beginning to recite a poem. â€Å"I recognize you from when I first saw you in Bethlehem.† â€Å"You do?† â€Å"A man’s self does not change, only his body. I see you grew out of the swaddling clothes.† â€Å"Yes, some time ago.† â€Å"Not sleeping in that manger anymore?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Some days I could go for a nice manger, some straw, maybe a blanket. Not that I need any of those luxuries, nor does anyone who is on the spiritual path, but still.† â€Å"I’ve come to learn from you,† Joshua said. â€Å"I am to be a bodhisattva to my people and I’m not sure how to go about it.† â€Å"He’s the Messiah,† I said helpfully. â€Å"You know, the Messiah. You know, Son of God.† â€Å"Yeah, Son of God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Yeah,† said Joshua. â€Å"So what do you have for us?† I asked. â€Å"And who are you?† â€Å"Biff,† I said. â€Å"My friend,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah, his friend,† said I. â€Å"And what do you seek?† â€Å"Actually, I’d like to not have to hang on to this cliff a lot longer, my fingers are going numb.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Josh. â€Å"Yeah,† said I. â€Å"Find yourself a couple of nooks on the cliff. There are several empty. Yogis Ramata and Mahara recently moved on to their next rebirth.† â€Å"If you know where we can find some food we would be grateful,† Joshua said. â€Å"It’s been a long time since we’ve eaten. And we have no money.† â€Å"Time then for your first lesson, young Messiah. I am hungry as well. Bring me a grain of rice.† Joshua and I climbed across the cliff until we found two nooks, tiny caves really, that were close to each other and not so far above the beach that falling out would kill us. Each of our nooks had been gouged out of the solid rock and was just wide enough to lie down in, tall enough to sit up in, and deep enough to keep the rain off if it was falling straight down. Once we were settled, I dug through my satchel until I found three old grains of rice that had worked their way into a seam. I put them in my bowl, then carried the bowl in my teeth as I made my way back to Melchior’s nook. â€Å"I did not ask for a bowl,† said Melchior. Joshua had already skirted the cliff and was sitting next to the yogi with his feet dangling over the edge. There was a seagull in his lap. â€Å"Presentation is half the meal,† I said, quoting something Joy had once said. Melchior sniffed at the rice grains, then picked one up and held it between his bony fingertips. â€Å"It’s raw.† â€Å"Yes, it is.† â€Å"We can’t eat it raw.† â€Å"Well, I would have served it up steaming with a grain of salt and a molecule of green onion if I’d known you wanted it that way.† (Yeah, we had molecules in those days. Back off.) â€Å"Very well, this will have to do.† The holy man held the bowl with the rice grains in his lap, then closed his eyes. His breathing began to slow, and after a moment he appeared not to be breathing at all. Josh and I waited. And looked at each other. And Melchior didn’t move. His skeletal chest did not rise with breath. I was hungry and tired, but I waited. And the holy man didn’t move for almost an hour. Considering the recent nook vacancies on the cliff face, I was a little concerned that Melchior might have succumbed to some virulent yogi-killing epidemic. â€Å"He dead?† I asked. â€Å"Can’t tell.† â€Å"Poke him.† â€Å"No, he’s my teacher, a holy man. I’m not poking him.† â€Å"He’s Untouchable.† Joshua couldn’t resist the irony, he poked him. Instantly the yogi opened his eyes, pointed out to sea and screamed, â€Å"Look, a seagull!† We looked. When we looked back the yogi was holding a full bowl of rice. â€Å"Here, go cook this.† So began Joshua’s training to find what Melchior called the Divine Spark. The holy man was stern with me, but his patience with Joshua was infinite, and it was soon evident that by trying to be part of Joshua’s training I was actually holding him back. So on our third morning living in the cliff, I took a long satisfying whiz over the side (and is there anything so satisfying as whizzing from a high place?) then climbed to the beach and headed into the nearest town to look for a job. Even if Melchior could make a meal out of three grains of rice, I’d scraped all the stray grains out of both my and Joshua’s satchels. The yogi might be able to teach a guy to twist up and lick his own balls, but I couldn’t see that there was much nourishment in it. The name of the town was Nicobar, and it was about twice the size of Sepphoris in my homeland, perhaps twenty thousand people, most of whom seemed to make their living from the sea, either as fishermen, traders, or shipbuilders. After inquiring at only a few places, I realized that for once it wasn’t my lack of skills that were keeping me from making a living, it was the caste system. It extended far deeper into the society than Rumi had told me. Subcastes of the larger four dictated that if you were born a stonecutter, your sons would be stonecutters, and their sons after them, and you were bound by your birth to never do any other job, regardless of how good or bad you were at it. If you were born a mourner, or a magician, you would die a mourner or a magician, and the only way you’d get out of death or magic was to die and be reincarnated as something else. The one skill that didn’t seem to require belonging to a caste was village idiot, but the Hindus seemed to thrust the more eccentric holy men into this role, so I found no openings there. I did have my bowl, and my experience at collecting alms for the monastery, so I tried my hand at begging, but every time I would get a good corner staked out, along would hop some one-legged blind guy to steal my action. By the late afternoon I had one tiny copper coin and the steward of the beggars guild had come along to warn me that if he caught me begging in Nicobar again, he’d see that I was admitted to the guild by the immediate removal of my arms and legs. I bought a handful of rice at the market and was skulking out of town, my bowl before me and my head down, like a good monk, when I saw before me a most delicate set of toes, painted vermilion and followed by a dainty foot, an elegant ankle ajangle with copper bangles, an inviting calf decorated with hennaed designs as intricate as lace, and from there a bright skirt led me up the seam to a bejeweled navel, full breasts haltered in yellow silk, lips like plums, a nose as long and straight as a Roman statue’s, and wide brown eyes, shaded in blue and lined to make them look the size of a tiger’s. They drank me in. â€Å"You’re a stranger,† she said. One long finger on my chest stopped me on the spot. I tried to hide my rice bowl in my shirt, and in a fabulous display of sleight of hand, ended up spilling the grains down my front. â€Å"I’m from Galilee. In Israel.† â€Å"Never heard of it. Is it far?† She reached into my shirt and began to pick out the rice grains that had caught against my sash, running her fingernail along my stomach muscles and dropping the grains, one by one, into my bowl. â€Å"Very far. I’ve come here with my friend to obtain sacred and ancient knowledge, that kind of thing.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"Biff – or Levi who is called Biff. We do that ‘who is called’ thing a lot in Israel.† â€Å"Follow me, Biff, I’ll show you some ancient and sacred knowledge.† She hooked her finger into my sash and walked into a nearby doorway, for some reason completely confident that I would follow. Inside, amid piles of colorful pillows strewn about the floors and deep carpets the likes of which I hadn’t seen since Balthasar’s fortress, stood a carved camphorwood stand on which a large codex lay open. The book was bound in brass filigreed with copper and silver, and the pages were made of a parchment finer than I had ever seen. The woman pushed me toward the book and left her hand on my back as I looked at the open page. The handwritten script was gilded and so ornate that I could barely make out the words, which didn’t matter anyway, because it was the illustration that caught my eye. A man and a woman, nude, each perfect. The man had the woman facedown on a rug, her feet hooked over his shoulders, her arms held behind her as he entered her. I tried to call on my Buddhist training and discipline to keep from embarrassing myself in front of the strange woman. â€Å"Ancient sacred wisdom,† she said. â€Å"The book was a gift from a patron. The Kama Sutra, it’s called. Thread of Desire.† â€Å"The Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering,† I said, feeling like the kung fu master that I knew I was. â€Å"Do they look like they are suffering?† â€Å"No.† I began to tremble. I had been too long out of the company of women. Far too long. â€Å"Would you like to try that? That suffering. With me?† â€Å"Yes,† I said. All the training, all the discipline, all the control, gone in a word. â€Å"Do you have twenty rupees?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Then suffer,† she said, and she stepped away. â€Å"See, I told you.† Then she walked away, trailing the scent of sandalwood and roses behind her as she went to the door, her hips waving good-bye to me all the way across the room, the bangles on her arms and ankles ringing like tiny temple bells calling me to worship at her secret grotto. At the door she crooked a finger for me to follow her out, and I did. â€Å"My name is Kashmir,† she said. â€Å"Come back. I’ll teach you ancient and sacred knowledge. One page at time. Twenty rupees each.† I took my stupid, pathetic, useless grains of rice and went back to my holy, stupid, useless, stupid male friends at the cliff. â€Å"I brought some rice,† I said to Joshua when I had climbed to my nook in the cliff. â€Å"Melchior can do his rice thing and we’ll have enough for supper.† Josh was sitting on the shelf of his nook, his legs folded into the lotus position, hands in the mudra of the compassionate Buddha. â€Å"Melchior is teaching the path to the Divine Spark,† Joshua said. â€Å"First you have to quiet the mind. That’s why there’s so much physical discipline, attention to breath, you have to be so completely in control that you can see past the illusion of your body.† â€Å"And how is that different from what we did in the monastery?† â€Å"It’s subtle, but it’s different. There the mind would ride the wave of action, you could meditate while on the exercise posts, shooting arrows, fighting. There was no goal because there was no place to be but in the moment. Here, the goal is to see beyond the moment, to the soul. I think I’m getting a glimpse. I’m learning the postures. Melchior says that an accomplished yogi can pass his entire body through a hoop the size of his head.† â€Å"That’s great, Josh. Useful. Now let me tell you about this woman I met.† So I jumped over to Josh’s ledge and began to tell him about my day, the woman, the Kama Sutra, and my opinion that this just might be the sort of ancient spiritual information a young Messiah might need. â€Å"Her name is Kashmir, which means soft and expensive.† â€Å"But she’s a prostitute, Biff.† â€Å"Prostitutes didn’t bother you when you were making me help you learn about sex.† â€Å"They still don’t bother me, it’s just that you don’t have any money.† â€Å"I got the feeling she likes me. I think maybe she’ll do me pro bono, if you know what I mean?† I elbowed him in the ribs and winked. â€Å"You mean for the public good. You forget your Latin? ‘Pro bono’ means ‘for the public good.'† â€Å"Oh. I thought it meant something else. She’s not going to do me for that.† â€Å"No, probably not,† said Josh. So the next day, first thing, I made may way back to Nicobar, determined to find a job, but by noon I found myself sitting on the street next to one of the blind, no-legged beggar kids. The street was packed with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and the kid was making a killing on the spare change. I was astounded at the amount in the kid’s bowl; there must have been enough for three Kama Sutra pages right there. Not that I would steal from a blind kid. â€Å"Look, Scooter, you look a little tired, you want me to watch the bowl while you take a break?† â€Å"Get your hand out of there!† The kid caught my wrist (me, the kung fu master). He was quick. â€Å"I can tell what you’re doing.† â€Å"Okay, fine, how about I show you some magic tricks. A little sleight of hand?† â€Å"Oh, that’ll be fun. I’m blind.† â€Å"Look, make up your mind.† â€Å"I’m going to call for the guild-master if you don’t go away.† So I went away, despondent, defeated – not money enough to look at the edge of a page of the Kama Sutra. I skulked back to the cliffs, climbed up to my nook, and resolved to console myself with some cold rice left over from last night’s supper. I opened my satchel and – â€Å"Ahhh!† I leapt back. â€Å"Josh, what are you doing in there?† And there he was, his beatific old Joshua face with the sole of a foot on either side like big ears, a few vertebrae showing, one hand, my ying-yang amulet vial, and a jar of myrrh. â€Å"Get out of there. How’d you get in there?† I’ve mentioned our satchels before. The Greeks called them wallets, I guess you would call them duffel bags. They were made of leather, had a long strap we could throw over our shoulder, and I suppose if you’d asked me before, I would have said you could get a whole person in one if you had to, but not in one piece. â€Å"Melchior taught me. It took me all morning to get in here. I thought I’d surprise you.† â€Å"Worked. Can you get out?† â€Å"I don’t think so. I think my hips are dislocated.† â€Å"Okay, where’s my black glass knife?† â€Å"It’s at the bottom of the bag.† â€Å"Why did I know you were going to say that?† â€Å"If you get me out I’ll show you what else I learned. Melchior taught me how to multiply the rice.† A few minutes later Joshua and I were sitting on the ledge of my nook being bombarded by seagulls. The seagulls were attracted by the huge pile of cooked rice that lay between us on the ledge. â€Å"That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.† Except that you really couldn’t see it done. One minute you had a handful of rice, the next a bushel. â€Å"Melchior says that it usually takes a lot longer for a yogi to learn to manipulate matter like this.† â€Å"How much longer?† â€Å"Thirty, forty years. Most of the time they pass on before they learn.† â€Å"So this is like the healing. Part of your, uh, legacy?† â€Å"This isn’t like the healing, Biff. This can be taught, given the time.† I tossed a handful of rice into the air for some seagulls. â€Å"Tell you what. Melchior obviously doesn’t like me, so he’s not going to teach me anything. Let’s trade knowledge.† I brought rice to Joshua, had him multiply it, then sold the surplus in the market, and eventually I started trading fish instead of rice because I could raise twenty rupees in fewer trips. But before that, I asked Joshua to come to town with me. We went to the market, which was thick with traders, haggling, making deals, exchanging cash for goods and services, and over on the side, a blind and legless beggar was making a killing on the change. â€Å"Scooter, I’d like you to meet my friend Joshua.† â€Å"My name’s not Scooter,† said the waif. A half hour later Scooter could see again and miraculously his severed legs had been regenerated. â€Å"You bastards!† said Scooter as he ran off on clean new pink feet. â€Å"Go with God,† Joshua said. â€Å"Now I guess we’ll see how easy it is to earn a living!† I shouted after the kid. â€Å"He didn’t seem very pleased,† said Josh. â€Å"He’s only learning to express himself. Forget him, others are suffering as well.† And so it came to pass, that Joshua of Nazareth moved among them, healing them and performing miracles, and all the little blind children of Nicobar did see again, and all the lame did stand up and walk. The little fuckers. And so the exchange of knowledge began: what I was learning from Kashmir and the Kama Sutra for what Joshua was learning from the holy man Melchior. Each morning, before I went to town and before Joshua went to learn from his guru, we met on the beach and shared ideas and breakfast. Usually some rice and a fresh fish roasted over the fire. We’d gone long enough without eating animal flesh, we had decided, despite what Melchior and Gaspar tried to teach us. â€Å"This ability to increase the bounty of food – imagine what we can do for the people of Israel, of the world.† â€Å"Yes, Josh, for it is written: ‘Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach a man to be a fish and his friends eat for a week.'† â€Å"That is not written. Where is that written?† â€Å"Amphibians five-seven.† â€Å"There’s no friggin’ Amphibians in the Bible.† â€Å"Plague of frogs. Ha! Gotcha!† â€Å"How long’s it been since you had a beating?† â€Å"Please. You can’t hit anyone, you have to be at total peace with all creation so you can find Sparky the Wonder Spirit.† â€Å"The Divine Spark.† â€Å"Whatever, th – ouch. Oh great, and what am I supposed to do, hit the Messiah back?† â€Å"Turn the other cheek. Go ahead, turn it.† As I said, thus did the enlightened exchange of sacred and ancient teachings begin: The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman winds her small toes into the armpit hair of the man, and the man hops upon one foot, while supporting the woman on his lingam and a butter churn, then the achieved position is called â€Å"Rhinoceros Balancing a Jelly Donut.† â€Å"What’s a jelly donut?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I don’t know. It’s a Vedic term lost to antiquity, but it is said to have had great significance to the keepers of the law.† â€Å"Oh.† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: Beyond the senses are the objects, and beyond the objects is the mind. Beyond the mind is pure reason, and beyond reason is the Spirit in man. â€Å"What’s that supposed to mean?† â€Å"You have to think about it, but it means that there’s something eternal in everyone.† â€Å"That’s swell. What’s with the guys on the bed of nails?† â€Å"A yogi must leave his body if he is going to experience the spiritual.† â€Å"So he leaves through the little holes in his back?† â€Å"Let’s start again.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a man applies wax from the carnuba bean to a woman’s yoni and buffs it with a lint-free cloth or a papyrus towel until a mirror shine is achieved, then it is called Readying the Mongoose for Trade-in.† â€Å"Look, she sells me pieces of sheepskin parchment, and each time, after we’re finished, I’m allowed to copy the drawings. I’m going to tie them all together and make my own codex.† â€Å"You did that? That looks like it hurts.† â€Å"This from a guy I had to break out of a wine jar with a hammer yesterday.† â€Å"Yeah, well, it wouldn’t have happened if I’d remembered to grease my shoulders like Melchior taught me.† Joshua turned the drawing to get a different angle on it. â€Å"You’re sure this doesn’t hurt?† â€Å"No, not if you keep your bottom away from the incense burners.† â€Å"No, I mean her.† â€Å"Oh, her. Well, who knows? I’ll ask her.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: I am impartial to all creatures, and no one is hateful or dear to me, but men devoted to me are in me, and I am in them. â€Å"What’s the Bhagavad Gita?† â€Å"It’s like a long poem in which the god Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna as he drives his chariot into battle.† â€Å"Really, what’s he advise him?† â€Å"He advises him not to feel bad about killing the enemy, because they are essentially already dead.† â€Å"You know what I’d advise him if I was a god? I’d advise him to get someone else to drive his friggin’ chariot. The real God wouldn’t be caught dead driving a chariot.† â€Å"Well, you have to look at it as a parable, otherwise it sort of reeks of false gods.† â€Å"Our people don’t have good luck with false gods, Josh. They’re – I don’t know – frowned upon. We get killed and enslaved when we mess with them.† â€Å"I’ll be careful.† The Kama Sutra sayeth: When a woman props herself up on the table and inhales the steam of the eucalyptus tea, while gargling a mixture of lemon, water, and honey, and the man takes the woman by the ears, and enters her from behind, while looking out the window at the girl across the street hanging out her laundry to dry, then the position is called â€Å"Distracted Tiger Hacking Up a Fur Ball.† â€Å"I couldn’t find that one in the book, so she dictated it to me from memory.† â€Å"Kashmir’s quite the scholar.† â€Å"She had the sniffles, but agreed to my lesson anyway. I think she’s falling for me.† â€Å"How could she not, you’re a very charming fellow.† â€Å"Why, thank you, Josh.† â€Å"You’re welcome, Biff.† â€Å"Okay, tell me about your little yoga thing.† The Bhagavad Gita sayeth: Just as the wide-moving wind is constantly present in space, so all creatures exist in me. Understand it to be so! â€Å"Is that the kind of advice you’d give someone who’s riding into battle? You’d think Krishna would be saying stuff like, ‘Look out, an arrow! Duck!'† â€Å"You’d think,† Joshua sighed. The Kama Sutra sayeth: The position of â€Å"Rampant Monkey Collecting Coconuts† is achieved when a woman hooks her fingers into the man’s nostrils and performs a hokey-pokey motion with her hips and the man, while firmly stroking the woman’s uvula with his thumbs, swings his lingam around her yoni in a direction counter to that in which water swirls down a drain. (Water has been observed swirling down the drain in different directions in different places. This is a mystery, but a good rule of thumb for achieving Rampant Monkey is to just go in the direction counter to which your own personal drain swirls.) â€Å"Your drawings are getting better,† Joshua said. â€Å"In the first one I thought she had a tail.† â€Å"I’m using the calligraphy techniques we learned in the monastery, only using them to draw figures. Josh, are you sure it doesn’t bother you, talking about this stuff when you’ll never be allowed to do it?† â€Å"No, it’s interesting. It doesn’t bother you when I talk about heaven, does it?† â€Å"Should it?† â€Å"Look, a seagull!† The Katha Upanishad sayeth: For a man who has known him, the light of truth shines. For one who has not known, there is darkness. The wise who have seen him in every being on leaving this life, attain life immortal. â€Å"That’s what you’re looking for, huh, the Divine Spark thing?† â€Å"It’s not for me, Biff.† â€Å"Josh, I’m not a satchel of sand here. I didn’t spend all of my time studying and meditating without getting some glimpse of the eternal.† â€Å"That’s good to know.† â€Å"Of course it helps when angels show up and you do miracles and stuff too.† â€Å"Well, yes, I guess it would.† â€Å"But that’s not a bad thing. We can use that when we get home.† â€Å"You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?† â€Å"Not a clue.† Our training went on for two years before I saw the sign that called us home. Life was slow, but pleasant there by the sea. Joshua became more efficient at multiplying food, and while he insisted on living an austere lifestyle so he could remain unattached to the material world, I was able to get a little money ahead. In addition to paying for my lessons, I was able to decorate my nook (just some erotic drawings, curtains, some silk cushions) and buy a few personal items such as a new satchel, an ink stone and a set of brushes, and an elephant. I named the elephant Vana, which is Sanskrit for wind, and although she certainly earned her name, I regret it was not due to her blazing speed. Feeding Vana was not a difficulty with Joshua’s ability to turn a handful of grass into a fodder farm, but no matter how hard Joshua tried to teach her yoga, she was not able to fit into my nook. (I consoled Joshua that it was probably the climb, and not his failure as a yoga guru that deterred Vana. â€Å"If she had fingers, Josh, she’d be snuggling up with me and seagulls right now.†) Vana didn’t like being on the beach when the tide came and washed sand between her toes, so she lived in a pasture just above the cliff. She did, however, love to swim, and some days rather than ride her on the beach all the way to Nicobar, I would have her swim into the harbor just under water, with only her trunk showing and me standing on her forehead. â€Å"Look, Kashmir, I’m walking on water! I’m walking on wate r!† So eager was my erotic princess to share my embrace that rather than wonder at the spectacle as did the other townsfolk she could only reply: â€Å"Park the elephant in back.† (The first few times she said it I thought she was referring to a Kama Sutra position that we had missed, pages stuck together perhaps, but it turned out such was not the case.) Kashmir and I became quite close as my studies progressed. After we went through all the positions of the Kama Sutra twice, Kashmir was able to take things to the next level by introducing Tantric discipline into our lovemaking. So skillful did we become at the meditative art of coupling that even in the throes of passion, Kashmir was able to polish her jewelry, count her money, or even rinse out a few delicates. I myself had so mastered the discipline of controlled ejaculation that often I was halfway home before release was at last achieved. It was on my way home from Kashmir’s – as Vana and I were cutting through the market so that I could show my friends the ex-beggar boys the possible rewards for the man of discipline and character (to wit: I had an elephant and they did not) – that I saw, outlined on the wall of a temple of Vishnu, a dirty water stain, caused by condensation, mold, and wind-blown dust, which described the face of my best friend’s mother, Mary. â€Å"Yeah, she does that,† said Joshua, when I swung over the edge of his nook and announced the news. He and Melchior had been meditating and the old man, as usual, appeared to be dead. â€Å"She used to do it all the time when we were kids. She sent James and me running all over the place washing down walls before people saw. Sometimes her face would appear in a pattern of water drops in the dust, or the peelings from grapes would fall just so in a pattern after being taken out of the wine press. Usually it was walls.† â€Å"You never told me that.† â€Å"I couldn’t tell you. The way you idolized her, you’d have been turning the pictures into shrines.† â€Å"So they were naked pictures?† Melchior cleared his throat and we both looked at him. â€Å"Joshua, either your mother or God has sent you a message. It doesn’t matter who sent it, the message is the same. It is time for you to go home.† We would be leaving for the north in the morning, and Nicobar was south, so I left Joshua to pack our things on Vana while I walked into town to break the news to Kashmir. â€Å"Oh my,† she said, â€Å"all the way back to Galilee. Do you have money for the journey?† â€Å"A little.† â€Å"But not with you?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Well, okay. Bye.† I could swear I saw a tear in her eye as she closed the door. The next morning, with Vana loaded with my drawings and art supplies; my cushions, curtains, and rugs; my brass coffeepot, my tea ball, and my incense burner; my pair of breeding mongooses (mongeese?), their bamboo cage, my drum set, and my umbrella; my silk robe, my sun hat, my rain hat, my collection of carved erotic figurines, and Joshua’s bowl, we gathered on the beach to say good-bye. Melchior stood before us in his loincloth, the wind whipping the tails of his white beard and hair around his face like fierce clouds. There was no sadness in his face, but then, he had endeavored his entire life to detach from the material world, which we were part of. He’d already done this a long time ago. Joshua made as if to embrace the old man, then instead just poked him in the shoulder. Once and only once, I saw Melchior smile. â€Å"But you haven’t taught me everything I need to know,† Josh said. â€Å"You’re right, I have taught you nothing. I could teach you nothing. Everything that you needed to know was already there. You simply needed the word for it. Some need Kali and Shiva to destroy the world so they may see past the illusion to divinity in them, others need Krishna to drive them to the place where they may perceive what is eternal in them. Others may perceive the Divine Spark in themselves only by realizing through enlightenment that the spark resides in all things, and in that they find kinship. But because the Divine Spark resides in all, does not mean that all will discover it. Your dharma is not to learn, Joshua, but to teach.† â€Å"How will I teach my people about the Divine Spark? Before you answer, remember we’re talking about Biff too.† â€Å"You must only find the right word. The Divine Spark is infinite, the path to find it is not. The beginning of the path is the word.† â€Å"Is that why you and Balthasar and Gaspar followed the star? To find the path to the Divine Spark in all men? The same reason that I came to find you?† â€Å"We were seekers. You are that which is sought, Joshua. You are the source. The end is divinity, in the beginning is the word. You are the word.† How to cite Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 22, Essay examples

Open My Eyes free essay sample

â€Å"Things don’t change. You change your way of looking, that’s all,† – Carlos Castaneda. That’s what I realized seeing through my new eyes. True friends. Easy for some to have and hard for others to get. Trusting. Sharing.Enjoying. Friends dont judge you. Friends support you when you need them the most. Friends exhibit all of these characteristics. For me, opening my eyes was probably the hardest challenge of my childhood. You could say I had an ordinary, boring childhood. I would do what my classmates told me to do, so I wouldn’t feel distant from anyone. In truth, I hid my true personality. I would spend time with the â€Å"cool kids† of my grade because my ideology was: if I spend time with them, I would be considered cool and popular, even if I couldn’t be myself around them. I was the one who never really knew how to fit in with the other kids and the one who was always scared of what others thought of him. We will write a custom essay sample on Open My Eyes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The one who could never express oneself and always had thoughts of what to do if this happens or if that happens. I kept all my thoughts inside my head, and when they overflowed, I would release it in my journal like I was writing a novel.I wanted to spend time with people, live a social life, and importantly have fun. I never really took a stand until one event changed my perspective. I lived in Colorado for most of my life. I attended Ridgeview Elementary school in third grade, and I had been going to school with the same kids for three years now. I would always participate in the conversations of the cool kids, Jacob, Olivia, Raphael, and Kyle, even if I wasn’t invited. Kyle, who acted like the group leader, had black hair, the nicest smile, and a guy who all the girls liked, asked all of us if we would like to come over to his place and play with the new, humongous outdoor playground his parents recently bought for him. He lived across the street from me and next door to Jacob. All the kids said that would be an awesome idea and that they were in, except for me. I was thinking about going, but I remembered how much my momma used to tell me to stay away from that Jacob Stanley. â€Å"That boy is up to no good and very obnoxious† are the words I would hear from my momma’s voice ringing inside my head. Yet, I still agreed to meet them after dinner. After the whole day of school passed, I arrived home to eat one of my favorite dinners- tender and juicy pork chops with a side of Kraft macaroni and cheese. After dinner, I walked over to Kyle’s house. Having entered the backyard, I could not speak! That was one of the most beautiful playground sets I had ever seen in my life. This wooden playground had three swings, two plastic slides detached from the ground, a firm net climber, and a monkey bar.All of us played on it, having fun, and running until we didn’t have a breath. And there stood Jacob the loudest one, the fastest one, the strongest one, the crazy one. Wanting to test out the slides, I started to run towards them. Slides excited me every time I went to the park. That is exactly what Kyle had†¦a mini park! I would climb to the upper level of the slide, slide down, and climb back again. After finishing sliding for my fifth time, I realized on the ground right in front of the slide I had dropped my Batma n action figure I always carried in my pocket.I reached down to pick it up when suddenly I remember hearing, â€Å"Andres, look out!† My first reaction was to look up. The bottom tip of the slide was coming up towards my face. I got knocked out. I opened my eyes after a few minutes, and I could only see through one eye. Half of my face felt like it got kicked by black belt karate master. Everyone was around me Jacob, Olivia, Raphael, and Kyle. They all looked at me with faces of disgust and of pain. I asked, â€Å"What’s wrong, guys? What’s with the looks?† It was nerve wracking not knowing what happened especially as the group’s facial expressions progressively became worse and worse. Olivia replied, â€Å"Well, you got knocked out and have been out for a few minutes. What happened was—.â€Å" Jacob interrupted her, â€Å"Nothing happened. You’re fine.† â€Å"No, he’s not. Look at his face.† Raphael stepped in, â€Å"You got hit by a slide. Jacob kicked it even after he was told not to. And it hit your eye.† I reached towards my eye, and I could feel it warm, as it grew bigger and smoother. It now felt like my half of my face gained a weight of its own . . . almost like a tumor Kyle said, â€Å"Go home, and show your mom.† I was new at this. I never got hurt. I never got hit by a slide. But the truth, slowly but surely, was coming out that I had a severe black eye. The biggest clue was exactly when I saw my mother’s look of horror at my face. â€Å"Son! What on earth happened to you?† Momma took me straight to Jacob’s house. I told her it was my fault, mostly because I couldn’t stand seeing others getting in trouble, especially one of my cool friends. But, she knew it had to be Jacob. We knocked on the door, and Jacob’s parents came out. They apologized but wanted to hear me explain who’s at fault. â€Å"I guess it’s my fault,† I said. My mom was livid. â€Å"How can you lie like that?† I walked home and realized I had made the worst mistake of my life. Jacob wasn’t my friend. If he were, he would have stepped in and apologized. But he didn’t. That’s not a true friend. I guess that’s what I deserved for being someone that I’m not and for associating with the cool kids just for the status of being popular. After a week or two of putting cream on my eye, I finally started opening my eye. When I was starting 4th grade at Odyssey Elementary, I had had enough of being that shy kid. I had a fresh start. I took action. I was determined to be unique. To be myself. To be the true Andres. Therefore, I started to get more involved in class discussions. I shared my ideas, raised my hand to answer the teacher’s questions, and listened to others.I communicated more with others during lunch and school activities. And, I enjoyed reading. That’s actually how I got to meet my first true friend, Katie. Katie’s interests were the same as mine. . . we liked to read, draw, play games, play sports. She was always there for me. Katie would help me when I didn’t understand something, or when she saw that I was in a bad mood. She would always look to find an answer. I was a pretty cool kid according to Katie. After getting to know me, she said that I had some â€Å"really awesome ideas† and that I was a good friend. We had that trust, the laughter, and the sharing that I haven’t had with anyone else, and we still do. To my classmates, I was â€Å"awkward† and â€Å"weird,† but that was what distinguished me among the rest. It was a good awkward and a good weird because I would be the distinguished one, and everyone would talk to me. All that made me happy was that I was being me. This obstacle did change me for the better. I learned that when life doesn’t go your way, make the way you have go. You have to adjust. I did. Even when I was with those popular â€Å"friends,† I continued to think and work independently. I knew that getting good friends like Katie would take time. I just had to be myself. I couldn’t act like someone that I’m not. I learned to have confidence in what I believe in and to have the courage to express it. We are all different. If we all had the same attributes, the same way of thinking, the same interests, the world wouldn’t be what it is today. Consequently, I believe being ourselves and seeing things through our own eyes helps the world be a better place.

Night Essays (446 words) - The Holocaust, Literature,

Night Night By Elie Wiesel In Elie Wiesels Night, he recounts his horrifying experiences as a Jewish boy under Nazi control. His word are strong and his message clear. Wiesel uses themes such as hunger and death to vividly display his days during World War II. Wiesels main purpose is to describe to the reader the horrifying scenes and feelings he suffered through as a repressed Jew. His tone and diction are powerful for this subject and envelope the reader. Young readers today find the actions of Nazis almost unimaginable. This book more than sufficiently portrays the era in the words of a victim himself. Wiesel appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos in Night. The readers logic is not so much directly appealed to, but indirectly the description of the events causes the reader to think and wonder how they actually took place. Logically, how were the horrifying events in World War II carried out? How could such tragedies have happened in the twentieth century? Wiesel appeals to ethos for the obvious reasons. The book is a memoir of his life as a Jewish person during World War II. He is a qualified author for this subject. Often, the reader can forget that the story is an autobiography. The appeal to emotion is the strongest by far. It seems almost impossible for a reader not to cry at the words of Wiesel. Elie paints a portrait of life in the camp, which included hours of back-breaking labor, fear of hangings, and an overall theme throughout the book: starvation. His vivid description of a child being hanged, how he was still alive, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes, truly captures the ghastly occurrences of the death camp. His own discussion of how he had lost faith in a God, and how other sons were leaving or even beating their fathers with no care enlightens the reader to the true despair that surrounded the people that inhabited these camps. Also, his description of himself in a mirror as a corpse that gazed back at me installs in the reader the overwhelming sense of how this event so completely ravaged the human soul. This book was effective and achieved the purpose of describing the Holocaust in a personal and relative manner. I do not think anyone who reads this book does not finish it with a better understanding of what the victims of concentration camps experienced. This book provides dramatic and tearful accounts of what happened in our world just a little over fifty years ago. This story provides a lesson that no history book ever can. Book Reports

How Computer Have Changed Our Lives Essay Example

How Computer Have Changed Our Lives Essay Example How Computer Have Changed Our Lives Paper How Computer Have Changed Our Lives Paper Information Technology Majors in High Demand Overseas: How Computer Technology Have Changed Our Lives? 1. INTRODUCTION The 21st century is the age of computer technology and it has brought about a fundamental change in every facet of our life. It has largely influenced the way we communicate and the way information exchange is facilitated in todays world. An emergent phenomenon that is a byproduct of advances in computer networking technology is the Internet. It has truly transformed the world into a global village, with every part of the world linked to its vast network. This happened out of the evolution of the field of information technology (IT), which harnesses the power provided by computer technology so, why is it Information Technology is in demand not only in our country and how does it affects our lives? 1. 1. Background of Information Technology: In the era of 1960s and 1970s, information technology was limited to people working in the banking sector, mathematical engineers and computer scientists. In 1980s, the arrival of personal computers made it possible to be used in many more sectors and gave rise to a surge in the field of information technology. Previously, for the purpose of business, storage tapes were created by a single network administrator to interconnect employee workstations. The information stored in this workstation was placed in a server farm, located far off from the industry. However, now people have started communicating, using e-mails instead of snail-mails. It is an industry which deals with the usage of computer hardware and software and networking. Information technology has accomplished a lot in the 21st century. IT is a combination of computer and communication technology and a transfer of information from one peer to another. The backstory of information technology precedes the invention of the computer. The abacus, used by Asians, Egyptians, Romans, and the Greek can be termed a source of information technology. Calculators, the first mechanical one built by German polymath Wilhelm Schickard, or the slide rule, developed in 1622 by William Oughtred, also comes under the heading of information technology. Another example would be punch card machines, expanded upon by IBM in the early to mid 1900s, qualifies the term information technology. As time progress along with the advances of inventions and applied knowledge, computing took shape and became useful in a variety of ways other than calculations. Computer science became an academic specialty, creating computer science departments and classes. As these classes took shape, separate branches of computer science became distinct areas of study. Today, Information Technology departments use computers, data centers, servers, database management system, specialized software applications and more, managed by system and database administrators, an Information Technology Manager and other department heads, including a Chief Information Officer (CIO). Even though information technology has a long reach into history, only recently has it been associated with the use of computers. 1. 2. Definition of Information Technology: When the terminology information technology is used, mistakenly it describes the entire industry. Information technology basically refers to the employment of computer hardware and software applications to manage data. The term information technology evolved in the 1970s and if we consider a medium or large company providing goods or services, its information technology department will be responsible for storing, protecting, processing, retrieving and transmitting the information (Information Technology Association of America or ITAA). Information, meaning processed form of raw data, is something to be valued with your life in todays world. A person possessing right kind of information and using it at the right time, can surely work wonders. From the credit card numbers which we use for shopping, to the confidential bank account details, everything is stored in the form of binary digits in computers. These details can be used or misused depending on what kind of people have authorized or unauthorized access to it. With the help of information technology and our increasing dependency on machines, our life has become far easier, but we are more vulnerable now than before. Information Technology (IT) is a wide and varied sector, and is represented in some form in almost all the industries. It is a blend of computers and communication technology where IT professionals perform variety of duties, ranging from development and installation of applications to designing complex computer networks and databases. The information technology industry consists of computers, communication mediums, peripherals, electronics-related organizations, softwares and services. Usage of information technology for the completion of tasks in any organization, speeds up the processing and information mobility, and also improves the reliability and integrity of information. Information technology, while stirring thoughts and visions of networks, the Internet, server rooms, racks of switches and routers, and advanced terms including VoIP, TCP/IP addressing, security and more, the technology doesnt necessarily refer only to computer related issues. Any medium or channel that stores and processes information enters the category of information technology. The brain is an information processor, working to process and manage information that controls our every movement, body functions, and habits. Whichever procedure or attempt to communicate, store and manage information as well as utilize and administer the data will fall under the classification. 1. 3. Components of IT: * Computers: Computers are very important in order to store and process data. Depending on the size, cost and processing ability, computers are divided into four categories. They are mainframes, supercomputer, minicomputers and microcomputers (desktops or personal computers). Servers: A server is a combination of hardware and software, and is used to provide services to the client computers. These services generally include storage and retrieval of information. A standalone computer can also act as a server, provided its running on server operating system. * Database Management Systems (DBMS): Database Management System is basically a set of software programs which ma nages the storage and retrieval and organizes the information in a computer. This information is in the form of a database and is managed with the help of software. The DBMS accepts requests from the application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. There are various departments to monitor the flow of information, which include System Administrators, IT Managers, Database Administrators and Chief Information Officers (CIOs). * Networking: A computer network is a collection of computers and peripherals connected to each other through different modes. These modes can be wired or wireless. The network allows computers to communicate with each other (share information and resources like printers, scanners, etc. ). Network Security and Cryptography: Network security is one of the most important aspects of information technology. It consists of all the provisions made in an underlying computer network, in order to prevent unauthorized usage of information. It also includes implementing the policies adopted by the government and the applicable cyber laws. It is also helpful in providing protection from computer ha cking at the cyber boundaries of an organization. The cost of transmitting information has fallen dramatically, and according to a study, the cost of transfer of one trillion bits of information from Boston to Los Angeles has come down from a whopping $150,000 in 1970 to merely 12 cents today. With the help of internet technology, emailing a document of 40 pages from Chile to Kenya costs less than 10 cents, which is nothing as compared to the faxing price of $10 or sending it by courier for $50. Hence, it can be clearly seen that there are many advantages of information technology and it has drastically decreased the cost of information transfer. It has also increased the efficiency of employees in all organizations, allowing them to focus on core competencies rather than the technological issues. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Using a computer to write about computers is like searching for ‘Google’ on Google! Computer technology is so much a part of our lives, that we cannot imagine a life without it. Computers serve as efficient data storage systems and excellent information processors. They can store, organize and manage huge amounts of data. Moreover, they operate on incomparable speeds, thus saving human time and effort to a large extent. True, they are an integral part of our lives. It is said that inventions change the way we live. Computer technology is a classic example of this adage. It has indeed changed our way of living. . 1 Made IT in demand abroad: Information Technology or IT departments for some of the largest corporations in the world, in an effort to keep up with increased demand for database administrators, computer support specialists, computer scientists, computer engineers and systems analysts, have recently started recruiting graduating IT degree students from top tier u niversities. The shift toward finding qualified personnel prior to graduation is a stark departure from years past when IT gurus were competing for the few available positions that werent outsourced to overseas companies or individuals. Outsourcing has again become a major concern for corporations, not because of increased profits or savings, but because of the lack of IT personnel available in the U. S. and in some countries. In fact, the U. S Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that 8 of the 10 fastest growing occupations between now and 2010 will be computer related. This sudden shift in employment opportunities has led to high demand for IT degree program graduates especially abroad. After a period in which IT was considered a poor career choice following the tech stock fallout of the mid to late nineties and massive job cuts for major IT employers, those graduates are now harder and harder to find. Many corporations have relegated customer support operations to overseas companies while returning their database administrators and network support specialist positions to the U. S and some foreign countries. As security concerns over data theft and system security has become more prominent as of late, many of these positions are returning to these shores as well. The impact this is having on job availability for recent grads can only be described as positive. Enrollment numbers for IT degree programs are on the rise as well, which is a good sign that many are taking note of the current employment market for IT specialists. With the turnaround in IT employment coinciding with an increase in enrollment, many industry analysts are predicting that current shortages will be met over the next several years. In the meantime, many companies are choosing to restructure their existing IT departments to avoid outsourcing jobs overseas that will be temporary at best. For those who are currently grappling with the lack of qualified and well trained IT personnel, it is less a question of if supply will ever meet demand, but when. 2. 1. 1. In demand IT jobs abroad: *Software Developers and Engineers Software developers and engineers perform the important task of developing new software to fulfill the need of the clients of their company. They work hard to create new software for clients in fields such as banking, insurance, financial services, and information technology and telecoms services. Software developers work in teams and report their work to their departmental heads. They work in large IT parks and software development centers of IT majors. A graduation or post graduate degree in computer science or a degree in software engineering can land you a job as a software developer. Software developer salary and software engineer salary can be anything between $55,000 to $150,000 per year depending on their experience. These jobs are always at the top of the computer careers and salaries list. You should also be aware of the application developer job description which involves conversion of software requirements into coding and then the actual execution of programs. System analyst job description, which includes providing solutions for business efficiency and productivity, is challenging and this makes it one of the most sought after IT jobs. On the other hand, the web developer job description consists of managing all the aspects of clients web based systems and databases *Software Testing Professionals The job of a software tester is to check whether the quality of the prepared software is up to the mark and that it is functioning well. He detects the faults in the software and suggests corrections and solutions to rectify the same. Software testers are employed by large as well as mid-sized software companies to do the software testing jobs in a team. A graduation degree in information technology followed by a course in software testing can get you a job as a software tester. Salaries for these professionals vary as per their location and kind of employer. The quality analyst job description involves checking of new as well as old programs for their durability and relevance. *Programmers Among the different IT fields or different IT jobs, the job of a programmer is considered to be a prestigious one. Software programmers prepare programs for fast computation and solving numerical problems effectively. A programmer should have knowledge of the computer programming languages such as C, C++, Java, etc. They can find placements in many multi-national organizations and local software companies and can earn between $40,000 to $100,000 per year. This is surely amongst the different IT careers in demand. Computer programming careers have created ample job opportunities in the US in the past few years. Software development for external clients is a part of the programmer analyst job description. Since it is an important responsibility, the programmer analyst salary is quite good and is in the range of $45,000 to $70,000 per year. *Technical Writers Among the different IT jobs, career prospects for technical writers are believed to be the best. Technical writers are being hired in plenty in the information technology sector due to their expertise in writing down useful information about different kinds of software and preparing manuals and user guides along with online help solutions. An educational background in computer science and software with a course in technical writing from a recognized institute can help you in getting the best technical writing jobs. Having a knowledge of technical writer job description is essential for all budding technical writers. Technical writer can earn around $35,000 to $45,000 in the beginning and in excess of $60,000 per year after five years of experience. In a recent survey, this was regarded as one of the best careers in information technology. *IT Lecturers The job of an IT lecturer also features in the list of different careers and jobs. IT lecturers teach information technology subjects to students in high school, college and universities. They also get the opportunity to teach students in private coaching centers where the pay packages are quite lucrative. To become an IT lecturer, you need to have educational qualifications in the fields of software engineering, computer science and a love for teaching. IT lecturers can earn anything between $45,000 to $100,000 per year depending on their post and experience. *IT Director The job of an IT director is the best of all in the different IT jobs. An IT director job description includes supervising the work done by all IT employees in the organization and looking after the daily operations of the organization. He sees to it that the clients of the company are satisfied and gives suggestions and tips to his juniors for improving their performance. Several years of work experience in the IT field along with a degree in IT is what it takes to become an IT director. They can earn handsome salaries between $80,000 to $160,000 per year. As important as this post is the one of chief information officer of a company. The CIO job description includes developing, executing, and managing computing and information technology strategies of the company. The chief information officer job description can slightly change from one organization to another. *Networking and Technician Jobs in IT Network administrators and database managers also get work in IT firms depending on their capabilities to handle daily operations. Network administrator job description includes planning the network of computers in a systematic way for efficient daily use. IT technicians also have openings in the information technology sector. The computer technician job description mainly involves troubleshooting problems and maintenance of systems in IT offices. Computer technician salary largely depends on your skills, on an average it is between $40,000 to $65,000 per year. *Software Engineers With a bachelors degree in computer science and deep interest in programming, one can get a lateral entry into this career. For senior position in programming field, one requires a masters degree. Just studying computer science is not enough. One must have a flair for programming and must be good at coding, application modules and locating errors in coding programs. In the initial years, the pay scale for junior software engineers would be between US$50,000 to US$70,000, though it may vary depending on several factors. *Database Administrator Maintaining and managing databases of firms and business enterprises has led to the development of database administrator careers. Database administrators are known as DBAs and they design databases, conduct security checks, implement database designs and are actively involved in safeguarding the threat to a firms data security. A bachelors degree in computer science is necessary. In case of certifications and other diplomas, relevant years of work experience are important. The yearly income of database administrators is near about US$50,000 to US$85,000. *System Administrator Good technical skills and knowledge about Local Area Network (LAN) and awareness about the integration of software and hardware with the entire network system are some of the tasks of a system administrator. If you read the system administrator job description, youll know that system administrators must have good knowledge about Linux, Windows and several OS. *System administrators Also look after the maintenance and up gradation of computer systems, hardware and software, if required. Being aware of information infrastructure design in IT is always helpful for system administrators to understand intricacies of computer systems. The system administrator can earn anywhere between US$42,000 to US$65,000. *Web Developers Web developing and web designing are some of the top careers in demand. The need for skilled web designers and web developers has grown since the last ten years. Every firm or e-commerce website that you see on the Internet has been developed by web developers and this field has expanded significantly. Knowledge about XML, HTML and other programming languages is essential to know more about web designing. The web designer salary can be anywhere between US$31,000 to US$50,000. The web developer salary is between US$40,00 to US$65,000. *IT Consulting Jobs As business enterprises have entered in the manufacturing and development areas, the dire need for expert researchers to chalk a strategy for them, to make intelligent decisions, analyze requirements, help in system selection and work for several improvement services for the firm has become important. By handing your projects to an expert IT team, you can focus your attention to the other departments of your firm. IT consulting jobs have become one of the most sought after careers by IT professionals who have years of work experience. The annual income of IT consultants depends on several factors, mostly work experience. Salaries are very high, in case youre a senior consultant. Fresher can expect to earn around US$60,000 as the base salary. With work experience (and high educational degrees), they can even earn around US$100,000 to US$300,000. A career in information technology is rewarding and is certainly an opportunity to make money. Even in IT marketing field, there are several opportunities to work. This was all about some of the top IT careers in demand. If an individual has interest in this area, he can certainly make a good career. 2. 2. The importance of IT: For many years after 1960, when the third generation computers were created, desktops remained to be popular for personal and business use. Research in computer technology continued, giving rise to the development of laptops, palmtops, miniature tablet PCs and PDAs. As we see today, they serve as ‘personal digital assistants’ in the literal sense of the term! Their small size endows them with portability, thus adding to user convenience. As they can be operated on batteries, they provide computer users with mobile computing capabilities. How has this affected our lives? Well, we can remain connected to the world at all times. Work is no more location-dependent! Computer operating systems are a vital component of the computer technology. They help in the management of a variety of computer operations and in the sharing of computer resources. They handle the scheduling and execution of computer programs, help in the management of files and handle interrupts. They manage multiple user profiles and user accounts, thus playing a major role in maintaining computer security. Certain types of operating systems offer distributed processing capabilities and support multitasking and multi-user operations. The most important role of an operating system is to provide the users with an interactive interface. They have made the interaction with computers, a user-friendly experience and made it easy for the common man to make friends with the computer technology. Computers, as we all know, can perform complex mathematical operations and process large amounts of information. Thanks to their computational powers, long and complex calculations can be performed within seconds. They can be programmed to execute complex instruction sequences through the use of programming languages. That reminds me of the software industry, one of the most progressive industries of the world. Computer technology gave rise to this industry and changed the face of the world. The multimedia capabilities possessed by the computers make them one of the ideal audio-visual media. They can be made to play movies and music. They offer support to a variety of storage media like CDs, DVDs, floppy disks and USB drives. Computer hard disks are also capable of storing and playing audio and video. And how has this affected our lives? Well, it is due to these storage and audio-visual media, that we can maintain soft-copies of data. Gone are the days, when we used to document on paper! Gone are the days when students maintained traditional notebooks. Many of them possess notebook computers today. Today’s education is about PowerPoint presentations and e-homework assignments. TVs and radios were once, the only means of entertainment, but not any more. Today’s entertainment is about the computer and Internet technology! Perhaps, one of the major advantages of the computer technology is its ability to provide us with Internet access. Computers possess networking capabilities, which makes it possible to connect multiple computers and achieve an exchange of information between them. Network communication is possible, thanks to the networking features offered by the computer technology. 2. 2. 1. The importance of IT in Businesses: There are many businesses which are in need of the software packages for satisfying their operational as well as functional needs. For fulfilling this requirement, these companies sign deals with the software manufacturing companies. Information technology is useful in ensuring the smooth functioning of all the departments in a company such as the human resource department, finance department, manufacturing department and also in security related purposes. With the help of information technology, the companies in the automobile manufacturing sector are able to get rid of any sort of errors or mistakes in the proper functioning of the tools used for designing and manufacturing purposes. Due to the development of the information technology sector, the companies are being able to keep themselves aware of the changes in the global markets. Read more on IT jobs. The software applications and the hardware devices are known to be the main elements of the use of information technology. The web browsers, the operating systems, ERPs and special purpose applications are the software which are used in information technology. Information technology plays an important role in easily solving the mathematical problems and also in the project management system. Information technology has a great use in the automated production of sensitive information, automated up gradation of the important business processes and the automated streamlining of the various business processes. It has also played an important role in the areas of communication and automated administration of entire systems. 2. 2. 2. The importance of IT in Education: Importance of information technology in educational sector is well known. Information technology helps the students as well as the teachers in studying the course material easily because of fast access. Studying the subjects with the help of online libraries and dictionaries has made grasping and increasing the knowledge easy for the students. The inclusion of information technology in the syllabus in schools, colleges and universities has helped them in grasping the subject well and getting their basics cleared. Since, many educational centers have the online grading system; it has been a boon for the parents of the children to keep a tab on their performances. Parents can also get the details of the attendance record of their child in schools These were some of the important effects of computer technology on our lives. The list can go on. However, the very fact that you are on a computer reading about the effects of computer technology, which I have typed into a computer, speaks a lot about the effects of computer technology on our lives. Don’t you think so? 2. 3. The advantages of IT: The advantages of information technology are many. True globalization has come about only via this automated system. The creation of one interdependent system helps us to share information and end linguistic barriers across the continents. The collapse of geographic boundaries has made the world a global village. The technology has not only made communication cheaper, but also possible much quicker and 247. The wonders of text messages email and auto-response, backed by computer security applications, have opened up scope for direct communication. Computerized, internet business processes have made many businesses turn to the Internet for increased productivity, greater profitability, clutter free working conditions and global clientele. It is mainly due to the IT industry that people from diverse cultures are able to personally communicate and exchange valuable ideas. This has greatly reduced prejudice and increased sensitivity. Businesses are able to operate 247, even from remote locations. Information technology has rippled on in the form of a Communication Revolution. Specialists in this field like programmers, analyzers and developers are able to further the applications and improve business processes simultaneously. The management infrastructure thus generated defies all boundaries. Among the many advantages of the industry are technical support post-implementation, network and individual desktop management, dedicated business applications and strategic planning for enhanced profitability and effective project management. IT provides a number of low-cost business options to tap higher productivity with dedicated small business CRM and a special category for the larger operations. Regular upgrades have enabled many businessmen to increase productivity and identify a market niche that would never have been possible without the connectivity. With every subsequent increase in the ROI or Return On Investment, businesses are able to remain buoyant even amidst the economic recession. Not only do people connect faster with the help of information technology, but they are also able to identify like-minded individuals and extend help, while strengthening ties. This segment revolves around automated processes that require little or no human intervention at all. This in turn has minimized job stress levels at the work place and eliminated repetition of tasks, loss due to human error, risks involved due to negligence of timely upgrades and extensive paper-intensive business applications that result in the accumulation of unnecessary bulk. The sophistication of the modern work stations and general working conditions is possible only due to the development of Information Technology.

What Is the SSAT Expert Guide to the 3 Levels

What Is the SSAT Expert Guide to the 3 Levels SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you interested in going to private school? If so, you might need to take the SSAT to get in. But what is the SSAT? It'san admissions test that independent schools throughout the U.S. and the world use to assesstheir prospective students. The testis available in three levels, so students in elementary, middle, and high school can take it. This comprehensive guide will go over each level of the SSAT so you can learn all about its purpose, structure, and questions. You’ll also find six usefultips for test prep. To start, let’s go over the purpose of the test. What Is the SSAT and Who Takes It? The SSAT is designed for students in grades 3 through 11 who are seeking admission to private schools. It’s available in three levels: elementary for students in grades 3 and 4, middle for students in grades 5 through 7, and upper for students in grades 8 through 11. Students take the test according to their current grade, not the one to which they’ll be applying. If you’re in 7th grade, for instance, you'd take the middle level test, not the upper level one. Similarly, 4th graders applying to 5th grade would take the elementary level, not the middle level. Since you’ll have to wait several weeks for your score report, you should take the test well ahead of any school application deadlines. Students can take the test more than once on variousSaturdays throughout the school year. If you need to arrange a different testing date, then you can set up a â€Å"Flex Test.† Unlike the regularly scheduled SSAT tests, you can only take one Flex Test per year. For most students, the most convenienttesting center will bea nearby private school. There are independent schools that administer the SSAT in countries all over the world. You can find the full list of private elementary, middle, and high schools that give the teston its official website. The SSAT, like the SAT for colleges, is just one piece of a student’s private school application. Along with strong grades and extracurriculars, the student should aim to present competitive test scores. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at what the SSAT tests at all three levels. The SSAT offers three delicious levels for elementary, middle, and high school students. What Does the SSAT Test? Questions and Skills Despite their differences, all levels of the SSAT share the same goal, to measure your verbal, quantitative, and reading comprehension skills. The verbal sections of the testask about vocabulary, verbal reasoning, and relationships between ideas. The quantitative sections will ask you to solve problems with mathematical concepts. Finally, the reading sections present passages and ask questions about their content. All three levels of the SSAT also have a writing section. This section is unscored, but your written response will be sent to score recipients. This means that admissions officers might read your response and use it as a sample of your writing skills. Younger students answer a creative writing prompt, while older students have a choice between writing a story or a more traditional essay. Now that you have a general answer to the question of what the SSAT is, let’s take a closer look at each level, starting with elementary. All of the sample questions are borrowed from the official website. SSAT: Elementary Level The elementary level is geared toward students in grades 3 and 4. The test at this level is unique since it’s further divided into sublevels, one that’s slightly easier for third graders and one that’s a bit more advanced for fourth graders. Both tests, though, share the same format and structure. The elementary level SSAT lastsone hour and 50 minutes and has a math, verbal, reading, and writing section. You can see the complete structure in the chart below. Section Number of Questions Time Math 30 30 Verbal 30 20 Break - 15 Reading 28 30 Writing 1 prompt 15 Total: 89 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes) With this overall structure in mind, let’s take a closer look at each individual section, starting with Math. Elementary Level Math Section The Math section features all multiple choice questions that ask about a variety of concepts. They might involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You couldbe asked to put numbers in order from least to greatest, or vice versa. You’ll also encounter some basic geometry, measurement, and graphs. The fourth-grade version of the test may also have a question or two about angles. Below are a couple of sample questions fromthe math section of the elementary level test. The first is a word problem testing comprehension and multiplication while the second is straightforward subtraction. 1. The Smith family drove 300 miles every day for 4 days. How far did they drive on their trip? 75 miles 304 miles 600 miles 1200 miles 1500 miles 2. 922 − 157 = 753 765 776 835 1079 After the 30-minute math section, students will start on a20-minute verbal section. Elementary Level Verbal Section The verbal section asks two main types of questions: vocabulary questions and analogy questions. It tests vocabulary by presenting a word and asking you to choose its synonym from five options. The questions feature words from various subjects, including science, technology, and social studies. Here’s an example of a typical vocabulary question that asks you to choose the presented word’s synonym. COOPERATE: join help delay finish support Analogy questions ask test-takers to make comparisons between two words or phrases. The relationship might be that of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, or part to whole, to give just a few examples. The words may also fall into similar categories or share certain characteristics. Here’s an example of a typical analogy question. Minute is to hour as men is to our week is to day cow is to milk month is to year man is to woman The third and fourth grade tests share the same kind of questions, but, just as in the math section, the fourth grade test may be slightly more advanced. Simply put, the fourth grade test may feature more advanced vocabulary. Moving onto the third section, read on to see how the elementary SSAT tests reading comprehension. Elementary Level Reading Section On the Reading section, you’ll get seven short passages of poetry, prose, fiction, or nonfiction. After each passage, you’ll answer four multiple choice questions about what the passage’s mean. The questions might ask you to summarize the main idea, to locate specific information, or to define words in context. The slightly more advanced fourth grade test may additionally feature questions that ask about theme. Below is an example of a typical nonfiction passage, followed by a question about the main idea and a word in context. A hiker’s foot dangling from a boat sets the crocodile in motion. When saltwater crocodiles sense food, it can start a "feeding frenzy." Crocs race in from all directions. They go wild, attacking all within reach, including humans. They have been known to jump out of the water and attack humans or dogs on land. Crocodiles are highly territorial, especially females with babies. It is not wise to approach baby croquettes. They may look cute and harmless, but they are not. Smaller freshwater crocodiles might attack if bothered. A camper poked what he thought was a sleeping crocodile with a stick. Suddenly the crocturned and bit off his leg. 1. This passage is primarily about hiking safety rules the dangers of fishing why crocodiles attack dangers of baby crocodiles different kinds of crocodiles 2. In line two, "frenzy" most closely means race time calm furor mental illness After Reading, students will move onto the last section, Writing. Elementary Level Writing Section This final section asks students to write a story based on a picture. The prompt reminds students to make sure their story includes a beginning, middle, and end. Remember that this writing sample isn’t scored, but schools will receive a copy of it. Below is an example of a Writing prompt on the elementary level test. Look at the picture and tell a story about what happened. Make sure your story includes a beginning, a middle, and an end. Once students finish the Writing section, they’ll be all done with the test! Cheer up, melancholy knight. The SSAT also has a test for the middle ages. SSAT: Middle Level If you’re in grade 5, 6, or 7 applying for grades 6, 7, or 8, then you’ll take the middle level SSAT. The middle level test is much longer than the elementary level at three hours and five minutes. Its Writing section, while still unscored, comes at the beginning of the test. It also features an unscored experimental section with 16 multiple choice questions. The chart below shows the full structure of the middle level test. Section Number of Questions Time Writing 1 25 minutes Break - 5 minutes Math 25 30 minutes Reading 40 40 minutes Break - 10 minutes Verbal 60 30 minutes Math 25 30 minutes Experimental 16 15 minutes Total: 167 3 hours, 5 minutes Likethe Writing section, the experimental section is unscored. It will ask six verbal, five reading, and five math questions to test out material for future tests. Now that you have a sense of the test’s overall structure, let’s examine each individual section in more detail, just as we did with the elementary level above. First up is Writing. Middle Level Writing Students taking the middle level SSAT will choose from one of two creative prompts. Based on one of two â€Å"story starters,† they’ll write a story in 25 minutes. Below are typical instructions for the Writing section, followed by two story starters. Directions: Schools would like to get to know you better through a story you tell using one of the ideas below. Please choose the idea you find most interesting and write a story using the idea as your first sentence. Sample Topics: The classroom was empty. I looked into its eyes and suddenly... Again, the story is unscored, but score recipients will get a copy of the response. The next section, however, is definitely scored. After a five-minute break, students will continue on to the Math section. Middle Level Math The Math section asks you to solve problems that fall into four main conceptual categories: number concepts and operations, algebra, geometry/measurement, and data analysis/probability. Number concepts and operations involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, arithmetic word problems, ratios, percentages, estimation, sequences, rational numbers, and frequencies. Algebra includes algebraic word problems, line equations, patterns, absolute value, and exponents. Geometry/measurement asks about area and circumference of circles, area and perimeter of polygons, volume, properties of triangles, parallel and perpendicular lines, coordinate geometry, and slope. Finally, data analysis/probability involves interpreting tables and graphs, trends, inferences, and probability. Below are a couple sample problems from the math section of the middle level test. Both fall into the number concepts and operations skill area. 1. In a class of 25 students, 8 received a grade A on a math quiz. What percent of the students did not receive an A? 8% 25% 32% 68% 78% 2. An elevator is on the first floor. It goes up 8 floors, then down 5 floors, and then up 4 floors. What is the final position in terms of the first floor? 3rd floor 4th floor 5th floor 7th floor 8th floor Since students in grades 5 through 7 take the middle level test, some may find this section easier than others. Younger students might need to learn new concepts before taking the SSAT, while older students likely have had more more experience with the tested concepts in school. After Math, you’ll move immediately onto Reading. Middle Level Reading The 40-minute Reading section contains passages of 250 to 350 words taken from literary fiction, humanities, science, and social studies. These passages might be narrative or argument-based. The multiple choice questions ask about main idea, details, words and phrases in context, along with the author’s purpose, attitude, and tone. They might also ask you to make inferences, evaluate arguments, or make predictions. The following is a sample passage taken from literary fiction. The first question is detail-oriented, while the second asks you to make an inference. Little Jim was, for the time, Engine Number 36 and he was making the run between Syracuse and Rochester. He was fourteen minutes behind time, and the throttle was wide open. As a result, when he swung around the curve at the flower bed, a wheel of his cart destroyed a tulip. Number 36 slowed down at once and looked guiltily at his father, who was mowing the lawn. The doctor had his back to the accident, and he continued to pace slowly to and fro, pushing the mower. Jim dropped the handle of the cart. He looked at his father and at the broken flower. Finally, he went to the tulip and tried to stand it up, but it would only hang limply from his hand. Jim could not repair it. He looked again toward his father. 1. According to the passage, Jim's father was a (A) farmer(B) doctor(C) gardener(D) train engineer(E) business executive 2. Jim apparently thought that when his father saw the broken flower his reaction would be one of (A) fear(B) anger(C) curiosity(D) amusement(E) indifference As you can see, a strong grasp of vocabulary is important for doing well on the Reading section. Vocabulary comes directly into play in the next section, the 60-minute verbal. Middle Level Verbal The verbal section tests your understanding of vocabulary and of the relationships between words and ideas with synonym and analogy questions, just like the verbal section in the elementary level. Synonym questions simply present you with a word and ask you to choose its closest synonym, as in the following example. EGREGIOUS: (A) trivial(B) hidden(C) flagrant(D) fragrant(E) contagious Analogy questions ask you to recognize the relationship between two words or phrases, like synonym, antonym, cause/effect, and part/whole. The following, for instance, shows two antonyms. Translucent is to opaque as light is to (A) sun(B) dull(C) lamp(D) candle(E) darkness As you can tell, the elementary level and middle level SSAT are very similar in terms of skills tested and question types. The similarities continue into the upper level test, which simply incorporates more advanced material for older students. Read on for its full structure, along with a breakdown of each individual section. Are you hoping to attend a private high school? If so, you'll be taking the upper level SSAT. SSAT: Upper Level The upper level testis geared toward students in grade 8 to 11 who are applying to private high schools. It has the same structure as the middle level test, but again, it features more advanced material. This chart shows the test’s format as a whole. Section Number of Questions Time Writing 1 25 minutes Break - 5 minutes Math 25 30 minutes Reading 40 40 minutes Break - 10 minutes Verbal 60 30 minutes Math 25 30 minutes Experimental 16 15 minutes Total: 167 3 hours, 5 minutes The experimental section asks six verbal, five reading, and five math questions. These questions are unscored and are just given to test out material for future tests. As with the other levels, your response in the writing section is unscored but will be sent to your score recipients. Read on to see what kind of prompts you’ll get in the Writing section. Upper Level Writing Students get two prompts in the writing section and choose just one to answer. One prompt is creative while the other is a more traditional essay question that asks for your personal opinion. Below are the typical directions for the writing response, followed by two sample topics. Remember, you only have to answer one! Directions: Schools would like to get to know you better through an essay or story using one of the two topics below. Please select the topic you find most interesting and fill in the circle next to the topic you choose. Sample Topics: 1. If you could do something over again, what would it be and why? 2. He couldn't believe they wanted his help. Even though this section’s unscored, you’ll want to make sure your response is clear, organized, and features strong grammar and syntax. Admissions officers will likely use it to evaluate your writing. After writing your story or essay, you’ll move on to the Math section. Upper Level Math The concepts that the upper level math section tests match those on the middle level. The questions will just be more complex and advanced. To review, the skill areas are number concepts and operations, algebra, geometry/measurement, and data analysis/probability. Number concepts and operations questions involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, arithmetic word problems, ratios, percentages, estimation, sequences, rational numbers, and frequencies. Algebra might involve algebraic word problems, line equations, patterns, absolute value, or exponents. Geometry/measurement asks about the area and circumference of circles, area and perimeter of polygons, volume, properties of triangles, parallel and perpendicular lines, coordinate geometry, and slope. Data analysis/probabilityquestions ask you to interpret tables and graphs, find trends, make inferences, and calculate probability. The following are two official â€Å"number concepts and operations† questions. 1. Which number represents one thousand four hundred and thirteen thousandths? 1,400.13 1,400.013 1,400.0013 10,400.13 100,400.13 2. Find the missing number in the sequence: ___, 29, 35, 41, 47 22 23 24 25 26 After the math section, you’ll move onto Reading. Upper Level Reading The Reading section features narrative or argument-based passages of 250 to 350 words each. They’re taken from literary fiction, humanities, science, and social studies. The subsequent multiple choice questions might ask you to recognize the passage’s main idea, locate details, make inferences, derive the meaning of words or phrases, determine the author’s purpose or tone, evaluate opinions, or make predictions. The following sample question features a passage taken from literary fiction. The questions ask you to interpret a detail and describe the passage as a whole. We had a consuming desire to see a pony rider, but somehow or other all that passed us streaked by in the night, and so we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom was gone. But now the driver exclaims: "Here he comes!" Every neck is stretched and every eye strained. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears. Soon it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, sweeping nearer and nearer, and the flutter of hoofs comes faintly to the ear. Another instant a whoop and hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm! 1. At the driver's call, the people became more eager puzzled hysterical frightened disappointed 2. This passage can best be described as an account of an event a news article a research study an epic poem an advertisement While the reading section tests your vocabulary with words in context questions, the verbal section tests your vocabulary with synonym and analogy questions. Upper Level Verbal If you’ve read about the elementary and middle level verbal sections, then you should be familiar with its question types. The upper level verbal section is no exception and similarly features synonym and analogy questions. The following, for example, is a synonym question; it wants you to choose the answer that most closely matches the presented word in meaning. INCOGNITO: lost replaced concealed uncovered distinguished This next analogy sample question wants you to recognize the relationship between the presented words and then find that same relationship between words in the answer choices. In this case, an epidemic occurs when a disease becomes widespread. Similarly, a famine occurs when hunger becomes widespread. The relationship between the words in answer choice A matches the relationship between epidemic and disease. Epidemic is to disease as famine is to hunger creative is to creation persuasion is to composition mountainous is to climb ache is to gluttony So there you have it, the structure of each level of the SSAT and a breakdown of each section, writing, math, reading, and verbal, with official sample questions. Before considering how you can prep for this important test, let’s go over what you need to know about how the testis scored. Aim for a high percentile to stay ahead ofthe bell curve! How Is the SSAT Scored? Your SSAT score report will tell you how you did on each scored section - verbal, math, and reading - as well as your total score, or the sum of your section scores. You’ll also get percentiles that show how your performance compares to that of other test-takers. Each level is scored on a different scale.Section scores for the elementary level range from 300 to 600. For the middle level, sectionscores range from 440 to 710. Finally, scores for each section range from 500 to 800 for the upper level. Level Minimum Score by Section Maximum Score by Section Elementary 300 600 Middle 440 710 Upper 500 800 As there are three sections per test, verbal, math, and reading, your total scores representyour three section scores added together. Level Total Minimum Score Total Maximum Score Elementary 900 1800 Middle 1320 2130 Upper 1500 2400 At all levels, you’ll get one point for every correct answer, zero for skipped answer, and a deduction of  ¼ point for wrong answers. While you may have personal goals for your SSAT scores, you can also set target scores based on what you need for admission to your private school of choice. Many private schools release data on the average SSAT scores of accepted students. You can research this information and set your target scores above the average. Once you have your goal in mind, you’ll need to prep to achieve those scores. As with the SAT and ACT for college, studying and taking practice tests are important for doing well on the SSAT. Read on for a few tips for preparing effectively for the test. Preparing for the SSAT: 6 Tips Even though the SSAT is a skill-based, rather than content-based test, it still calls for a good deal of studying. Prepping with high-quality materials is a key part of achieving your target scores and getting into your private school of choice. Below are six tips to guide your studying. First, you should consider how much you need to study and when you plan to take the test. 1. Design a Study Schedule and Test-Taking Timeline How much do you need to study? How much time do you have? When do you plan to take the test? All of these are questions you should ask yourself as you start to plan your SSAT prep. The SSAT is offered on eight Saturdays from September to June, and you can take it as many times as you want. If none of the offered test dates work for you, then you might be able to arrange a Flex Test. Remember that you can only take one Flex Test per year. You might take the testfor the first time months ahead of your private school application deadlines so you have the opportunity to take it again if you want higher scores. If your application deadlines are in the winter, for example, you could take your first SSAT in the spring. That way, you have a second opportunity to test the following fall. Once you set your first test date, consider how long you have to study. Ideally, you have at least three to four months to prepare. The best way to meet your studying goals is to build prep into your routine by setting aside specific time each day or week. By designing a study plan and test-taking schedule several months before your first deadline, you can ensure that you have plenty of time to prepareso you can achieve your target scores. Time yourself when you take practice tests so you can get used to the rhythmof the SSAT. 2. Take Lots of Practice Tests and Reflect on your Results The SSAT is a unique test; chances are, you’re not accustomed to answering dozens of synonym and analogy questions anywhere else(to give one example). As a unique test, it’s critical for you to get familiar with its structure, format, and question types. Reading through this guide’s a great first step. Then you should set aside time to take practice tests, especially under simulated testing conditions - time yourself, find a quiet environment, etc. Make sure your materials are high-quality and specific to the level that you’ll be taking. After you take timed practice tests, score your tests and carefully go over your results. Figure out why you got a question wrong. Were you fuzzy on a specific concept? Did you make a careless error? Did you run out of time? By rooting out the reason behind your mistake, you can figure out what to do about it. You may need to review concepts in geometry or try time management strategies for skimming the passages. By pinpointing and addressing your errors, you can fill in any gaps and see improvement the next time. You might begin with a diagnostic practice test to gauge your starting point. Then you could stagger practice tests throughout your prep to measure your progress and readjust your study plan if need be. 3. Study Vocabulary and Word Relationships As you noticed above, all three levels test your verbal skills in the same way, with questions about synonyms and analogies. Studying level-specific vocabulary is an important part of your SSAT prep. Rather than just focusing on the traditional vocab term + definition list, you should look at groups of words with similar meanings. Your prep materials should have vocabulary lists for your level of the test. You can also find vocab lists on the website Quizlet, or even upload your own for review with interactive games. To master analogy questions, make sure your prep materials break down the different relationships that can appear. Some of these might be synonym, antonym, part to whole, or cause/effect. By studying these relationships and pairing them with practice questions, you should be able to recognize the relationship when you answer analogy questions on the test. For the verbal section of the SSAT, don't just study the meanings of words, but also their relationships with each other. 4. Review Tested Math Concepts The math section of the SSAT can be challenging, especially for younger students who haven’t studied as advanced concepts as their older counterparts who are taking the same test. You should make sure your study materials explain all the concepts you’ll need to know. Algebra on the upper level test, for instance, can be broken down into lots of subtopics, includingword problems, line equations, and exponents. If there are concepts that you’ve never encountered, then you may study them from books or find a tutor who can teach them to you. As a younger student, you shouldn’t have to score in as high a percentile as an older student. Still, though, you don’t want to be taking the test and come across problems that look totally unfamiliar. As you review each concept, pair it with lots of related practice questions. While it’s useful to review each rule individually, remember that some questions may require you to combine concepts in order to solve them. The math section may be closely aligned with what you’re doing in math class. The problems are probably more typical to your homework and class tests than the questions in the verbal section, for instance. Still, though, make sure to study with realistic SSAT practice questions so you can get used to their wording and format. 5. Read Widely and Often How can you study for the reading section? To some extent, all of the reading you’ve done over your lifetime will help you on this section. While you’ve developed your reading comprehension skills over the long-term, you can still take a specific approach to this section. First, keep in mind that the reading section tests you on works from various genres, including literary fiction, nonfiction, and argument-based writing. Reading fiction will help, but you should also practice reading articles from areas like science and social studies. As you read, take notes on essential elements like main point, keydetails, and tone. Beyond taking the time to really engage with and analyze a work, you should hone your ability to read quickly and with purpose. Practice your ability to skim a work for its main point and important details. The test is timed, so you need to be able to gather important points under time limits. The more you practice time management strategies with practice SSAT reading sections, the more efficient you’ll become. While math, reading, and verbal skills will get you far, you also want to have some tried-and-true test-taking strategies up your sleeve. 6. Be Strategic with Your Time and Guessing Finally, you should go beyond studying math concepts and vocabulary to develop test-taking and time management strategies. You’ll only get about a minute or less to read, consider, and answer each multiple choice question. The more you practice and try different tactics - like skimming passages or process of elimination - the more efficient you’ll become. Taking timed practice tests will also help you get accustomed to each section’s time limits and how to allocate your time well. As mentioned above, scorers take  ¼ point off for every wrong answer. If a question totally stumps you, then you might consider skipping it. If you can confidently eliminate at least one answer choice as wrong, though, then you might benefit from guessing. The best way to do well on the SSAT is to develop solid quantitative, verbal reasoning, and reading comprehension skills. Since it’s a timed standardized test, though, practicing various test-taking and time management strategies is a useful approach too. In closing, let’s review the key points to remember about this private school admissions test. To Sum Up†¦ If you’ve made it this far in the guide, then you should have a good sense of the structure and skills tested across all three levels of the SSAT. Students in grades 3 through 11 can take the elementary, middle, or upper level of the testto apply to independent schools. The SSATis skills-based and seeks to measure your verbal, math, and reading skills. Each level also includes a writing section, which is unscored but will be available to admissions officers that you indicate as score recipients. The SSAT features similar question types at all three levels, with the upper levels incorporating more advanced concepts and vocabulary. The scoring systems are different, though, so you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the scale, as well as your prospective schools’ expectations, to set your target scores. Once you have a goal in mind, you should set aside time for several months to prepare. The earlier you start, the more time you’ll have to get ready. Plus, you might benefit from retaking the test once or twice to improve your scores. By planning early and studying with high-quality SSAT materials, you’ll see improvement and make progresstoward your target scores. While the SSAT is just one piece of your private school application, it can go a long way toward making you a strong candidate for your school of choice! What's Next? Want more help with SSAT prep? Check out our SSAT study tips and complete collection of SSAT practice tests. One of the best ways to improve your test scores is to analyze your mistakes. This guide explains how to reviewyour errors on practice tests so you can make big improvements for next time. Are you a younger student considering taking the SAT? Before you decide, check out these guides on whether or not you should take the SAT as a 7th grader, 8th grader, or 9th grader. Did you know that test scores are just one piece of your private school applications? You should also show admissions officers who you are and what you're interested in through your extracurricular activities. Check out this comprehensive list to explore hundreds of extracurricular activities! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: