What Are Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses

What Are Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses A modifier proviso works precisely like an independent descriptive word, to alter a thing. Descriptive clausesâ are subordinate statements, and normally start with a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whomâ or whose) or a relative verb modifier (where, when, and why).â There are two principle types ofâ adjectivalâ clauses: nonrestrictive and prohibitive. Heres a tad about how to recognize the two.â Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses A descriptive word statement set off from the principle proviso by commas is supposed to be nonrestrictive. Heres a model: Old Professor Legree, who dresses like a youngster, is experiencing his subsequent youth. This who statement is nonrestrictive in light of the fact that the data in the proviso doesnt confine or limit the thing it changes ( Old Professor Legree). The commas mean that the modifier proviso gives included, not fundamental, data. Prohibitive Adjective Clauses Then again, a descriptive word proviso that is prohibitive ought not be set off by commas. A more seasoned individual who dresses like a young person is frequently an object of criticism. Here, the descriptive word proviso confines or restricts the importance of the thing it changes ( A more established individual). A prohibitive descriptive word provision isn't set off by commas. So to audit, here are the essential principles. A descriptive word provision that can be overlooked from a sentence without influencing the essential significance of the sentence ought to be set off by commas and is nonrestrictive. A descriptor condition that can't be excluded from a sentence without influencing the essential significance of the sentence ought not be set off by commas and is prohibitive Work on Identifying Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses For each sentence underneath, choose if the descriptor proviso (in intense) is prohibitive or nonrestrictive. When youre done, check your answers at the base of the page. Understudies who have little youngsters are welcome to utilize the free childcare center.I left my child at the grounds childcare focus, which is allowed to all full-time students.John Wayne, who showed up in more than 200 films, was the greatest film industry fascination of his time.I will not live in any house that Jack built.Merdine, who was conceived in a car some place in Arkansas, develops achy to visit the family every time she hears the cry of a train whistle.My new running shoes, which cost in excess of a hundred dollars, self-destructed during the marathon.I loaned some cash to Earl, whose house was devastated in the flood.The thing that dazzles me the most about America is the manner in which guardians comply with their children.A doctor who smokes and gorges has no option to censure the individual propensities for his patients.The lager that put Milwaukee on the map has made a washout out of me. Answers RestrictiveNonrestrictiveNonrestrictiveRestrictiveNonrestrictiveNonrestrictiveNonrestrictiveRestrictiveRestrictiveRestrictive

Asda and Tesco - Restructuring to reflect multichannel markets Assignment

Asda and Tesco - Restructuring to reflect multichannel markets - Assignment Example In this way, the investigation has used diverse authority hypotheses to clarify the necessary attributes and aptitudes for the new administrative positions. The report depends on the investigation of the current rebuilding plans of Asda and Tesco, the two retail monsters of the UK. This report has likewise stressed on various hypotheses of administration rehearses in any business condition, to comprehend the importance of these speculations in the rebuilding plans of Asda and Tesco. Tesco Plc. is one of the main grocery store chains in the UK. Tesco has its stores in 12 nations worldwide and it by and large arrangements with food, books, garments, electronic devices and furniture. The organization is effectively rebuilding its multichannel showcase activities over some stretch of time. In this procedure, they are redeploying close around 100 staffs to new position jobs. They are likewise making a few opportunities over the association. Their drive called â€Å"Building tomorrow’s Tesco† is centered around accomplishing the worldwide multichannel administration (Channel the board, 2014). Asda stores Ltd. is an eminent name i n the retail business of the UK. The association bargains in basic food item things, general product, garments and toys. Following the pattern of Tesco, Asda is additionally concentrating on a huge rebuilding of its multichannel business tasks. They are making close around 5670 new jobs for different divisions of its multichannel tasks (Harrison, 2014). These rebuilding plans are hugely changing positions of authority and obligations of a few representatives in these associations. The significance of various authority hypotheses on the achievement of the rebuilding plans of these associations have been depicted in this report. Initiative in an association depicts the job where pioneers use the accessible asset and capacities of a group to achieve a shared objective. The

Government university access schemes unworkable

Government university access schemes unworkable The OE Blog A great number of questions and criticisms have arisen surrounding the government’s planned access and scholarship schemes for their new £9000 university tuition fees policy. Whilst they were quick to sketch plans for access for underprivileged students in the run-up to the controversial tuition fees vote, now the policy has been approved by MPs their promised aid schemes are disappearing at an alarming rate. President of the National Union of Students Aaron Porter has raised concerns about the scrapping of the much publicised plans whereby the government would pay for the first year of tuition fees for those students who had been eligible for free school meals (a fair measure of deprivation). Porter implies that Universities Minister David Willetts dangled the generous scheme as a carrot to coerce Liberal Democrats concerned about abandoning their pledges into voting for higher tuition fees, and claims that indeed “many Liberal Democrats voted for it on that basis”. Now however, the government have hastily backtracked, with the steering group planning the distribution of the £150 million access fund (on which Porter sits) instead considering a wide range of different access incentives with universities having the power to choose which they choose to adopt. Whilst far more wishy-washy and untargeted schemes such as “outreach activity” and “accommodation discounts” appear on the list, waived fees for free school meals students do not. Porter fears that the complex nature of such a plan, which would result in different access measures and scholarship opportunities being available at each individual university, will prove a huge deterrent to poorer students applying for higher education. It also makes something of a mockery of the new role of ‘advocate for access to education’ to which Simon Hughes has just been appointed; it will be very difficult for him to ‘sell’ the government’s new scheme to underprivileged students if there is no clear national aid plan to outline to them. Perhaps the reason the coalition government is hastily beating a red-faced retreat from their attractive aid proposals is that highly respected research groups and think-tanks have cast serious doubt on their capacity to fulfil their promises. For a start, the Million+ group, representing newer universities, has flatly pointed out that the £150 million fund will simply not be enough to cover the cost of a year’s tuition for the 10,670 students awarded free school meals last year alone. In addition, chief executive Pam Tatlow has highlighted several gaping holes in Willetts’ hastily sketched plans for access aid. She pointed out that if, as suggested, the government requires universities to match their aid for free school meals students in their second year, those universities doing the most for equal access and underprivileged students will effectively be penalised. With Oxford and Cambridge boasting tiny percentages of such students, those institutions in question are generally much less financially secure and would be seriously imperilled by such a move, forcing them to have to choose between diminishing the scope of their access scheme or pushing tuition fees for other students still higher, lumping the burden of debt once again on the low to middle income earners. Most incredibly of all (and for the coalition’s tuition fees scheme, most embarrassingly) the Higher Education Policy Institute has now revealed that after all this furore, and with all this damage to fair education access, the government’s tuition fees proposals are ultimately “as likely to cost as to save public money”! Having reviewed the coalition’s plans to take into account the desperate and quickly sketched concessions they tacked on at the last minute to help force the vote through, HEPI reveals that if the annual increase in graduate earnings falls just 16% short of the government’s estimate, no savings will be made at all by the scheme. Considering the level of public outrage the proposals have caused and the very significant threat they pose to the likelihood of poorer students being able to attend top universities, this revelation is absolutely flabbergasting. Still more bad news came as it emerged that the government, having repeatedly declared that universities will only be able to charge fees of above £6000 per year under ‘extreme circumstances’, has created its estimates using an assumed average tuition cost of £7200 per year, whilst HEPI predicted it was quite likely that fees would in fact be “considerably higher”. We can only anticipate the public outrage and disbelief that will result when news spreads that the coalition, having trebled university fees, dumped enormous economic debt onto the backs of struggling graduates, slashed the EMA and Aim Higher schemes and utterly reneged on their shining access schemes, are actually likely to make little or no saving at all to the public purse.

Relationship Marketing - 1024 Words

Definition trust: Confidence in the exchange partners reliability and integrity (morgan and hunt 1994) Two level of trust: young 2006 1 cognitive, calculative, and rational 2 emotional reasoning Trust may: (efek dr kepercayann) -reduce harmful conflict -decrease transactional cost (biaya nego) -promote adaptive organizational forms (network relationship) -facilitate the rapid info of ad hoc work groups -promote effective response to a crisis Trusting situation: A. Probity: focuses on honesty and integrity, for professional understanding and reputation B. equity: fair mindedness, benevolence, caring, values, and sincerity as evidence C. Reliability: firm having the required expertise to perform its business effectively†¦show more content†¦Insurance company may not make a profit or service for one or more years into the lifetime of the contract. -upfront supply of equipment: equipment and supply hired for long term where is written in a lifetime contract (cust retention) -advertising and other communication expenditure: cost for adv to promote and create brand awareness (cust acquisition) High front end cost industry: perusahaan yang butuh buat kluarin biaya acquisition front end cost buat mencapai cust retention. Contohnya prusahaan kartu kredit, harus kluar biaya data collection terus buat dapetin data calon pemegang kartu kredit, harus lluar duit buat sewa saleerson terus buat jadi calo kartu kredit, harus meluar baya komisi buat sales terus, Low front end cost industry: perusahaan yg gak kluar banyak biaya acquisition font end cost buat mencapai cust retention. Contoh perusahaan fmcg, gak butuh kluarin biaya buat ngumpulin data ttg cust atau sales, mreka gak pake sales. Mreka cuma butuh biaya advertisinga buat promossin produk mreka, dan supaya orang tau ttg produk mreka. Service paradox: paradoxical effect where a product failure ultimately results in increased customer satisfaction, producing a level of satisfaction even greater than that expected with no product failure. an effective service recovery plan, companies can improve satisfaction, increase loyalty, and build a positive, lastingShow MoreRelatedMarketing : Marketing And Relationship Marketing Essay1359 Words   |  6 PagesIntegrating Marketing With the shift in the external marketing environments, Apple has also shifted its marketing strategy. 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This trend was driven by, and again driving at many cases, how markets perceive productsRead MoreRelationship Marketing Approaches in Services Marketing2786 Words   |  12 Pages| 2012 | | Relationship Marketing Approaches in Services Marketing | | | Over the last years the focus of marketing has changed from transactional to relationship marketing because companies realized that is cheaper to keep old customers rather than attracting new ones. Also this shift has occurred because of the intense rivalry that can be noticed in every industry. Besides its main goal of retaining customers and encouraging repeats, relationship marketing also creates valueRead MoreRelationship Marketing Ryanair3134 Words   |  13 Pagescontact with airline operator, airports need transparency and stability involved Ryanair, in the face of severe rivalry from other airports in mainland Europe by submission them a financial package comprising summary landing and handling charge, marketing of the airlines services, office space, pilot place, in addition to payment for employment and education. The issue was therefore one of clearness with the financial incentive seen as a twist of the air transport market. It would come out to be thatRead MoreRelationship Marketing Essay2276 Words   |  10 PagesRelationship marketing has become a dominant form of marketing theory in recent times. It has evolved from other forms of marketing and has countless benefits for businesses that use the relationship strategy. It is limitless in the type of business es it can be adopted by with new technology and media making it even more popular. The study of marketing is one that has been fixed on an evolving range of marketing segments over the last fifty years or so. A look at the progress of the changing focusRead MoreRelationship Between Marketing And Consumer Marketing1964 Words   |  8 Pagesfrom companies than just products, they want an experience† (Fitzgerald,20015). relationship marketing maximizes value and drives profits. Customer relationship marketing is viewing the customer as the most important aspect of the company. In order to successfully keep a good relationship with existing customers, the company must try different techniques to keep the customer loyal. The essence of relationship marketing is a personal or emotional connection to a brand.   This connection is centeredRead MoreFrom Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing3920 Words   |  16 PagesFrom Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing Towards a paradigm shift in marketing Prepared by: Mai Hamed Shady Marzouk Presented to: Dr. Mariam Abo youssef Table of Contents Introduction 3 Marketing Mix 4 The problem with the Marketing Mix 7 The Nature of the Marketing Mix 8 What is the History of the Marketing Mix? 9 Contemporary Theories of Marketing 11 The New Approaches and the Marketing Mix 12 The Future: The Relationship Marketing Concept 13 Relationship Marketing

Discover Ideas Through Brainstorming

In composition, brainstorming is an invention and discovery strategy in which the writer collaborates with others to explore topics, develop ideas, and/or propose solutions to a problem.  Business Dictionary  says that brainstorming is the process for generating creative ideas and solutions through intensive and freewheeling group discussion. Every participant is encouraged to think aloud and suggest as many ideas as possible, no matter how seemingly outlandish or bizarre. The purpose of a brainstorming session is to work as a group to define a problem and find a plan of action to solve it. In writing, brainstorming aims not just to think of topics to write about but to allow a group to problem-solve when a writer in the group is, essentially, suffering from writers block. Theory and Rules of Brainstorming Alex Osborn, an early proponent of brainstorming, explained the process in his 1953 book Applied Imagination: Principles and Practices of Creative Thinking as a stop-and-go, catch-as-catch-can operation—one which can never be exact enough to rate as scientific. The process, he said, includes some or all of these phases: Orientation: pointing up the problemPreparation: gathering pertinent dataAnalysis: breaking down the relevant materialHypothesis: piling up alternatives by way of ideasIncubation: letting up, to invite illuminationSynthesis: putting the pieces togetherVerification: judging the resultant ideas Osborne established four basic rules for brainstorming: Criticism is ruled out.  Adverse  judgment of ideas must  be withheld until later.Freewheeling is encouraged. The wilder the idea, the better.Quantity is the goal. The greater the number of ideas, the more likely it is that useful ideas will result.Combination and improvement are sought. In addition to contributing ideas of their own, participants should suggest how ideas of others can be turned into better ideas or how two or more ideas can be joined into still another idea. Analysis, discussion, or criticism of the aired ideas is allowed only when the brainstorming session is over and evaluation session begins. Whether in a   classroom, business meeting, or composition brainstorming session, you seek ideas—no matter how wild. Only after the brainstorming session is over, or perhaps at the end of it, do you start to cull the good (and workable) ideas from the bad. Brainstorming Strategies Brainstorming strategies are many and varied, but they can be grouped into the following basic areas, as described by  The Writing Center  at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Cubing:  This strategy enables you to consider your topic from six different directions, just as in a cube, which is six-sided. In cubing, you take an idea and describe it, compare it, associate it, analyze it, apply it, and argue for and against it.Freewriting:  When you freewrite, you let your thoughts flow freely, putting pen to paper (or dry erase pen on a whiteboard) and writing down whatever comes to your mind, or to the group members  minds.Listing: In this technique, also called bulleting, you jot down lists of words or phrases under a particular topic.Mapping: With mapping, you list a lot of different terms and phrases that jut out from the main topic. This method is also called webbing because you end up with something that looks like a spider web with your brainstormed ideas branching out from the main topic in the center.Researching: Also called the journalistic method, with this technique, you use the â€Å"big six† questions that journalists rely on to rese arch a story: who, what, when, where, why, and how. You and your group then take a few minutes to research the answers to these questions if needed or simply discuss the answers if group members know the information.   Methods and Observations Some theorists say that brainstorming does not work. Debate and criticism, far from impeding the search for ideas or efforts to solve a problem, actually stimulate discussion and problem-solving, says Jonah Lehrer, in a 2012 article Groupthink: The Brainstorming Myth published in the New Yorker. Lehrer notes: Dissent stimulates new ideas because it encourages us to engage more fully with the work of others and to reassess our viewpoints. But thats where the teacher or facilitator plays an important role. While she doesnt criticize ideas, and discourages others from doing so, the teacher or facilitator  does  prompt and probe, as Dana Ferris and John Hedgcock write in their book, Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process. The facilitator asks questions such as What do you mean? Can you give an example? or How are these ideas related?—recording these ideas on the board, an overhead transparency, or an electronic display. Far from sitting back and simply writing thin, feel-good ideas on the board or paper, the facilitator nudges participants to think about and enhance their thoughts so that they will be more useful. Its also important to note that brainstorming is just a first step in generating an interesting and well-thought-out essay, with ideas that go beyond the superficial, says Irene L. Clark in Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing. Clark says that a useful invention strategy that follows brainstorming and precedes the drafting of an essay is the points-to-make list, which enables a writer to sort and narrow ideas.   Although different writers do this in individual ways, most good writers will take time to write down, examine, and revise their ideas in an informal list that is not as rigid as an outline. So think of brainstorming as a first step to help get your creative juices flowing, either on your own or preferably with the help of a group of collaborators. Then revise the ideas from a list or web to create an outline for a powerful and well-thought-out paper.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 102-104 Free Essays

CHAPTER 102 The mist had settled low on Kensington Gardens as Silas limped into a quiet hollow out of sight. Kneeling on the wet grass, he could feel a warm stream of blood flowing from the bullet wound below his ribs. Still, he stared straight ahead. We will write a custom essay sample on The Da Vinci Code Chapter 102-104 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The fog made it look like heaven here. Raising his bloody hands to pray, he watched the raindrops caress his fingers, turning them white again. As the droplets fell harder across his back and shoulders, he could feel his body disappearing bit by bit into the mist. I am a ghost. A breeze rustled past him, carrying the damp, earthy scent of new life. With every living cell in his broken body, Silas prayed. He prayed for forgiveness. He prayed for mercy. And, above all, he prayed for his mentor†¦ Bishop Aringarosa†¦ that the Lord would not take him before his time. Hehas so much work left to do. The fog was swirling around him now, and Silas felt so light that he was sure the wisps would carry him away. Closing his eyes, he said a final prayer. From somewhere in the mist, the voice of Manuel Aringarosa whispered to him. Our Lord is a good and merciful God. Silas’s pain at last began to fade, and he knew the bishop was right. CHAPTER 103 It was late afternoon when the London sun broke through and the city began to dry. Bezu Fache felt weary as he emerged from the interrogation room and hailed a cab. Sir Leigh Teabing had vociferously proclaimed his innocence, and yet from his incoherent rantings about the Holy Grail, secret documents, and mysterious brotherhoods, Fache suspected the wily historian was setting the stage for his lawyers to plead an insanity defense. Sure, Fache thought. Insane.Teabing had displayed ingenious precision in formulating a plan that protected his innocence at every turn. He had exploited both the Vatican and Opus Dei, two groups that turned out to be completely innocent. His dirty work had been carried out unknowingly by a fanatical monk and a desperate bishop. More clever still, Teabing had situated his electronic listening post in the one place a man with polio could not possibly reach. The actual surveillance had been carried out by his manservant, Remy – the lone person privy to Teabing’s true identity – now conveniently dead of an allergic reaction. Hardly the handiwork of someone lacking mental faculties, Fache thought. The information coming from Collet out of Chateau Villette suggested that Teabing’s cunning ran so deep that Fache himself might even learn from it. To successfully hide bugs in some of Paris’s most powerful offices, the British historian had turned to the Greeks. Trojan horses.Some of Teabing’s intended targets received lavish gifts of artwork, others unwittingly bid at auctions in which Teabing had placed specific lots. In Sauniere’s case, the curator had received a dinner invitation to Chateau Villette to discuss the possibility of Teabing’s funding a new Da Vinci Wing at the Louvre. Sauniere’s invitation had contained an innocuous postscript expressing fascination with a robotic knight that Sauniere was rumored to have built. Bring him to dinner, Teabing had suggested. Sauniere apparently had done just that and left the knight unattended long enough for Remy Legaludec to make one inconspicuous addition. Now, sitting in the back of the cab, Fache closed his eyes. One more thing to attend to before Ireturn to Paris. The St. Mary’s Hospital recovery room was sunny. â€Å"You’ve impressed us all,† the nurse said, smiling down at him. â€Å"Nothing short of miraculous.† Bishop Aringarosa gave a weak smile. â€Å"I have always been blessed.† The nurse finished puttering, leaving the bishop alone. The sunlight felt welcome and warm on his face. Last night had been the darkest night of his life. Despondently, he thought of Silas, whose body had been found in the park. Please forgive me, my son. Aringarosa had longed for Silas to be part of his glorious plan. Last night, however, Aringarosa had received a call from Bezu Fache, questioning the bishop about his apparent connection to a nun who had been murdered in Saint-Sulpice. Aringarosa realized the evening had taken a horrifying turn. News of the four additional murders transformed his horror to anguish. Silas, what have you done! Unable to reach the Teacher, the bishop knew he had been cut loose. Used.The only way to stop the horrific chain of events he had helped put in motion was to confess everything to Fache, and from that moment on, Aringarosa and Fache had been racing to catch up with Silas before the Teacher persuaded him to kill again. Feeling bone weary, Aringarosa closed his eyes and listened to the television coverage of the arrest of a prominent British knight, Sir Leigh Teabing. The Teacher laid bare for all to see.Teabing had caught wind of the Vatican’s plans to disassociate itself from Opus Dei. He had chosen Aringarosa as the perfect pawn in his plan. After all, who more likely to leap blindly after the Holy Grail thana man like myself with everything to lose? The Grail would have brought enormous power to anyone who possessed it. Leigh Teabing had protected his identity shrewdly – feigning a French accent and a pious heart, and demanding as payment the one thing he did not need – money. Aringarosa had been far too eager to be suspicious. The price tag of twenty million euro was paltry when compared with the prize of obtaining the Grail, and with the Vatican’s separation payment to Opus Dei, the finances had worked nicely. The blind see what they want to see.Teabing’s ultimate insult, of course, had been to demand payment in Vatican bonds, such that if anything went wrong, the investigation would lead to Rome. â€Å"I am glad to see you’re well, My Lord.† Aringarosa recognized the gruff voice in the doorway, but the face was unexpected – stern, powerful features, slicked-back hair, and a broad neck that strained against his dark suit. â€Å"Captain Fache?† Aringarosa asked. The compassion and concern the captain had shown for Aringarosa’s plight last night had conjured images of a far gentler physique. The captain approached the bed and hoisted a familiar, heavy black briefcase onto a chair. â€Å"I believe this belongs to you.† Aringarosa looked at the briefcase filled with bonds and immediately looked away, feeling only shame. â€Å"Yes†¦ thank you.† He paused while working his fingers across the seam of his bed sheet, then continued. â€Å"Captain, I have been giving this deep thought, and I need to ask a favor of you.† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"The families of those in Paris who Silas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused, swallowing the emotion. â€Å"I realize no sum could possibly serve as sufficient restitution, and yet, if you could be kind enough to divide the contents of this briefcase among them†¦ the families of the deceased.† Fache’s dark eyes studied him a long moment. â€Å"A virtuous gesture, My Lord. I will see to it your wishes are carried out.† A heavy silence fell between them. On the television, a lean French police officer was giving a press conference in front of a sprawling mansion. Fache saw who it was and turned his attention to the screen. â€Å"Lieutenant Collet,† a BBC reporter said, her voice accusing. â€Å"Last night, your captain publicly charged two innocent people with murder. Will Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu be seeking accountability from your department? Will this cost Captain Fache his job?† Lieutenant Collet’s smile was tired but calm. â€Å"It is my experience that Captain Bezu Fache seldom makes mistakes. I have not yet spoken to him on this matter, but knowing how he operates, I suspect his public manhunt for Agent Neveu and Mr. Langdon was part of a ruse to lure out the real killer.† The reporters exchanged surprised looks. Collet continued. â€Å"Whether or not Mr. Langdon and Agent Neveu were willing participants in the sting, I do not know. Captain Fache tends to keep his more creative methods to himself. All I can confirm at this point is that the captain has successfully arrested the man responsible, and that Mr. Langdon and Agent Neveu are both innocent and safe.† Fache had a faint smile on his lips as he turned back to Aringarosa. â€Å"A good man, that Collet.† Several moments passed. Finally, Fache ran his hand over his forehead, slicking back his hair as he gazed down at Aringarosa. â€Å"My Lord, before I return to Paris, there is one final matter I’d like to discuss – your impromptu flight to London. You bribed a pilot to change course. In doing so, you broke a number of international laws.† Aringarosa slumped. â€Å"I was desperate.† â€Å"Yes. As was the pilot when my men interrogated him.† Fache reached in his pocket and produced a purple amethyst ring with a familiar hand-tooled mitre-crozier applique. Aringarosa felt tears welling as he accepted the ring and slipped it back on his finger. â€Å"You’ve been so kind.† He held out his hand and clasped Fache’s. â€Å"Thank you.† Fache waved off the gesture, walking to the window and gazing out at the city, his thoughts obviously far away. When he turned, there was an uncertainty about him. â€Å"My Lord, where do you go from here?† Aringarosa had been asked the exact same question as he left Castel Gandolfo the night before. â€Å"I suspect my path is as uncertain as yours.† â€Å"Yes.† Fache paused. â€Å"I suspect I will be retiring early.† Aringarosa smiled. â€Å"A little faith can do wonders, Captain. A little faith.† CHAPTER 104 Rosslyn Chapel – often called the Cathedral of Codes – stands seven miles south of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the site of an ancient Mithraic temple. Built by the Knights Templar in 1446, the chapel is engraved with a mind-boggling array of symbols from the Jewish, Christian, Egyptian, Masonic, and pagan traditions. The chapel’s geographic coordinates fall precisely on the north-south meridian that runs through Glastonbury. This longitudinal Rose Line is the traditional marker of King Arthur’s Isle of Avalon and is considered the central pillar of Britain’s sacred geometry. It is from this hallowed Rose Line that Rosslyn – originally spelled Roslin – takes its name. Rosslyn’s rugged spires were casting long evening shadows as Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu pulled their rental car into the grassy parking area at the foot of the bluff on which the chapel stood. Their short flight from London to Edinburgh had been restful, although neither of them had slept for the anticipation of what lay ahead. Gazing up at the stark edifice framed against a cloud-swept sky, Langdon felt like Alice falling headlong into the rabbit hole. This must be a dream.And yet he knew the text of Sauniere’s final message could not have been more specific. The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. Langdon had fantasized that Sauniere’s â€Å"Grail map† would be a diagram – a drawing with an X- marks-the-spot – and yet the Priory’s final secret had been unveiled in the same way Sauniere had spoken to them from the beginning. Simple verse.Four explicit lines that pointed without a doubt to this very spot. In addition to identifying Rosslyn by name, the verse made reference to several of the chapel’s renowned architectural features. Despite the clarity of Sauniere’s final revelation, Langdon had been left feeling more off balance than enlightened. To him, Rosslyn Chapel seemed far too obvious a location. For centuries, this stone chapel had echoed with whispers of the Holy Grail’s presence. The whispers had turned to shouts in recent decades when ground-penetrating radar revealed the presence of an astonishing structure beneath the chapel – a massive subterranean chamber. Not only did this deep vault dwarf the chapel atop it, but it appeared to have no entrance or exit. Archaeologists petitioned to begin blasting through the bedrock to reach the mysterious chamber, but the Rosslyn Trust expressly forbade any excavation of the sacred site. Of course, this only fueled the fires of speculation. What was the Rosslyn Trust trying to hide? Rosslyn had now become a pilgrimage site for mystery seekers. Some claimed they were drawn here by the powerful magnetic field that emanated inexplicably from these coordinates, some claimed they came to search the hillside for a hidden entrance to the vault, but most admitted they had come simply to wander the grounds and absorb the lore of the Holy Grail. Although Langdon had never been to Rosslyn before now, he always chuckled when he heard the chapel described as the current home of the Holy Grail. Admittedly, Rosslyn once might have been home to the Grail, long ago†¦ but certainly no longer. Far too much attention had been drawn to Rosslyn in past decades, and sooner or later someone would find a way to break into the vault. True Grail academics agreed that Rosslyn was a decoy – one of the devious dead ends the Priory crafted so convincingly. Tonight, however, with the Priory’s keystone offering a verse that pointed directly to this spot, Langdon no longer felt so smug. A perplexing question had been running through his mind all day: Why would Sauniere go to such effort to guide us to so obvious a location? There seemed only one logical answer. There is something about Rosslyn we have yet to understand. â€Å"Robert?† Sophie was standing outside the car, looking back at him. â€Å"Are you corning?† She was holding the rosewood box, which Captain Fache had returned to them. Inside, both cryptexes had been reassembled and nested as they had been found. The papyrus verse was locked safely at its core – minus the shattered vial of vinegar. Making their way up the long gravel path, Langdon and Sophie passed the famous west wall of the chapel. Casual visitors assumed this oddly protruding wall was a section of the chapel that had not been finished. The truth, Langdon recalled, was far more intriguing. The west wall of Solomon’s Temple. The Knights Templar had designed Rosslyn Chapel as an exact architectural blueprint of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem – complete with a west wall, a narrow rectangular sanctuary, and a subterranean vault like the Holy of Holies, in which the original nine knights had first unearthed their priceless treasure. Langdon had to admit, there existed an intriguing symmetry in the idea of the Templars building a modern Grail repository that echoed the Grail’s original hiding place. Rosslyn Chapel’s entrance was more modest than Langdon expected. The small wooden door had two iron hinges and a simple, oak sign. ROSLIN This ancient spelling, Langdon explained to Sophie, derived from the Rose Line meridian on which the chapel sat; or, as Grail academics preferred to believe, from the† Line of Rose† – the ancestral lineage of Mary Magdalene. The chapel would be closing soon, and as Langdon pulled open the door, a warm puff of air escaped, as if the ancient edifice were heaving a weary sigh at the end of a long day. Her entry arches burgeoned with carved cinquefoils. Roses. The womb of the goddess. Entering with Sophie, Langdon felt his eyes reaching across the famous sanctuary and taking it all in. Although he had read accounts of Rosslyn’s arrestingly intricate stonework, seeing it in person was an overwhelming encounter. Symbology heaven, one of Langdon’s colleagues had called it. Every surface in the chapel had been carved with symbols – Christian cruciforms, Jewish stars, Masonic seals, Templar crosses, cornucopias, pyramids, astrological signs, plants, vegetables, pentacles, and roses. The Knights Templar had been master stonemasons, erecting Templar churches all over Europe, but Rosslyn was considered their most sublime labor of love and veneration. The master masons had left no stone uncarved. Rosslyn Chapel was a shrine to all faiths†¦ to all traditions†¦ and, above all, to nature and the goddess. The sanctuary was empty except for a handful of visitors listening to a young man giving the day’s last tour. He was leading them in a single-file line along a well-known route on the floor – an invisible pathway linking six key architectural points within the sanctuary. Generations of visitors had walked these straight lines, connecting the points, and their countless footsteps had engravedan enormous symbol on the floor. The Star of David, Langdon thought. No coincidence there.Also known as Solomon’s Seal, this hexagram had once been the secret symbol of the stargazing priests and was later adopted by the Israelite kings – David and Solomon. The docent had seen Langdon and Sophie enter, and although it was closing time, offered a pleasant smile and motioned for them to feel free to look around. Langdon nodded his thanks and began to move deeper into the sanctuary. Sophie, however, stood riveted in the entryway, a puzzled look on her face. â€Å"What is it?† Langdon asked. Sophie stared out at the chapel. â€Å"I think†¦ I’ve been here.† Langdon was surprised. â€Å"But you said you hadn’t even heard of Rosslyn.† â€Å"I hadn’t†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She scanned the sanctuary, looking uncertain. â€Å"My grandfather must have brought me here when I was very young. I don’t know. It feels familiar.† As her eyes scanned the room, she began nodding with more certainty. â€Å"Yes.† She pointed to the front of the sanctuary. â€Å"Those two pillars†¦ I’ve seen them.† Langdon looked at the pair of intricately sculpted columns at the far end of the sanctuary. Their white lacework carvings seemed to smolder with a ruddy glow as the last of the day’s sunlight streamed in through the west window. The pillars – positioned where the altar would normally stand – were an oddly matched pair. The pillar on the left was carved with simple, vertical lines, while the pillar on the right was embellished with an ornate, flowering spiral. Sophie was already moving toward them. Langdon hurried after her, and as they reached the pillars, Sophie was nodding with incredulity. â€Å"Yes, I’m positive I have seen these!† â€Å"I don’t doubt you’ve seen them,† Langdon said,† but it wasn’t necessarily here.† She turned. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"These two pillars are the most duplicated architectural structures in history. Replicas exist all over the world.† â€Å"Replicas of Rosslyn?† She looked skeptical. â€Å"No. Of the pillars. Do you remember earlier that I mentioned Rosslyn itself is a copy of Solomon’s Temple? Those two pillars are exact replicas of the two pillars that stood at the head of Solomon’s Temple.† Langdon pointed to the pillar on the left. â€Å"That’s called Boaz – or the Mason’s Pillar. The other is called Jachin – or the Apprentice Pillar.† He paused. â€Å"In fact, virtually every Masonic temple in the world has two pillars like these.† Langdon had already explained to her about the Templars’ powerful historic ties to the modern Masonic secret societies, whose primary degrees – Apprentice Freemason, Fellowcraft Freemason, and Master Mason – harked back to early Templar days. Sophie’s grandfather’s final verse made direct reference to the Master Masons who adorned Rosslyn with their carved artistic offerings. It also noted Rosslyn’s central ceiling, which was covered with carvings of stars and planets. â€Å"I’ve never been in a Masonic temple,† Sophie said, still eyeing the pillars. â€Å"I am almost positive I saw these here.† She turned back into the chapel, as if looking for something else to jog her memory. The rest of the visitors were now leaving, and the young docent made his way across the chapel to them with a pleasant smile. He was a handsome young man in his late twenties, with a Scottish brogue and strawberry blond hair. â€Å"I’m about to close up for the day. May I help you find anything?† How about the Holy Grail? Langdon wanted to say. â€Å"The code,† Sophie blurted, in sudden revelation. â€Å"There’s a code here!† The docent looked pleased by her enthusiasm. â€Å"Yes there is, ma’am.† â€Å"It’s on the ceiling,† she said, turning to the right-hand wall. â€Å"Somewhere over†¦ there.† He smiled. â€Å"Not your first visit to Rosslyn, I see.† The code, Langdon thought. He had forgotten that little bit of lore. Among Rosslyn’s numerous mysteries was a vaulted archway from which hundreds of stone blocks protruded, jutting down to form a bizarre multifaceted surface. Each block was carved with a symbol, seemingly at random, creating a cipher of unfathomable proportion. Some people believed the code revealed the entrance to the vault beneath the chapel. Others believed it told the true Grail legend. Not that it mattered – cryptographers had been trying for centuries to decipher its meaning. To this day the Rosslyn Trust offered a generous reward to anyone who could unveil the secret meaning, but the code remained a mystery. â€Å"I’d be happy to show†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The docent’s voice trailed off. My first code, Sophie thought, moving alone, in a trance, toward the encoded archway. Having handed the rosewood box to Langdon, she could feel herself momentarily forgetting all about the Holy Grail, the Priory of Sion, and all the mysteries of the past day. When she arrived beneath the encoded ceiling and saw the symbols above her, the memories came flooding back. She was recalling her first visit here, and strangely, the memories conjured an unexpected sadness. She was a little girl†¦ a year or so after her family’s death. Her grandfather had brought her to Scotland on a short vacation. They had come to see Rosslyn Chapel before going back to Paris. It was late evening, and the chapel was closed. But they were still inside. â€Å"Can we go home, Grand-pere?† Sophie begged, feeling tired. â€Å"Soon, dear, very soon.† His voice was melancholy. â€Å"I have one last thing I need to do here. How about if you wait in the car?† â€Å"You’re doing another big person thing?† He nodded. â€Å"I’ll be fast. I promise.† â€Å"Can I do the archway code again? That was fun.† â€Å"I don’t know. I have to step outside. You won’t be frightened in here alone?† â€Å"Of course not!† she said with a huff. â€Å"It’s not even dark yet!† He smiled. â€Å"Very well then.† He led her over to the elaborate archway he had shown her earlier. Sophie immediately plopped down on the stone floor, lying on her back and staring up at the collage of puzzle pieces overhead. â€Å"I’m going to break this code before you get back!† â€Å"It’s a race then.† He bent over, kissed her forehead, and walked to the nearby side door. â€Å"I’ll be right outside. I’ll leave the door open. If you need me, just call.† He exited into the soft evening light. Sophie lay there on the floor, gazing up at the code. Her eyes felt sleepy. After a few minutes, the symbols got fuzzy. And then they disappeared. When Sophie awoke, the floor felt cold. â€Å"Grand-pere?† There was no answer. Standing up, she brushed herself off. The side door was still open. The evening was getting darker. She walked outside and could see her grandfather standing on the porch of a nearby stone house directly behind the church. Her grandfather was talking quietly to a person barely visible inside the screened door. â€Å"Grand-pere?† she called. Her grandfather turned and waved, motioning for her to wait just a moment. Then, slowly, he said some final words to the person inside and blew a kiss toward the screened door. He came to her with tearful eyes. â€Å"Why are you crying, Grand-pere?† He picked her up and held her close. â€Å"Oh, Sophie, you and I have said good-bye to a lot of people this year. It’s hard.† Sophie thought of the accident, of saying good-bye to her mother and father, her grandmother and baby brother. â€Å"Were you saying goodbye to another person?† â€Å"To a dear friend whom I love very much,† he replied, his voice heavy with emotion. â€Å"And I fear I will not see her again for a very long time.† Standing with the docent, Langdon had been scanning the chapel walls and feeling a rising wariness that a dead end might be looming. Sophie had wandered off to look at the code and left Langdon holding the rosewood box, which contained a Grail map that now appeared to be no help at all. Although Sauniere’s poem clearly indicated Rosslyn, Langdon was not sure what to do now that they had arrived. The poem made reference to a ‘blade and chalice’, which Langdon saw nowhere. The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o’er Her gates. Again Langdon sensed there remained some facet of this mystery yet to reveal itself. â€Å"I hate to pry,† the docent said, eyeing the rosewood box in Langdon’s hands. â€Å"But this box†¦ might I ask where you got it?† Langdon gave a weary laugh. â€Å"That’s an exceptionally long story.† The young man hesitated, his eyes on the box again. â€Å"It’s the strangest thing – my grandmother has a box exactly like that – a jewelry box. Identical polished rosewood, same inlaid rose, even the hinges look the same.† Langdon knew the young man must be mistaken. If ever a box had been one of a kind, it was thisone – the box custom-made for the Priory keystone. â€Å"The two boxes may be similar but – â€Å" The side door closed loudly, drawing both of their gazes. Sophie had exited without a word and was now wandering down the bluff toward a fieldstone house nearby. Langdon stared after her. Where is she going? She had been acting strangely ever since they entered the building. He turned to the docent. â€Å"Do you know what that house is?† He nodded, also looking puzzled that Sophie was going down there. â€Å"That’s the chapel rectory. The chapel curator lives there. She also happens to be the head of the Rosslyn Trust.† He paused. â€Å"And my grandmother.† â€Å"Your grandmother heads the Rosslyn Trust?† The young man nodded. â€Å"I live with her in the rectory and help keep up the chapel and give tours.† He shrugged. â€Å"I’ve lived here my whole life. My grandmother raised me in that house.† Concerned for Sophie, Langdon moved across the chapel toward the door to call out to her. He was only halfway there when he stopped short. Something the young man said just registered. My grandmother raised me. Langdon looked out at Sophie on the bluff, then down at the rosewood box in his hand. Impossible. Slowly, Langdon turned back to the young man. â€Å"You said your grandmother has a box like this one?† â€Å"Almost identical.† â€Å"Where did she get it?† â€Å"My grandfather made it for her. He died when I was a baby, but my grandmother still talks about him. She says he was a genius with his hands. He made all kinds of things.† Langdon glimpsed an unimaginable web of connections emerging. â€Å"You said your grandmother raised you. Do you mind my asking what happened to your parents?† The young man looked surprised. â€Å"They died when I was young.† He paused. â€Å"The same day as my grandfather.† Langdon’s heart pounded. â€Å"In a car accident?† The docent recoiled, a look of bewilderment in his olive-green eyes. â€Å"Yes. In a car accident. My entire family died that day. I lost my grandfather, my parents, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He hesitated, glancing down at the floor. â€Å"And your sister,† Langdon said. Out on the bluff, the fieldstone house was exactly as Sophie remembered it. Night was falling now, and the house exuded a warm and inviting aura. The smell of bread wafted through the opened screened door, and a golden light shone in the windows. As Sophie approached, she could hear the quiet sounds of sobbing from within. Through the screened door, Sophie saw an elderly woman in the hallway. Her back was to the door, but Sophie could see she was crying. The woman had long, luxuriant, silver hair that conjured an unexpected wisp of memory. Feeling herself drawn closer, Sophie stepped onto the porch stairs. The woman was clutching a framed photograph of a man and touching her fingertips to his face with loving sadness. It was a face Sophie knew well. Grand-pere. The woman had obviously heard the sad news of his death last night. A board squeaked beneath Sophie’s feet, and the woman turned slowly, her sad eyes finding Sophie’s. Sophie wanted to run, but she stood transfixed. The woman’s fervent gaze never wavered as she set down the photo and approached the screened door. An eternity seemed to pass as the two women stared at one another through the thin mesh. Then, like the slowly gathering swell of an ocean wave, the woman’s visage transformed from one of uncertainty†¦ to disbelief†¦ to hope†¦ and finally, to cresting joy. Throwing open the door, she came out, reaching with soft hands, cradling Sophie’s thunderstruck face. â€Å"Oh, dear child†¦ look at you!† Although Sophie did not recognize her, she knew who this woman was. She tried to speak but found she could not even breathe. â€Å"Sophie,† the woman sobbed, kissing her forehead. Sophie’s words were a choked whisper. â€Å"But†¦ Grand-pere said you were†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know.† The woman placed her tender hands on Sophie’s shoulders and gazed at her with familiar eyes. â€Å"Your grandfather and I were forced to say so many things. We did what we thought was right. I’m so sorry. It was for your own safety, princess.† Sophie heard her final word, and immediately thought of her grandfather, who had called her princess for so many years. The sound of his voice seemed to echo now in the ancient stones of Rosslyn, settling through the earth and reverberating in the unknown hollows below. The woman threw her arms around Sophie, the tears flowing faster. â€Å"Your grandfather wanted so badly to tell you everything. But things were difficult between you two. He tried so hard. There’sso much to explain. So very much to explain.† She kissed Sophie’s forehead once again, then whispered in her ear. â€Å"No more secrets, princess. It’s time you learn the truth about our family.† Sophie and her grandmother were seated on the porch stairs in a tearful hug when the young docent dashed across the lawn, his eyes shining with hope and disbelief. â€Å"Sophie?† Through her tears, Sophie nodded, standing. She did not know the young man’s face, but as they embraced, she could feel the power of the blood coursing through his veins†¦ the blood she now understood they shared. When Langdon walked across the lawn to join them, Sophie could not imagine that only yesterday she had felt so alone in the world. And now, somehow, in this foreign place, in the company of three people she barely knew, she felt at last that she was home. How to cite The Da Vinci Code Chapter 102-104, Essay examples

Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing Essay Example

Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing Essay The paper is concerned with the identification of the characteristics and effects of different testing methods on individuals and how these practices are reflected at international level. Therefore, a comparison between standardized testing and alternative testing is offered, but the particular case of the students with special educational needs is taken into consideration as well. The nature of each process is discussed, its impact at individual and country level is reflected and recommendations are suggested. In educational context the problem of assessment and standardized testing are key matters. In the US, the law â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act† signed by President Bush on January 8, 2002 makes explicit call for educational accountability. The law focuses on ways that lead to academic progress and reinforces the use of tests and assessments at the state level to monitor student progress toward 100 percent proficiency for all students by 2014. As a result, districts, schools, and teachers have placed a new emphasis on tests and additional assessments to monitor student learning and ensure that students can do well on state tests (The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing, retrieved from site). The standards underlie the quality of assessment practices used by teachers, state and federal agencies to measure student achievement. Standardized testing is the most important part of a systematic type of assessment, involving the collection and interpretation of educatio nal data. Concisely expressed by Popham (1999) standardized testing is a quality of a test of being â€Å"administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner†. The standardization refers to the identical administration of the test, requiring the application in the same conditions every time. Such a strict control of other variables leads to the possibility of inferring that the results may be attributed to students’ performance. Moreover, this allows for a further comparison of schools, districts, or states regarding the performance on tests. A great advantage and a strong point of these tests are the psychometric qualities (test study, design, and administration) standards for reliability, validity, and lack of bias (Zucker, 2003; Joint Committee on Testing Practices, 2004). Reliability refers to the possibility of administering the test repeatedly and getting approximately the same score; validity means that the test measures accurately the construct that is intended to measure. These qualities of standardized tests explain their use on a large scale and support inferences and comparisons between groups of learners. We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Standardized Testing and Assessments and Alternative Testing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The premises which reinforced the necessity of this type of testing concern the perception that effective education requires information about learning at different points during the process. Therefore, two kinds of assessment have evolved—formative and summative. Formative assessment provides information about learning in process. It may consist of weekly quizzes, tests, essays given by teachers to their students. The results of formative assessments help teachers and students understand how students progress in learning and what adjustments need to be made in instruction. (The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing, retrieved from site). Summative assessment refers to â€Å"high-stakes†, â€Å"standardized† testing carried out by the states and created a great deal of controversy in the educational field. Summative assessment is focused on the state of student learning at certain end points in a student’s academic career—at the end of a school year, or at certain grades such as grades 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. It is a standardized form of summing up students’ learning experiences. The term â€Å"high-stakes testing† has been coined to label the consequences to schools (or students) that, as a result of state testing, fail to maintain a steady increase in achievement across the some categories of students in schools (i.e., minority, poor, and special education students). Thus, it becomes obvious there is a great amount of pressure on schools to demonstrate academic progress, and this pressure comes mainly in the form of standardized testing, since high-test scores have become a primary criterion against which the worth of an educational system is judged (Pawlak, Julie). The characteristic forms of standardized tests are: multiple choice, fill in the blank, and true/false tests. Criticisms has been put forth on these assessment forms as they are considered to measure only a few of the standards, at the same time providing only single measures of student learning at a certain point in time. Though efforts have been made to create more sophisticated multiple choices tests it remains true that this kind of tests â€Å"are clearly limited in the kinds of achievement they can measure† (Zucker, 2003). Another type of tasks integrated in standardized tests is the open-ended test in which students are asked to respond either by writing a few sentences in a short answer form, or by writing an extended essay. The â€Å"constructed response† allows students to display knowledge and apply critical thinking skills, but it is more difficult to score. At this point several types of large-scale standardized tests should be mentioned. Among these are: N ational Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), certain international tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science study (TIMSS) and the program for International Student Assessment (PISA), college admissions (SAT, ACT), and combined program of courses and examination of which Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) are representative. Of these, NAEP is representative as it covers a large spectrum of subject matters and US states. The test covers various subject areas and is administered to students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade every two years in reading and mathematics and at longer intervals in other academic subjects such as science, history, and geography. Fifty-one states and territories now participate in NAEP. Returning to the debate concerning standardized tests, another issue is the group-administration of these forms of evaluation together with the decontextualized form in which they assess and promote learning have been another major disadvantages underlined by teachers and researchers. The high-stakes considered in the context of state tests have been identified as yet another soft point of the national educational systems, since certain researchers consider these type of tests a way of boosting the scores, or an opportunity for educators to â€Å"devote most of their energy to raising students’ scores on conventional achievement tests† (Meisels et al., 2003). Such line of reasoning highlights other arguments for criticism of standardized testing such as the fact that they are intended to assess the current status of student’s achievement and are not designed to determine appropriate instructional strategies. The nature of instructional strategies is influenced in a negative way by such standardized tests, since it relies mainly on the use of worksheets, narrowing the curriculum and the acquisition of (cognitive) skills. In what concerns educators, they are most often held responsible for the performance of their students. The sanctions or rewards to which they may be exposed are provided as a result of exposing the results of a school’s performance to the public in newspapers and on television; the comparative framework is often use in order to emphasize the performance of schools considered as â€Å"failing†. In such a context, it has been underlined that all kinds of comparisons are encouraged, from urban to rural schools, this leaving place for inaccuracy and misjudgment notwithstanding the same scale is used (Natriello, 2000; Meier, 2002; Darling-Hammond, 2003, cited in Pawlak J.). A negative effect has also been attested on children in the form of test anxiety provoked by the â€Å"high-stakes†. Reasons which maintain high levels of anxiety in children have been identified in the form of: the duration of testing two or three hours of each test-taking day, the unfamiliar se tting, their knowledge that the state-wide curriculum is evaluated by an end-of-the-year test, and, of course, the consequences that accompany stressful evaluative situations. Grade retention and denial of diplomas are two possible negative consequences that impact greatly students’ further academic achievement. As showed above the major criticism against standardized testing is the restriction imposed to the educational opportunities of students. This is an argument for gaining awareness that this method, though practiced on a large scale, and attested by the United States educational system as the most objective and scientific way of assessing performance, is not the only existent measure of performance. The preoccupation with standardized tests coexists in the educational area with other forms of assessment of a more traditional, formative nature, based on the students abilities to recognize, recall or apply newly learned knowledge. In such context educators have felt the need for a more authentic assessment, which would highlight improved strategies of teaching and learning. Authentic assessment, also referred to as performance assessment, portfolio assessment, curriculum-embedded instruction, or integrated education, represents an alternative to standardized testing. Alternative assessment has been described as â€Å"an instructional-driven measurement in which students’ actual classroom performance is evaluated in terms of standards-infused criteria† (Meisels, 2003). Such type of assessment is rather multidimensional, evaluating students learning by taking into account broader concepts of intelligence, ability, intrapersonal, and interpersonal abilities and learning through visual, auditory, kinesthetic modalities. The skills become an integral part of the instructional cycle, and feedback provided by the teacher is meant to be formative (used for immediate feedback into learning and teaching) r ather than summative (summarizes where students have reached in their development at the end of the topic). The distinction between standardized testing and alternative testing may be circumscribed in formative and summative terms as described at the beginning of this paper. These types of tasks aimed at assessing performance are contrasted to multiple choice exercises since students are encouraged to express their knowledge by making use of open-ended questions, essay, portfolio, story retelling, writing samples, projects/exhibitions, experiments/demonstrations etc., and integrated performance assessments which require higher-order thinking, authentic tasks (tasks that are meaningful, challenging, and engaging, relevant in a real context), integrative tasks (tasks that call for a combination of skills across curriculum), and constructed responses (values the process as well as the product of the answer) (Callison, 1998, cited in Pawlak, J.). As opposed to the limitations of standardized testing in the form of traditional multiple-choice, short answer, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank tests that only evaluate a single measure of student learning and consider only narrow portion of students’ abilities, the curriculum-embedded performance assessment that encompasses developmental guidelines and checklists, portfolios, summary reports etc. provides a more comprehensive evaluation and facilitation of learning and progress. This line of practice is very different from the standardized one since the latter is based on government regulations that include annual targets for academic achievement, participation in assessments, graduation rates for high schools. The debate arises mostly from the fact that the targets established must be applied to the major racial and ethnic groups, the economically disadvantaged, special education students, and students with limited English proficiency (Jewell, M.). These being taken into co nsideration, it becomes clear that the form of alternative assessment is more efficient when working with students with special needs since including a variety of types of assessments provide students with ample opportunities to demonstrate their abilities at their own pace. Moreover, each individual is taken into consideration, the performance is assessed using multiple sources and instruction may be adapted to ones’ special learning needs. In standardized testing, the format is more rigid, fosters stress and a universal learning pace, assessed as a summary of one educational stage. The assessment is carried out in groups and the individual is offered the possibility to obtain a numeric score which allows him to pass or fail. The consequences of this type are the only feedback individual students receive in standardized testing. In alternative assessment feedback is very important and reinforces learning, stimulating performance on a gradual long term basis. On the other hand, a possibility to improve the performance of the students with special needs is the preparation in advance and a familiarization with the content. Jewell, M. insisted that schools should ensure that special education students and students with limited English proficiency receive the appropriate accommodations permitted by the test. In addition, thorough instruction of students in appropriate test taking strategies will help improve test performance and reduce test anxiety. Arnold, N. acknowledged the necessity of including the students with special educational needs in the assessment and accountability system and of critical importance is therefore to ensure appropriate allocation of resources and learning opportunities for these students. After considering the individual differences in testing and the relationships with various testing formats, an important matter to be discussed is the comparison of the US assessment standards with those of other countries. The US educational system consists of different levels primary school, secondary school, undergraduate level and graduate level. The major assessments are carried out usually at the end of a school year, or at certain grades such as grades 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th. The majority of students are enrolled in public schools. More specific, the students are measured annually in reading and math from third through eight grade and at least once during high school (Education in the United States, 2002, cited in Huang, Kelly). The main goal of such testing is to indicate if a school has been improving or not. Another type of standardized testing exists in the country that applies to students planning to attend a postsecondary education. Usually during high school students are required to take either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Testing (ACT) in order to qualify for most universities (Education in the United States, 2002). On the other hand, in China, standardized testing has a greater impact on students further education. Junior high school students start to prepare to score high enough on the national senior high school entrance exams at the end of the 8th  grade, so that they can attend one of the most prestigious senior high schools in the country (â€Å"Education in the Republic of China,† 2005, cited in Huang, Kelly). After getting into a senior high school, the main goal is to score well enough on the national university entrance exams, in order to attend a four-year university. If they fail the exam, then they cannot apply to any of these schools. China and Japan assessment systems are similar to the US by making use of standardized testing. However, it appears that these countries place an even stronger emphasis on standardized testing than does the US. Due to the strong reinforcement of high-stakes testing in China and Japan, the negative effects among students are even more prominent that for the US students. Japanese and Chinese students study a longer period of time that their American counter parts, are exposed to higher levels of stress, are more anxious in evaluative situations and have a stronger sense of academic achievement. Such high academic expectations in these countries lead to low self-esteem, high rates of depression and suicide among students (â€Å"Education in the Republic of China,† 2005). However, there is a difference in outcomes as well, in performance, between the three countries since Japan and China score higher that American and other international students at different testing sessions. Moreover, another distinction is made in terms of curriculum and instructional strategy. In Japan for instance the teachers teach on the same curriculum, and use the same instructional strategies. They strive to teach the same thing in the same way. In the US, however, teachers manifest a greater flexibility towards the curriculum and instruction. They also make use of alternative te sting and feel free to use any kind of strategy or material they consider would help instruction. In what concerns the European educational system, a general aspect is the fact that final year exams are very common (example: France and Germany). Added to this, several European countries (the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Lithuania) combine school-leaving examinations with university entrance examinations. Similar to the US, tests are carried out at a national level and based on curriculum. The preoccupation with examinations linked to explicit national (or state) standards are doubled by the concern for an alignment with international expectations reflected, for instance the indicators in Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) or the results of multinational assessments such as the Third Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Crighton, J.). The debate in the US education concerning national testing is also heard in the UK, for instance where student performance on national curriculum key stage testing at ages seven, eleven, fourteen, and si xteen has led to the publication of league tables listing schools in order of their students performance. The analysis of various educational systems as reflected in testing practices may be summarized by identifying two major tendencies: the focus on national standards and the focus on competences. The focus on national standards is reflected in the summative approach to education and is less adequate when it comes to students with special educational needs. The emphasis on competences is better illustrated by normative or alternative assessments and instructional practices. This kind of approach is more adequate for students with special needs since allows for multi-source assessment and is concerned with individual performance being able to monitor progress. However, individuals and countries differ when it comes to such issues. When teachers and students are concerned, it is important to take into account both sides of assessment the objective, standardized one, and the more qualitative and subjective one. Both are important to assess students and are relevant for developing further instructional strategies and governmental policies. The category of students with special needs benefits more from a qualitative approach. In what concerns the countries, differences arise in terms of system organization and emphasis on standards or competences. But however, the belief systems and values of a nation have a great impact on educational assessment (for instance the case of Japan) Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Popham, J. W. (1999). Why standardized tests don’t measure educational quality. Educational Leadership, 56(6), 8-15. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Meisels, S., Atkins-Burnett, S., Xue, Y. (2003). Creating a System of Accountability: The Impact of Instructional Assessment on Elementary Children’s Achievement Test Scores. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, Vol 11 (9). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚     Huang Kelly. Standardized Testing, Retrieved from site on March 22   http://sitemaker.umich.edu/finalhuangk.356/standardized_testing 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Crighton, Johanna V. Standardized tests and Educational Policy, Retrieved from site, March 22 http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2505/Testing.html 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zucker, S. (2003). Fundamentals of standardized testing. San Antonio TX: Harcourt Assessment, Inc. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joint Committee on Testing Practices. (2004). Code of fair testing practices in education (Revised). Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The nature of assessment: A guide to standardized testing Retrieved from site on March 22 www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.2506203/k.680A/Standards_and_testing.htm 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jewell, M. No Child Left Behind: Implications for Special Education Students and Students with Limited English Proficiency Retrieved from site on March 22 http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/improvement/jewell.htm 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Arnold Nancy, Introduction to Alternate Assessments Retrieved from site on March 22   http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/arnold.htm 10. Pawlak, Julie, Standardized Testing vs. Authentic Assessment, Retrieved from site on   March 22 www.bankstreet.edu/gems/neweducators/standardizedtestingvs.doc