Answers to Questions About Tense #3

Answers to Questions About Tense #3 Answers to Questions About Tense #3 Answers to Questions About Tense #3 By Mark Nichol Three questions from readers about mixing tenses, and my responses to their questions, follow. 1. When I read the following quote recently, I wondered whether it’s wrong for all the verbs to be in the past tense: â€Å"Smith said he believed that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.† What do you think? Reporting is generally presented in the past tense, but to continue to form verbs in the past tense may misrepresent the facts. At the time that Smith spoke, he held a belief that he presumably will hold into perpetuity, so the present tense of believe is appropriate here. However, whether the verb after company should be in present tense or past tense depends on whether the alleged intimidation is ongoing. That was not the case in this particular instance, but if that is not clear in the context of the complete article, the reporter should explicitly state whether the intimidation ended. The sentence should read, â€Å"Smith said he believes that the company was trying to intimidate employees into not participating in the panel’s efforts.† 2. Is the following sentence properly constructed?: â€Å"Launching nationwide on September 25, BankWorks is a new service offered by Banking Services, the same company that brought you BankTrack and BankData.† Somehow the variation in verb tenses (launching, is, brought) does not sit quite right with me, but I cannot say if it is wrong. Mixing tenses in sentences is fine, as long as each verb form is consistent with the tense for that piece of information. The service will launch in the future, but it is offered in the present, and the services BankTrack and BankData were established in the past, so the sentence is correct. 3. What are your thoughts are regarding tense usage for reported speech? Consider the following sentences: â€Å"John told me that he was married.† â€Å"John told me that he is married.† Which one should I use if I want to say that John was married at the time he said he was married and he is still married at the time of the reported speech? Write, â€Å"John told me that he is married† if he had a spouse at the time that he spoke to you. Write, â€Å"John told me that he was married† if John is now single. (Mixing of tenses is correct if the context warrants it, but it goes against the grain, and we’re so used to seeing it wrong, especially in nonprofessional writing, that it may seem incorrect.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Apply to, Apply for, and Apply withAbstract Nouns from AdjectivesWhen to use "an"

Human Resources Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resources Management - Assignment Example HRM is said to have evolved from personnel management and very little difference exists between the two as explained in literature; Hendry and Pettigrew viewed HRM as a different perspective of personnel management. However, a thorough study reveals that HRM essentially deals with strategic integration of personnel management functions in order to instil better accountability and ownership of human resources and to improve commitment between human resources and the firm. Personnel management can be traced back to industrial revolution, in firms such as Ford, which has eventually evolved to HRM even in these firms. Both, Tesco and McDonald’s operate as retail outlets and provide different services to their customers across the globe; while Tesco is a large supermarket with its major presence in the UK, McDonald’s is a fast-food restaurant operating throughout the world. Primarily, the functions of HRM include HR planning and acquisition, compensation and benefits, employ ee relations, safe working conditions, and human resources development; HRM’s secondary functions involve supportive activities such as job designing, performance management and performance appraisal systems, and research and information activities. (Sims, RR & Sims, SJ, 2007). For instance, at McDonald’s, HRM functions include activities related to maintaining employee relations and managing technology and processes; however, McDonald’s has customized these functions according to the country they operate through a team of HR directors that travel around the world to formulate and implement HR policies and procedures that match the local requirements and conform to legislation (Sims, 2002). Observations show McDonald’s typically comprises of working crew, supervisors/managers and probably some back-office personnel that work at locations other than their outlets. According to their website, HR function at McDonald’s focuses on acquiring and develop ing best talent suitable to their business through strong practices and by providing constant support and learning opportunities. Their main functions include job analysis, HR planning, recruitment, development, performance appraisal, and compensation (HRMS, n.d). Their corporate strategy is to provide an exceptional customer experience through people, products, place, price and promotion (Mission & Values, n.d). Their first step towards this is to hire the right people for the job followed by training and development. Tesco’s HR function takes credit for its diversified businesses and substantial growth (MacLachlan, 2009). According to MacLachlan’s (2009) report, their HR team was able to successfully blend technical excellence and expertise with customer needs through integrity, which led to their growth. Tesco’s business policies and procedures are strategically aligned to its core mission through identification of leaders, commitment, training and developmen t. Their HR function is involved in almost every aspect of these activities in order to achieve the desired outcomes. Considering the line managers’ perspective, generally, they own the responsibility of conducting business with the help of frontline staff. They manage routine business operations through planning, organising and controlling; and developing human resources through training,

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

English - Essay Example Only the copied text thus commands the soul of him who is occupied with it, whereas the mere reader never discovers the new aspects of his inner self that are opened by the text, that road cut through the interior jungle forever closing behind it: because the reader follows the movement of his mind in the free flight of daydreaming, whereas the copier submits it to command. The Chinese practice of copying books was thus an incomparable guarantee of literary culture, and the transcript a key to China's enigmas† (Benjamin 50). THESIS STATEMENT Walter Benjamin, a German philosophist, social critic and a renowned literary critic had been a center of conversation during the early and mid 20th century, owing to his revolutionary works on information literacy. Among his various contributions to modern German and French literature, his literary work in â€Å"One-Way Street†, translated by Edmund Jephcott and Kingsley Shorter, had marked the roots of an apparent insurgency in the imminent literatures focusing on the unification of philosophical modernity with reality experiences of life. The above selected excerpt presents a clear illustration to the idealistic fineness and individuality in the literary works of Walter Benjamin. This thesis will thus emphasize contextualizing the excerpt and correspondingly, interpret the philosophical meaning of the passage. CONTEXTUALIZING THE EXCERPT When assessing the individuality features imbibed in the literary works of Walter Benjamin, Osborne and Matthew suitably connote that â€Å"This [the narrations in â€Å"One-Way Street†] entails what Adorno describes as a â€Å"philosophy directed against philosophy†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦or what Howard Caygill calls a â€Å"philosophizing beyond philosophy† (Osborne and Matthew, â€Å"Walter Benjamin†). Precisely, the text in â€Å"One-Way Street† can be regarded as a masterpiece in modern informative literature art. In the selected excerpt too, the read er shall find inferences drawn on the basis of real life experiences of a person, illustrating the disputable contexts of capitalism persisting in the modern society of humankind. In a benevolent, but equally strong and unambiguous manner, Benjamin addresses the issues faced by a common man at one end of the polarized capitalistic society in comparison with the elite enjoyed by another man with obvious greater purchasing power at the other end. Taking direct reference from the text, it can be argued that the man who possesses the power to afford an airplane is likely to have petite understanding regarding the hardships that a common man face, who actually works in the background to nurture and cultivate the benefits reaped by the capitalists. The common man is thus represented as a man who needs to travel the road on-foot and certainly faces greater difficulties in reaching his destination. Expanding the thought process of the excerpt, Walter Benjamin depicts a similar polarization tact followed in the field of informative literary writings where it is often witnessed that secondary writers attempt to copy from the work actually conducted by the primary writer. In this excerpt, Benjamin regards the primary writer or the true investigator as the common man who needs to walk down the road and experience all the pain in his way; while the copier, presents the rich possessing affordability to

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratio - Assignment Example Comprehensive studies undertaken by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) confirms that there is a relationship between nurse staffing and health care outcomes (Kane et al., 2007). An increase in the nurse staffing leads to a reduction in the prevalence and mortality rates caused by treatable diseases. At the local level, nurses should be encouraged to use the reward power when lobbying for support from the legislators. The candidates should only be assured of votes if they offer their support to the health issue (Abood, 2007). The hospitals should be required to establish nurse controlled staffing committees. This creates the strategies necessary for matching the patient population with the available staffing. The results from such committee are presented to the legislative members to provide them with the real problem for support. At the state level, nurses should be involved in the sponsoring of the annual state legislative days to arrest the attention of legislato rs and influential leaders. The legislative days will be characterized by fellowships and internships that offer information on the importance of maintaining suitable nursing ratios for effective health care delivery. These workshops will bring nurses together and raise awareness on the current health care issues. Once the nurses are made aware of the situation, they can identify the pros and cons of the necessary solutions to the problem. Awareness will also motivate individual nurses to attract the involvement.

An International Study Essay Example for Free

An International Study Essay The third method of research this essay is going to look at is journals. Again these are similar to websites. Journals are generally up to date on the subject that is being researched, and will cover recent topics that are being discussed in the news and that people are researching. The problem with journals is that they are one persons point of view on a certain subject, and could be very bias to one point of view. This means that their may be inaccuracies in the information, or some of it could be made up. The correct way to reference from a journal is the surname of the author or authors, the year of publication, the title of the article, the title of the journal, the volume number, the issue number and the first and last pages of the article. For example Alemayehu E, Mooloy D, Guyatt G, Singer J et al. Variability in Physicians Decisions on Caring for Chronically Ill Elderly Patients: An International Study. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1991, 144(9):1133-1138. The final method of research is newspapers. The positives and negatives of newspapers are similar to that of websites and journals. Newspapers are updated everyday and cover recent topics. Many newspapers tend to be either left wing or right wing, therefore making them bias on certain issues which do not allow fair opinion. These means that there will be inaccuracies in information gathered. Another negative of using newspapers is that some stories may be made up just to make headlines and to sell the newspaper. The way to reference from a newspaper is similar to that of a book and journal, except that as with the journal the volume and issue numbers are not needed. An example of a newspaper reference is, Warnock M. (2008) Legalize assisted suicide, for pitys sake. The Observer. 19th October 2008:p22. The two conventional systems of referencing this essay will look at are the Harvard System and Footnotes. The Harvard System is one of the most commonly used forms of referencing, and different institutions have different variations. The most common way to present it in the U. K is to put the author-date references with the year shown last and titles should now be underlined or in italics (Neville C, 2007). There are both pros and cons of using this system. One pro is that it is both easy to teach and therefore easy to teach (Neville C 2007). Another pro is that it is easy to carry out and there are no distractions such as adding footnotes or endnotes (Neville C 2007). The cons are that the citations can become long winded and it is also difficult to reference television, radio and other audio sources (Neville C, (2007) The complete guide to Referencing and Plagiarism, Open University, Maidenhead) Footnotes or running notes (British Standards) are another conventional method of referencing. This section of the essay will use footnotes to references to give a clear understanding of the way it works. This style of referencing uses bracketed numbers or superscript in the text, for example, Euthanasia can be carried out by giving a lethal injection or by not giving treatment to keep the person alive (1). The number is then referred to at the bottom of the page to inform the reader of the source of information. As with the Harvard Referencing system there are both pros and cons of this system. As there is a history behind footnotes, it arguably gives it a dignified presence(2). Another pro is that it allows the reader to immediately refer to the source, rather than having to turn to the reference or bibliography page(3). The most obvious disadvantage of this style of referencing is that the author is not able to go back and make any additions(4). Some people find that footnotes can distract them from what they are reading(5). 1. BBC News (2006) Ethics of Euthanasia. Accessed 20th October 2008 from the World wide web:http://www. bbc. co. uk 2. Neville C(2007) The complete guide to Referencing and Plagiarism, Open University, Maidenhead 3. Neville C (2007) 4. Neville C (2007) 5. Neville C (2007) In any institution, be that educational or research, there are certain rules that govern the use of information. These are called copyright or intellectual property law. Everyone should know these rules to avoid plagiarism. The rules do not allow anyone to use images, sounds, written words unless permission is given by the creator. The 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act states the duration as; i. For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last remaining author of the work dies. If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in which the work was created, although if it is made available to the public during that time, (by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition, etc.), then the duration will be 70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.

Priestleys Paradox Communication

Priestleys Paradox Communication Communication is an essential part of everyday life. There are many things which have effect on communication, technology having a very large effect. Through the increase of communication technology, there has been a decrease in the quality of effective communication. While considering the theory of Priestleys Paradox, the lack of interpersonal communication in new forms of technology have significantly affected the quality of communication. Modern technologies decrease the quality of communications through the lack of verbal and non-verbal feedback, the distortion of messages and also the unequal access to forms of these technologies. Verbal and non-verbal elements of interpersonal communication have effectively declined due to technology. The most impacted area of communication in society today is interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication is referenced as communication between two or more people which try to create and understand meaning (Turner West 2009: 8). Throughout interpersonal communication there can be noise. Noise is anything which can distort or prevent communication (Eunson 2008: 18). Interpersonal communication has many elements which contribute to quality communication. Interpersonal communication requires verbal and non-verbal feedback, which is not given effectively through modern technologies. The quality of effective communication is rapidly decreased with the increase of technology. This type of communication (interpersonal communication) has two main elements, verbal and non-verbal skills. Verbal communication is the use of languages, words, sounds and letters and uses great emphasis on tone and pitch. Modern technology therefore decreases the quality of communication because verbal communication is not always possible. Non-verbal communication is communication through only visual forms. Non-verbal consists of gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and numerous other signals of the human body (Eunson 2008: 260). This non-verbal element of communication however cannot be seen through most technologies so distorts the message to the receiver. Both verbal and non-verbal communication skills assist, distort and block communication between indiv iduals (Eunson 2008: 286). The theory of Priestleys Paradox is most relevant when considering the quality of communication through technologies is declining. Email is an example of modern technology which has an impact of the quality of communication. Through email, the receiver cannot communicate using verbal and non-verbal communication. This distortion is happening with all types of technology and is having affect on the interactions of individuals and creating problems. Without face-to-face verbal and non-verbal interactions the sender is unable to make assumptions on the receivers perceptions of the messages. Some particular new technologies have the ability for messages to be distorted excessively due to the language used. Technology has decreased quality of communication because it can cause misunderstanding through abbreviations that distort messages. This particularly effects our societys younger generation. Generation Y in particularly are media interactionists, not knowing a world without media and technology (Kundanis 2003: 43). An example of technology which is most commonly the source of abbreviation is SMS (short messaging service). Evidently, abbreviations are a weak substitute for body language, oral and tonal expression. These are replaced by using uppercase lettering and quirky symbols (emoticons) which leads to misinterpretation while decoding the message as there is no shared meaning of the context (Danet 2001: 17). The English language is often comprised to become shortened abbreviations and phrases. This language has since blended into the everyday modern society causing the younger generations to be less likely using proper English language. While communicating through technology, the sender and receiver need to have a clear understanding of one anothers abbreviations and context or else the message will be distorted. This may then lead to a breakdown in communication if the receiver is unable to decode the message given (Eunson 2008: 14). This is also evident as there is a digital divide between people with the unequal access to technology. The decrease in quality of communication is due to technology not being equally accessible for our whole society. Priestleys Paradox theory expresses the point that people coming from low -economical societies have a greater quality of communication rather than people coming from a higher-economical society because it is filled with modern communication technologies(Eunson 2008: 5). There is a digital divide between people due to new forms of technology. This causes distortion in communication because of the misunderstanding of messages that are received through modern technology. It is now expected of a person to have knowledge of modern technologies which may not be universally accepted due to the unequal access of technology (Turner West 2009: 105). Modern technology-driven communication is constantly revolving, developing and expanding (Eunson 2008: 4). They are expensive and therefore low income earners would not be able update technologies frequently. The digital divide is not only based on this however, there are many other issues. The accessibility of modern technology is affected by geographical location, income status, culture, education and also age (Mossberger, Tolbert Stansbury 2003: 15-23). This causes the decrease in effective communication and interpersonal communication as everyone does not have the same available technology. New technologies have significantly decreased the quality of effective communication. Ultimately interpersonal communication elements such as verbal and non-verbal skills are not able to be effectively used through modern technologies. This can distort messages in communication just like abbreviations can. Both people participating in the communication need to have similar understanding of the context and language or else the quality of communication will be diminished. The digital divide because of the unequal access of modern technology also has an impact of the quality of communication. Priestleys Paradox theory suggests that the quality of communication is minimised because of new technologies. This theory is most evident in modern communication therefore modern technology has decreased the quality of communication. Words: 1021

Plato Essay -- essays research papers

Today many people regard Plato as the first genuine political philosopher and Aristotle as the first political scientist. They were both great thinkers in regards to, in part with Socrates, being the foundation of the great western philosophers. Plato and Aristotle each had ideas in how to proceed with improving the society in which they were part of during their existence. It is necessary therefore to analyze their different theoretical approaches regarding their philosophical perspectives, such as ethics and psychology. This paper however will mainly concentrate on Aristotle’s views on friendship and how it impacts today’s society. The main objective in Plato’s philosophy is a creation of a perfect society. He constructs a foundation for a utopian society in his book â€Å"The Republic†. The purpose of his thought process was to cleanse his society of the woes he felt plagued it and construct a new one. Plato lived during the Peloponnesian War, which consequently lead to the end of the Athenian democracy. He had eyewitness account of his mentor’s (Socrates) trial and execution. Bitter and angered by the political corruption that gripped the Athenian democratic government, he disengaged from participating in politics. He strongly felt that neither a moral individual nor a state that is rational could be established in a democratic environment. Plato felt that the common man wasn’t intelligent or capable of dealing with concepts that influence the state such as economics, policy of foreign affairs and other relative matters. He viewed political incumbents in Athens government as being elected for matters that were irrelevant to main factors that affected the state. Another danger was that excessive liberty for the people of the democratic society could potentially lead to anarchy. In Plato’s perfect society, he forged ahead to eliminate the disease (pluralism of f riendship) that plagued the human character and society (Class Notes). Essentially, Plato wanted to establish the perfect form of society, linked by one single entity. Aristotle, unlike Plato, was not focused or concerned about the idea of a perfect society, instead he wanted to improve upon the one that he was part of during his existence. Rather than develop a framework for a society that is perfect, he suggested that society should, in it self, strive to utilize the best system it can attain. He f... ...l truth. Aristotle was more concerned with citizenship and institutional politics. They both had developed ideas and concepts to improve society as a whole. Aristotle and Plato have had a tremendous impact on political scientists of today. In Aristotle case, he was responsible for developing various democratic ideas. Even in modern democracies like our own Aristotle’s ideas hold true. When we vote in the election of the ruler of our country we, theoretically, are voting for the single most â€Å"excellent† citizen of our nation. That is we are voting for that citizen who can do the best job of working toward our common interest. The citizen of a state who has the greatest ability to work towards the salvation of the constitution has a great gift that can benefit all citizens. It only makes sense to allow that particular individual to lead the rest of the citizens in working towards the common interests of the state. In conclusion, these men were great thinkers. Their opinions on society and its function were quite different, but they both had the same concern, to build a better way of life for their societies they in lived in and for the societies that would come to be in the future.