Betters and Bettors

Betters and Bettors Betters and Bettors Betters and Bettors By Mark Nichol Is there a connection between better, which is sometimes employed as a noun, among other parts of speech, and the noun bettor? This post explains their etymological origins and lists and defines related words. Better is primarily an adjective, from Old English bettra (and, previously, betera), meaning â€Å"superior.† It can also mean â€Å"more advantageous or favorable,† â€Å"improved,† or â€Å"greater than half† (as in â€Å"the better part of an hour†). The adjective better pertains to doing something to a greater degree or with higher quality or can replace more (â€Å"She was doing better than twenty miles per hour†) or preferably (â€Å"It’s better left where it is†). As a verb, better means â€Å"make more acceptable or complete† or â€Å"improve on† (as in â€Å"The runner will try to better his personal record in the event†). It also serves as an auxiliary verb, one that supports another verb, as in â€Å"You had better get going,† sometimes with the first verb elided. The noun better means â€Å"advantage† (â€Å"Don’t let him get the better of you†), â€Å"something superior† (â€Å"We expected better of her†), or â€Å"someone of higher rank or status† (â€Å"I was told to respect my betters†). Better is also a variant of bettor, meaning â€Å"someone who makes bets.† The origin of bet, meaning â€Å"wager† (as a noun) or â€Å"wage† (as a verb), is uncertain, but it could be from abet, meaning â€Å"incite† or â€Å"urge on.† More likely, however, it is from the obsolete English word beet, meaning â€Å"make good† and related to better. Either way, it began as criminal slang; the affirming phrase â€Å"You bet† (even more informally, â€Å"You betcha†) is also slang, though not of unsavory origins. Two additional words based on better are betterment, meaning â€Å"an act of becoming or making better† or referring to an instance of property improvement, and the adjective bettermost, meaning â€Å"superior.† Better, however, generally suffices as a comparative that stands between good (which supplanted the Old English word bot, meaning â€Å"advantage†) and the superlative best. (Bot does survive in the phrase â€Å"to boot,† meaning â€Å"in addition.†) 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Masters Degree or Master's Degree?50 Synonyms for â€Å"Idea†5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words

Description and Care of the Monkey Puzzle Tree

Description and Care of the Monkey Puzzle Tree Monkey-Puzzle Tree is a wild, scary evergreen with open splaying and spiraling branches. The tree can grow to 70 feet tall and 30 feet wide and forms a loose, see-through, pyramidal shape with a straight trunk. The tree is so open you can actually look through it. The leaves are dark green, stiff, with sharp needles that cover the limbs like armor. Monkey-Puzzle tree makes an attractive, novelty specimen for large, open yards. It is seen in large numbers in California. Specifics Scientific name: Araucaria araucanaPronunciation: air-ah-KAIR-ee-uh air-ah-KAY-nuhCommon name(s): Monkey-Puzzle Tree or Puzzle TreeUSDA hardiness zones: 7b through 10Origin: Chile (national tree) and the Andes of South America.Uses: garden specimen; indoor tree specimenAvailability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the tree. Monkey Puzzles Range There are no native monkey puzzle trees in the United States. The natural monkey puzzle tree is now found in two small areas in the Andes and on the coastal mountain range. It is a highly fire-adapted species, occurring in an area where fires have long been caused by volcanic activity and, since the early Holocene, by humans. The tree can grow in North America along the coastal zone from coastal Virginia, down the Atlantic, west through Texas and up the Pacific coast to Washington. Description Dr. Mike Dirr in Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates says: The habit is pyramidal-oval in youth, later with a slender bole and ascending branches near the top....cones are about twice the size of hand-grenades and hurt even worse. Tolerates extremes of soil, except permanently moist. Etymology The origin name Monkey-puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850. The tree was very popular in Victorian England. Legend has it that an owner of a young tree specimen in Cornwall was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark, it would puzzle a monkey to climb that. The popular name became, first monkey-puzzler, then monkey-puzzle. Prior to 1850, it had been called Joseph Banks Pine or Chile Pine in Britain even though it is not a pine. Pruning The Monkey Puzzle needs to be isolated from other trees for the best display of its graceful and natural limb sweep. Maintain a central leader and do not top for best effect. Branches should be protected and only pruned if dead wood appears. Dead branches are hard to work on but will cause the tree to decline if not removed. Monkey Puzzle in Europe Monkey-puzzle was introduced to England by Archibald Menzies in 1795. Menzies was a plant collector and naval surgeon on Captain George Vancouvers circumnavigation of the globe. Menzies was served the seeds of the conifer as a dessert while dining with the governor of Chile and later sowed them in a frame on the ships quarterdeck. Five healthy plants made it back to Great Britain and were the first plants to be planted. Culture Monkey puzzle tree does best where the summers are cool and humid, and they are popular landscape oddities in England.Light: Full sun to partial shade.Moisture: Likes a moist, but well-drained soil and regular watering.Propagation: By seeds or by tip cuttings from vertical shoots. Cuttings from lateral-growing shoots will develop into sprawling shrubs. In-Depth Description Monkey-puzzle prefers well-drained, slightly acidic, volcanic soil but will tolerate almost any soil type provided drainage is good. It prefers temperate climates with abundant rainfall, tolerating temperatures down to about −20 Â °C. It is far and away the hardiest member of its genus and the only one that will grow in mainland Britain, or in the United States away from the extreme south. In Canada, Vancouver and Victoria have many fine specimens; it also grows on the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is tolerant of salt spray but does not like exposure to pollution. It is a popular garden tree, planted for its unusual effect of the thick, reptilian branches with a very symmetrical appearance. The seeds are edible, similar to large pine nuts, and are extensively harvested in Chile. A group of six female trees with one male for pollination could yield several thousand seeds per year. Since the cones drop, harvesting is easy. The tree, however, does not yield seeds until it is around 30-40 years old, which discourages investment in planting orchards.

Introduction to Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Introduction to Psychology - Essay Example There is a decrease in breathing and heart rate. At the final stage/paradoxical sleep, the EEG recordings increase as those of stage 1 and 2 due to increased brain activity. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is experienced here. The EEG pattern is like that of a person who is awake. Generally, there is deeper sleep in the early cycles but in the later cycles there is more time in the REM. Sleep disorders result in distorted sleep which can affect a person’s live and career. It reduces the optimal functioning of a person and increases the chances of accidents during work. They result from psychological, biological and environmental factors. Insomnia: This refers to a condition of unsatisfactory quantity or quality of sleep. Continued lack of satisfactory sleep leads to inability to sleep on time, arousals during sleep, early awakening. Sleep Apnea: This affects the upper respiratory system. There is a stop in breathing during sleep hence emergency hormones are secreted causing the person to awake so as to breath (Gray, 2010). Narcolepsy: The person affected experiences periodic sleep during the day. When they sleep, they enter REM sleep immediately so they experience vivid dream images and terrifying hallucinations. Muscle weakness or lack of muscle control can be experienced under emotional excitement causing the person to suddenly fall. This causes negative psychological and social impact. Somnambulism/sleepwalking: While asleep, the person leaves their beds and walk around. It is associated with NREM sleep. Children learn both spoken and gestural languages. A child can be said to have fully acquired language when they have reached a stage of being able to analyze and recognize the units of sound and the meaning of that language. They should also be able to organize sounds into words and derive meaningful sentences from these words and participate actively in coherent conversations. The first step in language

Does International Law Matter in Relation between States Essay

Does International Law Matter in Relation between States - Essay Example International law, is the body of law that 'regulates the activities of entities possessing international personality'. Traditionally, that meant the conduct and relationships of states. However, it is now well established that International Law also concerns the structure and conduct of international organizations, and, to a degree, that of multinational corporations and individuals" (Wikipedia). International law, as it exists today, makes one question as to whether it has any real influence in impacting issues between states, related to war/peace, human rights, trade and even crime. This is because the interpretation and application of international law makes it so fluid, that it can be molded by any nation to suit its stand. The stronger the nation, the easier it gets to mold the so-called law. Damrosch et al state that international law "governs relations between independent states" (68). But if it is so slippery, how can it ever achieve this objective It must be noted, that customary international law is based on what states consistently practice out of a sense of legal obligation. So, customary international law keeps changing based on acceptance or rejection of specific acts practiced by states. The weakness inherent in international law is further examined from a legal perspective. International law as a law appears to be a paradox. As noted by Glennon: "when a given question can be argued either way, a state is presumed to be free to act. Indeed, it could hardly be otherwise in any legal system. It is, as Kelsen wrote, a 'fundamental principle that what is not legally forbidden to the subjects of the law is legally permitted to them.'84"(63). There is so much uncertainty surrounding international law that the arguments in a court are not so much about whether the actions were permissible or impermissible under international law, but about what international law really specifies. ... ance consider the environment protection law on banning tuna caught in the nets that kill dolphins, if accepted, then it has a discriminatory effect on trade. So "international law, as interpreted by the WTO, becomes the friend of business and bugaboo of environmentalists" (Ratner). If the interpretation of international law is going to increase conflicts, how can it ever ensure global stability Overall, international law has too many gaps or overlaps, which only increase tensions between states. It has seen limited success for example in the extradition of Abu Salem Qayyum Ansari to India from Portugal and in the banning of landmines. Question of War and Peace It is an accepted premise that war is waged either in retaliation or in self-defense to an aggressor's move. This has also been an accepted stance in the international framework. US, too supported this stance and normally argued that nations need to work within the international framework so that the world order does not break down. However, it was quick to exempt itself from this rationale, when it planned the Iraq invasion. Bush administration argued on the basis of the pre-emptive principle claiming that Iraq was a potential threat. US rejected traditional international law, claiming that it was not suited to manage the contemporary situation. Arend notes: Traditional international law required there to be an "imminent danger of attack" before preemption would be permissible, the [Bush] administration argues in its 2002 National Security Strategy (NSS) that the United States "must adapt the concept of imminent threat to the capabilities and objectives of today's adversaries." It contends that "[t]he greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction - and the more compelling the case for taking

Punctuality and Time Essay Example for Free

Punctuality and Time Essay Advantages: If we be punctual, we can finish up our work at right time. Punctuality checks unnecessary wastage of time. Time is very valuable for us. We can save it only by punctuality. Time and tide wait for none. Seconds, minutes, hours and days pass by in right order. There is a maxim We should hold the time by the forelock. If we be punctual, a single second of us will never go waste. The English men are very punctual. They put on wrist-watches to exercise punctuality. But we, the Indian put on wrist-watches only as ornaments for show. We cannot progress. If we do not be punctual. Punctuality helps us in our progress. It also saves money in other ways. There is a saying. A stitch in time saves nine. So, if we take our food punctually, we will never be sick and so we will never have to spend money on medicines and doctors or to worry our near and dear ones in this connection. And this principle applies well in all other cases. Conclusion: Everybody should be punctual in his everyday life. Every students should make a habit of punctuality. The people who have become great in their lives are very punctual. Punctuality is the first condition for becoming great in life. So, punctuality should be the motto in our life. We should not only be punctual ourselves but also advise others to be punctual. Related Articles.

The History of Film Essay examples -- Informative, Film

A major change that has occurred in the development of film is the linearity of narrative. The history of film spans over one hundred years ago, with classical narrative emerging in Hollywood around the nineteen thirties. The classical narrative period had a strong emphasis on linearity and coherence, where characters where goal centred and consistent in personality and action. In the nineteen sixties a change began to emerge in Hollywood, with Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) breaking the editing rules, and narrative coherence, with the introduction of jump cuts. This film among others greatly contributed to the outburst of non-linear narratives, a narrative technique wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order. In the twenty-first century a range of independent films with a variety of non-linear narratives have been getting mainstream release. Within this essay I will briefly explain the different types of narratives and the reasons for their popularity. The directorial intent for many non-linear narratives can be to evoke mood, maintain suspense, indicate the malleability of memory, signify dream, and above all to provide visual pleasure. The involvement that a spectator can feel from a non-linear narrative can offer both a sense of pleasure and relation. The fact that it is up to the viewer to keep up, put things together, and make sense of the narrative provides a sense of satisfaction, and can become the reason they are watching the film. Removing the chronological order of a story and rearranging its components can make a it more compelling than if the scenes progressed in chronological order. An advantage of non-linear narrative is its ability to involuntarily feed the viewer information. This means that th... ...d anthology. Abstract series acts independently or semi-independently of the conventional relationship of narrative time, space, and causality whilst anthology, or multi-strand narrative, consist of a series of short stories which originally appear to be detached, yet turn out to share the same world in which the events occur. Dissimilar to other narrative structures, anthology shifts from a central character to a multi-character narrative where characters shift in and out of prominence. This type of narrative assists in maintaining suspense throughout the entire film. An ostentatious example of an anthological narrative is Love Actually (Richard Curtis 2003). The romantic comedy delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are discovered to be interlinked as the film progresses.

A short story – Behind the Canvas

Behind the canvas the shadow loomed large and dangerous. The head was enormous and it seemed to be floating in the air. The feet, as long as canoes, would rise and fall as the other elongated shadow moved up towards the top of the tent. As John entered the tent, the head burst. It was a balloon, a silly childish prank. The shadow, a petite ten year old. Falling on top of his mates in laughter, John started to come round from his ever-lasting laughing fit. â€Å"That was the worst monster I've ever seen,† laughed James. † It wasn't as bad as your go yesterday!† chuckled David. â€Å"OK, but you have to say that that was awful David,† James stated. † Time for some real stories I think.† â€Å"Not ghost stories, James they're boring,† whined John. â€Å"Not a ghost story, John, a real story†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The time was 2-45pm and there was only fifteen minutes until kick-off and the road was deserted. A piece of tumbleweed blew across the pavement. A bulky shadow squeezed under the thin barriers and a tall, chunky middle-aged man was walking across the road towards the ground. By his side his son, a skinny seven year old. They rushed through the busy traffic and into the long never-ending passageway, which reflected the sight of a Leviathan winding through the prehistoric woodlands, towards the stadium. The boy was furiously tugging his father's hand in an attempt to arrive on time. Stopping 100m from the ground the boy's dad slowly bent down to tie his shoelaces up. By this point the young boy could see the amount of people. Thousands gathering for the match. He began to sweat. His father rose; he quickly grasped his hand and tightened up against the giant figure. And pulled. As they pushed through the big crowds plaguing the entrance, a sight similar to an ocean of tall, blue and white waves crashing into each other, a loud, unfamiliar crackling sound rang in his ear. He sharply turned his head and could see a speaker blurting out messages that just seemed scrambled to the excited boy. They took their seats for the start of the match. With his father to the left of him, the boy looked across to his right where he saw a big-boned bald supporter, with distinctive dark glasses, tucking into a Cornish pasty. The man lowered his head. As the match progressed the crowd grew more and more agitated. A large, black crow hovered over the grandstand. The boy's father was fidgeting constantly. After a few minutes the father got up from his seat. † I'll be a few minutes son, just got to use the toilet.† The small boy looked like a pebble on the beach in contrast to the crowd's attendance, which was like the mountainous Rockies. Minutes past and his father had still not returned. He looked over to his right. The man with dark glasses had disappeared. A grey cloud passed over the stadium. The boy started to panic. His heartbeat rocketing, his body trembling and his eyes watering. The referee blew his whistle loudly to signal half time and the crowds started to disappear into the toilets and hot dog stalls, into the bars and club shop. In an instant the crowd had plummeted in number. He couldn't see anybody he recognized and he felt so alone. The minutes ticked by, never before had he been left so alone. As the crowd reappeared from the exits, every fan that wasn't the boy's Dad was like a knife in his heart, as painful as a pig to the slaughter. After nearly giving up hope of his father returning, the strange dark-glassed man emerged from the exit, a wide grin on his face. As he placed himself next to the boy he glanced over. † Alright kiddo, are you enjoying yourself?† The small boy, as frightened as a cat running away from a dog, hesitantly replied with a nod. As the match progressed so did the boy's anxiety. It had been 30 minutes since his Dad left and the boy was really starting to shake. He lowered his head onto his lap and as he lifted it back up he could see a tall, broad, sinister looking Caribbean man with an afro plodding up the steps in a fluorescent orange jacket. The boy sat up properly and the man squeezed his way through the seated crowd and placed himself next to the boy. Before the boy could speak he was being carted off towards the emergency exit and thrown into the back of a shiny silver Renault Cleo. The boy didn't know what was happening and as they passed through the gates of the football stadium he could see the chunky bald man he'd been sitting next too staring at him with his dark shaded glasses. Suddenly I shiver wriggled down the boy's spine. The car, being driven more recklessly by the minute, every junction they passed through a loud ringing sound would come out of the car. The car, going faster than the boy was used to when his dad was driving started swinging round roundabouts, accelerating through motorways and skidding past corners at great speed. The car finally came to a halt outside a big four-storey building; the boy was swiftly whisked out of the car and marched into a plain white room where he was left. This room was plain, with five simple chairs around an oak table. A few womens magazines were all that lay upon this furnished table and it seemed an eternity for the boy whilst, he was waiting. The boy didn't know what was happening; with nothing to do he stared at the low walls. He heard the door rattle and turned sharply, the door hadn't been touch. The boy, panicking, ran to the door to answer it but it wouldn't budge. He yanked it. He kicked it. He barged into it but it still wouldn't open. He was going, crazy what place was this? He could see men and women in wheelchairs and crutches ambling round the place. Men with head bandages and women with there arms in slings. Every few minutes a big trolley would pass the room. The boy would knock as hard as he could but still there would be no answer. Nobody could see him and no one answered his cries. As the fourth trolley rushed past it stopped just outside the door. A tall, chunky middle-aged man stepped off it. The boy instantly recognized the figure. It was his father. The door was unlocked immediately and the two were re-united. The boy was still unsure what had happened but he didn't care in the slightest. â€Å"That wasn't scary at all James, tell us another one,† laughed John. â€Å"It was scary John, look how scared Peter is,† â€Å"Peter, what's the matter that wasn't as scary as one of mine.† As the boys looked across to Peter who was shaking like a leaf, the door flap flew open as a cold chilling wind descending down their spines, and in the door laid a pair of dark shaded glasses.

British Culture Chaoxiaoqian

My questions are Why does Helena stay with Jimmy and leave Jimmy, why does Alison come back to Jimmy. These are very tricky questions like twisted twines. Here I just air my views, expecting to be complemented by yours. The reasons for Helena staying with Jimmy might be probed from the following: Superficially looking, Jimmy is a person basically worth while. Jimmy is a young man with education, ideas and penetrating insights. Alison breaking through her family's strong obstacles to marry Jimmy from side reflects Jimmy's charms and attractions. Jimmy seems a natural desire and magnet for women if his working-class background?poverty and walled situations are ignored for the moment. As Helena said she took Jimmy to herself because â€Å"she finds that she desires him and wants to have him for a time†. It is an outburst of impulse catalyzed by special occasions. At that time, without digs, Helena had an appointment on the next day and had to lodge in Jimmy's attic; Jimmy is then immersed in bereavement without comfort while Allison and Cliff left him successively. Witnessing Jimmy's bitterness and helplessness, out of her female compassionate nature, Helena offered Jimmy her hand and herself as well. For solace and release, Jimmy dramatically accepted his natural enemy. Thus the two naturally and reasonably moved together. Exploring the in-depth reason, Helena's staying with Jimmy might be considered as a challenge she made for herself driven by her instincts of curiosity and conquest. Helena wanted to make out why the seemingly compatible couple always brawl and torture each other, why Jimmy is always angry?dissatisfied and cynical,always trying hard to be offensive, provocative, irritating. Determined by her inborn authoritative personality and her middle-class inclination to sustain the status quo,she takes Jimmy as a challenge and an attempt, an enemy territory to conquer, to justify her middle-class convictions and consciousness. She expects Jimmy to be changed, back into normal, behaving like anyone else and taking reality like a real man. Naive?romantic and over-confident as Helena is, she fails to change Jimmy. Conversely and ironically, she was within an inch of being changed. Helena was inevitably to lose the war because Jimmy's anger was socially deep-rooted. He had the complex of inferiority and superiority. He showed contempt for uneducated Cliff, irony for educated Alison. He was well educated, but his situation was no better than the two he looked down upon. It was an affliction and sarcasm to him. He lived at the sea of isolation?desperation and inarticulate agony. Without being heard or understood. He found no target to attack, therefore everything became his target. Jimmy was a man born out of his time. To change Jimmy Helena should change the times first. It is difficult and impossible for Helena to change the time, and so with Jimmy. To bridge the systematic and fathomless class and value gap was never a easy task and doomed to be futile and fruitless. Jimmy and Helena's combination was the effect of passionate impulse. It was a kind of insanity or wrong-doings as Helena herself later commented. Once waken up from the dream, the end of their relation was approaching. Helena was a woman of conventionality by nature, she couldn't forget the book of rules anytime. She still believed in â€Å"right and wrong†! Gnawed by the worm of conscience and sense of guilt, she can't †be happy without the book of rules†, she can't †be happy when what you're doing is wrong, or is hurting someone else†. Moreover she lost the war waged against changing Jimmy, the war to restore everything into normal. Unless Jimmy and Helena don't confront with each other face to face, or they will certainly fall into the state of war, the war of ideas, class, values, social reality. There was no middle road to compromise. Helena's exeuntting also meant she lost the war against conventionality, against status quo. Her story is more than a morality one, it further proved every desire or attempt to change the suffocating and inanimate society over-confident and all for naught. Everyone would inevitably subordinate himself to conventionality. My understanding of Alison's return is explained as such: Alison might feel regret about her past behaviors. Though she is the seeming victim of Jimmy's irrational assault, she knows that Jimmy has reason to do so on her. After her abortion, something dormant was aroused from the bottom of her heart and she came back to Jimmy, though shilly-shally. As a young woman, she is a †monument of non-attachment†. †She hasn't had a thought for years!† She is a woman in her 20s without enthusiasm, animation and sincerity. Nothing Jimmy could do would provoke her. Her marriage with Jimmy was a kind of physical and responsive affinity rather than mental and spiritual one. She was nicknamed as ‘Lady Pusillanimous' by Jimmy. Moreover, as a middle-class woman by nature, she kept her arrogant and uppish manner in communicating with the working-class people which was especially exposed when she wrote letter to her mother, discussed Jimmy with her father and Helena, refused to see the dying Mrs. Hugh with Jimmy. She had the sense of inborn class superiority which is a fatal and permanent weapon to sensitive Jimmy. She did betray Jimmy in a sense. In a word, she has never given herself to her husband with the honesty which she knew he demanded and needed. Actually, she knew she should shoulder some responsibility for Jimmy's anger and offered Jimmy more understanding and communication. The problem of their marriage was not sheer Jimmy's fault. Alison left Jimmy in pursuit of peace and relaxation. Tortured by Jimmy's distorted allegiance and loyalty demands for her, Alison wanted to escape from the role of hostage and the war Jimmy declared on †those sections of society†. But Alison never succeeded in escape. Things didn't go in the way as she expected. Alison's coming back could be interpreted as a subjugation to conventionality?reality and failure of Ostrichism. Alison is easily to get used to everything and she is also on the verge of burst. Tortured by Jimmy's distorted allegiance and loyalty demands for her, Alison wanted to escape from the role of hostage and the war Jimmy declared on †those sections of society†. She leaves Jimmy, in pursuit of peace and relaxation. But Alison never succeeded in escape. Things didn't go in the way as she expected. Her abortion brings her shock and disillusionment, awakening something dormant in her heart. She then clearly sees a depressing?aimless?hopeless and futureless reality, without light and outlet. By then she understood Jimmy's anger and discontent to some extent. Without a bright future, Alison had to revert to the past, though vague, remote and suspended it is. She wanted to find herself a position in the conventional and accustomed role of wife. The unpleasant past seems a more lovely memento In comparison with the suffocating and smoldering reality. Finally Alison and Jimmy decide to pick up the bear-squirrel game. It is a seeming communiquà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ by Alison and Jimmy, protesting the reality and fighting against the â€Å"cruel steel traps, lying about everywhere, just waiting for rather mad, slightly satanic, and very timid little animals.† This could be regarded as a faint flicker of hope offered by the protagonists who had a in-depth perception and understanding of life.

This essay outlines several classic greek and roman inventions that have influenced our lives today. It clearly shows the invention and then explains how it has affected daily life.

This essay outlines several classic greek and roman inventions that have influenced our lives today. It clearly shows the invention and then explains how it has affected daily life. Both Greek and Roman influences have had a major impact on the world today. For instance, the Olympics have survived to this day and even retain much of its former meaning of peace. Another important invention is the calendar; the modern calendar is based upon the Roman version. Even our military uses inventions from Greek times. Greek fire has inspired the creation of petroleum bombs and napalm weaponry, and spurred the terrorist favorite of psychological warfare.The Olympics represent the height of sports competition in which athletes train for their entire lives in order to win. While the competitive drive of today's athletes is no less than that of the Greeks, today's Olympics are much less violent. In ancient Greece, instead of using boxing gloves, leather was strapped to the opponents' hands, leaving the fingers free and adding a sting to the punch. These sports represent the constant training people underwent to hone their bodies to physical perfection and pit their abilities in a man vs.Olympics 242man competition where only the best would win. Today's Olympics are more team oriented, and the success of the team depends on everyone's physical conditioning and skill as opposed to ancient Greece, where the games were more individualized. Despite the physical violence involved in ancient Greek Olympics, the games promoted peace. In Greek times the entire old world would cease war to participate in the Olympics. Today, while the games are less violent, the meaning of peace is not as strong. For example, the Olympics were cancelled for World War II. However, the meaning of peace is not totally lost, as is apparent in North and South Korea's unification for the games.Romans concocted one extremely important invention that is still in use today, the calendar. The Roman calendar was almost completely accurate,

Life Passed Me By

Life Passed Me By Life Passed Me By Life Passed Me By By Maeve Maddox Cezar wrote: Can you clarify differences or subtleties between:my life passed by me and my life passed me by. Sometimes the placement of a word makes all the difference in meaning. My life passed by me could mean simply that a portion of ones life has gone by. Anyone who bought stocks in mid-1929 and held onto them saw most of his or her adult life pass by before getting back to even. The sun is shining on my brown eyes; eyes that have seen these past three years of my life pass by me in a flash. My life passed by me could also mean that the speaker had a vision or revery in which the events of his life replayed in his mind the way the thoughts of a drowning victim are thought to cause his life to pass before his eyes before he dies. Usually the preposition is before, rather than by. I felt panic and fear at first and saw my whole life pass by me in an instant. How could he come that close to death and not see his life pass before his eyes? Just saw my life pass before my eyes as elevator I was in †¦ plummeted 10 floors before lurching to a stop †¦ My life passed me by, on the other hand, conveys the idea of a wasted life, a life that has been frittered away in meaningless activity. I feel like my life has passed me by to the point where I experience very dark and depressing days Has life passed me by at 40? If spoken of another person, life passed him by, the expression can mean that the person so described passed his life in uneventful obscurity: [Harish Chander Mehra] Saved Nehrus life, but life passed him by 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 Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive AtHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†Particular vs. Specific

Developmental theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developmental theories - Research Paper Example reated as simply miniature adults for a long time, and it was only in the early 20th century – in other words, fairly recently – that child development in particular was explored by theorists. Among the most popular of these theorists are Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Jean Piaget, whose theories will be the focus of this research paper. Their theories shall be discussed in detail – focuses, strengths, weaknesses – and will also be compared and contrasted. Sigmund Freud’s research focuses mainly on sexual desires and libido, dating back to the late 19th-early 20th centuries when he first developed the concept of psychoanalysis. The key point of his tenets is that humans are driven by their instincts and innate sexual urges (libido), which would determine their behavior regardless of repression. Specifically, even if one represses his libido, it will instead manifest in other ways – for instance, one may sate his sexual desires by pushing himself in his work. Humans, he says, are polymorphously perverse, capable of deriving sexual pleasure – or in cruder terms, getting off – from practically anything and everything (Psychosexual Development, 2010). Specifically, children are said to undergo five psychosexual stages, each with its own erogenous zone (henceforth referred to as e-zone) which the id focuses on; any trauma suffered during one of the first three stages – the oral, anal, and phallic stages – may result in fixation of that particular stage’s e-zone (Feist and Feist, 2007), which Freud connects with adult personalities and personality disorders. Locke (2009) cites Edward Cullen, a character from the popular vampire romance series Twilight, as an example of repression and fixation. He is said to have been sired at the age of seventeen – the genital phase of development – and is neither come to terms with his (biological) parents’ death nor been able to fully mature into an adult. Thus, while he is chronologically a hundred

History and uses of carbonnanotubes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History and uses of carbonnanotubes - Essay Example The molecule has been known for the past fifteen years. The molecules were observed by employing high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) (Rakov, 2002). It was referred to carbon nanotubes that were multi walled. The molecules contained two graphic layers and nested as Russian dolls. The molecules have diameters of four 4nm. Two years later Bethune and IBM Almaden research centre colleagues, lijima and ichihashi of NEC created a carbon nanotubes that were single walled. Single walled nanotubes were synthesized in the same way to multi walled carbon nanotubes but some metallic particles were added to the electrodes of carbon. The procedure resulted to the difference in appearance among the two molecules. The individual tubes are looped and curled than straight. Twenty fours ago, the electronic properties of single walled nanotubes were predicted by two different research groups. Their findings revealed that single walled nanotubes can either be semi conducting or metallic depending on their diameter or chirality. The prediction was later confirmed by the various experiments done (Crandall, 2007). Since then a review on synthesis, application, electronic properties, characterization and basic metallic properties of carbon nanotubes have been done. The various properties possessed by carbon nanotubes have made it the most investigated nanostructure materials. The various properties of carbon nanotubes have made companies and researchers to apply them in various fields. The molecule has been applied in the fields of energy. It has been applied as an anode for Li-ion batteries. The carbon nanotubes used, is usually coated with silicon to increase the capacity of the battery to more than ten times. Silicon expansion during the cycle of discharge has resulted to anode damage. The application of nanotubes to the silicon anode is aimed at preventing damage caused (Mordkovich & Karaeva,