Search results for 'tag:Vocabulary tag:Analogies' matching tags 'Vocabulary' and 'Analogies'

Please review my Recommendation Letter

Aquilotto — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:07:40 GMT

Hi All,

I wrote the attached recommendation letter and I need someone to review it, since I am italian and I'm not english mother tongue.

The letter is preatty long, but I hope it is quite well written.

Thank you very much for your help.

Best Regards

Lorenzo
________________________________________________

Question N.1 - How long and in what capacity have you known the candidate?

I met Lorenzo at the University in 1998 and since then we cultivated a strong friendship culminated in 2006 when we structured a mutual agreement in order to manage some business related projects. From that year our professional relation has emerged reinforced by the fact that his knowledge of corporate finance is more advanced and systematic than mine, while I am more used to deal with fiscal matters. I collaborated with Lorenzo in two different projects: during the first project, that lasted for six months, in January 2006 we performed a merger of two companies operating in the field of industrial plant design creating a new company with an asset of 150 million â¬ and 1200 employers; with the second project, that lasted for four months, we created a Trust with an asset of 85 million â¬ in real estate, stocks, bonds and cash.

Question N.2 - If this is a work related reference, in what position is/was the candidate employed and for how long?

While being involved in these projects, we worked closely together for ten months, five days a week, twelve hours a day. In both projects Lorenzo was the manager and I was in charge of optimizing the fiscal impact on the corporate structure in the first project and in the second I was in charge of studying and designing the Trust's fiscal structure.

Question N.3 - Please elaborate below or in a separate letter on the evaluation you have given above and provide any additional clarification about the applicant, which you consider would be helpful to the Admissions Committee.

Intellectual or Academic Ability

Lorenzo has an extreme flexible and vivid intellectual ability. I realized his attitude to study, research and in-depth examination when we were at the University and now, I found the really same approach in the projects we structured, characterized by very specific technical issues where intellectual and academic ability background sits on the first place. His intellectual ability relates to match a rigorous training with managerial skills and ability to adapt to different conditions.

Competence in current position

Lorenzo's competence as project leader and manager clearly demonstrates to be live up in every situation. I had the clear perception that our clients entrusted all the actions proposed by Lorenzo. When our clients asked Lorenzo specific questions related to our work, he always managed to demonstrate confidence and precision thanks to the competencies he has.

Oral Communication Skills

Lorenzo has a very clear and concise way to express his point of view. He is able to do that thanks to an innate ability to enter into dialogue with others. His approach does not change whether he speaks with a colleague or with the CEO of the company. Lorenzo always personalized his style knowing how to put his counterpart in confidence and at ease. Particularly, I remember as during one Board of Directors he was asked too many questions about every single detail of the merger that was planned and he answered all the questions in a flawless and confident way that everybody felt more secure in conducting the operation in the direction Lorenzo prospected.

Written Communication Skills

Lorenzo has excellent writing skills, as he manages to synthesize and explain very difficult concepts simply producing clear and easy-to-read documents. The very technical vocabulary of our work tends to be difficult to understand; therefore, it is very important to make sure that all the documents delivered to our clients are easy to understand. I remember that once, while we were monitoring the merger of companies, Lorenzo was the person that prepared informally the minutes of the Board of Directors that were used later as formal documents presented to the notary.

Analytical Skills

Lorenzoâs analytical skills are very important and effective in our field of work. Particularly, he is very skilful in conducting economic-financial analyses. Having said that, I would like to acknowledge that thanks to his excel file we were able to develop a model, and using this model we simulated the effects of the merger of two companies in terms of accounting, and with this model we also were able to analyze the first yearâs net circulating capital of the new company resulting from the merger. Evidently, such a task requires mastering and modelizing of the different aspects of balance sheets of the two companies.

Leadership Potential

Lorenzo definitely possesses great leadership qualities. He freely shares his skills and experience with the team, making them look to him even more as a leader. Lorenzo exhibits the courage of hard decisions and stand by them, thanks to his solid theoretical and practical preparation. Lorenzo is not intimidated by much, but he has also good judgment. When he has considered the facts of a situation and is certain he is on solid ground, he will not hesitate to take a strong stand. Lorenzo realizes that in any group everything is ultimately about persuasion, negotiation, and compromise. He is such a good leader, looked up by others, because they know he will accept a decision that does not go his way if he feels he has had a fair hearing. Lorenzo leads by listening to others and building consensus.

Teamwork

Lorenzo knows how to lead and orientate a group of people in the day after day life in order to obtain the desired results. At the same time Lorenzo is able to adapt to the different characters of the team members because he has an outstanding attitude of hearing, of motivating, of respecting and of communicating with all the colleagues. It's not easy to develop a project from the design phase till implementation but Lorenzo is able to give the right attention and the right amount of responsibility to all team members in order to drive the team to reach the final result.

Problem Solving

In managing problems Lorenzo always proved to be very proactive and ready to anticipate aspects that could impact on our projects. His ability to manage both complex situations and supply solutions is driven by his attitude to do analogies with similar cases already solved and also by break up a complex problem in a series of multiple small themes more easy to be solved.

Maturity

Lorenzoâs maturity is exceptional in our field. I am sure that his maturity comes from the fact that he graduated very early and, consequently, had an opportunity to get involved in many different kinds of situations from which he learned a lot. His maturity is proven by his communication skills, his motivation and his ability to take a deep and careful approach to everything he does. Particularly, I refer to his ability to put all his interlocutors at ease, as, for instance, once I saw him negotiating with the banks very favourable terms for our clientâs company, which was possible only because during these years of hard work he has distinguished himself as a trustful and professional person.

Management Potential

Based on my experience the most important factor that I can observe in Lorenzo is that he gets things done. He is able to get the most from different situations by controlling all the critical aspects that a good manager must have: organization, charisma, leadership, teamwork, vision, integrity. All these are part of his character and are evident in his personality, given that have always been recognized also by our clients. To deliver concrete results to companies is our mission and the only was to reach this goal is to be good managers serving our clients.

Question N.4 - What do you consider to be the candidateâs principal strengths/talents?

I consider Lorenzo's principal talents his attitude to create a collaborative working environment, his competence in analyzing and solving problems, his extremely oriented to teamwork personality and his willing not to be satisfied by the results achieved and always looking for new ventures and new opportunities.

Question N.5 - What do you consider to be the candidateâs weaknesses or areas that need improvement?

A weakness that Lorenzo might have compared to other team members that I regularly work with is related to his high moral standards. Lorenzo tends to trust the people with whom he works, and this is why he expects to be treated the same way. If a person disappoints him, Lorenzo tends to distance himself and does not treat this person in the same way.

Question N.6 - What is your opinion of the candidateâs motivation towards, and suitability for a career in management?

I think that Lorenzo is the right person for a career in management and I can say that because I saw him in action. Lorenzo already has a very successful future ahead of him. I believe that this is the right time for him to get his dream of doing an MBA in a prestigious university like Manchester. I'm sure that his knowledge and competencies would benefit from the MBA and together with his actual level of management practice he will gain an absolute level of respect in the management field. We spoke a lot about his willing to gain the MBA and even if against my own interest, that is to hold him in Italy to continue to collaborate to new projects, I believe that for his ambitions the right thing is to go in a place where both theory and practical experience can allow him to fully develop his enormous potentialities.

Re: taken into the court

CalifJim — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:52:27 GMT

Yes, it's class, style, rank, order.

The meaning of register here is similar to the meaning of register in music. To sing in a high register; to sing in a low register. To learn the registers of each instrument for the purpose of orchestrating music.

The analogy here is fairly obvious. To speak in a high register; to speak in a low register (from the viewpoint of vocabulary, not the pitch of the voice, of course). To learn the registers of a language for the purpose of choosing words appropriate to the occasion.

CJ

Re: Is grammar essential for learning a language?

CalifJim — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:32:51 GMT

"Grammar and exercises are only requirements of the syllabus, not of learning a language. Did you learn the grammar of your mother-tongue when you were acquiring it? Most of you may still not know the grammar of your mother-tongue but you speak it effortlessly."

If grammar means identifying the names of parts of speech, the names of the tenses, and that sort of knowledge of terminology (Past Perfect Progressive), then this is certainly not a requirement of learning a language.
If grammar means the knowledge of which words and word-forms go together to make coherent communications within a language, even if instinctively applied, then I think we'd have to say that grammar is a requirement of some kind.

I agree that I did not learn the grammar of my mother-tongue when I was acquiring it -- in the first sense of 'grammar'.
I do think, however, that I "learned"/acquired the grammar of my mother-tongue when I was acquiring it -- in the second sense of 'grammar'. In fact, except for vocabulary, which is a simple matter of stimulus-response, it seems to me that the acquistion of a language IS the acquisition of its grammar.

It is believed that between the ages of six and ten, the cells in the language acquistion portion of the brain die off or take on a different function, so that it is impossible to acquire language after approximately age 10, certainly after puberty. Remember that the acquistion of language is like birds "learning" to fly. They don't exactly study a flight manual before taking off on their first flight!

Nevertheless, though the language acquisition window closes around puberty, most likely for biological reasons, and we may no longer be able to acquire a new language, we can certainly still learn one. At this point, we are usually forced to use a lot of artificial techniques to help us. The logic of a language is no longer as easily grasped instinctively, but must be, we might almost say, 'computed', at least in the beginning stages. The rules for these 'computations' are called grammar. The 'computation' is not thinking within language but thinking about language, examining language somewhat more objectively than is typical within the language we first acquired. Sometimes the computational aspect is presented very formally to the learner. In such systems there is an underlying belief (in the mind of the instuctors) that the terminology is so useful in explaining the grammatical machinery that it cannot be dispensed with. In other methodologies a more flexible approach is used, sometimes out of fear of the very real possibility (I think) that knowledge of the terminology will be seen as more important than the ability to express oneself in the target language.

Regardless of how formal or informal, or how rigid or flexible the presentation, I don't see how anyone can learn a language without exercises, despite the obvious fact that we all acquired one without exercises. We can't expect our muscles to grow strong without exercise, and the failure of some to see the analogy with mental activity is quite puzzling. And the exercises that are needed are language exercises (practicing using the language), not grammar exercises (practicing using the terminology of grammar). I find it disheartening to see questions on this very forum in which it is obvious that students must negotiate the fine points of the terminology: Is this a participle acting as a noun acting as an adverbial complement of a phrasal verb used idiomatically or is this a progressive tense in the passive voice accompanied by an adverbial dependent clause of concession? Apparently, within the educational system of such students these matters pass as learning English. So in that sense, I'm against 'exercises'!

In any case, the struggle for the learner is always making the conversion from 'computing' utterances (assembling them by applying grammatical rules) to generating meaningful utterances spontaneously. The more role models the learners have, whether in terms of number of speakers they have contact with or in terms of the number of written and spoken resources they have available, the smoother the transition. At the extreme, if the learner is thrown into a sink-or-swim situation -- immersion -- it may be possible to shortcut the 'computational' period considerably. The final goal is the same in any case: meaningful language that is automatically produced and instinctively felt without any further consciousness of or need for the 'computational' (grammatical) aspects which were so prominent and necessary in the learning stages.

In summary, I believe the author of the quote above is taking grammar to mean excessive preoccupation with terminology and exercises to mean exercises designed to learn the terminology of grammar. Taken in this way, I must agree with the author. Of course, it is possible to interpret those words differently, which is why the statement has generated so many comments. I prefer to give the author the benefit of the doubt and say that he or she was merely describing an approach which concentrates more on the target language and less on the terminology.

CJ

Sentecne questions Thank you.

Bsss10 — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 18:20:04 GMT

Hello,

I donât know whether these sentences conform to

the usage of English.  If you find something wrong

in Grammar and semantics, help me correct them.

Thank you for your help.

1. To help its students look for a job, the writer suggests that A college should duplicate/ imitate the experience of B College to provide more course in business and computer technology.

I am not sure which word'' duplicate or imitate'' works in the above sentence. Or is there a more suitable vocabulary to describe?

2. There are so many different factorsâmajors, core curriculum, the number of faculty, studentsâ motivation, and the source of fundsâbetween A College and B College, so that the writer canât compare them; otherwise, he might make a specious analogy.

3. The arguer cites a survey to show that over 80percent of the respondents desire to reduce the consumption of fast food. However, this survey doesnât mention the proportion of non-respondents. Given that the ration of respondents to non respondents is one to ten, the result of this survey will be questionable.

Teen metaphor :P

Tearsofjoy — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:31:54 GMT

Courtesy of www.jumbojoke.com

We've been told these are actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. Yeah, as if.

---

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 storeys, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy! comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighbourhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

26. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.

27. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.

28. It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

Enjoy!

- Joy

Analogy

jeff_999 — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 05:00:25 GMT

Sorry for always asking some fuzzy questions. One of my posts was removed to the vocabulary board, since it's not appropriate for here. But for this kind of question concerning the analogy, which board should I put in?

Censorship: communication = Preservative: decay

I don't see there is similarity in some respects between the two pairs. I know the preservative is to prevent decaying, but the claim that the censorship is to stop communicating sounds a little far-fetched, doen't it?

Closing the Gap, again

uva2004 — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:28:54 GMT

Closing the Gap
Posted: 12-10-2004 04:17 AM
Please read, edit, and critique this critical analysis paper. I am new at this forum. I am unsure how it works. Please help if you can! I need feedback before October 13. Thanks
_____________________________________________________________________________

Closing the gap, that's what the nation's oldest used and misused college entrance exam will do in March 2005, according to the College Board. The SAT has long been controversial, a cultural bias examination that eliminates academically promising minority and low-income students who apply with strong academic records to college but with relatively low SAT scores are often overlooked by admissions counselors for entrance into colleges.
The articles used to recognize the cultural bias of the SAT examination, SAT Scores Remain Steady; Minority Improvement Noted by Catherine Carroll comes from Education Week , John Dotinga's article, Student Dilemma: Take the old SAT, or await the new? The Christian Science Monitor; and Record number of Minorities take SAT by Greg Toppo from USA Today, are similar that each author agrees scores of minority students have increased but highlighted scores didn't keep with the average white student's, whose scores in 2004 was 20 points higher even though scores remained the same as last year.
According to the College Board, the new test will include advanced level math and a written essay. The verbal analogies that leaned on vocabulary more likely to be known by students from affluent and well-read white families will be eliminated. The switch to the new test will treat minorities more equal. For many minorities, particularly those minorities coming from poor regions or homes with parents who have less formal education will continue to decline even without the analogies. The College Board failed to comprehend minority student's linguistic barriers between diverse cultures. When the SAT originated in the 1920s, it was geared toward white affluent aristocratic students because few minorities had the opportunity or resources to attend college. It was a selective examination and much has not change in present day.
Recognizing an age-old concern and being a statistic of this bias examination, I attended a junior college prior to entrance to a four-year university, not because my school academic record but because the college admissions counselors had relied heavily on scores as a measure of my academic achievement ignoring my non-academic skills, such as social and ambition skills. I realize experts in the scientific arena would state social and ambition skills can't be measured like academic skills, but the majority of those applicants are successful in their future lives because of their well-rounded diverse traits.
As a young adult, being rejected by the college of one choosing was a difficult obstacle, especially when your friends were leaving home to begin a new chapter in their lives. After transferring into the college of my choice and completing my education, I have a greater appreciation of my long journey. I recalled being angry for not being successful on this examination and self-doubted my abilities to succeed in a harsh society. Fortunately, my experience was a success but for many young minorities who are struggling for a better way of life it is another roadblock in achieving that dream to a better way of life.
What's the solution to close the gap for minorities? Some experts would agree eliminate the SAT examination for admission to colleges, others would say use non-academic skills of student's as entrance into colleges. There isn't a simple solution to the college entrance process however; public schools will be held accountable in preparing the minority students for success on this examination.
In the school system where I teach, minority performance on this examination has improved but could spiral downward because less than a third of the minority students don't take advanced math or have strong skills in writing. The school system does offer city-wide tutorial programs and workshops to aide minority students struggling with this examination but the success rates of these programs are few and between. The programs implemented are ineffective because many students are not taking advantage of the tutorial programs for various reasons but a main reason is language barrier between diverse cultures and students.
To close the gap, extra measures have been implemented, such as two weekends per a month was designated for students needing guidance in preparing for the upcoming SAT and offering the PSAT to over 1000 sophomore students free of charge and a nominal fee for those juniors wanting to gain practice prior to taking the SAT.
By offering students the opportunity to take the PSAT, this will give minority students an opportunity to explore the process of the SAT examination and tune-up skills before taking the SAT in March. In the school where I work and across Hampton Roads, sophomores are required to take the PSAT, one reason to identify students that may not be in the appropriate academic classes for preparing to attend college and the second reason is for National Merit Scholarships.
Although a record number of students took the high profile college entrance exam last year , students still lag behind those average white students. According to Ms. Carroll's article, the rise in scores for minorities posted a " respective" gain. Although the increase is positive, the gap is much to wide for college admissions counselors when considering minority students with respectable scores. These counselors seek individuals capable of doing academic level work.
SAT takers with limited English skills, or those in a urban highs schools that don't get extensive writing instructions will be at a huge disadvantage. With overcrowded classes, and the added pressure to succeed in the classroom many teachers are stirring off grammar instruction and papers that require students to think critical and analytical.
According to Mr. Toppo, Seppy Basilu of Kaplan Inc., the largest test-prep firm, who has set in numerous classes in city public schools, says many teachers grade papers for 185 students each day. "How much writing are they doing> and more advanced level math will benefit those who take courses such as calculus. He stressed schools must work harder in preparing minority for these courses to succeed in the SAT examination.

Closing the Gap

uva2004 — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 03:17:35 GMT

Please read, edit, and critique this critical analysis paper. Need feedback before October 13. Thanks
_____________________________________________________________________________

Closing the gap, that's what the nation's oldest used and misused college entrance exam will do in March 2005, according to the College Board. The SAT has long been controversial, a cultural bias examination that eliminates academically promising minority and low-income students who apply with strong academic records to college but with relatively low SAT scores are often overlooked by admissions counselors for entrance into colleges.
The articles used to recognize the cultural bias of the SAT examination, SAT Scores Remain Steady; Minority Improvement Noted by Catherine Carroll comes from Education Week , John Dotinga's article, Student Dilemma: Take the old SAT, or await the new? The Christian Science Monitor; and Record number of Minorities take SAT by Greg Toppo from USA Today, are similar that each author agrees scores of minority students have increased but highlighted scores didn't keep with the average white student's, whose scores in 2004 was 20 points higher even though scores remained the same as last year.
According to the College Board, the new test will include advanced level math and a written essay. The verbal analogies that leaned on vocabulary more likely to be known by students from affluent and well-read white families will be eliminated. The switch to the new test will treat minorities more equal. For many minorities, particularly those minorities coming from poor regions or homes with parents who have less formal education will continue to decline even without the analogies. The College Board failed to comprehend minority student's linguistic barriers between diverse cultures. When the SAT originated in the 1920s, it was geared toward white affluent aristocratic students because few minorities had the opportunity or resources to attend college. It was a selective examination and much has not change in present day.
Recognizing an age-old concern and being a statistic of this bias examination, I attended a junior college prior to entrance to a four-year university, not because my school academic record but because the college admissions counselors had relied heavily on scores as a measure of my academic achievement ignoring my non-academic skills, such as social and ambition skills. I realize experts in the scientific arena would state social and ambition skills can't be measured like academic skills, but the majority of those applicants are successful in their future lives because of their well-rounded diverse traits.
As a young adult, being rejected by the college of one choosing was a difficult obstacle, especially when your friends were leaving home to begin a new chapter in their lives. After transferring into the college of my choice and completing my education, I have a greater appreciation of my long journey. I recalled being angry for not being successful on this examination and self-doubted my abilities to succeed in a harsh society. Fortunately, my experience was a success but for many young minorities who are struggling for a better way of life it is another roadblock in achieving that dream to a better way of life.
What's the solution to close the gap for minorities? Some experts would agree eliminate the SAT examination for admission to colleges, others would say use non-academic skills of student's as entrance into colleges. There isn't a simple solution to the college entrance process however; public schools will be held accountable in preparing the minority students for success on this examination.
In the school system where I teach, minority performance on this examination has improved but could spiral downward because less than a third of the minority students don't take advanced math or have strong skills in writing. The school system does offer city-wide tutorial programs and workshops to aide minority students struggling with this examination but the success rates of these programs are few and between. The programs implemented are ineffective because many students are not taking advantage of the tutorial programs for various reasons but a main reason is language barrier between diverse cultures and students.
To close the gap, extra measures have been implemented, such as two weekends per a month was designated for students needing guidance in preparing for the upcoming SAT and offering the PSAT to over 1000 sophomore students free of charge and a nominal fee for those juniors wanting to gain practice prior to taking the SAT.
By offering students the opportunity to take the PSAT, this will give minority students an opportunity to explore the process of the SAT examination and tune-up skills before taking the SAT in March. In the school where I work and across Hampton Roads, sophomores are required to take the PSAT, one reason to identify students that may not be in the appropriate academic classes for preparing to attend college and the second reason is for National Merit Scholarships.
Although a record number of students took the high profile college entrance exam last year , students still lag behind those average white students. According to Ms. Carroll's article, the rise in scores for minorities posted a " respective" gain. Although the increase is positive, the gap is much to wide for college admissions counselors when considering minority students with respectable scores. These counselors seek individuals capable of doing academic level work.
SAT takers with limited English skills, or those in a urban highs schools that don't get extensive writing instructions will be at a huge disadvantage. With overcrowded classes, and the added pressure to succeed in the classroom many teachers are stirring off grammar instruction and papers that require students to think critical and analytical.
According to Mr. Toppo, Seppy Basilu of Kaplan Inc., the largest test-prep firm, who has set in numerous classes in city public schools, says many teachers grade papers for 185 students each day. "How much writing are they doing> and more advanced level math will benefit those who take courses such as calculus. He stressed schools must work harder in preparing minority for these courses to succeed in the SAT examination.