Monday, September 30, 2019

Dissertation Methodology †Impact of Technology on Recruitment

Dissertation examples – Dissertation Methodology – FREE our site ESSAYS The following article is a sample dissertation methodology on the following dissertation topic: Impact of Technology on Recruitment in UK Retail Banks.A case study of Lloyds Banking Group:The methodology depicts a mixed method research, using quantitative surveys and semi structured interviews. Based on Saunder’s Research Onion.a. Research Philosophy – Dissertation ExamplesThe social world of banks and graduates upon which this study is based exists externally and are not related to the researcher; therefore they would be measured through objective methods rather than being inferred subjectively through reflection, sensation or intuition (Easterby-Smith, 2002). This study would therefore adopt a positivist approach as credible data could only be derived through quantitative analysis of phenomena observed (Saunders et al, 2007). The social interpretivism philosophy, which aims to study and reflect on the inner feelings of participants, is not being utilized in this study, due to the study’s research objective, which is to ascertain the effectiveness of online recruitment in an organization. Details regarding effectiveness are measured using objective means (such as increase in candidate application and reduction in costs), thereby warranting a positivis t approach.b. Research approachDue to the positivist nature of the research, this study would adopt a deductive approach (Saunders et al, 2007). This approach represents the most common view of the relationship between theory and research and results gotten from this approach are developed through logical reasoning (Bryman and Bell, 2007). The data findings would be compared against existing literature to ascertain if they concur with what has already been published in the field of online recruitment.c. AccessThe ability to gather primary data during this study was dependent on gaining access to an appropriate source within the organization. The level to which this source is appropriate relies on the research question, related objectives and research designs (Saunders et al, 2007). Therefore, the researcher, as a friend of an employee within the organization, was in a favorable position to get access within the organization. I contacted a friend of mine who currently works within graduate recruitment at Lloyds TSB, and discussed the prospects of my dissertation. She spoke to several of her colleagues on my behalf and they agreed for me to conduct telephone interviews with 4 members of the graduate recruitment team, some of which had been there for an average of 5 – 10 years (reasons expatiated further in this chapter). Due to the non-intrusive nature of my research, there were no objections or limitations raised by the participants with regards to the questions asked or the purpose of the study.d. Research StrategyThis study would adopt a case study strategy in answering the research question. Robson (2002) asserts that the case study strategy would be useful if the aim of the study is to gain a rich understanding of the research perspective and the process being endorsed. Therefore as this study aims to understand the recruitment process within Lloyds TSB and also any benefits associated with onl ine recruitment, a case study would be most effective. Two separate yet parallel approaches would be utilized in this study, and are outlined in the table 1 below. Table 1: Research Strategy STRATEGYAIMSAMPLETYPE OF QUESTIONSMETHOD OF ANALYSIS 1. Quantitative questionnaireQuantify graduates’ perception of what constitutes an effective recruitment platform10 graduates who have applied to one or more organizations through their online system.Closed rating scale questions, and nominal data.Descriptive analysis (bar chart, pie chart and line charts). 2. Qualitative semi-structured interviewsThis was done in order to ascertain the benefits associated with online recruitment.4 members of the recruitment staff within Lloyds TSB, who have been in the organization for more than 5 yearsStructured questionnaires. Open questionsContent analysisi. Quantitative QuestionnaireQuantitative methods are mainly used in the data collection process of research. It involves data that is either in the form of, or expressed as numbers (Easterby-Smith et al, 2008). The quantitative questionnaires were handed out to 10 graduates and undergraduates. The questionnaire was mainly designed wi th rating scale questions, where respondents were asked to state their opinion or preference for a particular question on a scale of 1 – 5. Secondary nominal data was also included in order to ascertain the respondent’s status, application activity and preference. The quantitative questionnaire distributed to respondents is outlined in appendix. Quantitative questionnaires are useful as the results derived are quantifiable and measurable against other variables in an objective manner (Saunders et al, 2007). ii. Qualitative Semi Structured InterviewsFollowing the access grant to four members of the recruitment team within the organization, 15 – 20 minute qualitative telephone interviews were carried out. A semi-structured interview is a qualitative interview that is defined by a pre-set question guide. It aims to provide in-depth findings through informal discussions with participants (Collis and Hussey, 2003). This interview method was chosen over unstructured or structured interviews, because this study intends to answer the research questions by asking specific questions, but not so much (unstructured) that it generates useless data, and not so less (structured) so as not to miss out on any unanticipated information. The interview questions in the semi-structured interview are in appendix. The themes utilized in this study were derived mainly from the literature review and were crucial in developing the questions that were raised during the study. The semi-structured approach also provided the researcher with the ability to probe answers. Answer probing was particularly useful in responses whereby more explanation was needed in order to fully understand the answers. Due to the recent adaptation of online recruitment, the semi structured interviews was targeted at members of the team who had witnessed or orchestrated the shift towards online recruitment, that way these respondents would be better able to answer questions that relate to the comparison of both methods. Also, members of the online recruitment team being interviewed had different positions within recruitment and handled separate tasks. The questionnaires were given to them beforehand, when the approval was first sought, and each respondent chose the questions that they were more qualified to respond to. Therefore the research was such that all respondents answered some questions, while some others were answered by a particular individual because of their knowledge of that process. Table 2 outlines the respondent details and their interview theme. Table 2: Interview Respondents and Questions asked RespondentFictionalNameRoleYears in LloydsSubjects Covered R1AliceGraduate Events Manager2Effectiveness, Disadvantages R2MarthaApplication Review7Background, Adoption, Effectiveness, Disadvantages R3NickFinance and Budgeting9Adoption, Effectiveness, Efficiency R4ChloeMedia Advertisement3Effectiveness, Advertisement Each respondent were asked for their consent to interview, prior to the interview sessions, and also requested not to have their names mentioned so as to prevent any form of organizational backlash if the contents of the study were interpreted in any other non-academic form, and distributed. They have therefore been given fictional names, so as to make the research more readable.e. Data Collectioni. Sampling MethodBased on the research objectives and the issues to be investigated, it would have been most appropriate if all recruitment staffs within the organization were interviewed. However, due to the time constraints and resource limitations inherent in this study, a non-probability sample of the population was selected. Saunders et al (2007) asserts that a non-probability sample is most often used when adopting a case study strategy. A non-probability sample, as described by (Oppenheim, 2000), is a sample in which the probability of each case being selected from the total populat ion is not known. The samples of graduates that were chosen to partake in the quantitative study are too small to constitute a probability sample of graduates within London or UK. Also, the number of employees within Lloyds who took part in the qualitative study was not high enough to constitute a significant portion of the recruitment department within Lloyds TSB. Therefore the study focused more on the quantitative facts of the perception of recruitment within the organization, as opposed to theories expressed in the literature review, and what graduates on the outside thought of online recruitment. ii. Primary Data CollectionIn collecting data that could be analysed using quantitative means, Easterby-Smith et al (2008) claims that researchers could collect either primary or secondary data. He further claims that though each of these means have their merits and demerits, the collection of one’s own data gives control over the structure of the sample and the data obtained from each respondent . It also gives greater confidence that the data collected would match the research objectives. The researcher therefore chose to collect primary data from 20 graduates using questionnaires distributed-in-person to each respondent. This was done amongst friends and colleagues within the university who have utilized online recruitment systems. Data from the semi-structured interviews would be collected using a tape recorder, and the conversations with all four employees would be transcribed word for word, and expression for expression. The advantages inherent in this approach is that it allows the researcher to document and see patterns in words and emotions that would not be available if other forms of interviews were conducted.f. Analysis of Research Findingsi. Quantitative DataThe quantitative data collected during the course of this study, whilst still in its raw form, is described by Saunders et al (2007) as being useless and conveying little information to most people. Univariates, which are total sample distributions of one variable at a time (Oppenheim, 2005) was utili sed in analysing the frequency and percentage occurrence of each variable; including both ordinal and nominal, category and rating scale questions. However an indepth correlation or bivariate analysis was not conducted due to the low number of graduate respondents, and also due to the fact that the study was mainly concerned with the viewpoint of the organization, and not necessarily that of the graduates. Results would be analysed using Excel and graphs would be drawn out to analyse all data with the aim of comparing them to the qualitative study. ii. Qualitative DataYin (2002) suggests that in studies whereby the research question has been formulated based on the literature review; these theories that have been used in the postulation of the research question could also be used in analyzing the findings. Thereby suggesting that a deductive approach to data analysis would be essential for theoretical driven studies. Based on these arguments, this study analyzed the qualitative findings using deductive methods. The findings from each respondent and questionnaire theme were analyzed according to the literature review topics discussed. In the instance whereby different respondents had something to say about a particular issue, all their opinions were recorded and taking into consideration in the analysis of findings. A fact sheet of all findings according to the theory is illustrated in chapter 4. Full transcripts of the interview are in the appendix. The pattern matching procedure, as postulated by Saunders et al, (2007), would be utilized in this deductive analysis. It involves predicting a pattern of outcomes based on theoretical propositions. These propositions are thereby analyzed in the data analysis process. This procedure involves the development of an analytical framework, utilizing existing theory, and then testing the adequacies of the framework as a means of explaining the findings (Saunders et al, 2007). In the instance where a pattern is found as initially predicted, it would be evidence that suggests that there is indeed an explanation for findings.g. EthicsBlumberg, et al (2005) describes ethics as referring to the appropriateness of one’s behaviour in relation to the rights of those who become the subject of a research project. A number of ethical issues have been identified and raised with respect to this study. The issues, and steps taken to alleviate such issues are discussed below: The company may be secretive about some aspects of its online recruitment, such as the quantity of graduates and marketing techniques to attract graduates, which it may not like its competitors to know about. Employees responding to semi structured interviews may not be so willing to discuss their personal opinion of the bank’s recruitment system, or the quality of graduates received through their channels, in case their response does not really conform to the brand and reputation that the organization is trying to build (for instance, the bank may pose as an equal opportunity organization that employs from diverse backgrounds, whereas they mostly only recruit students from top Oxbridge universities with a certain background). Information such as this could pose difficulties if the bank eventually decides to broaden its pool of candidates and employ people from varying backgrounds. Apart from these ethical considerations, no other ethical dilemmas have been found with relation to this essay. Therefore, in order to alleviate these issues, the questionnaire and interviews would be designed in such a way that it does not offend, harm, provoke or stress any of the participants in any way. Questions asked would be non-instrusive as no personal information about names; age or post would be requested. Information about specific applicant quality and demographics of applicants’ recruitment would not be sought. Also, in terms of graduate questionnaires that have been distributed, some candidates may think that answering these questions and including personal details may impede or even benefit them when applying to said organizations. Therefore the questionnaires would fully state that it is an academic research and in no way constitutes a study conducted by the organization.h. LimitationsThe major limitation of this research would be gaining access to graduates who have gone through online recruitment systems and applied specifically to Lloyds TSB. Graduates that have applied to the bank are diverse both in culture and geography. Therefore this study would be limited in not being able to survey a probability sample of graduates who have either used online recruitment or specifically applied to Lloyds TSB in the past. The willingness and capacity of staff to answer questions with relation to graduate recruitment is also impeded. Some staff may not be willing to discuss sensitive issues such as their views, some may be unwilling to discuss online recruitment in any capacity to an external researcher such as myself, while some may not have the relevant experience required to answer most of the questions raised in this study. Therefore the list of participants has been limited to 4, which in no way represents a probability sample of the recruitment workforce within the organization. There is also a secondary limitation with regards to the experience of those staff that participate in the interviews. The ideal participants would typically have been working in recruitment for over 10 years, and would have witnessed and participated in the transition from traditional to online recruitment within the organization. However, only two of the participants answering this questionnaire are ‘ideal candidates’, the other 2 have been working within recruitment over the past 2 – 3 years and were in no capacity to discuss the transition between traditional and online recruitment. However, their views were still helpful and contributed significantly to the findings of this study. This study did not incorporate recent events such as the merger between Lloyds TSB and HBOS. It also did not include the recent government bailout and financial crisis affecting most UK financial institutions. This information could have impacted on the quality of graduate applications that the organization received within the past 3 years, and could pose a shortfall in the information gathered. However, including this information would have extended the limits of the study, beyond the word count and capacity currently accepted.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Thuy Linh

It was just a holiday, but it changed my life Holidays can be good for your health. You lie on a beach and relax, and tensions disappear. But sometimes a holiday can change your life completely, which is what happened 2 years ago to Victoria Smith and Sally Gook. Victoria Smith 6 years ago, was working as a manager at Next, a British chain store. Then she went on holiday to Bomeo.. † It was a working holiday†, said Victoria, â€Å"where you could study orang-utans in the wild- I have always been interested in apes, so I thought it would be fun†.The holiday was wonderful, and when Victoria came home she found it very difficult to return to her old life. â€Å"Suddenly the problems in the store just seemed so trivial. Although everybody told her she was mad. she decided to go back to university and study biology. 4 years later she became a chimpanzee keeper. for the last 2 years Victoria has been working at monkey world, a centre in south-west england which looks af ter apes which have been ill-treated. Many have been rescued from laboratories and circuses all over the world. She works long hours, and the pay isn't very good, but she loves it. Apes are like a big family, each with their own personality'. ‘I'm really happy now. Since I started working here I feel that I've been doing something important, not just wasting my life'. Sally Gook wakes up every morning to a deep blue sky and blazing sun. For the last 2 years she has been living on the tiny Greek island of Lipsi, which is only 16 square km in size and has a population of just 650. But until a few years ago she lived in Lonndon. ‘I was working for American Express and I had to get up very early every morning, often in horrible weather, and get a train and the tube to work.Then one day she and a friend decided they needed a relaxing holiday, and they came to Lipsi. ‘I loved it'- the people, the mountains, the sun, and the delicious food. Suddenly I knew there was a dif ferent which has organized her holiday. Since then she has been living on Lipsi and working as a tourist guide. Her boyfriend, who is Greek, is a farmer. Sally said, I've only been back to London once, and I can't imagine ever living there again'. Do ch? la m? t k? ngh? , nhung no da thay d? i cu? c s? ng c? a toi Ngay l? co th? du? c t? t cho s? c kh? e c? a b? n. Quy v? n? m tren m? t bai bi? va thu gian, va cang th? ng bi? n m? t. Nhung doi khi m? t k? ngh? co th? thay d? i hoan toan cu? c s? ng c? a b? n, do la nh? ng gi da x? y ra 2 nam tru? c Victoria Smith va Sally Gook. Victoria Smith 6 nam tru? c, da lam vi? c nhu m? t ngu? i qu? n ly t? i Ti? p theo, m? t chu? i c? a hang c? a Anh. Sau do, co da di ngh? ? Bomeo .. â€Å"Do la m? t ngay ngh? lam vi? c†, cho bi? t Victoria, â€Å"noi b? n co th? nghien c? u du? i uoi hoang da Toi da luon luon quan tam d? n loai kh? , vi v? y toi nghi r? ng no s? du? c vui v? â€Å". Cac k? ngh? tuy? t v? i, va khi Victoria tr? v? nh a, co th? y r? t kho d? quay tr? l? cu? c s? ng cu c? a minh. â€Å"D? t nhien, nh? ng v? n d? trong c? a hang ch? co v? r? t t? m thu? ng M? c du t? t c? m? i ngu? i noi v? i co la ngu? i dien. Co quy? t d? nh tr? l? i tru? ng d? i h? c va nghien c? u sinh h? c. 4 nam sau do, co da tr? thanh m? t th? mon tinh tinh. trong 2 nam qua, Victoria da du? c lam vi? c t? i th? gi? i con kh? , m? t trung tam ? phia tay nam nu? c Anh, sau khi loai vu? n da b? ?m du? c di? u tr?. Nhi? u ngu? i da du? c c? u thoat kh? i phong thi nghi? m va r? p xi? c tren toan th? gi? i. Co ? y lam vi? c nhi? u gi? , va ti? n luong khong ph? i la r? t t? t, nhung co ? yeu no Apes gi? ng nhu m? t gia dinh l? n, d? u co ca tinh rieng c? a h?. â€Å"Toi th? c s? h? nh phuc. K? t? khi toi b? t d? u lam vi? c ? day, toi c? m th? y r? ng toi da lam m? t cai gi do quan tr? ng, khong ch? lang phi cu? c s? ng c? a toi. Sally Gook th? c d? y m? i bu? i sang m? t b? u tr? i xanh th? m va m? t tr? i r? c. Trong 2 nam qu a, co da s? ng tren hon d? o Hy L? p nh? be c? a Lipsi, do la ch? co 16 km vuong va co dan s? ch? 650. Tuy nhien, cho d? n khi m? t vai nam tru? c day, co da s? ng trong Lonndon. â€Å"Toi da lam vi? c cho American Express va toi da ph? i d? y r? t s? m vao m? i bu? sang, thu? ng trong th? i ti? t kh? ng khi? p, va co du? c m? t xe l? a va ? ng d? lam vi? c. Sau do m? t ngay co va m? t ngu? i b? n quy? t d? nh h? c? n m? t k? ngh? thu gian, va h? da d? Lipsi. â€Å"Toi yeu it' nh? ng ngu? i, nh? ng ng? n nui, m? t tr? i, va th? c an ngon. D? t nhien, toi bi? t co m? t khac nhau ma da t? ch? c ngay ngh? c? a minh. K? t? do, co da du? c s? ng tren Lipsi va lam vi? c nhu la m? t hu? ng d? n vien du l? ch. B? n trai c? a co, la ngu? i Hy L? p, la m? t nong dan. Sally noi, toi da ch? tr? l? i London m? t l? n, va toi khong th? tu? ng tu? ng bao gi? s? ng ? do m? t l? n n? a ‘.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Example for Free (#22)

Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove Essay Bureaucracy (53) , Joseph Heller (9) , Yossarian (8) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints \In Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22, and Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove, the bureaucrats are illustrated as illogical and untrustworthy. Heller’s attention to administrations such as the hospital and the military-establishment are recognized for their unreliable rationality and logic. Similarly, in Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick mocks the absurdities of the nuclear arms race and of the officials of the United States and The Soviet Union as he conveys the malfunction of highly placed government bureaucrats. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove, are two satirical and somewhat historical works that effectively comment on the corrupt and perhaps insane bureaucrats. The lives of Yossarian and the men in his squadron in Catch-22 are not determined by their own decisions but instead, by the decisions of the impersonal bureaucracy. The bureaucrats are absolutely oblivious to any attempt the men make to reason with them logically. Major Major, for example, will only see people in his office if he is not there and sends them away when he returns. Doc Daneeka refuses to ground Yossarian for his â€Å"insanity† because Yossarian’s desire to be grounded reveals that he is sane. Doc Daneeka elaborates in his discussion of Orr, Yossarian’s tent-mate. â€Å"Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.† (46) Yossarian and the others in his squadron find that what they say and do has little effect on their fate when the bureaucracy controls them. Their only option is to follow the illogical rules and use what is expected of them to their own advantage. Yossarian’s superiors are more concerned with getting a promotion than they are about winning the war. Colonel Cathcart, the colonel in command of Yossarian’s squadron, tries to impress his superiors by â€Å"bravely† volunteering his men for dangerous combat. Cathcart’s only concern is being promoted to general. Cathcart continually raises the number of combat missions required of the men before they can be sent home. Yossarian argues with Doc Daneeka who explains, â€Å"†¦regulations do say you have to obey every order. That’s the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you’d still have to fly them, or you’d be guilt y of disobeying an order of his.† (58) Similarly, Dr. Strangelove also criticizes the malfunctions of bureaucracy and the inadequacy of officials. General Jack Ripper gives the command to attack the Soviet Union without permission from his superiors or the president. Instead of discussing the idea of an attack with is supervisors, Ripper orders the attack because, according to him; Clemenceau†¦ said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. -Criticizes the malfunction of bureaucracy. (Dr. Strangelove) Mr. President’s embarrassment about the issue demonstrates bureaucracy does not function appropriately because those lower in command should not determine the launch of nuclear powers. Further exemplifying the inadequacy of the bureaucrats, the Joint Chiefs in the war room show their unprofessional and blatant prejudice, especially toward the Russians. General Buck Turgidson clearly states, â€Å"I’m beginning to smell a big fat Commie rat,† and later refers to them as â€Å"a bunch of ignorant peons.† The Germans are also referred to when Turgidson, upon learning Dr. Strangelove’s original German name, passes it off as â€Å"†¦a Kraut by any other name.† Dr. Strangelove, the character, also calls into question the reliability of people in power. Strangelove is clearly the Presidents scientific adviser in the war room whose appearance copies the mad scientist stereotype with his wild hair, black gloved hand, and his clearly brilliant yet insane mind. Through their presentation of bureaucracy, Heller and Kubrick display why officials and politicians are unfit to make important decisions concerning the safety of the country. Catch-22 conveys this notion through the bureaucracy’s enforcement of impractical rules and Catch-22’s on the eccentric men in Yossarian’s squadron. Kubrick suggests the same concept in Dr. Strangelove by frequently demonstrating the disorder, madness and prejudice of the officials. In either piece, the reader carries away the certainty of the instability of the men in control of important military and national decisions. Catch-22 and Dr. Strangelove. (2016, Nov 12). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Friday, September 27, 2019

Company(Target) Firm Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Company(Target) Firm Analysis - Research Paper Example Target Corporation’s retail segment is inclusive of food discount stores, general merchandise stores, and an integrated online business, target.com. Target Corporation also operates a segment for credit cards that offers Visa credit cards and branded proprietary products. TGT currently operates one thousand seven hundred and sixty seven target stores across forty-nine states in the U.S. (Forbes.com 1). Target corporation’s fiscal year ends on January the 31st. This paper is a company research project on â€Å"Target Corporation†. Target Corporation aims to reinforce the company’s value proposition via the striking of a balance between the core components of its brand mission and promise, i.e. expect more and pay less (Forbes.com 1). Expect more refers to target Corporation’s emphasis on trends, which differentiates it from its competitors, for example, Walmart while pay less is meant to underscore the Corporation’s notion concerning compellin g presentation of its consumables and commodities as their key strategy. Target Corporation’s recent rollout of their P-fresh expanded food format is likely to connect well to their consumers, which should improve traffic, as well as same store sales growth (Forbes.com 1). Solid underlying trends within target Corporation’s credit business are expected to provide a boost to the company’s earnings in the future. ... Target Corporation’s well differentiated stores will give it an edge their main competitors, like Walmart. Their balance sheet and cash flow remain in a healthy position. However, increased competition and a competitive pricing environment from Walmart are expected to portend an adverse effect on the future of target Corporation. TGT seems to be losing focus on the sale of women’s apparel that accounts for more than ten percent of their total sales (Forbes.com 1). Target Corporation’s credit business is increasing their exposure to various deteriorations in the credit trends of their consumers, for example, higher default rates that could have a significant impact on their profitability. Their escalating utilities and healthcare costs could lead to increased SG&A expenses. Digest Group analysts estimate the Corporation’s long-term growth rate, as ranging from lows of nine percent to highs of fifteen percent, coming up with an average of 11.3% (Forbes.com 1 ). These analysts at Digest Group are of the belief that target.com is the company’s fastest growing segment. This segment provides an online shopping experience, which adds new online tools, for example, the online gift finder that is driving sales up. In addition, TGT is building a seamless shopping experience for their stores, Target.com and their catalog. Over the last decade, TGT has utilized its marketing expertise in the transformation of the trademark bull’s eye into a symbol that is universally recognized, which, in turn, has helped to establish its retail format into a unique destination for clients from the United states (Forbes.com 1). TGT’s marketing approach is focused on the retail end as a brand. TGT perhaps, has played the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Marketing plan assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing plan assignment 2 - Essay Example Currently, the company is having approximately 23 stores in the region of the UK. The company is also having an online operational activity in three regions of the world that include British, German and Australia. The company with the provision of quality products and services has been effective in performing its operations in an effective manner (Hawes & Curtis, 2015). Presently, the company is identified to make an entry in Chinese market for expanding its business. The actual intention of the company is to setup a business in the core market of China. In this regard, the company need to do a market research of the Chinese clothing market for understanding the actual market structure of the country. It is apparently stated that Chinese market is one of the world vast markets in terms of largest consumers. In this respect, based on the market research, it can be apparently stated that the rate of clothing consumption in the market segments of China has increased in a rapid manner. By the overall research, it is also identified that the China clothing market is one of the most prospected markets in the world (International Trade Centre, 2011). At the initial stage, the company i.e. Hawes & Curtis has been initiated to develop its Unique Selling Proportion (USP) for attracting the target customers as well as develop a respectable position in the Chinese market. The company has an aim to focus over the young and middle aged men as well as women as its targeted customer. The USP of the company is to provide quality clothing products along within clothing accessories for both men and women. In the Chinese market, the demand for apparel has increased to a large extent over the years owing to certain factors that include increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), income level, consumer behaviour, support of the government and shopping trend. In this regard, the company wanted to pay more attention towards

Burger King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Burger King - Essay Example With the help of these marketing communication techniques a product can be expansively marketed and product consciousness may be generated amongst the public regarding the various aspects with regard to the product (Laitenen, 2009). The above mentioned tools may be used in segregation, but an organisation can get superlative advantage when these tools are used in a unified way to create impact among the target customers. Messages can be customer oriented or it may be related with the product but the basic underlining principle should be how to convey or deliver the message in the effective most way. Media may be further alienated into six chief classes’ print, outdoor, broadcast, in-store and other media class. Each class has a distinct media type, for example broadcast includes radio and television whereas print class has newspapers and magazines. The combination of the three elements i.e. the messages, the media and the tools is termed as integrated marketing communication ( IMC) (Laitenen, 2009). Planning for the promotion is an indispensable management activity and it should therefore be developed within an appropriate framework. Marketing communication planning framework certifies the provision of a visual guide among different elements. This plan is based on the basis of gathering of relevant information (Laitenen, 2009). The prominent factors that must be incorporated in the market communication plan are the context analysis which deals with defining an opportunity or problem. It identifies the opportunities which are available in the market segment. In the promotional objective tool, the object should be pragmatic in approach. The final end should however be in inducing the customers in buying the product. Corporate objective implies to the business area where the business unit should tend to function. Through promotional strategy the distinct marketing communication techniques are identified and subsequently selected. The three P’s strateg y of marketing communication is pull, push and profile. Pull strategy mainly focuses on the consumers and the basic goal is to induce them to procure the product. For the push strategy, the prospects are the channel intermediaries. A profile strategy emphasises on the brand development (Laitenen, 2009). Budget is concerned with the opportunities and precincts of the thriving marketing communication plan. It considers the monetary aspect of the concern. Schedules are the determining factors of time that may be a determinant in attaining the organisational objective (Laitenen, 2009). The communication process is followed by scrutinising the entire plan. It measures the level to which the target has been achieved. Control and evaluation is thus the most important factor to judge the efficiency of the executed project (Laitenen, 2009). Marketing Communication Planning Framework Source: (Laitenen, 2009). Situation Analysis Burger King has been lacking behind when being compared to McDona ld’s and Subway due to their declining sales figure which were disappointing. It was facing sturdy competition from its competitors who were reaching peaks in terms of gratifying their prospect customers. It had been observed by the analysts that that latest campaigns of Burger King focused on the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

How ICT Is Applied To The Tourism And Hospitality Industries Essay

How ICT Is Applied To The Tourism And Hospitality Industries - Essay Example e tourism and hospitality industries commonly involves the execution of activities such as incorporation of telecommunications technology with computers and other essential software, which further allows the user companies to access, store as well as share information among their various operational departments. It would not be erroneous to depict in this regard that ICT has its influences in various sections of the business and it acts as a major driving force in deciding the performance of the business operations of companies functioning in any sector including tourism and hospitality sectors. The significance of ICT for companies operating in any sector can be affirmed from the fact that it is actively implemented in certain specific and vital sections of tourism and hospitality business constituted with the various dimensions of production, marketing, research and communication among others. ICT is also a prime tool for tourism and hospitality companies operating in the contempor ary business environment in the context of accomplishing daily tasks, which comprise generating business reports and executing continuous communications with the stakeholders of the business (Hooff & Wijngaert, 2005). Hence, it can be apparently stated that ICT is quite vital for businesses in various distinct domains as it attempts to make significant contributions towards enhancing the value and performance of the businesses operating in any particular sector. Aim of the Study With reference to the determined purview related to ICT, it is evident that it is used in various domains of the business context in the modern era. Consequently, in order to provide a comprehensive understanding regarding the aforementioned aspect, this study evaluates various literatures, studies and practical... The tools of ICT have been in wide use in this particular industrial context, wherein the applicant companies have understood about how these technologies might be helpful for conducting most effective business operations. It has been further observed from the research that ICT helps the players in the tourism sector to interact with the customers on a usual and efficient manner where they intend to build a healthy relationship with the same. The study further revealed that ICT also enables companies to strengthen their communication prospects within the internal and external business environments. Notably, through this approach, tourism and hospitality companies were able to enhance their performance along with operational efficiency. This aspect was justified with the example of performance augmentation of tourism industry productivity of Ireland rewarding better scope for effective communication among various business departments. Apart from this, the research was also able to dep ict the positive effects of ICT in the marketing and financing sector of tourism and hospitality industry. Nevertheless, secondary data used in this paper also revealed both favorable and unfavorable effects of ICT in the tourism and hospitality industries advocating that the benefits of its usage depend substantially on the credibility of its users. In support of this particular inference, case examples related to ICT application in China and Ghana tourism industries were presented in the research study.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Influence of Organizational Culture on Business Strategy Essay

The Influence of Organizational Culture on Business Strategy - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the smooth running of an organization is based on its values, the more the values upheld by the employees the more likely successful the will be. A clear, well-designed, and strong organizational culture can reveal to be particularly useful to enable organizations to better integrate individuals into businesses. In addition to that, Deal and Kennedy defining organizational culture as â€Å"the way we do things around here, but even more direct emphasis on the behavioral side of culture. For instance, Kenyans are known to lend out a helping hand no matter the situation thus an enterprise, for example, the medical sector will be needed to be strict in order to achieve said services and minimize the effect of this value to exploit it in its bright side only. Moreover, looking at the system in which organizational culture develops is agreed with Boddy that when people start to work and interact they consequently find common ground, things that work for all of them in the name values. These shared values represent a fabric that the individual with more values in common lead to a more competitive business. In the Kenyan scene, individuals who went to the same school, or have more in common than just being workmates have proven to be a force to reckon with since they provide the concrete result. The underlying factor here being the fact that they concentrate solely on the task rather than feuds at the workplace. Equity Bank in Kenya is a case study, all its success is attributed to the strong and supportive staff that are trained to work for them at a mostly high school level. It is important to note that organizational culture is about unwritten norms, which are actually intended to mold the behavior of all the individuals of a group both when interacting the one with the other and when interacting with people who are part of the external environment. It is a common practice that a relationship between workmates is not encouraged in any b usiness environment but it will not be said or put in a memo.

Monday, September 23, 2019

LIFE CYCLE - PLASTIC BAGS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

LIFE CYCLE - PLASTIC BAGS - Essay Example They are portable, light weight, reusable and easily disposable. However, use of plastic bag has always been a controversial issue given it affects the animal and marine life in many adverse ways and is conventionally manufactured from non-renewable natural resources. Besides, there are many other concerns associated with the use of plastic bags that are of huge significance to the environment and ecology. Use of plastic bags has been globally condemned and criticized with reasonable arguments. This paper elaborates the life cycle of plastic bags and critically analyzes the environmental effects of each stage of their life cycle. Furthermore, various alternatives that can help eliminate the draw backs of plastic bags while maintaining the capacity to deliver the same usability are also enlisted in the paper. All bags are supposedly light in weight, so they inflate once air is filled in them. This property is not limited to just plastic bags. Indeed, all bags irrespective of their material are light weight, and this property fundamentally makes them suitable for use in everyday life for all purposes. However, plastic bag has a significant edge over other types of bags in that they are purely impermeable and are often transparent. This is what differentiates plastic bags from other bags because they offer the user the ease of carrying liquids which many other types of bags do not. The strength of plastic bags is much more than that of a paper, so they are used for carrying significantly larger weights than other bags. Plastic bags are good in resisting tensile stresses. They bear sufficiently larger tensile forces than any other kind of bag. This makes them the best carrier among the variety of carriers available. They come in a variety of sizes. â€Å"Small bags have lower visibility th an large bags and thin light (HDPE) bags snag more easily than heavier (LLDPE) bags.† (Verghese, Jollands, and Allan, 2008, p. 10). In order to estimate the impact

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Mesopotamian Dbq (Outline) Essay Example for Free

The Mesopotamian Dbq (Outline) Essay Group 1:Mesopotamia * Document 1: This document describes the story of an innocent god that shared water with animals at a watering hole. The document describes the importance of water by referencing to the herds of wild game and Enkidu. The people that have created this document have put much emphasis on water systems. * Document 2: This document covers the spectrum of the river systems and agricultural growth in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus regions using a map. * Document 3: In this document, a picture depicts reed huts in the marshes of Southern Iraq. It appears that in this area, a large, agricultural-based city does not thrive here. This document stresses that a successful river system is the base of cities. * Document 5: This document describes Marduk’s journey and his conversation that he held with the gods. Overall it is about the creation of Babylon. In the first paragraph, it mentions the location of where Babylon would be locates (near the Tigris and the Euphrates river). This displays the importance that the Babylonians placed on river systems. A: Marduk thought of the Earth as a mirror image of heaven, because he strengthened and prepared the grounds to create holy precinct that would be the home of the gods. Group 2: Egypt * Document 2: This document covers the spectrum of the river systems and agricultural growth in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus regions using a map. * Document 6: This document shows the Pyramids of Giza located nearby the Nile. The mud blocks used to create the Pyramids must have been created from a nearby river system. Group 3: Indus River Valley * Document 2: This document covers the spectrum of the river systems and agricultural growth in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus regions using a map. * Document 4: In this document the formation of mud brick fortification suggests that the Indus river valley Harappa, India indicate that they had an accessible river system nearby. * Document 7: In this document, the walls appear to be made from mud brick, which is a sign that they had utilized a nearby water system. Although the document above delivers evidence of the effect of rivers in these regions, it would be beneficial to have additional documents. A chart of population growth over time of all three regions would suffice. It would be able to display the comparisons and differences in the growth of population within each region. A excerpt of an Egyptian or Harappan script that described the role that their river systems played in their society.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD)

Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) Impact of Rapid Application Development ABSTRACT This report is submitted in context to a study that was performed to analyze the Impact of Rapid Application Development (RAD) on the software industry using the context of the NASA weather forecasting system. The NASA existing weather forecasting system was studied for a new feature of exposing the NASA weather data to the other countries of the world using Rapid Application Development Platform. NASA is a world renowned organization that deals in space research and forecasting systems. NASA has an internal software system that collects weather data from the various NASA satellites and produce variety of forecasting reports for the next 24 hours that includes temperature, pressure, humidity , wind speed as the major reports. The other countries of the world has requested NASA to give them an API (Application programming Interface ) or a port from which they can import the weather data of NASA into XML format into their local servers after which they can use the it for their countries weather forecasting. The various system development methodologies including the popular Software Development Lifecycle method, Iterative method and Rapid Application Development methods were analyzed to choose the best methodology according to NASA requirements. During the course of the study it was observed that Rapid Application Development methodology works best when you have times and budgetary limitations as well as when you are assigned a limited but elite programming resources. The only thing that need to be maintained is that all the team members work together and there is We attached to the product/project development rather than I , because I word in these sort of small team can become a big danger of losing one or two good team members altogether. The report also includes the principles, realities and myth of the Rapid Application development Paradigms. It was observed that the timelines and the project deadlines can be achieved sooner in an efficient way by using Rapid Application development methodology and RAD project executed and implement at least the twice the speed and half the time taken by the regular Software development Life cycle. It was concluded from the study that Rapid Application Development will form the future backbone of software industry because of its effectiveness, less development and implementation time and more flexibility. Keywords:- Following is the list of important keywords and their definition which might be used through this report:- RAD :- Rapid application development SSADM :-Structured System Analysis and Design Method DSDM:- Dynamic System Development Method Waterfall Model Time Boxing Iterative Model UML :- Universal markup language OOP:- Object Oriented Paradigm/Programming UCD:- Use Case Diagram OOM:- Object Oriented Modeling GUI:- Graphical user Interface IDE:- Integrated development environment API:- Application Programming Interface NASA:-North Atlantic Space Association DLL:-Dynamic Linking Libraries. XML :- Extensible Markup Language Class Diagrams Sequential Diagrams Inroduction NASA or North Atlantic Space Association is a United States Government owned Space Research and Development Company. NASA has its own internal Weather forecasting department and specialized custom build weather forecasting software that connects to the US satellites receive various weather inputs from them and then calculates and forecasts the next 24 hour weather report that includes Temperature, Pressure, Humidity and Wind Speeds. During a recent United Nations Conference US government has accepted the proposal of other countries of the world to provide them weather forecasting data from NASA weather forecasting servers. Following are the project requirements that NASA has to fulfill:- The project development, testing and final implementation should not take more than 3 months. The project will only have the budget for 5 software developers. The project has to contain bare minimum only required important documentation and should not contain detail system specifications The first prototype for the other countries technical experts review has to be release withing15 days of project initialization. The rest of the project phases will work in iterative manner and based on client feedback. The feasibility study on various software development methodologies include software development Life Cycle (SDLC) and RAD was done , keeping in vision the product development cost and the stricter timelines and it was accepted to use Rapid Application Development or RAS as the software development methodology for the current system. LITERATURE REVIEW IMPACT OF RAD ON SOFTWARE INDUSTRY Before starting our discussion on RAD, let us take a closer look of what Agile Methodology is and a brief overview of its history and manifesto What is Agile Software Development? Agility is more attitude than process, more environment than methodology (Jigh Highsmith , April 6,2004 , Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Projects ) Agile Software Development is a set of software development Methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self organizing cross function team. According to (HighSmith, 2002) Agility is the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment. Agility is the ability to balance flexibility and stability. Agile Modeling is based on a collection of principles, derived from the principles of Agile Alliance, such as importance of assuming simplicity when you are modeling and embracing change when you are working, because requirements do change in future (Scott Ambler , 2002 , Agile Modeling: Effective practices for extreme programming and the unified process, Wiley) History and Manifesto of Agile software development The definition of the agile software development methodology started evolving in mid 1990s as a part of strong opposition against the already existing standard, micro managed use of Waterfall Model for development. There were heavy cost and time schedules escalations in Waterfall Model because of the freezing of design phase first and then starting up with the development and implementation phases. The time when product use to get ready to be deployed at the client side, it is already obsolete for use, because most of the time client requirements change during the product development phase. In 2001, some most important prominent figures in the field of Agile development came together in Utah to discuss the ways of creating software in a lighter, faster and more people centric way. It was then only the Agile software development and Agile methodology term gets coined. In the same meet, they create Agile manifesto that includes the canonical definition of the Agile Development and accompanying agile principles. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development ) Values and Principles of Agile Methodology:- As per the 2001 Agile Manifesto, following are stated as the values of the Agile methodologies:- Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools used. Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer Collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan Some of the principles envisioned behind Agile Manifesto are:- Customer satisfaction by rapid and continuous delivery of software system Working software is the principle measure of progress Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close , Daily Cooperation between business people and developers Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage Humility

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Is Technology to Blame for Americas Obesity Problem? Essay -- Overweig

As a future educator of physical education, I feel that our nation’s weight problem is an issue that needs to be addressed. I feel that it is and will be my job to educate students about the importance of taking care of your body because â€Å"fat kids have a 92% chance of becoming fat adults† (www.amp.com). The leading cause of death in the United States, for men and women, is heart disease. â€Å"The United States alone the estimated annual number of deaths attributable to obesity is about 280,000.† (www.members.iglou.com) â€Å"Results on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2000 indicate that an estimated 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese.† (www.cdc.gov) In addition, â€Å"The number of overweight children in the United States has more than doubled since the early 1970s† (www.naaso.org) and â€Å"about 15 percent of children and adolescents are now overweight.† (www.cdc.gov) There is a difference in being overweight and being obese. Being overweight â€Å"refers to increased body weight in relation to height, when compared to some standard of acceptable or desirable weight.† (www.cdc.gov) Being over weight may or may not be due to the increase in body fat. It may be due to an increase in lean muscle. A perfect example of this is in professional athletes. Professional athletes may be very lean and muscular, with very little body fat, yet may weigh more than others of the same height. This may qualify the athlete as â€Å"overweight† due to their large muscle mass. This is based on the belief of someone who has come up with what they believe to be desirable. Now â€Å"obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat or adipose tissue in relation to lean body mass. The amount of ... ...e. No one is making you eat what you are it is your choice. I think we should also think about things that we are doing to our children, which is training them to be lazy. An example of this is when it is a nice day outside and we allow our children to stay inside and play video games or watch television. This is a great opportunity to have your kids getting some more activity. Something we should consider not doing anymore is to stop putting televisions in our children’s bedrooms. â€Å"If a child replaces those almost 20 minutes a week with ANY other activity (besides reading or thinking), he, or she is going to be more physically active. Even painting would be more active than watching television.† (www.texas.teachers.net) Robinson TN. Reducing children’s television viewing to prevent obesity: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1999; 282: 1561-7.

Essay --

Same-sex marriage does not harm society or anyone particular; marriage is a relationship between two people. How is society hurting when society is not involved in their marriage? The exordium-We allow rapists, murders, child abusers, and irresponsible parents to get married; why do we have a problem with same-sex marriages? Same-sex marriage does not harm society or anyone in general. Marriage is a relationship between two people and is not defined by the gender of the two that are united. Marriage is important in our society a civil and emotional bond between two people that is sacred. We cannot deny Americans this right. America is known as the land of free, but we deny people of freedom because they are a same-sex couple. According to John Schwartz, the United States has made a huge gain towards the approval gay’s marriages in all our fifth states. Many states such as New York, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington D.C have already passed same-sex marriage laws, making marriage possible between two people of the same gender. Other states in the nation still have voted to ban partnership of same-sex, which the court feels, is unfa ir to the gay community. The narratio-In Baker v Nelson in 1970, a couple tried to apply for their marriage license and was denied. This did not stop them from filing a suit in the state court. Baker argue that the law is unconstitutional because denies petitioner a fundamental right guaranteed by the ninth amendment to the U.S constitution arguably made applicable to the states by the fourteenth amendment petitioner are deprived of liberty and property without due process and are denies the equal protection of the law. Many think that they can rationalize their opinion about same-s... ...because of their partner. Reason three denying gay is couple to adopt. Confirmatio –Denying same-sex couples the right to adopt is against their rights as an American. People stated that same-sex couples cannot provide proper care or a conducive environment to raise a child, but we can let convicted felons, murders, or unfit parents have children. If gays can provide a safe and nurturing environment then where is the harm? I think this would help decline the number of child who need a family. According to the research guide from the Georgia States University College of Law. Gay adoption number just about one quarter of children adopted has been to same-sex couples in the United States. However, in some states such as Florida, they have over- turned a ban that prevented same-sex couples from adopting children. The Supreme Court has ruled the ban unconstitutional.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

What Affects the Strength of an Electromagnet? Essay -- essays researc

What Affects the Strength of an Electromagnet? Aim What is the effect of increasing the current and increasing the number of coils when picking up paper clips? Definition First of all, an electromagnet has to be defined. An electromagnet can also be called a Solenoid, Which consists of a core of iron and then wire is wrapped round it. Prediction I predict that as the current carried in the wire gets stronger, so will the magnetic field surrounding the electromagnet. Therefore, I think that the amount of paper clips picked up will increase as the voltage gets higher until the electromagnet can't pick up any more paper clips. I also predict that the more coils wrapped round the wire creates a bigger magnetic field allowing more paper clips to be picked up. Variables Thickness Coils Length of wire Core Material If the paper clips are already slightly magnetized from previous experiments Weight of the Paperclips Number of Paperclips available Equipment Mat - (To protect the surface of the bench) Power Pack - (To control the voltage of the current) *Battery Pack – (To control the voltage of the current) Crocodile Clips - (To take the electricity to the Electromagnet) Paper Clips – (To test the conductivity of the Electromagnet) Electromagnet Iron Nail - (to act as a core) Wire - (wrapped around the core) Test the Voltage Method 1. Take the Iron rod and wind the wire around it, leaving the two ends of the wire free. 2. Plug two crocodile clip leads into the Power pack and attach each crocodile clip to a different end of the wire which is wound around the rod. 3. Turn on the power to the required voltage (I had a problem with the power pack because they kept short circuiting so I decided to use a battery pack but they would drain very quickly and could only test 2, 4, and 6 volts) and then bring the box of paper clips up so that they are touching the Iron rod 4. If there are any paper clips still hanging, take them off and count them and record the results The above method was repeated at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 Volts. Testing the Number of Wires Method 1. Take the Iron rod and wind the wire around it 10 times increasing the number of coils by 10 each time up to 100 coils, leaving the two ends of the wire free. 2. Plug two crocodile clip leads into the Power pack and attach each crocodile clip to a different end of the wire which ... ...;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4.60  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  51  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  45  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  51  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  49 12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  50  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  53  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  45  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  48 Conclusion The results did show that my predictions had been right. The amount of paper clips increased by increasing voltage or by increasing the no. of coils(as Shown on the graph). The fact that the electromagnet gets stronger or weaker as you change the voltage is a useful one and the fact that the magnetic field gets bigger depending on how many no. of coils and gets stronger for how much voltage is passed through the coils. Probably the reason that some of the results were anomalous because some of the paperclips may have become magnetised, or the Rod may have become a weak permanent magnet. My best fit line didn't pass through the origin, although it came very close. This is probably because the iron rod became slightly magnetised and acted as a weak permanent magnet, before it was connected.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Fresh Water Essay

The greatest similarity between fresh and salt water is that both are basically the same chemical – water, although the contents of other materials dissolved in it differ. Both contain some amount dissolved chemical in it though the quantities vary. Both form different links in the water cycle of the nature. Both are homes to aquatic life. Difference: Salt water contains much higher quantities of dissolved chemicals as compared to fresh water. This higher concentration of chemical also raises the density of salt water above that of fresh water. Plant and animals living in two types of water bodies are different. Salt water is found only as large standing bodies of water. Most of these are in form of seas and oceans, although though some lakes including very large ones considered to be sea also contain salt water. Fresh water is found in standing bodies of water called lakes, as well as running water as in rivers and streams. Fresh water is available in many other forms such as in rain, and ice caps in the poles and in very cold places. However no fresh water is found in seas and oceans. Fresh water is used for drinking as well as many industrial processes. However salt water is generally not suitable for most of the industrial use except for cooling. On the other hand salt water is used as a source of some chemicals, particularly common salt. Freshwater does not yield any such chemicals. Comparing Fresh water and ocean water, each has their differences. Most notable is animals living in each. The animals that live in the Salt â€Å"ocean† water would not survive in fresh water for an extended length of time. Same holds true for fresh water animals. However there are a few species that have adapted and can live in both. Some Salt water animals have also evolved to live in Fresh water. Humans cannot drink ocean water without dying. The salt in it dehydrates you to the point you die of thirst. In order to drink ocean water you have to desalinate it in one of many ways. Boiling it being one way. Ocean water also contains every natural element on the planet. If we could find a way to mine the water that is cost effective, we would have a lot more resources. Ocean water freezes at 26 degrees F and fresh at 32. While only 6 degrees difference in water terms that is huge. It prevents a vast amount of the oceans from freezing over in the winter, of course global warming has helped with that. As for your comment of only 3% of the worlds oceans is fresh water, it is very true. While there is a lot of surface area of fresh water the oceans are miles deep. The deepest point on Earth is approx 35,000ft below sea level or about 6. 75 miles down. Many of the deepest lakes only hit about 2000 to 3000 ft deep. Also when you compare the surface area of the fresh water bodies comparies to the oceans there isn’t much. The great lakes between Canada and the USA contain 20% of all fresh water on the planet. That is enough water to cover the entire USA with 9. 5 feet of water. When compared to the oceans that isn’t much. So don’t be surprised. Fresh water is lighter than salt water. Therefore, fresh water â€Å"floats† on top of salt water. This principle becomes extremely important when considering the drilling of a well in order to tap into the ground water of any island. The weight of the rain water that percolates into the ground depresses the salt water beneath it forming a profile that has the appearance of a lens. This is called the Ghyben-Herzberg lens. The principle of this relationship was discovered independently by a Dutch scientist named Baden-Ghyben and a German scientist named Herzberg. The underground boundary that separates the fresh water layer from the salt water is not a sharp boundary line. In reality, this boundary is a transition zone of brackish water (fresh/salt mixture). This is caused by seasonal fluctuations in rainfall, tidal action, and the amount of water being withdrawn either by humans or by natural discharge. Fresh water has a density of 1. 0 while salt water has a density of 1. 025. From this, you can see that salt water is slightly heavier than fresh water. The ratio between the two is 41:40. The formation of the Ghyben-Herzberg lens has a profound effect upon the availability of fresh water on an island. This principle essentially states that for every foot of ground water above sea level there are forty feet of fresh water below sea level! The mathematical formula for the fresh to salt water relationship is: hs = hf / es – ef where hs is the depth of fresh water below sea level, hf is the depth of fresh water above sea level, es is the density of salt water, and ef is the density of fresh water. Using the common density figures for fresh and salt water the formula can thus be simplified into hs = hf / . 025 Understand that this applies only to fresh ground water that is sitting directly on an intruded body of salt water. It has no meaning on a large island where an inland body of ground water may be confined by layers and dikes of lava rock. On islands that are largely composed of dense lava rock, little if any salt water intrudes very far into the underlying rock structure. It is generally only in shoreline regions that salt water intrudes into the cracks, crevices, and loose rock spaces. On low, small islands that are largely composed of coral or other porous materials, salt water intrusion into the underlying interior is quite common. The drilling or digging of wells on these islands and especially on along the shoreline must be done with care. Going too deeply will penetrate the transition zone and result in salt water infiltration and the contamination of the fresh water in the well. I have seen such a well dug in solid lava rock along the shoreline in the Ka’ u District on the island of Hawai‘i. This well was located a few feet above the high tide line approximately a hundred feet from the ocean. The opening was rectangular, about 3 1/2 feet wide, and 6+ feet long. On one end a set of stairs had been cut into the rock allowing one to walk down five or six feet to the level of the well water. This well was unused as there are no dwellings or settlements in the immediate area. In fact, the area was considered to be â€Å"range† land where a few head of cattle managed to find enough to eat in this dry, desert-like environment. The size and construction of the well indicated that at one time it may have served a considerable number of people and possibly even an old Hawaiian village. Unfortunately the well had been abandoned and neglected. It contained a fair amount of decaying leaves and grass. There was also a considerable amount of broken glass from beer bottles that had been thrown against the interior sides of the well. This was probably done by shore fishermen who frequented the area from time to time and used the well as a convenient trash dump during evening camping parties. Nonetheless, the well serves as an excellent example of the Ghyben-Herzberg lens’s importance to the availability of fresh water in a place where one might think that none can be found. I already had listed some differences of salt water versus fresh water so here are some similarities;

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ethics In Health Care Essay

Because there are not enough organs available for everyone, some system for allocating scarce resources is needed. Currently there is no one method used to decide who should get an available organ first. The decision making procedure is sometimes called distributive justice theory [1] which states that there is not one â€Å"right† way to distribute organs, but rather many ways a person could justify giving an organ to one particular individual over someone else. Criteria can include: 1. To each person an equal share; 2. To each person according to need; 3. To each person according to effort; 4. To each person according to contribution; 5. To each person according to merit; 6. To each person according to free-market exchanges. Both Mickey Mantle and Todd Krampitz were entitled to a transplant by at least one of these criteria. According to equal access, organs are to be allocated based on objective factors aimed to limit bias and unfair distribution, but there is no truly fair criteria. Length of time waiting, should be balanced with rate of health decline, and age discrimination is unfair as well. The dilemma of whether Mantle or Krempitz should have gotten their transplants is based on our human desire to establish the â€Å"worthiness† of the individual case. Because Mantle caused his liver deterioration by the choice of excessive drinking, it is easy to think him less worthy than a child or adult who had no opportunity to avoid their situation [2]. No one said Krempitz would not have gotten a transplant eventually, or that his need for the transplant was avoidable by his prior actions. Krempitz took advantage of the situation that a clear pathway for transplant decisions does not exist, and bypassed the doctor-valuation process. If the source of the organ would not have donated otherwise, then Krempitz did not do anything unethical since he did not take away someone else’s chance to have that particular organ. If the ad led to additional unplanned donations, then he even helped others. However, if he did step in front of someone else who was â€Å"in line† that would be breaking the rules. But it is unclear whether it is unethical, since it is possible that the rules of the queue are unethical themselves. At best what he did can be considered crass and dangerous, since the possibility existed that someone could have killed someone to get the money offered for the implant. The problem with equal access approach is that some human has to make the value judgment of what is fair and equal access. Some who believe in equal access distribution would also like to have an organ distribution process free of medical or social worthiness biases. Making a decision on whether a person could have avoided their problem by lifestyle choices is effectively a social punishment on those who squandered their health. On the other hand maximum benefit criteria is to maximize the number of successful transplants and minimize waste. This is a resource responsible approach and seems a more reasonable way to make the choice. It also covers those whose lifestyle caused their problems, since more often than not someone who has abused their body has other damage in addition to the organ in question, and should have higher likelihood of dying from other factors, making them less potentially successful than others. According to the Pope [3]: â€Å"The decision on who’s first in line to receive organs can be based only on medical factors, – not a person’s age, sex, race, religion, social standing, usefulness to society or any other criteria.† Personally I think that the choice of who gets the transplant ought to be made first based on the expected prognosis (likelihood the procedure will be successful and the patient have full recovery). For two people for whom there is equal chance of success, then money or insurance should not be the deciding factor on who gets the organ. Instead the age of the person, their responsibilities to other dependent humans (many children etc.), and possibly waiting period should be considered. In this case Mantle probably would not have gotten the transplant since he was not expected to survive long, anyway. [1] The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy webpage. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/. [2] Ubel PA, Jepson C, Baron J, et.al. Allocation of transplantable organs: do people want to punish patients for causing their illness? Liver Transplant, 2001; 7(7):600-7. [3] Norton, J., 2000 Catholic News Service http://www.catholicherald.com/cns/transplants.htm SUPPORTERS OF

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Cat in the Rain – Woman the Inequality

CHAPTER TWO SEMANTICS AND STRUCTURE OF VERBAL PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS The subject matter of our graduation paper is semantics and structure of verbal phraseological units . The English language is extremely rich in verbal phraseological units due to their grammatical features and the diversity of their structural types. It is known that the verb is endowed with the richest grammatical categories in the system of the parts of speech. The same grammatical features pass from the verb to verbal idioms. Becoming a component of an idiom, the verb endows its idiom with its grammatical and functional characteristic features.The classification system of phraseological units suggested by Professor A. V. Koonin is the latest outstanding achievement in the Russian theory of phraseology. The classification is based on the combined structural – semantic principle and it also considers the quotient of stability of phraseological units ( ?. ?. , ?. ?. , ?. ?. , , 2008 ). Phraseological unit s are subdivided into the following four classes according to their function in communication determined by their structural – semantic characteristics. 1.Nominative phraseological units are represented by word – groups, including the ones with one meaningful word, and coordinative phrases of the type wear and tear. The first class also includes word- groups with a predicative structure, such as the crow flies, and, also, predicative phrases of the type see how the land lies, ships that pass in the night. 2. Nominative – communicative phraseological units include word- groups of the type to break the ice – the ice is broken, verbal word- groups which are transformed into a sentence when the verb is used in the Passive Voice. 3.Phraseological units which are neither nominative nor communicative include interjectional word- groups. 4. Communicative phraseological units are represented by proverbs and sayings. Thus, verbal idioms belong to the class of nomin ative and nominative – communicative phraseological units, due to the fact that some of them are word – combinations, while others can be both word –combinations and sentences. Word- groups may be generally described through the pattern of arrangement of the constituent members. The term â€Å" syntactic structure â€Å" implies the description of the order and arrangement of member – words as parts of speech.We may, for instance, describe the word – group as made up of an Adjective and a Noun ( clever man, red flower, etc. ), a Verb – a Noun ( take books, build houses , etc. ) , or a Noun, a Preposition and a Noun ( a touch of colour, a matter of importance, etc. ). The syntactic structure of the nominal groups â€Å" clever man† and â€Å" red flower† may be represented as A+ N, that of the verbal groups â€Å" take books† and â€Å" build houses† as V+ N. These formulas can be used to describe all the possibl e structures of English word – groups. We can say , e. . , that the verbal groups comprise the following structural formulas: V+N ( to build houses), V+ prp +N ( to rely on somebody ), V+ N+ prp +N (to hold something against somebody ), V+N+V ( to make somebody work), V+V (to get to know ). The structure of word-groups may be also described in relation to the head – word, e. g. the structure of the same verbal groups ( to build houses, to rely on somebody ) is represented as to build +N, to rely +on +N. In this case it is usual to speak of the patterns of word – groups but not of formulas.The term â€Å" pattern â€Å" implies that we are speaking of the structure of the word – group in which a given word is used as its head. The interdependence of the pattern and meaning of head – words can be easily perceived by comparing word – groups of different patterns in which the same head-word is used. For example, in verbal groups the head †“ word mean is semantically different in the patterns mean +iV ( mean something ) and mean + V ( inf. ) ( mean to do something). Three patterns with the verb get as the head – word represent three different meanings of this verb, e. g. get +N ( get a letter, information, money, etc. , get +to +N( get to London, to the Institute, etc. ) , get + N+V (inf. ) (get somebody to come, to do the work ). Broadly speaking we may conclude that as a rule the difference in the meaning of the head – word is conditioned by a difference in the pattern of the word – group in which this word is used. In the same way as we speak of word patterns, the structure of phraseological units is also based on certain patterns. We are going to focus on verbal phraseological units which compared to free word –groups discussed above have structural stability, semantic unity and figurativeness.The structure of the English phraseological units is much more variegated. Within English ve rbal idioms the following syntactical relations are observed: 1. Verb + direct object 1) To beat the air – to do nothing 2) To crack the whip – Coll. To use one’s power or influence over other people in a vigorous or severe manner; be in control 3) To ride the storm – to control or deal with a situation of great disorder or violence 4) To bell the cat – Coll, rather old- fash . To take a risk or do something that is dangerous, esp. for the good of others 5) To give the chop – Coll. To dismiss someone from his job ; to destroy a plan, idea 2.Verb + prepositional object 1) To clutch at a straw – Coll. To be willing to try anything to get out of a dangerous, difficult situation 2) To strain at a gnat – Not fml. To trouble oneself about a matter of no importance 3) To cut with a knife – Not fml. To be able to feel the emotions and opinions of the people in a room, esp. when these are unpleasant 4) To play with fire – Not fml. To take risks, esp. when these are foolish and unnecessary 5) To fall on deaf ears – to be or remain unnoticed or disregarded 3. Verb + direct object + prepositional object 1) To kill two birds with one stone – to fulfill two purposes with one action ) To keep the wolf from the door – Coll. Often humor. To prevent hunger 3) To put the kibosh on – Coll. To spoil or prevent a plan from happening or being successful 4) To get a kick from – Coll. To get a feeling of pleasure, excitement, or enjoyment from 5) To get one’s hands on –Not fml. To get hold of something or someone violently; seize 4. Verb + indirect object + direct object 1) To give his head – Not fml. To allow someone do what he wants 2) To give her the gun – Coll. To increase speed when driving a vehicle, esp. a car 3) To show a clean pair of heels – Not fml. To run away as fast as possible from someone or something ) To do justice – to sh ow the true value of a person or thing; treat a person or thing as he /it deserves 5. Verb + adverb 1) To sweep under the carpet – Not fml. To hide or forget something shameful, unpleasant 2) To drive into a corner – Not fml. To put a person into a difficult or awkward situation 3) To throw down the gauntlet – to invite someone to fight, argue, defend himself or his opinions 4) To sit on one’s hands – Not fml. To do nothing; be inactive 6. Verb + object + adverb 1) To build castles in the air – to have dreams, hopes, or desires that are unlikely to become reality ) To have a finger in every pie – Not fml. To be concerned in some way with a large number of different plans, arrangements at the same time 3) To keep one’s finger on the pulse – Coll. To know exactly what is happening in an organization, society, etc. 4) To have one foot in the grave – Coll, often humor. To be very old or ill; be near death 5) To have a frog in one’s throat – Not fml. To be unable to speak clearly because one needs to cough or has a sore throat From the point of view of their grammatical structure verbal idioms are divided into the following groups: ) To be functioning as a link verb and the whole unit expresses state, e. g: 1) To be on a friendly footing with somebody – to behave towards or deal with each other in a friendly way 2) To be the tops – Coll. To be the best of one’s kind; be of very high quality 3) To be between the devil and the deep sea – having two possible courses of action open to one, both of which are dangerous, unpleasant 4) To be one jump ahead of – Not fml. To foresee what a person is likely to do next or what is about to happen and be prepared for it; to keep slightly ahead of something 5) To be at loggerheads – to disagree or quarrel with someoneIdioms beginning with the verb to have also belong here, e. g: 1) To have someone’s blood on one’s hands – to be responsible for someone’s death 2) To have on one’s brain – Not fml. To be continuously thinking or worrying about something 3) To have a maggot in one’s brain – Coll. rare. To have strange ideas or desires 4) To have light fingers – Not fml. To have an ability or a tendency to steal things 5) To have a brain like a sieve – Not fml. To be unable to remember things correctly or keep information in one’s mind b) Idioms beginning with other notional verbs and the whole unit expresses action, e. g: ) To gain ground – to advance, make progress; become more important or powerful 2) To lead a charmed life – Not fml. To have continuous good fortune in avoiding accidents or harm 3) To hit the hay – Coll, To lie down to sleep; go to bed 4) To make a clean breast of smth. – Not fml. To admit to something Verbal phraseological units may be classified in accordance with their structure into : a) One – summit phraseological units They are composed of a notional and a form word , and have one semantic centre , such as : 1) To ask for it – Coll. To behave in a way that causes trouble, anger, etc. , esp. hat causes another person to be violent 2) To come it over – Coll. To show by one’s behavior that one believes oneself to be better than someone 3) To have it in for – Coll. To be determined to cause harm or injury to a person, organization, etc. 4) To jump to it – Coll. To show immediate and rapid willingness, e. g. to obey an order or request b) Many summit phraseological units They are composed of two or more notional words and form words ,and have two or more semantic centres , such as : 1) To take the bull by the horns – Coll. To deal with something difficult boldly or without delay 2) To ill the goose that laid the golden eggs – to destroy the chief cause of one’s profit or success 3 ) To know on which side one’s bread is buttered – Coll. To know what to do in order to be liked or approved of by the people in power 4) To have a millstone round one’s neck – to cause much and continuous trouble to someone 5) To get hold of the wrong end of the stick – Coll. To misunderstand something completely Academician V. V. Vinogradov spoke of the semantic change in phraseological units as â€Å" a meaning resulting from a peculiar chemical combination of words†.This seems a very apt comparison because in both cases between which the parallel is drawn an entirely new quality comes into existence ( ?. ?. , ?. ?. , ?. ?. , , 2008 ). The factors accounting for semantic changes may be subdivided into two groups: Linguistic and Extra-linguistic causes . By extra – linguistic causes we mean various changes in the life of speech community, changes in economic and social structure, changes of ideas, scientific concepts, way of lif e and other spheres of human activities as reflected in word meanings.Although objects, concepts, etc. change in the course of time , yet in many cases the words which denote them are retained, but the meaning of such words is changed. E. g: The phraseological unit â€Å" blow one’s own trumpet – Coll. To praise one’s own ambitions â€Å" arose from the fact that in medieval times heralds welcomed the sound of the trumpet of the knights, coming into the competition. When the social practice had disappeared and the phrase was reinterpreted, the communication between the meaning of the phraseological unit and the literal meanings of its components disrupted.Now the phraseological unit â€Å" blow one’s trumpet† and variable word –combination â€Å"blow one’s trumpet – to play on one’s trumpet † are homonyms. Another phraseological unit is â€Å"show the white feather – Not fml,( becoming rare) to reveal on e’s fear or cowardly feelings. Referring to a cock ( a male chicken) that has been bred for fighting as a sport. If the chicken had any white feathers, it was thought to be badly bred. The phraseological unit â€Å"show the white feather† had spawned in England and Australia, the custom of which is to send a white feather to faces, evading from military services.There are phrasal verbs specific to the English language ,e. g: 1) Give up – to leave ; abandon 2) Let on – to pretend; to tattle. With regard to the nature of these verbal complexes, opinions of linguists differ. They called them compound verbs, verbs with a postposition, postpositive verb with a prefix. These verbs in the English language are usually called phrasal verbs. Recently, a successful term post-verbs has appeared for the second component of these formulations. What is a post-verb? It cannot be a preposition, as it is used only in the verbal complex, and unlike the preposition it is alw ays under the stress.It cannot be an adverb , as it is not marked as a part of the sentence. Consequently, it cannot be a prepositional adverb. To understand the nature of a post-verb , we should mention Smirnitsky’s important statement, that post-verbs are words, as it combines with verbal components, having a paradigm of changing words. Thus, all verbal complexes â€Å" give in, give up, let on , take in † and so on, are stable phrases. The semantic shift affecting phraseological units does not consist in a mere change of meanings of each separate constituent part of the unit.The meanings of the constituents merge to produce an entirely new meaning : e. g. to have a bee in one’s bonnet means â€Å" to have an obsession about something; to be eccentric or even a little mad â€Å". The humorous metaphoric comparison with a person who distracted by a bee continually buzzing under his cap has become erased and half-forgotten, and the speakers using the expressio n hardly think of bees or bonnets but accept it in its transferred sense : â€Å" obsessed, eccentric â€Å". That is what is meant when phrasological units are said to be characterized by semantic unity.It is this feature that makes phraseological units similar to words : both words and phraseological units possess semantic unity. Most Russian scholars today accept the semantic criterion of distinguishing phraseological units from free word – groups as the major one and base their research work in the field of phraseology on the definition of a phraseological unit offered by Professor A. V. Koonin: â€Å"A phraseological unit is a stable word – group characterized by a completely or partially transferred meaning. † The definition clearly suggests that the degree of semantic change in a phraseological unit may vary.In actual fact the semantic change may affect either the whole word – group or only one of its components. Thus, according to the semantic s tructure , verbal idioms are divided into two groups: a) idioms with completely transferred meaning, e. g: 1) To skate on the ice – Coll. To do something dangerous 2) To wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve – Not fml. To allow other people to know what one is feeling; show one’s emotions 3) To have one’s heart in one’s boots – Coll. To feel discouraged or fearful 4) To have one’s heart in one’s mouth – To feel afraid or anxious, e. . when waiting for something to happen 5) To make a mountain out of a molehill – to worry about or become excited about matters that are not really important at all b) idioms with partially transferred meaning in which one of the components preserves its current meaning, the other is used in a transferred meaning, e. g: 1) To break new ground – to do something new, make a discovery 2) To change horses in midstream – Not fml. To change one’s opinion in midd le of something, esp. to decide to support the opposite or a different side 3) To know one’s onions – Coll.To know properly all the information, facts, etc. , concerned with one’s work; be experienced 4) To save one’s skin – Coll. To escape or help someone to escape from a danger Some of the verbal idioms are clearly hyperbolic, for example: 1) Eat out of smb’s hand – Not fml. To have ( a person) in one’s power so that he will do whatever one wishes, esp. because he admires one: Then, having had the fans eating out of his hand he admitted: â€Å"I didn’t enjoy it. I don’t consider myself in show business after just one professional act†. 2) Flog a dead horse – Coll.To keep trying to get satisfaction from something that cannot or can no longer give it : You are flogging a dead horse by asking him to lend you money – he hasn’t even got enough for himself. The idiom refers to a person who beats a horse to make it go even though it is dead, thus to doing something that is completely useless. In many verbal hyperbolic idioms, including borrowed ones , there aren’t corresponding word – combinations and they are based not on real, but imaginary situation. Etymological research provides an opportunity to throw some light on the rigin of some idioms, and then to establish its metaphorical character. So, an idiom â€Å"give smb. the cold shoulder – to be unfriendly to someone, esp. by refusing to speak to or meet him, usually because one is angry , offended †. Unfriendly is not related to people’s shoulder. It means to behave towards someone in a way that is not at all friendly, sometimes for reasons that this person does not understand. Metaphorical character of verbal idioms has been established by comparing the components of verbal idioms with the same words outside the idiom, e. : 1) Hitch one’s wagon to a star – Lit. To have noble or morally improving aims or desires: He was a boy from a poor family who had hitched his wagon to a star and was determined to get a good education for himself. 2) Twist round one’s little finger – Coll. To have the ability to persuade ( a person) to do exactly as one wants : She’ll have no problem getting permission to go on holiday with a friend because she can twist her father round her little finger. Metonomical transformations occur much less in verbal idioms, than metaphorical ones, e. g: 1) Get one’s hand in – Not fml.To obtain or keep one’s skill in a particular activity by practicing it: If you are reasonably clever it won’t take you long to get your hand in at cards. 2) Make a clean breast of smth. – Not fml. To admit to something ; confess: â€Å" Mrs. Lyons, â€Å" said I †¦ â€Å" you are taking a very great responsibility and putting yourself in a very false position by not making an absolutely clean breast of all that you know†. ( Conan Doyle) . From the semantic point of view English verbal idioms may express: 1) Success, happiness, luck 2) Emotions and feelings 3) Relations between people 4) Behaviour 5) Intellect ) Death 7) Features of different phenomena Success, happiness, luck It is known that human life is not cakes and ale as a person has to meet a lot of hardships, which he has to overcome on his way to success. This idea is rendered by such verbal idioms as: 1) To carry the day – Rather rhet. To win in a competition, argument, etc. ; be successful in one’s efforts 2) To be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth – Not fml. To have wealthy parents; be born into a rich family 3) To kill two birds with one stone – to fulfill two purposes with one action 4) To set the Thames on fire – Not fml.To do something wonderful that causes much excitement and gains a wide reputation 5) To gain ground – to advance, make p rogress; become more important or powerful Emotions, feelings 1) To jump out of one’s skin – Coll. To show or have feelings of great shock, fear, or surprise , esp. by moving very suddenly 2) To hang one’s hand – to feel ashamed about something; feel or look guilty, sorry 3) To take it on the chin – ?oll. To suffer ( a misfortune , disappointment) with courage 4) To break smb’s heart – to make or become very sad 5) To have butterflies in one’s stomach – Coll. To feel nervous, anxious, etc. , esp. hen waiting for something Relations between people 1) To be on a friendly footing with somebody – to behave towards or deal with each other in a friendly way 2) To greet somebody with open arms – Not fml. To welcome somebody in a generous way 3) To give somebody the cold shoulder – Coll. To be unfriendly to someone, esp. by refusing to speak to or meet him, usually because one is angry , offended †. 4) To look down one’s nose at somebody – Not fml. To regard somebody or someone with scorn or dislike 5) To rub someone’s nose in it – Not fml. To keep on reminding someone about something he has done wrong, esp. n an unkind manner Behaviour 1) To hold one’s head high – to act proudly or bravely, in front of people, esp. when one has suffered misfortune 2) To put one’s foot down – Coll. To be firm in one’s purpose or desires , e. g. not to allow another person to do something 3) To keep one’s hair on – Coll. To keep calm; not become angry, excited, etc. 4) To keep one’s chin up – Coll. Not to show feelings of fear, sadness, etc. , when faced with disappointments, worries, or difficulties 5) To behave like a bear with a sore head – Coll. To behave impatiently, in a bad – tempered way Intellect ) To have an old head on young shoulders – Rather old–fash. To have the wisd om, judgment, etc. , that is ordinarily found only in an older and more experienced person 2) To rack one’s brains – Not fml. To think hard about something, esp. to try and work out the answer to a difficult problem 3) To have a level head – Not fml. To be calm, sensible and able to judge well, esp. in difficult situations 4) To have one’s head screwed on the right way – Not fml. To be sensible; not silly Death 1) To give up the ghost – Coll. To die ; to stop putting any effort into doing something 2) To be on one’s last legs – Coll.About to die or to fall down from tiredness or illness 3) To go the way of all flesh- Pomp. To die 4) To be called to one’s eternal rest – Euph. To die 5) To kiss the dust – Coll. To die or become ill, or to stop making or being useful 6) To turn up one’s toes – Coll, humor. To die 7) To pay the debt of nature – Old-fash, rather rhet. To die Failure 1) To bu rn one’s fingers – Not fml. To suffer from something that one has done or been concerned with, esp. because one failed to consider the possible results 2) To come a cropper – Coll. To fall badly or heavily, e. . from a horse; to suffer failure or sudden misfortune 3) To be on one’s bones – to be in a difficult situation 4) To get into hot water – Coll. To fall in trouble 5) To get off on the wrong foot – Not fml. To begin something badly Risk 1) To carry( or take) one’s life in one’s hands – to risk one’s life 2) To skate on thin ice – to put oneself in a dangerous position; to take risks 3) To send to his long account – Euph, old-fash. To kill someone 4) To play with fire – Not fml. To take risks, esp. when these are foolish and unnecessary 5) To put all one’s eggs in one basket – Not fml.To allow all one’s hopes for the future to depend on one event or person; to risk all one’s money, time, interest, etc. in one business or effort 6) To risk one’s neck – Not fml. To take a great risk in doing something Deception 1) To hand smb. a lemon – to cheat, deceive somebody 2) To throw dust in someone’s eyes – Coll. To confuse someone or take his attention away from something that one does not wish him to see or know about 3) To play cat and mouse with – Not fml. To confuse someone unintentionally; deceive someone, esp. by keeping him from realizing what is actually happening to him 4) To pull one’s leg – Coll.To make fun of a person in a friendly way, e. g. by trying to make him believe something that is not true 5) To make a fool of smb. – Not fml. To cause oneself to appear stupid or foolish Euphemism plays an important role in the creation of idiomatic synonyms among verbal phraseological units. For instance synonyms of the verb to die are very numerous: 1) To breathe oneâ€℠¢s last – Rather rhet. To die 2) To give up the ghost – Coll. To die 3) To join the great majority – Old-fash, euph. To die 4) To pay the debt of nature – Old-fash, rather rhet. To die 5) To turn up one’s toes – Coll, humor.To die Another example is the synonyms of the verb to irritate, to annoy : 1) To get smb’s goat – Coll. To cause someone much annoyance 2) To make smb’s blood boil – Not fml. To cause someone to be angry 3) To rub the wrong way – Coll. To annoy or cause offence to a person According to Professor A. V. Koonin verbal idioms are divided into non-comparative and comparative idioms. Non–comparative verbal idioms are phraseological units with subordinate or coordinative structure. The number of verbal idioms with coordinative structure is very few. Their characteristic feature is the two-term structure.In phraseology there are two types of coordinative connections: connective – c oordinative and separative – coordinative connection. Connective – coordinative connection : Verbal idioms of this type are usually pairs of synonymous idioms: 1) Bill and coo – Not fml. , rather old-fash. To show love in a playful way, esp. by kissing and whispering to each other: He took his girlfriend home after the party and they stayed in the car billing and cooing for a long time before she went into her house. 2) Hum and haw – Coll. To speak without saying exactly what one means , e. g. hen one needs more time to consider a matter: He always hums and haws before taking a firm decision. Separative – coordinative connection: There are very few verbal idioms of this type. They include such idioms as: 1) Sink or swim – Not fml. To be safe , succeed, etc. , or suffer complete failure or loss: He has refused to give us any more help, and has left us to sink and swim by our own efforts. 2) Stand or fall – to be completely dependent on ( a principle, the result of uncertain situation, etc. ) for one’s continued existence, good fortune, etc. : We stand or fall by our belief in free speech.Idioms with subordinate structure can have the objective or the objective – adverbial functions. Verbal idioms, expressing objective relations, may have different structures. The simplest form is a combination of a verb with a noun. Below are given examples: 1) Eat crow – Coll. To be forced to change what one has said, admit that one was wrong , etc. , esp. in order to appear more humble: I was cheered up when a letter arrived from Luria that the situation might be smoothed over if we appeared to eat crow. ( James D. Watson) 2) Raise Cain – Coll. To make a noise or trouble, esp. y complaining or arguing: Somewhere to the left of me Sebastian and Mulcaster were raising Cain. Sebastian †¦. seemed in a frenzy and was pounding the door, and shouting†¦( Evelyn Waugh) Nouns can be used both with def inite and indefinite articles: 1) Bear a cross – Not fml. To support or tolerate a heavy weight of sorrow, inconvenience, suffering, etc. : The poor woman has to bear a cross – her husband is too ill to work. 2) Drop a brick – Coll. To make a mistake, esp. to do or say something wrong or unsuitable in a particular situation: I was dismissed from my job because I had dropped a few bricks in front of some important customers.Many verbal idioms, consisting of a noun , which have the forms of singular and plural numbers are denoted by their real phenomena. For example: 1) Keep one’s head above water – Not fml. To keep out of debt : I need 50$ this month to keep my head above water. 2) Set one’s cap at smb. – Coll, rather old- fash. To try to make ( a man) notice her, esp. in order to make him marry her: They had a chauffeur who was about 18 or 19 and undoubtedly set her cap at him and he became her boyfriend. Plural number of nouns is oft en used in one of the components of phraseological units.So, the word â€Å"spurs† in an idiom† win one’s spurs – to show one’s true ability or courage for the first time; gain fame † can be used only in the plural form, because when a man was made a knight , the king would give him not one , but a pair of golden spurs. There are several examples of verbal idioms, in which noun is used only in plural form, because they stand for the action, carried out not by one person or entity designated by them, e. g: 1) Be on pins and needles – Not fml. To be in a state of excitement and anxiety: He was on pins and needles while he was answering my questions . 2) Burn one’s fingers – Not fml.To suffer from something that one has done or been concerned with, esp. because one failed to consider the possible results: â€Å" Anyone who wants to leave this nice warm market , and go out into the blizzard , will get his fingers burnt. 3) Dr aw in one’s horns – Coll . To hold back or control one’s actions, e. g. to spend less money : And if we don’t get some extra money from somewhere we shall have to draw our horns in pretty sharply. ( Iris Murdoch) In some verbal idioms the plural number of a noun does not depend on the number of a person, carrying out the action, denoted by this idioms, it epends on the number of objects. Sometimes in idioms, where the action is carried out by several people, the plural form is not definitively established, and the idiom also occurs in the singular. This phenomenon has been observed in such idiom, as: 1) Cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face – Coll. To do something because of anger, hurt pride, etc. , that harms oneself or one’s own interests: By refusing to work they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces because the company will close down.There are several examples of verbal idioms, in which the noun is always used only in singular form, not depending on the number of persons, carrying out the action, indicated by the phraseological unit, e. g: 1) Carry a stiff upper lip – Not fml. Refusal to complain or show emotion or fear when faced with difficulty or danger; calmness: The old general praised the boys for keeping a stiff upper lip in time of trouble. 2) Cook smb’s goose – Coll. To ruin the chances of success of a person, organization, etc. : My boyfriend has cooked his goose with me – I don’t want to see him again. ) Not to have a leg to stand on – Not fml. To have no good defence for one’s actions or opinions: After the results of the test had shown that his plan would not work, he hadn’t a leg to stand on. Several verbal idioms are used only in the negative forms: 1) Not to see a wood for the trees – not to have a clear and complete understanding of something because of the great number of small and unimportant details that d emand one’s attention: The main purpose of education is too often forgotten – because of all the present arguments about different types of schools we are in danger of not seeing the wood for the trees. ) Not to know whether one is on one’s head or one’s heels – Coll. To be in a very uncertain and confused state : not to know what to do next : At the end of a Saturday morning when his shop was very busy the poor shopkeeper didn’t know whether he was on his head or his heels. There are a lot of verbal idioms in English mostly with prepositions expressing objective – adverbial relations. E. g: 1) Have a millstone round one’s neck – to cause much and continuous trouble to someone: You know how selfish your brother is – if he comes to live with us he ‘ll be a millstone round our neck. ) Beat ( knock or run) one’s head against a brick (or stone) wall – Coll. To try to do or obtain something difficul t with very little hope of success: It is like knocking your head against a brick wall to try to keep the house tidy while the children are at home from school. Non – prepositional idioms of this type are very few: 1) Hold one’s head high – to act proudly or bravely, in front of people, esp. when one has suffered misfortune: I have boasted in my youth and held my head high and gone on my way careless of consequences†¦( Evelyn Waugh) 2) Put one’s foot down – Coll. . To be firm in one’s purpose or desires, e. g. not to allow ( another person) to do something 2. To increase speed when driving a vehicle, esp. a car: I don’t like driving fast , so I get really afraid when he puts his foot down. Alternants are pronouns – â€Å" one, one’s, oneself, somebody, smb’s, something â€Å" , which usually make up an idiom. Alternants can be replaced by other pronouns, nouns or word – combinations in accordance wit h the requirements of the speech situation.The pronoun â€Å" one â€Å" is usually replaced by one of the personal pronouns in the objective case, the pronoun â€Å" one’s â€Å"- by one of the possessive pronouns, the pronoun â€Å" oneself â€Å" – by one of the reflexive pronouns, the pronoun â€Å" somebody â€Å" – by one of the personal pronouns, a noun or a variable word – combination, the pronoun â€Å" smb’s â€Å" – by one of the possessive pronouns, a noun in a genitive case , the pronoun â€Å" something â€Å" – by a noun, a variable word – combination, or by a sentence . Below are given several examples , which illustrate different uses of alternants: ) Take one’s time – not to hurry; be slow and careful: Don’t rush . Just take your time and tell me clearly what happened. 2) Take oneself in hand – to take ( a person or thing ) under one’s control, esp. to try to make improvements: You ‘ve been very badly behaved recently. I can see I shall have to take you in hand. 3) Get smb. ’s goat – Coll. To cause someone much annoyance: The way he refuses to admit his mistakes gets my goat. 4) Give smb. the cold shoulder – Coll. To be unfriendly to someone, esp. by refusing to speak to or meet him, usually because one is angry , offendedIndefinite pronoun â€Å" smth. â€Å" is often replaced by a noun, a substantive word – combination or less subordinate clauses: 1) Know smth. from A to Z ( or like a palm of one’s hand) – Not fml. To know from the beginning to the end: thoroughly and completely : The teacher knew his subject from A to Z. Indefinite – personal pronoun â€Å" one’s â€Å" is used in the case , when the action is performed by a particular person , directed to him , for example: 1) Put one’s tail between one’s legs – Not fml. To put someone in a sad and unh appy manner.Replacing the pronoun â€Å" one’s â€Å" with a pronoun â€Å" smb’s â€Å" in such idiom is impossible. The pronoun â€Å" one’s† is also used in those verbal idioms, which represent the action of a particular person, directed to something, for example: 1) Play one’s cards right – Coll. To act in a correct or clever way in order to gain an advantage in a particular situation: If you play your cards right you may get an increase in pay . The pronoun â€Å" one’s† can be used in idioms, denoting the state of a particular person or object, for example: 1) Be on one’s last legs – Coll.To die or to fall down from tiredness or illness; ( of an organization) close to ruin; about to stop operating: Godspell was on its last legs until the influx of tourists postponed its demise until October. The pronoun â€Å" smb’s† is also used in such cases, when the act , done by one person, directed to another person, for example: 1) Pull smb’s leg – Coll. To make fun of a person in a friendly way, e. g. by trying to make him believe something that is not true: Many people have phoned in to report seeing the kangaroo†¦ â€Å" We thought people were pulling our legs when they first reported seeing him, â€Å" a police spokesman said yesterday.Usefulness of such a distinction, especially from the lexicographic point of view , one can see from the following examples: 1) Keep one’s nose to the grindstone – Coll. To keep working, esp. hard and without a rest Keep smb’s nose to the grindstone – Coll. To make somebody work without a rest 2) Stay one’s hand – Rather old- fash. To stop or delay from taking an action Stay smb’s hand – Rather old- fash. To stop or delay someone from taking an action. Predicative verbal idioms occur not only among substantives, but also among verbal idioms. They have both completely and partially transferred meaning.Below are given several examples of predicative verbal idioms: 1) Bite off more than one can chew – Not fml. To try to do too much or something that is too difficult: John bit off more than he could chew when he decided to have a race with the best runner in the school. There is a comparative subordinate clause . in the second part of phraseological unit. 2) Know how many beans make five, know what o’clock it is, know what is what – Not fml. To understand what the situation is or how a system works: He ‘s a man who knows what’s what in the world of business – he’s sure to get rich.Predicative verbal idioms are not only characterized by an antecedent, expressed in one word, – know, see, strike, watch, but an antecedent expressed in a combination, – bite off more, know or see (on) which side, see or watch how (or which way). Some of above mentioned idioms have one literal meaning , as thei r antecedent retains its literal meaning, for example â€Å" watch how the cat jumps† , but it can also be completely transferred , for example â€Å" bite off more than one can chew, strike while the iron is hot†.Thus, predicative verbal idioms are characterized by semantic complexity of two types: first is a combination of non transferred antecedent with transferred relative clause, second is a combination of both transferred antecedent and transferred relative clause. Predicative verbal idioms have a characteristic expressive – evaluative function. Morphological features of non- comparative verbal idioms: Words in phraseological units have different features compared with the same word outside a phraseological unit, e. g: Pull smb’s leg – Coll. To make fun of a person in a friendly way, e. g. y trying to make him believe smth. that is not true: Many people have phoned in to report seeing the kangaroo †¦Ã¢â‚¬  We thought people were pulling our legs when they first reported seeing him , â€Å" a police spokesman said yesterday. The verb of this idiom is used in the following forms: Present Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect ( Passive Voice). Undoubtedly, the above mentioned forms are the commonest . Thus, the verb in this idiom is used predominantly in several forms, while as a separate word the verb â€Å"pull† can be used in all forms.The imperative mood is possible, but it occurs in negative forms: Don’t pull my leg. You went to the theatre (A. J. Cronin). In several verbal idioms verbs are used only in the passive voice: 1) Be gathered to one’s fathers – euph. To die 2) Be thrown on one’s beam-end – Coll. To be in a difficult situation, esp. one in which one has no money : Many organizations are on their beam ends at the moment because of a lack of public support. But there are idioms which are never used in the passive voice : 1) Make bricks without straw – Rather old – fash.To attempt to do or make something without having the necessary materials 2) Steal a march on smb. – to gain an advantage over someone by doing something earlier than expected : The government had intended to limit the wage increases of all workers to a reasonable amount , but several trade unions stole a march on them by receiving very large increases before the new laws came into existence. Alliteration is widely used in verbal idioms. There can be repetition between two sounds and they are divided into three groups: 1) In the first and the last lexemes: 1. Burn one’s boats – Coll.To go so far in a course of action that one cannot turn back: I changed my mind about giving up my job, but unfortunately I had burnt my boats by telling my boss that I was leaving. 2. Get smb’s goat – Coll. To cause someone much annoyance: The way he refuses to admit his mistakes gets my goa t. 2) In the last two lexemes : 1. Be on one’s last legs – Coll. To die or to fall down from tiredness or illness; ( of an organization) close to ruin; about to stop operating: Godspell was on its last legs until the influx of tourists postponed its demise until October. . Put one’s best foot forward – Coll. To be firm in one’s purpose or desires, e. g. not to allow to do something: When are they going to let Matt put his foot down and bring the twins back where they belong ? 3) In the lexemes, which occupy other positions in an idiom: 1. Keep one’s cards close to one’s chest – Coll. To be very secretive; not make known one’s advantages all at once : He had to keep his cards close to his chest in order to get the best possible contract. We come across repetition of three sounds very rarely, for example: ) Cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth – Coll. To remain within the limits of what one has or w hat one can afford, esp. when spending money: They have had another baby; They will have very little money and will have to cut their coat according to their cloth. 2) Make a mountain out of a molehill – to worry about or become excited about matters that are not really important at all: I’m sure he’ll give you the money back when he gets paid, so there’s no need to start making mountains out of a molehills.Comparative verbal phraseological units : The first components of comparative verbal idioms are used in their literal meaning, while other components are intensifiers and qualifiers, semantic differentiators of the first components. As comparative verbal idioms are not used in the passive voice, so they can’t be transformed into sentences, they are always phrasemes. These verbal idioms always have a subordinate structure. Comparative verbal idioms are divided into three groups from the semantic point of view: 1) Verbs of negative evaluation â₠¬â€œ hate, lie, swear ) Verbs of positive evaluation – fit, get on 3) Verbs of a neutral evaluation – drink, eat, feel, follow, sleep, speak, spread, talk, treat, work and so on. Attention should be paid to the predominance of verbs with a neutral evaluation. In verbal idioms with the verbs of positive and negative evaluation, the second component only emphasizes it: 1) Hate smb. like poison – to hate smb, very much: The general was more interested in his personal glory than in the comfort of the ordinary soldiers, and he was hated like poison by all his men. 2) Swear like a trooper – Coll, rather old-fash.To use bad language in an unrestrained manner: He swore like a trooper when I complained about his work. 3) Fit smb. like a glove – to fit ( a person) perfectly: It was clever of you to guess my size correctly – the new coat that you bought fits me like a glove. In comparative verbal idioms a second component is expressed by animal names, names of birds, fish and real or imaginative phenomena by which the basis of comparative idioms are expressed: 1) Die like a dog – Not fml. To die in conditions of great shame, pain, etc. : They were in prison for weeks without food and then died like dogs. ) Eat like a horse – Coll. To eat a great deal: †¦I am underweight and worry about it†¦ and although I eat like a horse , it doesn’t seem to help . 3) Fight like cat and dog – Coll. To quarrel or argue fiercely , esp. very often : Flood says : â€Å" We still love each other very much . But we fight like cat and dog. There are several comparative verbal idioms which refer to people: 1) Have a head like a sieve – Not fml. To be unable to remember things correctly or keep information in one’s mind : I was introduced to her twice, but I still can’t remember her name – I’ve got a head like a sieve.Several verbal idioms never refer to people, for example : 1) Se ll like hot cakes – Coll. To be bought or taken quickly, e. g. because of being very popular or cheap: Last year she contributed 40 pointings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They sell like absolute hot cakes if you only ask 25$. 2) Spread like wildfire – to spread from one person to another very quickly: The news of his success spread like a wildfire among all his friends. Nature of meaning of idioms, including comparative verbal idioms, may vary depending on whether it applies to one object or more than one object. So, a verbal idiom â€Å" hate smb. like poison – to hate smb, very much. in the sentence â€Å" She hates him like poison. † It means that she mortally hates him, but he certainly didn’t hate her. His attitude towards her is specified in the context. Plurality of objects means mutual hatred. In all the above mentioned comparative verbal idioms , except the idioms with the verbs â€Å" feel â€Å" and â€Å" look† , the second component is a le xeme. In several comparative verbal idioms , as a second component, appears not a lexeme, but a combination of lexemes, for example: 1) Fight like cat and dog – Coll. To quarrel or argue fiercely , esp. very often : Flood says : â€Å" We still love each other very much .But we fight like cat and dog. 2) Drop smb. or smth. like a hot potato – to get rid of something dangerous, unmanted as quickly as possible: When he found out she had no money after all he dropped her like a hot potato. 3) Go ( go off or sell) like hot cakes – Coll. To be bought or taken quickly, e. g. because of being very popular or cheap: Last year she contributed 40 pointings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  They sell like absolute hot cakes if you only ask 25$. In some cases, the connection between the first component and combination of lexemes is non – motivated , for example: 1) Fight like Kilkenny cats – Not fml.To fight fiercely: Those two children will fight like Kilkenny cats if I leave t hem alone in the house. Referring to a story that some soldiers in the Irish town of Kilkenny once tied two cats together by their tails and made them fight. The fight was so fierce that all that was left of the cats was their tails. The fight lasted until the end of 19 century and led to a mutual destruction. Legend, being the basis for this expression, has been forgotten for a long time, which has created non motivation of the whole phrase in Modern English, since the expression has no meaning in literal sense.Conclusion After analyzing semantics and structure of verbal phraseological units , we come to the following conclusions: 1) Idioms, characterized by structural stability and completely or partially transferred meaning , are widely used in the language conducting expressiveness, colour to the thought expressed. The notion of idiomaticity represented by phraseology is of special significance for linguistic survey for it appears in many structural varieties and yields certain distinct patterns – some perhaps universal, others characteristic of one specific language only . ) There is a great difference between free word- groups and idioms. It is considered to be the most controversial problem in the field of phraseology. In an idiom words are not independent. They form set-expressions, in which neither words nor the order of words can be changed. Free word-groups are formed in the process of speech according to the standards of the language, while phraseological units exist in the language side by side with separate words. In a free word-group each of its constituents preserves its denotational meaning.In the case of phraseological units however the denotational meaning belongs to the word group as a single semantically inseparable unit. 3) The English language is extremely rich in verbal phraseological units. Verbal idioms belong to the class of nominative and nominative – communicative phraseological units, due to the fact that some of the m are word – combinations, while others can be both word – combinations and sentences. Verbal idioms can have completely or partially transferred meaning and they are divided into non – comparative and comparative idioms. ) The structure of the English verbal phraseological units is variegated. Word – groups and phraseological units possess not only the lexical meaning, but also the meaning conveyed mainly by the pattern of arrangement of their constituents. Not only the order , but also the substitution of one of the elements may lead to semantic differences or to entirely different phraseological units. 5) Free word – combinations can never be polysemantic, while there are polysemantic verbal phraseological units. 6) Among verbal phraseological units there are two – top units ( ) .The grammar centre of such units is the verb , the semantic centre in many cases is the nominal component. In some units the verb is both the grammar and the sem antic centre. These verbal phraseological units can be perfectly idiomatic as well. Bibliography 1. ?. : : ?.?. , 1986. 2. ?. . , 1973 3. ?. . , 2009. 4. ?. ?. . . , 1963 5. ?. ?. . , 2008. . ?. ?. , . , 1980 7. . . , 1983 8. ?. ?. ? . , 1971 9. ?. ?. , ?. ?. , ?. ?. , 1974 10. ?. ?. . , 1996 11. ?. ?.. . , 1987 12. ?. ?. . , 1998 13. ?. ?.. , 1966 14. Antrushina G. B. , Afanasyeva , O. V. , Morozova, N.N. English Lexicology. Moscow, 1985 15. Arnold I. V. The English word. Moscow, 1986 16. Ginzburg R. S. , Khidekel S. S. A course in Modern English Lexicology. Moscow, 1979 17. Koonin A . English Lexicology. Moscow, 1948 18. Makkai A. Idiom structure in English. The Hague , 1972 19. Minaeva L. English Lexicology and Lexicography. Moscow, 2007 20. Palmer . F. R. Semantics. A new outline , Moscow: 1982 Dictionaries 21. ?. , ?. . , 1975 22. ?. ?. – . , 1967 23. Longman dictionary of English idioms.Printed by Butler and T anner, LTD. London, 1984 24. Oxford dictionary. Oxford University Press, New York, 2007 CHAPTER ONE GENERAL OUTLINE OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS ( PROBLEMS, CLASSIFICATIONS, DEFINITIONS ) Idioms have always attracted the attention of linguists, literary critics, sociologists and philosophers. Enriching the literary language, representing a bright example of purity, accuracy of content and sharpness of language, idioms are of great importance in the treasury of culture and have become of genuine interest for linguists and researchers of various spheres of communication.If synonyms can be figuratively referred to as the tints and colours of the vocabulary, then phraseology is a kind of picture gallery in which are collected vivid and amusing sketches of the nation’s customs, traditions and prejudices, recollections of its past history, and fairy-tales. Being an inseparable part of the language, idioms have a special position within it. They represent what can probably be described a s the most picturesque, colourful and expressive part of the language’s vocabulary ( ?. ?. , ?. ?. , ?. ?. , 2008 ).The stock of words of the language consists not only of separate words , but also of set expressions, which alongside with separate words serve as means of expressing concepts. There exist two terms which are to denote set expressions: â€Å"idioms† and â€Å"phraseological units†. An idiom or idiomatic phrase, is often defined as a phrase, developing a meaning which cannot be readily analyzed into the several distinct ideas which would ordinarily be expressed by the words composing the phrase. It transcends the ordinary syntactical constructions and must be studied as grammatical unit, or entity ,in itself.On the other hand, â€Å"idiom† is a very broad term and includes all the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the language –its peculiar syntactical constructions, and other conventional practices of unusual character. The ter m â€Å"idiom† is widely used by western scholars, mainly English and American linguists. N. N. Amosov? defines phraseological units as units of fixed context, i. e. phrases with a specific sequence of certain lexical components and peculiar semantic relations between them. In these terms , phraseological units are classified into phrasemes and idioms.Phrasemes are binary phrases in which one of the components has a phraseologically bound meaning dependent on the other. Idioms as distinguished from phrasemes are characterized by integral meaning and idiomaticity of the whole word-group ( ?. ?. , ?. ?. , ?. ?. , , 2008 ). According to Rosemarie Glaser’s theory a phraseological unit is a lexicalized, reproducible bilexemic or polylexemic word group in common use, which has relative syntactic and semantic stability, may be idiomatized, may carry connotations and may have an emphatic or intensifying function in a text (Glaser R. 998:125). Glaser includes both word-lik e and sentence-like units in the phrasicon, terming word-like units â€Å"nominations†, which designate a phenomenon , an object, an action, a process or state, a property in the outside world, and sentence-like ones â€Å"propositions†, which designate a whole state of affairs in the outside world. She further subdivides nominations into idioms and non-idioms having transparent meanings, and including technical terms, cliches, etc. ( ?. , , 2009 ).Attempts have been made to approach phraseology in different ways. There is a divergence of opinions as to the nature and essential features of phraseological units, how to distinguish them from free word groups, how to define and how to classify them. This is probably the most discussed and one of the most important problems in the field of phraseology. The complexity of the problem may be largely accounted for by the fact that the borderline between free word-groups and phraseological units is not clearly defined.The s o –called free word-groups are but relatively free as collocability of member-words is fundamentally delimited by their lexical and grammatical valency which makes at least some of them very close to set-phrases. Phraseological units are but comparatively stable and semantically inseparable. Between the extremes of complete motivation and variability of member-words and lack of motivation combined with complete stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure there are innumerable borderline cases. However, the existing terms, e. g. et-phrases, idioms, word-equivalents, reflect to a certain extent the main debatable issues of phraseology which centre in the divergent views concerning the nature and essential features of phraseological units as distinguished from the so-called free word-groups. The term â€Å"set-phrase† implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups. The t erm â€Å"idiom† generally implies that the essential feature of linguistic units under consideration is idiomaticity or lack of motivation.This term habitually used by English and American linguists is very often treated as synonymous with the term â€Å"phraseological unit†. The term â€Å"word-equivalent† stresses not only semantic but also functional inseparability of certain word-groups, their aptness to function in speech as single words. The criterion of stability of lexical components and idiomaticity of word-groups are viewed as not necessarily coexisting in phraseological units. It is argued that stability of lexical components does not presuppose lack of motivation.It follows that stability and idiomaticity are regarded as two different aspects of word-groups. Stability is an essential feature of set-phrases both motivated and non-motivated. Idiomaticity is a distinguishing feature of phraseological units or idioms which comprise both stable set-phras es and variable word-groups. The two features are not mutually exclusive and may be overlapping, but are not interdependent. Word-groups are structurally complex units consisting of formally separable elements, which are functionally equivalent to separate words.So they are independent parts of the sentence. Whereas in an idiom words are not independent. They form set-expressions, in which neither words nor the order of words can be changed. Free word-groups are formed in the process of speech according to the standards of the language, while phraseological units exist in the language side by side with separate words. In a free word-group each of its constituents preserves its denotational meaning. In the case of phraseological units however the denotational meaning belongs to the word group as a single semantically inseparable unit.It’s worth mentioning that idiom is a complex phenomenon with a number of features, which can therefore be approached from different points of vi ew. Hence, there exist a considerable number of different classification systems devised by different scholars and based upon different principles. The oldest principle for classifying idioms is based on their original content and is known as â€Å"thematic† (this term however is not universally accepted). On this principle, idioms are classified according to their sources of origin. The word â€Å"source† refers to the particular sphere of human activity, of life, of nature.The â€Å"thematic† principle of classifying idioms has a real merit, but it does not take into consideration the linguistic features of the idioms. The first classification system, which was based on semantic principle, was suggested by acad. V. V. Vinogradov, who developed some points first advanced by the Swiss scientist Charles Bally. Acad. V. V. Vinogradov spoke of the semantic change in idioms as a â€Å"meaning resulting from a peculiar chemical combination of words†. He descri bed idioms as lexical complexes which cannot be freely made up in speech, but are reproduced as ready-made units.The meaning of such expressions as distinguished from the meaning of free combinations is idiomatic. The classification is based on the motivation of the unit. According to the degree of idiomatic meaning of various groups of idioms ,V. V. Vinogradov classified them as follows ( Arnold V. , The English Word, 1986 ) : Phraseological fusions – units whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meanings of their component parts, the meaning of phraseological fusions is unmotivated at the present stage of language development. The meaning of the components is completely absorbed by the meaning of the whole.The metaphor, on which the shift of meaning is based , has lost its clarity and is obscure. Phraseological unities – units with a completely changed meaning. They are motivated units or, putting it another way , the meaning of the whole unit can be deduced from th e meanings of constituent parts. The metaphor, on which the shift of meaning is based, is clear and transparent. Phraseological combinations – traditional units which are not only motivated, but contain one component used in its direct meaning, while the other is used figuratively. Prof.Smirnitsky considers a phraseological unit to be similar to the word because of the idiomatic relationships between its parts resulting in semantic unity and permitting its introduction into speech as something complete. He differentiated three classes of stereotyped phrases ( ?. ?. , , 2008 ) : 1) Traditional phrases 2) Phraseological combinations 3) Idioms Traditional phrases, which are characterized by reproducibility, are not regarded as word-equivalents. They are usual collocations whose inner form is transparent. They are distinguished as follows: 1)Verbal ) Substantive 3) Adjectival 4) Adverbial 5) Interjectional Smirnitsky’s notion of word-equivalence actually allows another p erspective on phraseological units too. Namely, proceeding from the classification of words into derivatives and compounds, the linguist seeks to find similar structural and semantic features in phraseological units as well, correspondingly singling out units with one semantic centre(one summit units) on the one hand, which he compared with derived words, and with two or more semantic centres (two summit and multi-summit units), on the other, which he compared with compound words.Each of the two groups of this structural – semantic classification is further subdivided according to the part of speech to which t