Goods That Must Be Provided by the Government Essay Example for Free

Goods That Must Be Provided by the Government Essay Public goods are good that have two special characteristics-non excludable and non-rivalable. Non-rivalable means that consume the goods of one person do not influence the consumption of others, of example traffic light, when a person use the traffic light, the quanlity of the light do not decrease, other can also use the goods under the same quanlity. Non-excludable means that every one can use the goods, nobody is exclude from using the goods, for example, national defences, no one is unprotectable when they are in the country. Merit goods are goods that are under provided because of lack of information. Individual do not appreciate the benefit that will occur, these goods should be provided in a greater quantity. For example, museums, education there are lots of benefit to consume them. People can gets more knoeledge there and this is not only benefit for themselves but also people around and the society, the suicides may decrease and people with eider knowledge entered in works will make the process efficiency. So it is clearly that public good are goods that is under provided but this does not means that it only provided by government. They can provided by the market mechanism but to make more available the government provides them, subsidizes them or leigislates to make consumption compulsory, and for public goods they suffer from the free rider problem, if asked whether they would pay for them, households would lie and say because once provided, they could benefit anyway. No one is willing to pay for the goods, they will not be provided in the free market. So government must provided them. Public goods must be provided by the government but merit goods not must be provided by the government. It can provided by free market mechanism.

Examining The Sentencing And Punishment Of Crime Criminology Essay

Examining The Sentencing And Punishment Of Crime Criminology Essay A sentence is a formal judgment pronouncing a specific punishment to be imposed for the conviction of a crime. It may involve the payment of a fine, community service, incarceration, or in capital offenses, the death penalty (Barlow, 2000). It also may consist of a term of probation or parole (although parole has been abolished in many states). Sentences may be meted out directly following the entry of a verdict or at a sentencing hearing scheduled for a later date. In the interim, prosecutors prepare a sentencing report which advises the court of the defendants prior criminal record, aggravating or mitigating circumstances, and other information about the defendant that may assist the court in deciding an appropriate punishment. There have been concerted efforts over the years to standardize the approach toward sentencing, particularly in felony offenses, and to diminish judicial discretion in sentencing. These efforts reflect a recurring perception by lawmakers and the public at la rge that arbitrary or discriminatory practices may interfere with fair and just sentencing in certain cases or for certain crimes. This paper will discuss sentencing, punishment as well as mens rea and actus reus. Judges, not juries, determine punishments for a crime (in capital punishment cases, the jury usually decides whether to recommend death or life in prison). The Eighth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment provides that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. In addition to the sentencing prohibitions contained in the Constitution, Title 18 of the United States Code, Part II (criminal procedure), Chapters 227 (sentences), 228 (death sentence), and 232 (miscellaneous sentencing provisions) also govern sentencing in federal courts (McAnany, August 2010). Most crimes are specifically enumerated in constitutions or statutes, and the provision that identifies the specific crime will also identify the appropriate punishment. For example, a statute may read, Violation of this statute constitutes a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500 or imprisonment not to exceed thirty days, or both. Given this range of potential punishment, a judge will then consider certain aggravating or mitigating circumstances to determine where along the prescribed spectrum a particular criminals punishment should fall. Common factors considered by judges include: whether the offender is a first-time or a repeat offender, whether the offender was an accessory (helping the main offender) or the main offender, whether the offender committed the crime under great personal stress or duress, whether anyone was hurt, and whether the crime was committed in a manner that was unlikely to result in anyone being hurt, whether the offender was particularly crue l to a victim, or particularly destructive, vindictive, etc., and (sometimes) whether the offender is genuinely contrite or remorseful (Stuntz, 2004). Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(a), before imposing a sentence, the court must afford counsel an opportunity to speak on behalf of the defendant. The court will address the defendant personally and ask him if he wishes to make a statement in his own behalf and to present any information in mitigation of punishment. The attorney for the government will have an equivalent opportunity to speak to the court. Similar provisions are contained in most state procedural statutes and rules. In many state courts, a victim or the survivors of a victim may also have the opportunity to address the court and recommend leniency or strictness for the sentence. Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the Three Strikes statute (18 U.S.C. 3559(c)) provides for mandatory life imprisonment if a convicted felon: has been convicted in federal court of a serious violent felony and has two or more previous convictions in federal or state courts, at least one of which is a serious violent felony. The other offense may be a serious drug offense. The statute goes on to define a serious violent felony as including murder, manslaughter, sex offenses, kidnapping, robbery, and any offense punishable by ten years or more which includes an element of the use of force or involves a significant risk of force (Schiraldi, Colburn, Lotke, 2004). The State of Washington was the first to enact a Three Strikes law in 1993. Since then, at least half of all states, in addition to the federal government, have enacted three strikes laws. The primary focus of these laws is the containment of recidivism (repeat offenses by a small number of criminals). Californias law is considered the most far-reaching and most often used among the states. In addition to three strikes laws, other state and all federal criminal statutes include mandatory sentences that require judges to impose identical sentences on all persons convicted of the same offense. Mandatory sentences are a direct result of state legislatures or Congress response to the public perception of judicial leniency or inconsistency in sentencing practices (Schiraldi, Colburn, Lotke, 2004). Most crimes do not carry mandatory sentences. When sentencing is not mandatory, the judge may fit the punishment to the offender instead of fitting the punishment to the crime. Current debates about criminal justice help to fuel the different approaches to sentencing and punishment. These approaches include the severity of punishment meted, and the specific objective sought by the punishment: retribution, some argue that the primary purpose of punishment should be to punish an offender for the wrong committed as opposed to societys vengeance against a criminal. The sentiment is to punish criminals and promote public safety by keeping them off the streets. Some believe that the primary purpose of punishment should be to rehabilitate criminals to change their criminal ways and to encourage the adoption of a more socially acceptable lifestyle. Most experts agree that this theory is commendable but not practical in prisons. Many criminals boast of coming out better criminals than they we re when they entered prison. Others argue that the perceived punishment for a crime should be so undesirable as to result in deterring someone from actually committing a crime for fear of the likely punishment. These theories are good, but many crimes are committed while the person is under the influence of alcohol and other drugs and the above mentioned approaches wouldnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t help. Fear of punishment is usually not a deterrent under these circumstances (Hugo, 2010). Punishment is the imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group. For a number of years, South Carolina operated under a fairly typical death penalty statute which provided for the ultimate penalty for a number of crimes including, but not limited to, murder, rape and kidnapping. The statute predicated the imposition of the death penalty in those situations where the jury made a finding of guilt without an affirmative recommendation of mercy (Hugo, 2010). Beginning in 1962, there was a moratorium on executions nationally even though the death penalty statutes remained in effect. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Furman v. Georgia held that the imposition of the death penalty was unconstitutional in those situations where either the court or the jury had practically unfettered discretion to impose the ultimate penalty.    The Furman case, in effect, declared most death penalty statutes, including that of South Carolina, in effect to be unconstitutional (McAnany, August 2010). South Carolina joined thirty-four other states in changing their death penalty statutes to provide that under given circumstances the death penalty would be imposed mandatorily. Several people in South Carolina were sentenced under this statute, however, the judgment was not executed upon any prisoner and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in 1976, that while the death penalty was not per se unconstitutional, Greg v. Georgia, that each individual case should be considered upon its merit and that the imposition of the death penalty pursuant to a mandatory statutory scheme was unconstitutional and violate of the Eighth Amendment. The court went on to say that the trier of fact, whether it is the court or a jury, should be allowed to take into consideration conditions in mitigation and aggravation prior to the imposition of the ultimate penalty. This, the court reasoned, would require a two phase hearing in which the jury made an initial determination of guilt or innocence and then the same jury reconvened to take additional testimony as to those conditions in mitigation and aggravation and made a determination as to the punishment, Woodson v. North Carolina (1976) (Stuntz, 2004). Prior to June 1995, Section 24-3-530 of the South Carolina Code of Laws provided that all persons receiving the death penalty shall suffer such penalty by electrocution. Subsequently, the General Assembly amended Section 24-3-530. Effective June 8, 1995, persons sentenced to death may elect to suffer such penalty by lethal injection. However, the election must be made in writing fourteen days before the execution date or it is waived. If the person waives the right of election and the sentence was imposed prior to June 8, 1995, the penalty will be administered by electrocution. If the person waives the right of election and the penalty was imposed on or after June 8, 1995, the penalty will be administered by lethal injection (Stuntz, 2004). Mens rea and actus reus are legal terms used to define a crime. Both Mens rea and actus reus must be present for an accused to be found guilty of a crime (except for strict liability). Mens rea means that the person must have had a guilty mind at the time of committing the crime. That is they must have intended to commit the crime. Actus Reus means wrongful act meaning that the person must have committed an act that is defined as wrong by law. Several common law jurisdictions define act differently but generally, an act is a bodily movement whether voluntary or involuntary. In Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a California law making it illegal to be a drug addict was unconstitutional because the mere status of being a drug addict was not an act and thus not criminal (Kendall, 2009). The sentence is the final act of a judge ruled process. A sentence usually involves imprisonment, a fine, or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime. Changes in sentencing law and policy, not increases in crime rates, explain most of the six-fold increase in the national prison population. These changes have significantly impacted racial disparities in sentencing, as well as increased use of one size fits all mandatory minimum sentences that allow little consideration for individual characteristics. The progress of civilization has resulted in a change in the theory and in the method of punishment. In the past punishment was left to the individuals wronged or their families, and was vindictive or retributive: in quantity and quality it would bear no special relation to the character or gravity of the offense. This paper discussed sentencing, punishment as well as mens rea and actus reus.

Democracy And Freedom | Azerbaijan

Democracy And Freedom | Azerbaijan To begin this paper, I will define what Democracy is and what Freedom is. In this paper, I will illustrate and evaluate the most challengeable inconveniences that Azerbaijan faces, now more present than ever. Then, I will explain why is Freedom and Democracy are hard to obtain in Azerbaijan and what has been done so far to change the existing authoritarian government. Democracy can be defined as a theory, in which the supreme power is established by the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a method of representation. In political theory, democracy depicts a small number of affiliated forms of government and a political philosophy. Democracy comprises two principles- equality and freedom. These principles are portrayed by all citizens being equal before the law, and having equal approach to power where all citizens are promised certain legitimized freedom and liberty, which are mostly protected by a constitution.[1] Freedom can be classified into two concepts: positive freedom and negative freedom. Positive freedom is freedom to do something rather than freedom from interfering. Negative freedom is a content of options that are open for a person or people in general; it is a matter of X being free to be Z. [2] In Azerbaijan, there are varieties of political parties representing diverse ideological and policy stages. In this sense, Azerbaijan has achieved one basic feature of pluralistic democratic politics.[3] Political parties in my country, mostly weak and small, and do not play a main role in national political life. A number of influences lead to this weakness. Azerbaijan is a presidential republic, and the constitutional determination of the presidency has been reinforced by the powerful political persona as I. Aliyev. Politics in general remains highly personalized, with few-high-profile individuals dominating the area. The personalizations of politics have gone further in my country, where Aliyev supporters and pro-government press from a sycophants refrain to praise the president. In this context, the pro-government parties tent to become vehicles for mobilizing support for the president in parliament, while other parties often serve the same purpose for leading opposition politici ans, readily splitting and adjusting to keep up with the regular disputes and divisions that take on a more or less personal level between their leaders. In Azerbaijan, up to date, there are more than 36 political parties: Pro-government parties (like New Azerbaijan Party) have poorly defined ideological or policy profiles advance the careers of stalwarts. It is hard to maintain a powerful doctrine in any key positive improvement towards to democracy and freedom in Azerbaijan. The corrupted police state is well set up between all ranks of society that it looks unbreakable.[6] People are used to perceiving elections and oppose within themselves. This is the idea of the civil proposal with deep scepticism and a sense of desperation. Those who talk about or try to act in favour of transformation are devastating their lives chasing the freedom. For example, Equality Party stated in May 2005, in Azerbaijan national radio, that Ehtiram Jalilov- deputy head of Azerbaijans National Democratic Party became the second opposition activist to die in unexplained circumstances during the upcoming presidential elections. In July 2009, Freedom House published results of research that calculated countrys political rights, civil Liberties, and status. Freedom House argues that with the population of 8,700,000, the score of Political Rights Score is six, Civil Liberties is five and the Status is said to be Not Free. In an Overview, Freedom House declares following, President Ilham Aliyev and the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party further marginalized the political opposition and other institutions of democratic accountability in 2008. The governments fierce suppression of media freedom was integral to Aliyevs victory in a controlled presidential election in October.[7] For example, while Azerbaijans constitution promising freedom of speech; the authorities absolutely bound press freedom in reality. Novruzali Mamedov, editor of the newspaper Talyshi Sado had been in state custody since February 2007, initially on a trumped-up charge of resisting arrest, which was then changed to a treason charge, who died in p rison on august 2009.[8] Azerbaijans authorities primarily do not limit educational freedom. However, my elder brother had practiced political pressure in State University of Azerbaijan. That pressure included reported threats to lower my brothers grades when he contributed in opposing political activity. Another example is that my father was disregarded as a teacher in college because of his membership in opposition parties. The government limits freedom of the legislature, especially for opposition parties. Azerbaijans government commands key judicial commissions and there is no indication that the court system is capable of bringing the government to book when it behaves unconstitutionally, or securing citizens rights against arbitrary government action. Although Azerbaijani legislators have approved several laws to enhance freedom of information, the law of the Azerbaijan Republic grants legislative ground for an independent judiciary, in practice judges do not role independently of the executive branch.[9] The judiciary is corrupt, inefficient, and obedient. Incidental arrests and detention are very common, particularly for members of the political opposition. Prisoners are often restrained for long periods before trial, and their access to lawyers is constrained. My military commander Gadir Musayev was victim of Azerbaijans corrupt systems. He was arrested during presidential elections and denied de fend by legal lawyer. As he claims, prison conditions were extreme; with many prisoners suffering from overcrowding and insufficient medical care, he was not given adequate medical care in prison. Azerbaijani authorities refused to allow independent medical treatment offered by a European Union delegation that visited Mamedov in prison in June.Musayev was one of the few lucky political prisoners who were liberated from prison with help of International Human Rights Organization. Corrupt leaders that bound the equality of opportunity control major parts of the economy. As I mentioned earlier, followers of the political opposition face job loss, exile, and dismissal. Public norms and poor economic conditions in Azerbaijan restrict womens professional roles. Domestic violence in Azerbaijan is a crisis; moreover, there are no laws to stop spousal abuse. Women can go to court for violence, but poor social values restrict them from doing it. According to Amnesty International, Azerbaijan is among eight authoritarian countries on the territory of the former USSR.[10] To give a clear view what is authoritarian means I will clarify the authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is a political doctrine supporting the principle of absolute rule: dictatorship, totalitarianism and absolutism. Authoritarianism indicates any political system that concentrates authority in the hands of a leader or small elite. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without consideration to existing organizations of law. The freedom to formulate opposition political leagues is either limited or nonexistent in authoritarian regimes.[11] In Azerbaijan, National society institutions weakened, while presidential powers were exceedingly reinforced in 2008. Many themes are off-limits to journalists, who generally practice self-censorship to prevent the dangerous consequences.[12] These include national security issues, excessively powerful or personal attacks on the president, and specific declarations about corruption and criminal businesses activities. At the minimum four journalists, jailed for their professional activity, remain in Azerbaijani prisons. The government disciplines widespread control over electronic media and silences all alternative voices. The authorities stopped broadcasts of BBC on local frequencies from January 1st. The move essentially guarantees a monopoly for state-controlled media and prevents any independent news broadcasts from reaching the Azeri people.[13] Corruption is one of the main problems obstructing democratic growths in Azerbaijan. Efforts to improve the situation on a legislative level fail at the application phase, as the state agencies authorized to conduct anti corruption activity are believed to be among the most corrupt agencies in the country. However, the countrys government reinforced its rule by elevating a prohibition from a third term presidency, which may lead to the life long presidency of Ilham Aliyev. The situation with freedom is estimated to stay poor as the government continues to silence judgmental voices in the country and disregard the international communitys calls for reformations.[14] Government of Azerbaijan wants us to welcome those who are constrained to act by their unlawful rules in order to endure teachers, farmers, law enforcement officers, entry and middle level civil employees, striving businessmen those many souls captured in the net of corruption are as considerably responsible as the very leadership that runs the system. They wish that everyone would suffer enough blame to be helpless of feeling and extracting legitimate moral crime at their outrageous actions. The hidden part of their skilful indoctrination machine works day and night to install into the community the guilty verdict. Nevertheless, the larceny, tyranny, praise, moral putrefaction, mistrust and skepticism are the products of their own deliberate actions, not some certain providence or ancient devastation.

Exposing Boundaries in Wilsons Fences :: Wilson Fences Essays

Exposing Boundaries in Fences Fences is a play that deals with boundaries that hold people back and the trials and tribulations of those who try or wish to cross them. The characters are African-Americans in a time before the civil rights movement, living in an industrial city. The main character, Troy Manxson, is a talented baseball player who never had the chance to let his talent shine, with restrictions on race and his time in jail as the main obstacles that held him back. He is now hard working and loves his family. However, he tends to exaggerate and has his faults, most prevalent a wandering eye when it comes to women. His wife, Rose, is younger than him and loyal, but she may not have known about all of his faults when she married him. At the beginning of the play, Troy has a son from a previous marriage, Lyons, and a son with Rose, Cory. Also appearing are Bono, Troy’s drinking buddy, and Gabriel, his brother. All of the characters are "fenced in," by various barriers. Troy is working in a job where African Americans can get the lowest and most difficult tasks. On the home front, he has responsibilities to his family. Rose has chosen life with Troy as an alternative to "a succession of abusive men and their babies, a life of partying, or the Church." Troy’s son, Lyons, is supposedly a musician but is going nowhere. Cory has potential but has his dream of playing college football extinguished by both protective and jealous Troy. The characters must deal with hardships of daily life, racial discrimination, straining relationships with each other, and the feeling that this is all their lives are: somewhat of a confined space with no escape; fenced in. Troy’s brother Gabriel, although minor, is important to the play for many reasons. The most important is that while Gabriel perhaps has highest and most impassable fence around him, he is the only one who ignores it; he is not bounded, at least not in his own mind. Gabriel is seven years younger than Troy. They were both in a large family with a frustrated and abusive father. Gabe is the only family Troy speaks with now. Injured in World War II, Gabriel had part of his head blown away. He now has a metal plate and is confused and somewhat delusional.

Models of God, Humanity, and Nature My Experiences, Thoughts, and Criti

Models of God, Humanity, and Nature My Experiences, Thoughts, and Critical Analyses I ask a lot of questions; I’m a curious person. I once asked my mom why people die, why there are bad things in the world if God is so good and all-powerful. Her response was that we just couldn’t really understand why God does anything because we can’t comprehend God’s â€Å"master plan.† I’m sure that she was right, but that response is not very satisfying to a curious little boy. I saw an inconsistency in my understanding of reality, and I wanted to get things straight. I guess this little anecdote begins to illustrate a couple of my basic life principles. A concise explanation of how I look at the world is just this: We humans, as finite beings, use models to understand complex things – God, Nature, Humanity – and in doing so must simplify things. There’s nothing wrong with this simplification, as long as we know we are doing so and why. Our models of these complex things can be based on a number of things – usually logic, evidence, and our experiences (I’m probably exluding a powerful one, namely tradition). These varying models of reality, however, must be internally and externally consistent – that is, with themselves and with other models used by a single person. When the models used by a person are internally or externally inconsistent with themselves or with logic, evidence, or experiences, the first reaction is probably confusion (or maybe anxiety), but in the continued search for consistency, one can arrive at further insight and a desired level of comfort in oneself and the way one views reality. I guess this is sometimes called the search for the meaning of life, although that’s a rather grand phrase for ... ... Humanity, and Nature are inter-connected internally and externally, I must work to understand these relationships, and in doing so, I must work to maximize the enjoyment and well-being of all things related to me, directly and indirectly, consciously and unconsciously. Additionally, I must treat all manner of things (entities perhaps) as subjects, rather than objects, recognizing that each has a level of being and enjoyment that it can attain, with the help of me and the rest of the world. I must work to avoid and eliminate violence of all forms by using memory, empathy, imagination, and true forgiveness to short-circuit the cycle. If I live my life in a continual state of change, using creative, responsive, and responsible love persuasively to acheive a higher level of good, then I will be living in a way that’s consistent with process theology’s Christianity.

Love Esaay

24HourAnswers. com Online Homework Focused Exercises for Math SAT Skill Set 17: Sequences Many of the problems in this exercise set came from The College Board, writers of the SAT exam. 1. 7, 15, 31, 63, †¦ The first term in the sequence above is 7, and each term after the first is determined by multiplying the preceding term by m and then adding p. What is the value of m ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 1 2 3 4 9 2. 2, 6, 14, 30, †¦ In the sequence above, the first term is 2. Each number after the first is obtained by adding 1 to the preceding number and then doubling the result.What is the sixth number in the sequence? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 122 123 124 125 126 3. 150, 30, 6, †¦ 1f f f In the sequence above, each term after the 1st term is f of the term 5 preceding it. What is the 5th term of this sequence? 4. The first term of a sequence is 20 and the second term is 8. The third term and each term thereafter is the average (arithmetic mean) of the two terms immediately preceding it. What is the value of the first term in the sequence that is not an integer? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 22. 6 1. 23 24. 7 12. 5 6. 8 5. a, 3a, †¦The first term in the sequence above is a, and each term after the first is 3 times the preceding term. If the sum of the first 5 terms is 605, what is the value of a ? 6. 8, 17, 26, 35, 44, †¦ The first 5 terms in a sequence are shown above. Each term after the first is found by adding 9 to the term immediately preceding it. Which term in ` a this sequence is equal to 8 ? 26 @ 1 9 ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 7. The 8th The 9th The 25th The 26th The 27th In the repeating decimal 0. 1246812468†¦ where the digits 12468 repeat, which digit is in the 4,000th place to the right of the decimal point? A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 1 2 4 6 8 8. The first term of a sequence of numbers is @ 3 . Each term after the first is obtained by multiplying the preceding term by @ 1 and then subtracting 1. What is the 75th term of the sequence? (A) @ 73 (B) @ 3 (C) 2 (D) 4 (E) 73 9. 3, 5, -5, †¦ The first term in the sequence of numbers shown above is 3. Each even numbered term is 2 more than the previous term and each odd numbered term, after the first, is -1 times the previous term. For example, the second ` a term is 3 + 2, and the third term is @ 1 B 5 . What is the 55th term of the sequence? A) @ 5 (B) @ 3 (C) @ 1 (D) 3 (E) 5 10. The first two numbers of a sequence are 1 and 3, respectively. The third number is 4, and, in general, every number after the second is the sum of the two numbers immediately preceding it. How many of the first 1,000 numbers in this sequence are odd? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 333 500 665 666 667 11. @ 1, 0, 1, 2 A sequence is formed by repeating the 4 numbers above in the same order indefinitely. What is the sum of the first 28 terms of the sequence? 12. 1, 2, 1, @ 1, @ 2 , . . . The first five terms of a sequence are shown above.After the second term, each term can be obtained by subtracting from the previous term the term before that. For example, the third term can be obtained by subtracting the first term from the second term. What is the sum of the first 36 terms of the sequence? (A) 0 (B) 4 (C) 12 (D) 24 (E) 30 13. 5. 101001000100001†¦ The decimal number above consists of only 1's and 0's to the right of the decimal point. The first 1 is followed by one 0, the second 1 is followed by two 0's, the third 1 is followed by three 0's, and so on. What is the total number of 0's between the 98th and the 101st 1 in this decimal number? A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 288 291 294 297 300 14. 1,234, †¦ 1,920,21 †¦ ,484,950 The integer above is formed by writing the integers from 1 to 50, in order, next to each other. If the integer is read from left to right, what is the 50th digit from the left? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 0 1 2 3 9 15. R Y G W B R Y G Y G W B The figure above shows the remaining pieces of a paper chain from which a section has been removed. The first link of the original chain was re d and the colors of the links formed the repeating pattern of red (R), yellow (Y), green (G), white (W), and blue (B) from left to right.Which of the following could be the number of links in the section that was removed? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 60 61 62 63 64 16. The first term of a sequence is @ 3 and every term after the first is 5 more than the term immediately preceding it. What is the value of the 101st term? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 505 502 500 497 492 17. 1f f f After the first term, each term in a sequence is 3 greater than f of the 3 preceding term. If t is the first term of the sequence and t ? 0 , what is the ratio of the second term to the first term? t ffff ? 9 ffff fff (A) ffff 3 t ffff ? ff fff f3 (B) ffff 3 ffff ? ff fff f9 (C) ffff 3t t ffff ? ff fff f3 (D) ffff 3t 9fffff @ 2t fffff fffff (E) fffff 3 18. 8, a, 14, b, 20, †¦ The first term of the sequence above is 8. Which of the following could be the formula for finding the nth term of this sequence for any positive i nteger n ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 2n + 6 3n + 5 5n + 3 6n + 2 6n + 5 19. 3, 6, 11, 18, †¦ The first four terms of a sequence are shown above. Which of the following could be the formula that gives the nth term of this sequence for all positive integers n ? (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) 2n 2n + 1 3n n2 ? 1 n2 ? 2

Reading Habit Essay

When there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books , traveling to far away lands in their minds. With time, people have lost their skill and passion to read as there are many other exciting and thrilling options available these days, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power, it helps to learn things that are not taught in school or by a teacher. Reading magazines and newspapers daily informs us with what is going on in the outside world or in the community we live in. Children who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in schools and colleges. Children who start reading from an early age have good language skills, and have a better grasp on the variances in phonics . Reading helps in mental development and stimulates the eyes muscles it involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. Reading can become a healthy addiction and adds to our information on various topics helping us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues. It is therefore essential to cultivate the habit of reading from an early age for self – development.