ZS3

New technology, as well as trenches, caused a stalemate during WWI. A trench is a long, narrow path dug into the ground that was used as protection. They were made miles long, making it almost impossible to advance. Poisonous gas, landmines, and airplanes are only a few examples of the new firepower that would be in possession of both the allies and the axis powers. Because there were so many new technologies, as well as advancements and improvements in rifles, machine guns, and explosives, WWI was prolonged even longer than expected. The machine gun was the most deadly weapon in WWI. British admiral Jacky Fisher said, “This war is going to be won by inventions,” and this is clearly shown in the efficiency and firepower of the machine gun. The machine gun was invented by [|Hiram Maxim] in 1884. The machine gun was a deadly force to be reckoned with, assuming it wasn’t overheated. The more primitive machine guns had a very poor [|cooling system], so they would overheat rapidly. As the war progressed, soldiers moved away from water cooling systems to the more modern air cooling system, which was more efficient in keeping the gun from overheating. It was estimated that one machine gun was equivalent to a many as 100 rifles. The majority of historical accounts would show the defensive strengths of the machine gun; due to its size it was hard to transport, so it would be more effective in a stationary position. In 1911, U.S. colonel Isaac Newton Lewis invented a new, “light” machine gun, which weighed about 12 kg. (earlier ”heavy” machine guns weighed between 30 kg and 60 kg) This gun was an attempt to have a machine gun that had almost equal [|stopping power], but at the same time able to be carried by infantry. If these guns weren’t invented, however, I think that WWI could’ve been finished much quicker. These guns were set in trenches, making it virtually impossible to move through no-man’s-land (land between the trenches) without being mowed down. They were also fixed in strong points along the trenches, so that they could cover potential enemy attack routes. Overall, the advancements made on the machine guns during WWI were very important as to how later wars would play out.

Next, we talk about rifles. Despite the advancements and new weapons such as machine guns, mortars, and grenades, rifles were still the staples of any infantry unit. Compared to the previously mentioned weapons, rifles were lighter and less encumbering than machine guns. Rifles could fire 15 rounds a minute, which was significantly less than the machine gun, but you still need to keep in mind that machine guns were very ineffective at offensive positions, or while advancing. A lot of the efficiency of rifles also depended on the soldier. Being able to aim and put the wind in as a factor was something that many soldiers had to think about. They had an accurate rate of fire from up to 1400 meters, but an accurate shot could only be a guarantee at about 600 meters. [|Peter Paul Mauser]invented the standard issue German rifle in 1898. This [|gun] was unique, because instead of having the clip and magazine as separate mechanisms (requiring to reload the bullets one-by-one) they were made into one mechanism, so the clip could be taken out in the magazine and reloaded all at once. The magazine held only five cartridges, but it was both very accurate and fitted with an optical sight, which made it an ideal sniper.The other most widely used rifle in WWI was the British Lee-Enfield. It was invented by James Lee, and issued to virtually all British soldiers on the Western Front. The Lee-Enfield had a ten-cartridge magazine, and was suited for rapid fire; a well trained soldier could shoot about 12 rounds per minute. This rifle was so reliable that it was also widely used during WWII.

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__American Decades, 1910-1919__ . Detroit: Gale, 1996.

"World War I Technology." __IEEEVM: World War I Technology__ . 17 Nov. 2008 .

Francisco Franco: A Dictator of the People

Francisco Franco was the dictator of Spain from 1939-1975. He was a major in the Spanish army, and was soon after promoted to second com mand of the [|Spanish Foreign Legion]. He led an armed uprising against the spanish government and started the Spanish Civil War. Rebellious Factions of the army, industry, and middle-class landowners all supported Franco's cause, while workers, laborers, and trade unions were all on the side of the government. Franco's soldiers were much more organized and it lead to their victory, which marked "the beginning of a forty year dictatorship in Spain" (Spanish History, Par 4). Franco was a cruel and vindictive military leader. Once he became dictator, he [|isolated Spain]from the rest of the world. He was also accepted into the United Nations in 1970 due to his anti-communist beliefs. Franco also had a somewhat alliance with Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler supported Franco's war effort with supplies, and had expected Franco to do the same... too bad. after Franco won his war, he was in no position to support Hitler's, so their alliance abruptly ended. Franco's dictatorship ended when he announced the new king of spain would be [|Juan Carlos], the grandson of spain's last ruling king.

Biblography

Francisco Franco." __Spartacus Educational - Home Page__. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Juan Carlos I of Spain: Biography from Answers.com." __Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more__. 05 Feb. 2009 

__Roberto Zucco__. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"Spanish Civil War." __Learn Spanish in Spain & Mexico. Spanish Language Courses__. 05 Feb. 2009 

__The Spanish Flag of Spain__. 05 Feb. 2009 .

"The Spanish Legion." __Specwar.net -- Your Source for Special Warfare!__ 05 Feb. 2009 .

__Ubcpress.ca :: University of British Columbia Press__. 05 Feb. 2009 .

Today you are going to take part of the High School Proficiency assessment for Language Arts Literacy. The assessment contains different types of text and different activities. In the first part of the test you will look at a picture and then complete a writing task. In this activity, you have an opportunity to demonstrate how well you can organize and express your ideas in written text. Refer to the Writer’s Checklist of important points to remember as you write. Educators who read your writing will consider these important points when they read and score your writing. You will have 30 minutes to complete the writing task. Take a few minutes to think about the task and plan what you want to say before you begin to write. You may use the prewriting/planning space to plan your text, but prewriting will not be scored. Only your writing on the lined pages of the answer sheet will be scored. Do your best to make your writing clear and organized. Keep your purpose in mind as you write and use your checklist. You must use a No.2 pencil. You may either print or write your final copy. You may not use a dictionary or any other reference material during the test. However, you may use the Writer’s Checklist. If you finish before the tine is called, review what you have written using the Writer’s Checklist to read critically improve what you have written.



An ancient proverb says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Regardless of the artist’s original intent, what we see in the picture can be very different from what others see. What story does this picture tell you? Use your imagination and experience to speculate about what is happening. Then write your story.


 * PART 2

Directions: In this part of the test, you will read a narrative passage and then respond to the multiple-choice and open-ended questions that follow it. You may look back at the passage and make notes in the margin if you like, but you must record your answers on your answer sheet. You Will have 50 minutes for this part of the test.**

The afternoon grew so glowering that in the sixth inning the arc lights were turned on--always a wan sight in the daytime, like the burning headlights of a funeral procession. Aided by the gloom, Fisher was slicing through the Sox rookies, and Williams did not come to bat in the seventh. He was second up in the eighth. This was almost certainly his last time to come to the plate in Fenway Park, and instead of merely cheering, as we had at his three previous appearances, we stood, all of us, and applauded. I had never before heard pure applause in a ballpark. No calling, no whistling, just an ocean of handclaps, minute after minute, burst after burst, crowding and running together in continuous succession like the pushes of surf at the edge of the sand. It was a sombre and considered tumult. There was not a boo in it. It seemed to renew itself out of a shifting set of memories as the Kid, the Marine, the veteran of feuds and failures and injuries, the friend of children, and the enduring old pro evolved down the bright tunnel of twenty-two summers toward this moment. At last, the umpire signalled for Fisher to pitch; with the other players, he had been frozen in position. Only Williams had moved during the ovation, switching his bat impatiently, ignoring everything except his cherished task. Fisher wound up, and the applause sank into a hush.

Understand that we were a crowd of rational people. We knew that a home run cannot be produced at will; the right pitch must be perfectly met and luck must ride with the ball. Three innings before, we had seen a brave effort fail. The air was soggy, the season was exhausted. Nevertheless, there will always lurk, around the corner in a pocket of our knowledge of the odds, an indefensible hope, and this was one of the times, which you now and then find in sports, when a density of expectation hangs in the air and plucks an event out of the future.

Fisher, after his unsettling wait, was wide with the first pitch. He put the second one over, and Williams swung mightily and missed. The crowd grunted, seeing that classic swing, so long and smooth and quick, exposed. Fisher threw the third time, Williams swung again, and there it was. The ball climbed on a diagonal line into the vast volume of air over center field. From my angle, behind third base, the ball seemed less an object in flight than the tip of a towering, motionless construct, like the Eiffel Tower or the Tappan Zee Bridge. It was in the books while it was still in the sky. Brandt ran back to the deepest corner of the outfield grass, the ball descended beyond his reach and struck in the crotch where the bullpen met the wall, bounced chunkily, and vanished.

Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs--hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn’t tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted "We want Ted" for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he refused. Gods do not answer letters.

Directions for open-ended questions 11 and 12: Write your response in the space provided on the answer sheet.

11. The Author said “Gods do no answer letters.” - does he really deserve to be called a “god”? - what actions cause the author to consider him god-like?

11. Williams was a king of his profession, he was considered legendary among baseball fans. Winning over a crowd like he did is no easy feat, only a player with great renown could extract such a reaction from the fans. The crowd’s response to Williams speaks for itself; he was considered a “god” of the sport. The author deemed his worthy of such a lofty title because of this, and because of his all around legendary skills and stats.

12. Before his final at bat, the crowd simply applauded - why do you think the crowd was so respectful? - What do you think make them all applause?

12. The crowd was respectful because they were in the presence of such a great player; they all respected his skill and that fact that this was his last game. The applause was brought up my many reasons, the first being how they were about to watch one of the best players of the day, the second was how they realized that this could very well be his last at bat in his long and storied career. It would be a historical day, and they had to pay their respects to such a great by showering him with applause.


 * PART 3

Directions: In this part of the test, you will read a persuasive passage and then respond to the multiple-choice and open-ended questions that follow it. You may look back at the passage and make notes in the margin if you like, but you must record your answers on your answer sheet. You Will have 50 minutes for this part of the test.** Only rarely does one solution solve a lot of problems. One that does — or at least could — is New York’s Bigger Better Bottle Bill. Potentially one of the most productive items on Albany’s legislative menu, the bill would expand the list of cans and bottles that could be redeemed for a nickel. It would include bottles used for noncarbonated and nonalcoholic beverages, such as water, sports drinks and juice. The bill would reduce litter in rivers and on highways, encourage recycling, save on natural resources and help replenish environmental programs whose budgets have been cut during the economic downturn. Right now, a consumer can redeem beer cans and soda bottles for the original nickel deposit. By enlarging the list to include the increasing number of drinks that don’t have bubbles, the Bigger Better Bottle Bill would add as many as five billion more cans and bottles to the nine billion that now carry the nickel deposit. That adds up to a lot of money, but here’s the real bonus. It’s what the bill says about the so-called missing nickels. Right now, when consumers pay a nickel per bottle upfront and then fail to redeem that bottle, the forgone nickel goes to the beverage industry. The stores obviously deserve a reasonable handling fee, but the beverage companies, which have powerful friends in Albany, deserve less than the windfall they are getting now. The latest bill would reroute a large chunk of this money to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund — which, among other things, helps purchase open space. Gov. David Paterson estimates that the missing nickels could bring in $118 million a year for the environment; the Container Recycling Institute, which studies such matters, says that revenue could reach $218 million. There is a balance to this deal. Those who can afford the extra nickel per drink and don’t redeem the bottles help pay to maintain a cleaner state. Those who can’t afford the 5 cents and need to redeem their containers not only get their nickel back but assure that the cans and bottles get recycled.

11. the author obviously has a point to make. -what idea is the author trying to get across? - show two ideas from the text to support your answer

The idea the author is trying to get across is the benefits that the New York ‘s Bigger Better Bottle Bill includes, and why the Albany legislative should pass it. The first idea the author uses to show this is when he talks about how it would encourage recycling, thus cutting down on litter in rivers and highways The second idea is that all the “missing nickels”-the .5 cents added on to all prices that consumers fail to obtain back by recycling the can- would help fund the state’s Environment Protection fund.

12. With every persuasive, there are always two sides - do you agree or disagree with the author? - what changes would you make?

12. I agree with the author, this bill seems like it would be a huge component in enticing people to recycle. This is because the bill would let people recycle many more bottles, a estimated 5 billion more. The only change I would make is make it from a nickel refund to at 10 cent remark, I feel many people will not go through the trouble for a nickel, but would do so if it was double that.

The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in October 1966. The goals of the party were to gain freeodm and equality for all blacks. They wanted freedom, jobs, end of robberies, housing, education relating to American society, all blacks exempt from military service, end to police brutality, freedom for all black held in jails, black people to be brought to trial to be tried by a black juror. Eldridge Seale joined the Black Panthers. He was an ex-convict that was on parole, and was currently working for a magazine. He was also the founder of Black House, which was a political club for blacks. They protested with violence. For example: Armed blacks were standing outside Washington with guns to protest a law saying they couldn't carry ope arms outside.

Hippie Counter-Culture

The hippie counter culture as one of the youngest generations of baby boomers that only wanted to rebel against society and the countries norms; thus, it was called the counter-culture. They thought that the 1950s culture was outdated and deprived people of their individuality. They rebelled against the government and basically did everything the government didn’t want them to do, such as: drug use, listening to rock and roll, and frequent/constant sexual activity. This new era brought a new age to the boring culture of the 50s.

Going into the early 70s, the hippies began to die off, mainly because their image had greatly changed. They were mainly associated with drugs, and a young woman was even stabbed and killed at a rock n roll concert. Many hippies were upset with being stereotyped as druggies and felt that their culture was nearing an end.

The hippies had a unique fashion sense; tie-dye shirts, long hair, and even clothing made of hemp were all articles of clothing donned in the hippie era. The peace sign was also a very common thing to see on clothing. They protested the Vietnam War with nonviolent acts such as laying in the streets or blocking cars. With their new way of the world, these hippies would eventually evolve our culture.

Sources

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/278495/the_hippy_counterculture.html

http://www.azete.com/preview/69503

http://www.history.com/states.do?action=detail&state=Hippies&contentType=State_Generic&contentId=56748&parentId=1968

http://counterculture.wikia.com/wiki/Hippie

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