Friday, January 11, 2008

To receive a GED diploma, you're required to pass five tests covering writing, reading, social studies, science, and math. Altogether, the GED includes 240 questions, plus an original essay. Completing the entire set of tests can take nearly 7 1/2 hours.
A daunting task at first glance.
But it does not have to be overwhelming. With some pre-test preparation, the experience can go much easier than you ever imagined.
First, let's get a better idea of what's included in the GED testing process.
The GED Language Arts, Writing Test is composed of two parts, and takes two hours to complete. In Part I, you will answer 50 multiple-choice questions. In Part II, you will write on a topic provided to you. The topic will be something you should have no trouble writing about, such as your personal goals in life or your opinion on a current event.
The GED Language Arts, Reading Test covers 40 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 65 minutes. The test requires you to be able to comprehend what you are reading, and be able to interpret different passages.
The GED Social Studies Test is 70 minutes long and is composed of 50 multiple-choice questions covering U.S. history, world history, government and civics, economics, and geography.
The Science Test allows you 80 minutes to complete 50 multiple-choice questions based on life science, earth and space science, and physical science.
The GED Mathematics Test runs 90 minutes and is delivered in two parts, each with 25 questions. Areas covered include: number operations and number sense, data analysis, statistics, and probability, algebra, and geometry and measurement.
Now, the good news is that you do not have to go in cold. Most libraries and bookstores carry GED preparation materials. In addition, most local testing centers also offer preparation programs at either a minimal charge or often no charge at all. You can also check with your local school district office to see if there are any adult school programs in your area that offer GED preparation help.
There are also some great Internet resources that can help you get a jump on the GED. For instance, at GEDonline (http://www.gedonline.org/) you can take the official GED Practice Tests developed by the GED Testing Service, grade them online, and study using online interactive practice lessons. It is a great interactive community of people who are all after the same thing ... success taking the GED.
You can also take the complete GED Preparation Course online through Steck-Vaughn's Gedpractice.com (http://steckvaughn.harcourtachieve.com/en-US/gedpractice). This is a free service provided by Steck-Vaughn to help familiarize you with the types of items you will see on the actual GED test. Answering the practice questions and getting feedback can help you get a feel for the kind of reading, thinking, and problem-solving skills you will need to pass the GED test.
Then there's GEDforFree (http://www.gedforfree.com) where you can take a complete online GED Preparation Course for free. This two-hundred page course, presented as an online class, is designed for adults with a ninth-grade education or higher. The information provides you with a solid foundation in the GED topics, includes helpful tips and strategies, and even includes links to the official practice tests presented by the GED Testing Service of the American Council on Education (ACE).
Don't let the idea of taking the GED intimidate you. Even though it can sound overwhelming, you have access to a wealth of resources that can help make sure you are well prepared and your goal of attaining your GED is a successful one.

D. Silva is the webmaster for GED First Stop, where you can learn more about the GED and what is available on the Internet to help you succeed in taking your high school equivalency test. Learn more here: GED


Know Your Earthquakes
An earthquake is characterised by vibrations generated in the crust of the Earth during the sudden rupture of rocks that accumulated elastic strain and then rebounds. The vibrations produced can vary from hardly perceptible to appallingly damaging. Earthquakes have the potential of releasing energy more than a thousand times greater than the world's first atomic bomb.
There are three general types of earthquakes being recognised: volcanic, tectonic, and artificially produced. Among the three, the tectonic type is by far the most destructive, and this same type of earthquake establish specific intricacies for scientists attempting to build on methods of predicting them
Earthquakes bring about several aspects of concern to the people residing in these so-called seismically active areas. This natural calamity can produce immense loss of life by annihilating structures like bridges, buildings, dams, and other infrastructures and it can even start devastating landslides.
Another fatal result of earthquakes is the creation, oftentimes by undersea vibrations, of so-called tidal waves. Since such waves are not related to the tides, they are more appropriately called as seismic sea waves or tsunamis. These high rising walls of water have smacked inhabited coastal areas with such fierce rage that whole towns have been damaged.
Seismologists, the scientists who study earthquakes, have created two measurement scales that would enable them to categorise earthquakes quantitatively. First is the Richter scale, which was coined in honor of the American seismologist Charles Francis Richter. It gauges the energy given off at the focus of a quake. Its scale ranges from 1 to 9. One being the weakest and 9 as the most destructive.
The other scale is the Mercalli scale that was introduced during the start of the 20th century by the Italian seismologist Giuseppe Mercalli. It measures the intensity of shaking with gradations from I to XII. The Mercalli rating depends on the site where the measurement was taken since the seismic surface effects decrease with distance from the focus of the quake. Intensity I on the Mercalli scale is described as an earthquake perceived by very few people, while intensity XII is designated to a disastrous occurrence that brings about full-blown devastation.
Efforts on forecasting the time and place earthquakes will take place have had some positive accomplishments in recent times. At the moment, countries like Russia, Japan, China, and the United States are the nations putting in significant efforts to support earthquake research. Several predicted occurrences of earthquakes date back in 1975 when the Chinese forecasted a 7.3 Richter scale magnitude quake at Haicheng, that made them evacuate less than a hundred thousand inhabitants only a couple of days before the quake actually happened which damaged or destroyed 90 per cent of the city's buildings. Low-magnitude vibrations or tremors or foreshocks are some indicators of an incoming earthquake. Some other possible hints being inspected are bulging or titling of land surfaces and modifications in the magnetic field of the earth, in the depth of wells, and even in behaviour of animals.


Wildlife Encounter With Three Wedge-Tailed Eagles
A collector of Eagle Figurines tells his story of a strange site when travelling down under.
"The other day, a friend and I were driving down a somewhat quiet highway in Southern Australia, when we saw three huge wedge-tailed eagles feeding on a kangaroo on the side of the road. Being an eagle lover, I was extremely excited, and it was the first time I'd seen eagles while being here.
Because we saw them at the last second, we passed them at a fair speed and they naturally flew up and into the air above.
As we were on a round trip, we figured that we'd be back in around 20 minutes, and they'd still be there, but this time we could sneak up on them and get to enjoy the sight of one of the world's biggest birds of prey.
When we returned, we were extremely shocked to see them being harassed by a group of about 8 to 9 black crows. Now, this was totally unexpected, and maybe it's the norm, but to see three huge birds with a wingspan of around three and a half feet being harassed by birds that could easily be a snack to an eagle, was to say the least, a shock to the system.
At one stage we saw a crow, single-handedly, chase one of the eagles off into the distance, while the other 7 or 8 were patrolling above the dead kangaroo. To my right I noticed one of eagles, perched in a tree, looking defeated while the third was flying well above at what seemed to be a higher altitude, almost as if it knew the crows couldn't fly that high.
We did stop and get out, probably about 80 – 100 yards from the kangaroo, hoping the eagles would fight back, but it just seemed they had accepted their loss. Maybe they figured there was plenty of road kill to go around (which was the case, the number of dead kangaroo's on the road was astounding), but what was to stop them being harassed by another group of crows.
As a lover of eagles, I like to collect eagle figurines, as they give me a sense of pride but I must say, I felt a little disappointed at the site of three huge eagles not getting there own way, especially by birds a lot smaller than them.
It goes to show, Mother Nature works in mysterious ways, and I truly appreciate this fact, certainly more now than perhaps before. My other disappointment, was not having a camera available at the time."
Many thanks to Steven Nicks for his story. This story will be published on Wild Figurines news page.