Discounts in Mandarin Chinese

Discounts in Mandarin Chinese Everyone loves a discount. The bigger the better. When youre shopping, its always a good idea to keep a  lookout for good deals and discount signs. If youre shopping or bartering in China or Taiwan, make sure to understand how discounts work in Chinese. Otherwise, you might end up paying for a price much higher than you expected! When it comes to Mandarin Chinese discounts, they are expressed the opposite of English. In English, discount signs are labeled as X% off. In Chinese stores, discount signs will tell you the percentage of the original price that you now have to pay.   So don’t get too excited when something is marked 9 折 (jiÇ” zhà ©); that doesnt mean 90% off. It means you can buy it for 90% of its regular price – a 10% discount. The format for discounts is number 折. Western (Arabic) numbers are used instead of Chinese characters. Here are some examples: 7 折qÄ « zhà ©30% off5 折wÇ” zhà ©50% off2.5 折à ¨r diÇŽn wÇ” zhà ©75% off You might be confused as to how 7 refers to 70% rather than 7%, 5 refers to 50% rather than 5%, and so on. This is because 7  Ã¦Å Ëœ means 0.7 times the price. If an item originally costs $100 but has a  7  Ã¦Å Ëœ discount, then the final cost is 0.7 x $100, or $70.   So when looking out for discount signs in Chinese, remember that the smaller the number, the bigger the discount.

Why You Should Avoid Racist Halloween Costumes

Why You Should Avoid Racist Halloween Costumes Once upon a time, Halloween costumes were simple. Witches, princesses, and ghosts surfaced as the most popular get-ups. Not so anymore. In recent decades, the public has taken a fancy to costumes that make a statement. Unfortunately, these costumes sometimes make statements viewed as racist or anti-Semitic, such as when Englands Prince Harry donned a Nazi outfit to a party. Want to make a splash with your Halloween costume but not one that’s racially offensive? Then avoid the following get-ups. Ghetto Person/Black Person Rappers introduced the term â€Å"ghetto fabulous† into the American lexicon in the 1990s. The term refers to the flamboyant fashions that arise from the streets of inner cities. Who knew in the ’90s that college kids nationwide would throw parties in the new millennium with â€Å"ghetto fab† themes? Guests at such parties sport lots of â€Å"bling,† or ostentatious jewelry. Some might cover their teeth with fake gold or platinum caps and their heads with do-rags. Women might wear huge hoop earrings, fake fingernails and the scanty clothing that rap video vixens wear. Men might style their hair in cornrows or don Afro wigs. The problem with these ghetto fab costumes is that they invoke stereotypical images of African Americans as low-class, gauche, thuggish and sexually provocative, among others. These costumes tend to be classist and racist, impelling black college students who become aware of â€Å"ghetto fab† parties to have disciplinary action taken against party organizers for creating a racially hostile environment on campus. Redneck The flipside of the ghetto fab costume is the redneck or hillbilly Halloween costume, which is also both racist and classist. Those opting for such a costume might wear a mullet wig, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, along with jeans and a plaid shirt. Such costumes promote the stereotype that poor whites are ignorant and worthy of ridicule. They suggest that poor and working-class whites are inherently inferior to their more affluent counterparts. Geisha Girl Oddly enough, the geisha girl costume is popular among girls and women, alike. Considering that geishas are perceived to be high-end prostitutes in many circles, that’s cause for concern. Also troubling is that, along with the dragon lady, china doll, and lotus blossom, geisha girl is a racial and sexual stereotype thrust upon Asian women. The geisha stereotype is one that paints Asian women as submissive, doll-like and existing only to sexually gratify others. A contributor to Racialicous.com who goes by the name Atlasien poignantly spelled out why she objects to the appropriation of the geisha image. â€Å"Geisha are not very relevant in modern-day Japan. They’re a fossilized archetype, almost like a ninja,† she remarked. â€Å"But a lot of people, especially white people, are invested in defending geisha, in putting them on a pedestal. And when they do that, it does harm to Japanese-American women and to all Asian-American women.† Muslim The 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon not only put Arab and Muslim Americans under additional scrutiny in the U.S., but they also resulted in a rise in costumes related to Islamic fundamentalism. Want to wear a burqa for Halloween? There’s a costume for it. How about a Muslim suicide bomber? That costume’s available as well. The question is why would you want to wear one of these costumes? They’re far more likely to offend people you encounter than to make them laugh. To boot, they raise the worst stereotypes about Muslim Americans, the overwhelming majority of whom are peaceful and law-abiding citizens. American Indians (With or Without Cowboys) Considering the backlash against Native American mascots in sports, it should be no surprise that donning an American Indian costume is likely to rub some the wrong way. Whether you’re a kid dressing up as an Indian during a Thanksgiving play or an adult rooting for your favorite sports team while wearing faux war paint and a headdress, you’re likely to get a reaction because these costumes typically paint Native Americans as cartoonish and savage. Throwing cowboys into the mix only adds insult to injury. When European â€Å"cowboys† settled the Americas, they not only set out to appropriate Native lands but to decimate or neutralize the indigenous population. â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties make light of the atrocities committed in the name of manifest destiny. A January 2009 editorial written by college student Tefari Abel Casas Fuchs reveals how emotionally damaging â€Å"Cowboys and Indians† parties can be to Native American students. In addition to these issues, the sexy Pocahontas costumes on the market for women are racially offensive as well. Not only do they sexualize Pocahontas, a young adolescent girl, but Native American women generally. All too often, the sexual relationships Native American women had with European settlers were exploitative or abusive, with Native women regarded as the derogatory term â€Å"squaw.† Gypsy Gypsy getups frequently make the rounds at Halloween functions. Like Native American costumes, however, these costumes typically paint Gypsies, more appropriately called Roma, in cartoonish terms. â€Å"The romanticized image of the ‘Gypsy’ is alive and well in song lyrics, novels, costume parties, musical groups, and other forms of cultural imagery: ‘They are exotic women in colorful skirts, dancing in sensual swirls....’ They dance by campfires, travel in caravans, tell fortunes with crystal balls or Tarot cards,† notes advocacy group Voice of Roma. In addition to this, the Roma are stereotyped as being beggars, pickpockets, and con-artists. A case in point is that one can use the expressions â€Å"I got conned† and â€Å"I got gypped† interchangeably. Rather than counteract such stereotypes, Gypsy costumes promote them, ignoring the fact that the Roma have long been persecuted and continue to face virulent discrimination throughout Europe. During the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million Roma were exterminated. In the present, Roma are denied their rights to housing, employment, healthcare, and education, according to Amnesty International. The agency also reports that Roma are often victims of forced evictions, racist attacks, and police brutality. How stiff is bias against the Roma? When Madonna asked for Roma discrimination to stop during a concert in Bucharest in August 2009, the crowd reportedly jeered. Wrapping Up When choosing Halloween costumes with a racial bent, err on the side of caution. You’ll be less likely to offend if you dress up as a specific person rather than an anonymous member of a racial group. In other words, consider going as Barack Obama for Halloween rather than a black guy, any black guy. And be sure to avoid changing your features in a way that’s offensive. This means not wearing blackface to be President Obama or taping your eyes so that they slant if you’re dressing up as Bruce Lee. Plenty of Obama masks are available in Halloween stores, and a black wig, fake scratches on the face and a martial arts outfit might be all you need to be Bruce Lee.

SCIENCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SCIENCE - Essay Example ers to understand the process and existence of life and a discussion of these two ideas is important for any student of history, biology or the life sciences in general. As reported by Johnstone (1930), in matters of historical positioning, vitalism and materialism are not very different from each other. He says that, â€Å"During the last three centuries, biology has exhibited alternating phases of materialism and vitalism. Materialism when, under the stimuli of progress in physical science, it made great advances, and vitalism when, those stimuli being exhausted, it marked time (Johnstone, 1930, pp. 631)†. However, despite the drifting nature of how life was seen by biologist, the particular understanding of the two viewpoints changed very little. For example, vitalism is defined as a doctrine that suggest that all functions of a living being are due to a vital principle that is different and separate from the physiochemical forces that are present in the organism. Life itself is seen as a vital spark which creates energy with the body. Of course the religious leaning within this doctrine is easy to deduce since the vital spark of the body can be easily considered the soul of the person or animal that departs the body once the organism is dead. The idea of vitalism was played down in historical terms when things such as germ theory and the idea of different bodily systems and organs performing different and independent functions were understood by scientists. Life could now be taken to be connected to chemical and biological processes that once understood in chemical terms reduced the need to be dependant on the mystical idea of a vital spark in the human body. However, the deeper questions of how life itself can be maintained still needed help in certain areas from a vitalism perspective because the full explanation of what life is and how living things can be said to be living was still lacking. On the other hand, materialism considers life to be a product

Are Gun Control Policies effective or ineffective Essay

Are Gun Control Policies effective or ineffective - Essay Example Implementing strict and effective gun control measure serves as a platform to reduce the increasing crime rate and deaths that result from firearm’s misuse. According to criminologists, intensified gun control measures focused to disarm every citizen are the solution to the recent misuse of guns and increased crime in the United States. Remarkably, the reduction of guns in the streets contributes substantially to the reduction of armed crimes and deaths. Increasing gun control does not reduce crimes by itself, but the enforcement of the law is the way forward to solve the dilemma of gun control and crime rate. Criminologists have conferee to the realistic reasoning that the absence of a gun in the hands of a criminal of angered member of the family would not result to fatality. The possession of firearms by an individual is always perceived as a factor that increases the likelihood of gun fatality. Through observations, the presence of firearms trigger the gun attack that incr eases the possibility of deaths involved in a conflict. Advocates for stiff gun control measures are contented that many lives would be saved if the government made it harder for people to own guns. There are a number of reasons behind intensified gun control measures. One of the realistic rationale on gun control lies on the fact that citizens services no military or police duties and should not thereby own riffles. The laws restrict the public from taking law into their hands. As a result, gun ownership serves more of breaking the law than ensuring personal security. Similarly, ownership of firearms by citizens’ law may not contribute to crimes directly, but has an underlying loophole for gangs to access firearms to use in criminal activity. The ban on firearms saves lives among the citizens because it deprive the victims an easy way of suicidal mission. Remarkably, ownership of gun has seen the rise of suicides committed in a country. The absence of a firearm within an angry or depressed individual may be the difference between life and death that critical point. The public is more of the side of gun control with fifty –four percent of the Americans being in su pport of strict gun control policies. While a considerable number of citizens may advocate for gun anti-control, it is evident that the public does not see possession of firearms as way to improve persona security, but as a threat to the lives of others. This has

Coming of Age in New Jersey by Michael Moffat Essay Example for Free

Coming of Age in New Jersey by Michael Moffat Essay Michael Moffat studied the life of college students in a co-ed dormitory living environment at Rutgers University in the late 1970’s and mid 1980’s. His book, Coming of Age in New Jersey: College and American Culture draw on writings of actual students and provide detailed accounts of the sexual histories and activities of both male and female students living in the dorm. He writes what he learned as an actual resident living with the students who understood that he was researching their habits and experiences. He lived with them and studies them as an anthropologist would. The book focuses largely on sexual life of students but also touches upon race, work ethic, gender and community living. It seems that all of these issues are related and Moffat is able to tie much of the actions and attitudes together. A common theme throughout the book is that the life of college students is not quite as wild and sex filled as society in general might assume. In fact, the experience may be less wild that the prospective students themselves expected. This was likely a relief to many of them and in fact, is likely that the family values and morals that they brought to college with them were responsible for the reality of life in the dorms. It seems that new college students do not leave all of their past experiences of knowledge at home when the come to college. They apparently have learned and formed opinions and come with a set of expectation for acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. The book also discusses the difference between expectations of general college living and the actual experience. The societal expectation or assumptions of student life, and what actually occurs is discussed. Relating the sexual activity and romantic relationship to student’s morals and prior learning is interesting. While some of the stories are disturbing, many of them lead one to believe that children actually do listen to and learn from their parents. The morals and beliefs of home follow these students to the college dorm.   Moffat notes the difference between living in a dormitory like environment such as an apartment or even boarding home, and living in a college dorm. In the college dorm there is an expected sense of community and commradery and the university does much to encourage the friendships and support that this living arrangement offers. Adolescents are transitioning from home to the life of an independent adult and the community living is meant to offer a degree of supervision and support. The effects of this arrangement on the actual experiences of students in interesting to the reader. Chapters 5 6 are titled â€Å"Sex† and â€Å"Sex in College† respectively. These chapters provide the details on the relationships and sexual experiences and habits of the students. Moffat found that students fell into several groups including those who were involved with more conservative and traditional monogamous, heterosexual relationships that involved love and affection. This was the largest group. Others fell in to the groups of experiments and those having some casual relationships that involved sex. This group, for the most part included those who arrived at college more experienced sexually.   Moffat grouped the students into several distinct types in terms of sexual activity. These included; neotraditional, romantic, experimental, radical, liberal and the nonheterosexual population. He was clear to note however, that every student or pair of students involved with a relationship were different, with their own set of idiosyncrasies. Most however, were interested in committed, consensual, heterosexual relationships. Orgies, no matter what the movies and pop culture may imply, were not at all the norm on the college campus. E also found that for most students, their schedule was o busy and the conflicting schedules of their partner or potential partners made sex a rarity for many. Roommates and social issues of community issue further hampered the free love environment one might have expected. The students that reported experimenting with locations such as outside or in classrooms, the library or on the bus seemed driven as much by the lack of privacy as by the desire to be an exhibitionist. The book note that the 1980’s came with the ability to easily prevent pregnancy with the availability of birth control so sex could be enjoyed more freely than in the past. Still, traditional values and the need for committed relationships held out. The fact that the college dorm was set up like a pseudo family, seems to have resulted in some degree of modesty and restraint. Moffat talks about how students would surely not walk around naked or provocatively in front of each other on the floor openly. Students or dorm mates related to each other to at least some degree, as they would act around siblings and family members in general. Those who did dare to walk to the shower wearing only a towel, for example were made fun of and the comments made were much like the comments one would make to a sibling. These relationship similarity likely resulted n some curbing of the sexual behavior at least among floor mates. Moffat’s book reports the facts and shows data and bell curves and comparisons from the 1970’s to the 1980’s. He does not draw a lot of conclusions or cause and effect relationships. That is left for the reader to do if he wishes. The book does seem to indicate that college students are more focused and serious than movies such as Animal House would have one believe. Unfortunately, this book does not address at all the realities of the effects of drugs and alcohol use on college campuses. Living with the students, Moffat did not want to report on issues of substance abuse as he was concerned about the openness of his subjects if they felt that he was potentially a â€Å"narc†. This dimension however is so important to the living experiences of college students that a glaring hole is the result. Anyone familiar with college living will notice the missing piece of information, particularly for those who lived in college dorms during the 19070’s and 1980’s when drug and alcohol use was so much less regulated than it is today The relationship between substance use and sexual activity would have been interesting to note. The issue of traumatic sexual experiences and events linked to alcohol use would likely have been linked. A study today of sexuality on campus, looking at he issue of substance abuse as well as the increased awareness of sexually transmitted diseases would be very interesting to compare to Moffat’s original study.   One would expect that the outcome would be similar to the original study in terms of understanding the relationships between values, morals, family environments and sexuality.

Parental Investment Theory Essay -- Gender Roles, Sex

The socio-biological theory suggests gender appropriate behaviour has evolved to allow humanity to survive. There is supporting evidence in the composition of the human body; men have a larger lung capacity and greater physical strength than women in order to better equip them for protecting their family. In contrast, women are born with child-bearing capacities and are therefore biologically predetermined to care for their children, thus ensuring the human race survives. In 1994 Kenrick introduced â€Å"Parental Investment Theory†. He claimed society is organised so that women are protected and remain faithful, ensuring men are able to impart their genes to future generations. This also allows for women to be selective to ensure their partner provides food, shelter and other basic human necessities. Kenrick’s ideas are supported by Buss’ 1994 experiment. Buss surveyed men and women in thirty seven countries to investigate important qualities in the opposite sex. The findings showed that women preferred resourcefulness and dependability whereas men valued chastity and youth. This study appears to support Kenrick’s â€Å"Parental Investment Theory† as Buss argues that men evolved to provide for their partners and are attracted to fertile women. Oestrogen receptors in the brain are believed to cause gender-appropriate behaviour. Oestrogen, a hormone found in the female genital tissue, acts as a ligand and, by activating the oestrogen receptors found on the surfaces of brain cells, causes notable changes in behaviour. Professors at Yale University have studied the effects of oestrogen and found the hormone increases neural connectivity in the brain resulting in a more accurate memory. Turnham et al (2002) supports this as upon investigation... ...o carry out a perfect experiment and consequently all evidence will be flawed. It is necessary to focus upon evaluating the severity of such flaws. One could argue that the biosocial theory is more convincing as the many strengths of the socio-biological and social learning theories are combined providing a credible explanation. This also means the scientific facts in the socio-biological theory are no longer undermined but indeed strengthened by evidence to support learnt gender-appropriate behaviours. The biosocial theory allows for both schools of thought to be equally considered. Overall the Hegelian dialectic mechanism can be applied; the hypothesis, in this case the socio-biological explanation, and the antithesis, the social learning paradigm, must co-exist to produce the resulting synthesis, gender-appropriate behaviours. Thus girls are both born and made.

An Analysis of the Character Du Tenth in the poem Essay

Du Mei is the lead female character in Feng Meng-Long’s poem â€Å"Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger†. She was a famous courtesan belonging to one of the brothels located in the Northern capital of China during the Ming Dynasty. Du Mei was also known as Du Tenth by virtue of being the â€Å"tenth-born of her generation† (837). She was described to be extremely attractive and alluring. Her beauty was said to be flawless and could only be compared to what is most beautiful in nature. Below is an excerpt from the poem: Two arcs of eyebrow traced with green of distant hills; a pair of eyes bright with welling autumn floods. Face like a lotus bud – just like Wen-jun of the Zhou clan; Lips like cherries†¦ (837) Her reputation was so renowned that a jingle was composed in her honor which remarked on her effect on men and how other women pale beside her. Du Tenth exhibited no qualms about taking advantage of her charms. She was more cunning than coy. From the age of thirteen when she lost her virginity and up until the age of nineteen when she met and chose her favored lover Li Jia, she enthralled men and controlled them to squander their fortunes on her. Her cunning once more came to the fore as she negotiated the terms of her freedom. As her greedy madam was trying to manipulate her to get rid of Li Jia who by that time had run out of money, Du Tenth outmaneuvered her and pounced on the prattle of her madam about Li buying her freedom. She worked on the madam’s innate skepticism and managed to get the price down and extend the deadline from three days to ten days. She even got the madam to commit to her word. She likewise worked on Li to commit to his word to buy her freedom and to take her away with him as his wife and start a new life. More so at that time, having a former whore as a wife was unacceptable to polite society and most especially to political families to which Li Jia was a member of. Du Tenth also showed her romantic side and her sense of loyalty by sticking beside Li in spite of his lack of financial capability, his weak personality and numerous shortcomings. She nudged him on and encouraged him by putting up half of the buy-out money and allowing him to save face by giving him the opportunity to complete the other half. She was able to accomplish this without causing undue embarrassment to him. She was level-headed and showed strength in her demeanor not even once shedding tears of frustration unlike Li who cried in torrents. Not once did she waiver on her objective. She was able to deliberate her actions, carefully plan each step and anticipated every need that may come up in her quest for a new life with Li. She also expressed gratitude freely and forged lasting relationships with her sisters in the quarters instead of envy and enmity for being far beautiful than they. Du Tenth’s intelligence and woman’s guile further manifested itself during her travel with Li. She made suggestions instead of outright commands on the best steps to take to gain acceptance back into his family. She demonstrated a keen sense of self-control. She kept her cards close to chest and did not reveal all her plans to Li perhaps in the hope that he just might be able to come up with a plan on his own that would benefit them both. However, in return, he betrayed her instead to Sun Fu. Sun belonged to a family of salt merchants who harbored a malicious intent towards Du Tenth after hearing her excellent singing. Li betrayed her to Sun by revealing her as a whore and he again betrayed her by selling her off for a thousand taels. Upon learning of this betrayal from Li herself, Du Tenth continued to outwardly look calm and collected while seething inside from disappointment and rage. True to form, Li missed the sarcasm of her remark, â€Å"The man who devised this plan for you is truly a great hero. The fortune of a thousand taels will enable you to restore your position in your family, and I will go to another man so as not to be a burden to you† (852). Regardless, she continued to harbor hope that Li might see the error of his ways and fight for their love as she did. However, as soon as the thousand taels exchanged hands, her anger boiled over. She was a woman scorned and she showed her anger in the same deliberate way she acted all her life. Her actions were controlled and measured. She did not scream and throw a fit. Instead, the embarrassment that she had been saving Li from, she finally used against him to maximum effect. She used her cunning and maneuvered to gather as much of a crowd as she can by gradually producing her precious jewelry and with spectacle, threw them overboard one by one. Once she had the attention of the crowd, she cursed Sun and unleashed her disdain for Li. She announced his betrayal of the devoted and everlasting love that she offered. She drove home his error in accepting the thousand taels and made it known to him that with her, he could have had more had he only shown the same loyalty and faithfulness. She had coped with a shameful life and Li further shamed her by casting her aside. In revenge, she shamed both by jumping into the river and drowned herself. Yet, even in death, she showed her gratitude for the kindness she had received while living. Liu Yu-chun, Li Jia’s friend who actually raised the remaining half of the buy-out money, found himself at the other end of Du Tenth’s eternal gratitude. It was because of him, he who believed in the power of the love and devotion that she had for Li, that she was able to experience life of a free woman, albeit fleeting, without the indignity of being a whore. In return, Du Tenth gifted him with the remaining contents of her jewel box. Du Tenth was a cunning and strong-willed woman. She knew what she wanted, had the ability to devise plans and was willing to work on the means to get it. Regardless, she had not failed to show appreciation to all those who helped her along the way. Her experience as a courtesan should have left her jaded. Yet, deep inside, she remained a romantic at heart.