The Moose and the Sparrow free essay sample

Cecil is young and smart. He has set his mind on studying art; he makes beautiful things out of plain wire. Moose is picking on him because of this, and because of his physical appearance, which is less strong than his own. As the new guy, it took a while before he was accepted by the other men, but they ended up liking him more than they liked Moose. On the other hand, we have Maddon Moose. He appears to be slightly older than Cecil, though his age is not mentioned in the text. Maddon probably dropped out of school, and therefore seems to have a need of picking on those who happens to be smarter than him. Maddon is a Saw boss and very strong physically. He is unsympathetic and always picks on others, so nobody likes him. Hugh Garner likes to show us the characters, by what they say and do, instead of just telling the reader about them. We will write a custom essay sample on The Moose and the Sparrow or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page for example; â€Å"What happened? † I asked one of Maddon’s men. â€Å"Moose burned the kid’s hand,† he told me. â€Å"He heated the end of a saw in the tea fire and then called the kid to take it to be sharpened. He handed the hot end to Cecil, and it burned his hand pretty bad. † (Hugh Garner, ‘The Moose and the Sparrow’). The story takes place in a logging Camp, and often in the bunkers where the men live, during the summer holidays. This is an important part of the story, and a course to Cecil’s problems; the setting gives Moose an opportunity of giving Cecil the hardest work possibly. Even though the story is about Cecil, it is told from Mr. Anderson’s point of view – it’s a first person angled story. The themes of this story are jealousy, murder/crime, and being picked on. Hugh Garner creates a tense atmosphere by making a climax – he builds up the story by describing different events that get more and more exiting, and giving hints and foreshadowing’s to the reader. Also, he has a way of describing the actions of the characters that makes the reader want to know the outcome of the story. The title is not fully understood until the end of the story, when the author tells the reader that Cecil has a sparrow-looking smile. ‘Moose’ is, of course, the person Maddon Moose. I think these are very appropriate labels, because it makes it easier to explain the relationship between them, the sparrow fighting against the moose. But, in the end, it is the little sparrow who wins. This shows that being big and strong, but dumb, isn’t always ideal; it was the small but clever one, who won. Perhaps this is what the author is trying to tell us. In this text, there are several foreshadowing’s. Example; ‘That evening the kid turned in early†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and, ‘I woke up during the night to hear a man laughing near the edge of the camp and Maddon’s name being called. I figured it was Moose and Lefevre coming home drunk from Camp Three. ’ (Hugh Garner, ‘The Moose and the Sparrow’) We also get another hint when the author tells us about how eager Cecil was to get Mr. Anderson’s wristwatch strap finished, and when we’re told about Lefevre not being at Camp Three at all the night of the incident. I think it was a very good story, and I liked it very much. At first I didn’t quite get it, but it all came clear at the end. It is a very good short story, exiting to read and well written.

Finding, Founding, and Funding

Finding, Founding, and Funding Finding, Founding, and Funding Finding, Founding, and Funding By Mark Nichol Find, found, and fund could conceivably be related on the basis of the notion of obtaining something, but the words (except in the case of the link between find and one of three broad senses of found) stem from independent sources. This post defines these words and others derived from them. Find, in the sense of discovery, is from the Old English verb findan, meaning â€Å"come upon,† â€Å"discover,† or â€Å"obtain.† The past tense is found, but the homograph found, from the Latin verb fundere, meaning â€Å"cast,† â€Å"melt,† or â€Å"pour out,† is unrelated, as is founder (â€Å"collapse,† â€Å"disable,† â€Å"fail,† or â€Å"sink†), stemming ultimately from fundus, a Latin noun meaning â€Å"bottom,† by way of the verb form fundare. A find is something discovered or located, including a person, place, or thing with exceptional qualities. Someone who finds is a finder, as in the phrase â€Å"finder’s fee,† which describes a commission received for helping someone identify a financial opportunity. A finder is also an auxiliary telescope, and a viewfinder is a device on a camera that aids the user in focusing on the photographic subject. A finding is the result of an examination or investigation, while found serves as an adjective as well as a verb, as in the phrase â€Å"found object.† From the past tense of found, foundling describes an abandoned infant who is discovered, and something newfound has just recently been located or discovered. As mentioned, found in the sense of â€Å"establish† has a distinct etymology, as do its kin: founder (â€Å"one who establishes†); founding (a verb and adjective referring to establishment, as in the phrase â€Å"Founding Fathers† to refer to the men instrumental in establishing the United States); and foundation, which pertains to establishment, to an organization that supports an endeavor, to the substructure of a building, or to a cosmetic base or a supporting undergarment. Foundational and foundationally are the adjectival and adverbial forms. Something that is well founded exists with literal or figurative support, such as an organization or a theory, respectively. Something unfounded, by contrast, has no basis of support, as in the case of a rumor; foundationless is also employed for this sense. (These terms apply only to the figurative sense, however.) Fundus, mentioned above as the forebear of founder, is also the basis of fundament, meaning â€Å"base,† and its adjectival form, fundamental. That word is also a noun pertaining to basic principles, thus the use of fundamentalist and fundamentalism to refer to Christians who interpret the Bible literally. Profound, meanwhile, retains only the figurative sense of its ancestor, profundus, and means â€Å"intellectually deep,† and fundus was borrowed directly into English in the anatomical sense of the part of a hollow organ opposite its opening, such as the back of the eye. From fundus we also derive fund, meaning â€Å"capital† or â€Å"stock† in the sense of a financial base (as a verb, it means â€Å"supply with money†); funds and funding refer to money, the former in a basic sense and the latter in the sense of providing funds. Someone who funds is a funder, the withdrawal of funds is defunding, and the return of funds is a refund, while replenishment of funds is re-funding; something without financial support is unfunded. A fund-raiser (the word is sometimes styled fundraiser), meanwhile, refers to an event intended to raise money from admission fees and donations, and crowdfunding (also called microfunding) is a funding strategy involving encouraging widespread but modest financial support for a project from the general public rather than focusing on a small number of large-scale investors. The verb found in the sense of â€Å"cast metal† and the noun form founder are rare, but foundry, referring to the art of casting metal or to a location where the art occurs, is somewhat more familiar. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:15 Terms for Those Who Tell the FutureTime Words: Era, Epoch, and EonWhat Is a Doctor?

Acquisition Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Acquisition Reform - Research Paper Example The military’s economic dependency is depicted in the budget allocation and on other aspects like military logistical acquisition. Based on these facts, the US government has seen the need to blend these two sectors together to harmonize their dependency on each other. This led to the formulation of the acquisition reform program (Hanks, 2005, p.234). Acquisition reform is an exercise meant to integrate the United States military with the civil business practices. The US department of defense acknowledged the need to integrate the civil industrial sector with the military. The economical production of the US had direct relations with the military in terms of logistics production and supply. From the late 1980’s through 1990’s to the present times, the US department of defense has undertaken numerous exercises meant to develop an optimal program to integrate these two sectors. The goals of the reform exercise are aimed at streamlining the performance of the US military by initiating close relationship between the civil logistics producers and the defense department. This exercise has presented numerous challenges to the main corridors of US power, especially the Pentagon, on how to carry out the optimal reform actions effectively. This led to the enactment of the Acquisition reform Act in 2009 by the US congress. The need to integrate the Defense department with the business sector arose after a consideration of how to respond effectively to the US military requirements. This underlying principle led to the initiation of objective research meant to formulate the projects deliverables. These deliverables were to provide an insight into the objective purpose of the acquisition reform process. The main objective of the reform exercise is for the civil economic sector to respond efficiently to the military needs. Based on this goal, the project designers saw the need of

Customer behavior Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Customer behavior - Case Study Example By cooling down, one is prepared to answer back courageously and explain exhaustively if the statement is untrue. It must be understood that some customers make negative comments in order to trick hotel management into offering them discounts, free visits to the hotel, and money back guarantee. Make professional responses (Cheng et al, 5). Customers are ken on any statement made in favor or against the allegation. Therefore, hotel managers should show empathy and concern to show customers’ feelings are respected. Offer a long lasting solution when necessary and be willing to learn from what customers comment. However, in cases where defaming statements are made, it is good to request review sites administrators to evaluate its credibility and remove such comments if they are not worth. In most cases, customers buy commodities depending on what others have commended about them. I can only buy items through an online platform if am guaranteed quality. Therefore, I will check what previous buyers have said about it. The same applies to hotel bookings. When visiting new places for a tour, it is always difficult to tell where to spend the night. However, through the help of travel directories and customer reviews in regards of hotels in that location, it is easy to make an informed decision on where to stay depending on cost, customer service, and comfort. Consumer behavior is shaped by what people hear, see, and read about products they intent to purchase. Therefore, marketers must be keen in making sure customers get the very best out of the products. However, it is almost impossible to avoid negative online reviews. Therefore, companies must be ready to learn from the reviews in cases where they make sense and explain to customers where there is misunderstanding. Cheng, Vincent TP, and Mei Kun Loi. "Handling negative online customer reviews: the effects of elaboration likelihood model and distributive justice." Journal of

Home Depot Essay Example for Free

Home Depot Essay It is not common for an enterprise to rise from the level of start-up to market domination in less than 3 decades, but Home Depot has this special distinction. With annual sales in excess of $80 billion from over 2 thousand retail stores (A Portrait of Growth, 2007) this remarkable corporation did not even exist until 1978. This stunning growth, which has an impressive record of profitability as well, has been largely achieved in North America, during the less than dynamic times of the last quadrant of the 20th century. The Home Depot success story is not in mere commercial or financial terms alone, but is also a powerful symbol of the spirit of free enterprise: the company was founded by a team of just 2 entrepreneurs, and has made deep inroads in all the communities it serves (Roush, 1999). This document combines both internal and external views and accounts of the functional histories and accomplishments of Home Depot, and concludes with observations about the possible future prospects of the corporation in the global markets which have begun to unfold. Company Analysis Home Depot has been built on a triad of platforms, which can be used to analyze its performance in qualitative terms (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). The first of these planks has been to build on a core business, which the company has executed with finesse and with impressive results. The corporate brand has become virtually synonymous with all do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me home improvement activities in the United States. The company is present in all 50 States, and has a comprehensive package of products and services for all categories of individual home owners. The company brand is an assurance of quality and value-for-money for an entire generation of U. S. citizens. Easily accessible customer advice (Roush, 1999). and strong cultural roots in the multi-racial values of modern America are inextricably linked with all phases of company operations. A second dimension of Home Depot has been to extend business (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). The management has been relatively conservative in this respect, adding wholesale and electronic business lines, but without the kind of aggressive expansion that was a hall-mark of its early years of store expansion. Indeed, it is also interested to dispose off its wholesale business. It is possible to think of many extensions of the original home improvement business in a retail format, which the company seems to have ignored. However, business extension remains a key stated aim of Home Depot. The third plank of Home Depot is to enter new markets (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). Implementation, being restricted to Canada, Mexico, and China, has been poor. Russia, India, the European Union, Brazil, the Middle East, and South Africa, are some of the potential markets which Home Depot has ignored. There seems to be no systematic effort to exploit the Internet and establish a strong global presence, as many other U. S. based corporations have done. The overall qualitative company analysis of Home Depot shows excellence in and focus on growing the core business, with limited forays in diversification, and weak attempts to extend the business to all available markets. Quantified company analysis leads to the same conclusion: Home Depot yields high short-term cash, but seems to be low on initiatives for new investment. 2005 Gross Profit, at over $27 billion, is more than a third of sales revenue. This is quite extraordinary for a business without proprietary products or technology. It reflects the success of the company’s basic philosophy of achieving economies of scale (Roush, 1999). The 2005 achievement is no ‘flash in the pan’ for the company has an impressive record of 5 years of operating margin expansion. Long term debt is less than 10% of equity, indicating some possible diffidence of company management about future prospects. It does not augur well for investors who look for superior growth opportunities. The 2005 Quick Ration is below 0. indicating efficiency in purchasing and logistics, with due leverage of its commanding market share and brand strength. It is clear that Home Depot is a successful and profitable enterprise, though it is inadequately geared to exploit new opportunities and emergent market trends. The company’s financials and business structure indicate that it may have already crested its best years, especially with respect to the limitations to further growth in North America. Segregated accounts for operations in China are not available in the public domain, but it appears that the company has not matched its historical success in a new continent. The entrepreneurial origins of Home Depot may not be entirely relevant for the professionalism demanded by a global market environment. Economics High volumes at low prices are at the heart of the business model (Roush, 1999). The network of over 2 thousand retail stores, with national spread in the United States, and enviable brand equity, combine to attract a plethora of suppliers with apparent deep discounts for the company’s endorsement. The economics of Home Depot act as an entry barrier, preventing regional competitors from attacking its market share. High cash generation puts Home Depot in a formidable bargaining position, and with the power to sustain predatory pricing offers. The Home Depot economic model has deeper roots in people than in numbers! Decades of intensive training and close interaction between the founders and front-line employees (Roush, 1999) make the company’s stores more than mere warehouses of branded goods. Home Depot emphasizes customer education, which attracts middle-class first time home buyers in sustained and large numbers. The company has carved a large segment in the U.  S. market with such deep footprints that they are almost impossible for newcomers to erase. Accounting Home Depot is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Home Depot Inc, 2007). It has met all reporting and disclosure requirements without any exceptions on record. Auditor comments on its financial statements show adequate compliance with statutory accounting standards. It is apparent that the company has an adequate accounting system, which is able to capture details of millions of transactions in reliable manner. Though the Management Information Systems of Home Depot are not in the public domain, it is possible to observe that even statutory treasury functions are advantageous for the company. The control of such a large number of sales items spread trans-nationally over such a large number of locations, would itself serve as an entry barrier for a new entrant. The company must excel in systems development, even if some parts are outsourced, to account correctly for such a large number of daily transactions. The Home Depot accounting system is therefore a significant non-financial asset of the corporation. Such systems have large future profit potentials if the company diversifies and enters new markets. Finance Earnings have grown by more than 20% for 4 consecutive years (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). Cash generation exceeds $7 billion. Total assets are about $44 billion. The equity base is stable at just over 2 billion shares, but long term debt is just 9. 9% of equity. The company is amazingly liquid for a business, which on paper should be most vulnerable to the vagaries of customer demand. The Current Ratio is just 1. 7, which is remarkable for so many items on sale across more than 2 thousand depots. Return on Investment in 18. 31, which exceed expected performance for a business without patents and proprietary technologies. Home Depot has a sterling financial performance, and is extremely sound by all financial yardsticks. However, the equity is not adequately leveraged. It appears that the management does not have new ideas about the future, though the business segment in which it operates is full of technological, economic, spatial, and demographic changes. Even the Current and Quick ratios, while admirable from an accountant’s perspective, may be questioned in terms of inventories of scare materials such as wood. Overall, finance has opportunities to excel as a function when a company grows aggressively, makes ambitious expansion plans, and deals in multiple currencies. The financial waters of Home Depot are placid! Marketing The Finance function of Home Depot may be a quiet place, but Marketing is a dynamic function for the company! Excellence in customer service is a founding value of the company (Roush, 1999). Much of this is achieved through intensive training programs, and by innovation in store design. It is hard to match the incomparable product and service combination of Home Depot and it is apparent that the company has a strong understanding of middle-class Americans as a customer segment. All home improvement needs can be met at the company’s stores, and customers have come to rely on the company’s pricing for a wide variety of tools and fixtures. The company brand enjoys top-of-the-mind recall, and has strong associations with the generic product category of retail home improvement. The do-it-yourself product category is very large in most sections of U. S. society, so Home Depot has a durable line of revenue by dominating this market. The business calls for deep understanding of the multi-faceted needs of home owners, and Home Depot has nurtured a special bonding with typical customers ever since its inception. The brand loyalty is extremely strong and has not been broken by any competitor as yet. The company has such a strong hold on the market that new manufacturers of appliances, fittings, and surfaces, are forced to enter the market through Home Depot stores. Customer education is a key consideration at Home Depot (Roush, 1999). This serves to protect the company’s market shares for even the most generic product lines, because no one else matches the information needs of new home owners, or older ones who encounter new problems in their properties. Since the company also offers favorable pricing, customers have little motivation to switch loyalties. Repeat custom is ensured through universal customer satisfaction. There is also plenty of space devoted to do-it-for-me market segments, which combines well with the wholesale business (now on the block for sale) to bring in valuable endorsements from experts in the professional home repair and redecoration businesses. Customers routinely visit Home Depot without any specific product in mind, or even without fully knowing what exactly they need to buy. The friendly advice which is easily and freely available at Home Depot serves to hook customers and has them returning for all home improvement needs. The service also serves to expand the overall market for home improvement, encouraging home owners to take on tasks which they may have left unattended or passed on to service providers, were it not for the guidelines forthcoming from the stores of Home Depot. The encouraging ambience in the stores of Home Depot is reinforced by wise and timely mass media communication. By advertising on a NASCAR theme on television (A Portrait of Growth, 2007) the company shows deep appreciation of its typical customer cluster, and their preferences. Home Depot is also an official NFL sponsor, which is most appropriate considering the profile of the typical customer who shops at Home Depot, and who is responsible for the vast majority of home improvement decisions. Home Depot excels in all aspects of Marketing with sharp focus on a targeted segment. The Marketing Mix is a coordinated mix of product and service elements guaranteed to ensure repeat custom and durable brand loyalties. Though Home Depot has not slackened its intensive marketing efforts to this day, the residual effects of the goodwill it has generated can stand it in good stead for years. It is considered to be one of the best retailers in North America by customers, associates, and peers alike. Management The Chief Executive Officer and senior Legal and Human Resources personnel have left the company in the last 3 months ending February 2007 (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). All the vacancies have been filled by internal promotions. Such moves would indicate strong management resistance to proposed changes of basic direction, and a determination to persist with established business patterns. The implications are even clearer for a company such as Home Depot, with strong traditions for developing and depending on people. The possible power struggle may have left significant sections of the remaining staff in turmoil, and perhaps now actively searching for alternate jobs. The former Chief Executive Officer is bound by a year’s no-compete clause, and cannot solicit employees to leave and join in his other ventures for the next few years: such clauses in separation contracts also suggest that many people in Home Depot may want to search for alternate jobs as soon as they have options. There is no merit in this matter as far as Home Depot’s future prospects are concerned. There is worse conflict with a major share-holder as well, over strategic direction (A Portrait of Growth, 2007). The share-holder entity, which is professionally managed, has merely asked for an independent strategy review, which is not something against the best interests of Home Depot. However, the Board has decided to oppose the constructive resolution. Reviews by outsiders are never binding on clients, so the management’s intransigence in this matter leaves room for doubt about cohesion at the top of the hierarchy. It is apparent that the company is divided between proponents of change, and a powerful group which favors the status-quo-ante. Though Home Depot has a spectacular performance record, it is true that the 21st century global market is quite different from domestic USA towards the end of the last millennium. New demographic segments of the wealthy, and of some immigrants, have emerged even within the strong hold of the home market, so a recasting of strategy seems in order, even if such an exercise were to conclude that the company is already on the right course. Hands on Human Resources Management, with emphasis on training (Roush, 1999) formed the template of the early success of Home Depot. However, a modern corporation cannot survive on breakfast meetings between employees and founders alone! Diversity concerns have certainly altered the composition of the work force, so new ways of managing people and deploying resources are inevitable. The present Home Depot management may have become prisoners of past achievement, preferring to stay with a course which may not be appropriate any longer. While internal promotions are creditable to a certain extent, Boards also need infusion of new perspectives from other successful companies. By filling all the recent vacancies internally, Home Depot may have deprived itself of valuable perspectives from the street. The company’s close association with middle-class America may become a limitation as it is forced to engage with unfamiliar markets and new customer types. Overall, serious discontinuities are evident in the highest echelons of Home Depot.

The Doctor’s Wife and So Long a Letter Essay -- Literature

Men have been shown to be the prime cause of competition between the women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† by Sawako Ariyoshi and â€Å"So Long a Letter† by Mariama Bà ¢. This is strongly evident in â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† from the time Umpei returns home, after completing his education. A major change is also noticed in Otsugi’s behavior towards Kae. The intense tension caused by the competition between the women characters is also shown in â€Å"So Long a Letter† when the two men, Modou Fall and Mawdo Bà ¢, marry their second wives. In this essay I will be discussing how men are shown to be the prime cause of competition between the women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† and â€Å"So Long a Letter† and why the writers use this element. This competition helps in developing the plots of the two novels. For example, throughout the letter that Ramatoulaye writes to Aissatou, the plot of â€Å"So Long a Letter† revolves around the second marriages of Modou Fall and Mawdo Bà ¢. This creates a sense of competition between Ramatoulaye and Aissatou, their first wives respectively. The competition between Ramatoulaye and Binetou to acquire the attention of their husband, Modou Fall and between Aissatou and la Petite Nabou for Mawdo Bà ¢ is what keeps the readers’ interest in the novel. This competition becomes all the more evident when Ramatoulaye describes the formalities involved in carrying out the death ceremony for her husband, Modou Fall. When all the formalities have ended, Binetou, Ramatoulaye’s ‘co-Wife’, finally leaves. This gives Ramatoulaye a sense of relief. This occurs when she says, â€Å"Tonight Binetou, my co-Wife, will return to her SICAP villa. At last! Phew!†(Bà ¢, p. 8) Her expressions and feelings about Binetou are expressed... ...ice has known thirty years of silence, thirty years of harassment.†(Bà ¢, p. 57) This clearly gives a picture of the mental state of Ramatoulaye after Modou’s second marriage. Again, this is the result of the competition that Modou created between Ramatoulaye and Binetou. From this, we are able to conclude that men have been shown to be the primary cause of competition between women characters in the novels â€Å"The Doctor’s Wife† and â€Å"So Long a Letter†. This competition has been used by the writers to enhance the plot development, by creating conflict and to show the mental state of women. Thus the novels make reading interesting for the readers. Bibliography †¢ Ariyoshi, Sawako. The Doctor’s Wife. Trans. Wakako Hironaka and Ann Siller Kostant. Tokyo: Kodansha Int. 2003. †¢ Bà ¢, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Trans. Modupà © Bodà ©-Thomas. London: Heinemann, 1989. Print.

Mass Tourism Essay

HOW DOES TOURISM IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT The effect of tourism on the environment can be both positive and negative. Each person or group of people will impact the area they visit in a different way. Whether it is in a negative or positive manner is entirely up to the visitor. Let’s consider the NEGATIVE impacts first: POLLUTION – This is probably the biggest negative factor concerning tourism. People have to travel to their destination. It doesn’t matter if it’s by plane to another country or by car to the local national park, traveling puts emissions into the air. WASTE – People typically use disposable items when they pack for a trip, after all, it’s a holiday and who wants to be bothered with washing dishes or saving scraps for the compost? Landfill here it comes! PHYSICAL DAMAGE – especially to the local fauna and animal habitat. Tromping carelessly through the forest, smashing down delicate flowers and grasses or burning deadfall and destroying habitat for local ground dwelling animals. We may not even notice what we are doing but the local area does. NOISE – may not seem like a big deal, but loud noises can scare animals out of the area and possibly even disrupt the local ecosystem. There are some POSITIVE impacts too: AWARENESS – when people visit an area, they notice things a local person may not. A tourist is more likely to notice a problem like pollution or habitat encroachment and bring it to the attention of local authorities or even the world! EDUCATION – tourists provide an endless supply of people from around the world that can be targeted and educated on everything from forest stewardship to local history and plans for the future. FUNDRAISING – a tourist provides an easy target for fundraising. Tourists pay fees for everything from camping sites and park entry fees, to licenses for fishing and hunting. The more tourists in a controlled area, means the more money that can be collected for things like education, policing and maintenance of national wilderness areas. ACTION – tourists visiting an area do so for many reasons. Maybe they are looking for someplace quiet where they can commune with nature or perhaps they want to see a piece of history. Whatever the reason, when that tourist returns home, s/he will remember the experience and may feel compelled to do something positive for the environment to help save that area. These are only a few ways that a tourist can impact the environment. Your personal impact as a tourist is entirely up to you Case Studies In this unit you have studied how tourism impacts on a range of environments and how the impact of tourism can be managed. In the examination you will be asked about one or more of these environments. The question will be worth five marks on the Foundation paper and eight on the Higher, so you need to revise carefully for these. In this unit you have completed a case study for: 1. A UK National Park or a coastal area e.g. Lake District or Blackpool 2. A tropical destination e.g. Jamaica or Maldives 3. An extreme environment e.g. Mount Everest base camp, Nepal or Antarctica 4. An example of eco- tourism e.g. The Galapagos Islands On the following pages you will find some brief notes about each of the destinations above and some practice case study questions. A UK National Park: Lake District National Park Where is the Lake District and why do people visit? The Lake District National Park is in the North West of England and attracts 14 million visitors every year because it has spectacular scenery – mountains and lakes. There are also lots of opportunities for outdoor activities – hill walking, sailing, mountain climbing and cycling. People also visit the picturesque towns – Ambleside and Keswick to visit major tourist attractions such as Beatrix Potter museum and the pencil museum. What is the impact of tourism? Footpath erosion from the millions of walkers Conflicts between farmers and visitors because they leave litter, gates open, cause fires, create traffic congestion which affects their business and livelihood Traffic congestion as many visitors drive to the Lake District and the narrow country roads are not designed to cope Changes the character of quiet villages if tourists come in large numbers. Visitors can be noisy and might not respect the rural way of life Increased house prices as city folk buy second homes in the country, which make the more expensive for the poorer paid country people. How is tourism managed in National Parks? The National Park Authority is responsible for developing strategies to cope with large numbers of visitors to protect the residents, local economy, businesses and the rural way of life for the future. It does this in a number of ways: Development of tourism has been concentrated on specific sites e.g. Lake Windermere and Keswick in order to protect other areas. These developed areas are known as ‘honeypots’ Countryside footpaths have been reinforced to prevent erosion from the huge numbers of walkers Number of car parks has been increased to take traffic off narrow country roads and to prevent inconsiderate parking Employment opportunities increased for the local population when traditional farming industries are in decline through the development of ‘honeypots’ A tropical destination: Jamaica Where is Jamaica and why do people visit? Jamaica is a tropical island in the Caribbean Sea and is part of a group of islands known as the West Indies. The island receives over a million international visitors each year because it has wide, sandy beaches and attractions in the cities and towns such as bars, museums and theme parks. 8% of the population are employed in tourism and it’s a very important industry to the country because each tourist spends on average US$931 which is a 20% contribution to GDP. What is the impact of tourism? Jamaica is a destination that both benefits and suffers from ‘mass tourism’ Mass tourism is tourism on a large scale to a particular country or area. The destination will be at the development or consolidation stage on the Butler’s life cycle model. Negative impacts include: ï‚•ï€  Using up the little water the country has on swimming pools