Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Critically Contrasting Personnel Management and Human Resource Management

Fundamentally Contrasting Personnel Management and Human Resource Management 1. Presentation In the course of the most recent couple of decades with the beginning of the modern transformation, the work place has seen an adjustment in position as for its kin working in associations. The key topic reverberates around the consistently expanding significance being given to the representatives or the human asset. It began with what scholars alluded to as work force the executives. A few scholars accept that staff the board advanced in what exactly is currently called human asset the executives while others draw critical key and operational contrasts between them (Torrington et al. 2005). The fundamental distinction that the scientists find between these two is their region of center inside the association. Work force the executives looks basically into managerial parts of the association while, Human asset the board, then again, takes care of creating, holding and developing the human angle the association. In many associations today we see a developing significance given to this capacity at key levels. In this article, the hypothesis that exists for work force the executives and human asset the board will be basically differentiated and investigated to reach a resolution in the discussion referenced in the past passage. Various scholars take a gander at each of these as autonomous components just as social components and this exposition clarifies the foundation of the setting of every one of the components for example faculty the board and human asset the executives, the change or the apparent change of work force the executives to human asset the executives and drawing contrasts and likenesses found in the current writing to decisively characterize whether there is a distinction between the two or is Human Resource Management a term which is absolutely an advancement of staff the board. 2. Hypothesis AND PHILOSOPHY OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT There has been a lot of writing that has been reproachful of work force the executives of being low on hierarchical status in the ongoing years. The observation is generally held that the capacity of work force the executives is constrained in a receptive and authoritative position and neglects to hold pertinence to the points of the association. To explain this observation it should work at a vital level (Lundy, 1994). Creators, for example, Drucker (1968), Watson (1977), Legge (1978) and Rowland and Summers (1981) relate staff the executives to a managerial job. This could incorporate finance, keeping up rehearses as for guideline and other such exercises. Torrington and Hall (1987) noticed that work force the board looks towards the line chief for the as a key driver for the coordination to the general authoritative objectives. Anyway the absence of vital heading some of the time causes a contention with the general job of the director which is progressively vital in nature. Lundy (1994) noticed that the foundation of the worker's guilds in UK alongside the resulting government assistance development that started with the beginning of the mechanical transformation in the mid nineteenth century turned into the hidden reason for this contention. Worker's guilds implied the laborers were spoken to, were educated and could now request and battle for their privileges while line directors and governments thought about work as ware. This absence of vital sythesis in faculty the board started to see the rise of Human Resource Management as a substitution term. The traps that were once confronted with the authoritative standpoint of the staff the board were being wiped out by stretched out the limits to create an increasingly key job inside the association. Subsequently, human asset arranging got adjusted and was getting incorporated with the general authoritative technique. HRM, as per Bratton and Gold (2003), is a key way to deal with overseeing work relations which accentuates that utilizing people groups abilities is basic in accomplishing upper hand. Torrington et al (2005) depict human asset the executives as a way of thinking that manages the completing of hierarchical exercises that are individuals situated and that stretches out to the individuals who are not utilized in the association. Human asset the executives is currently, in the English talking world, the most widely utilized term that portrays the exercises of the administration regarding work relationship (Boxall and Purcell 2003). A critical number of changes occurred around 1994 with connection to worker's guilds, authoritative rebuilding. There was additionally an ascent in the atypical types of business. As for these progressions Beardwell and Holden (1994) recommend that: Any evaluation of the rise of Human Resource Management has, at any rate, to assess this changing setting of work and give a few clarifications with regards to the connections that exist between the commitment HRM has made to a portion of these progressions on one hand and, then again, the effect that such changes have had on the hypothesis and practice of HRM itself (p. 5). The human asset the executives can be taken a gander at in the light of five angles. To start with, the senior administration considers the individuals issues at an increasingly genuine level. The general assignment of duty lies with the line chief. Second, cooperation, imparting, and strengthening inside representatives is given a significant level of significance. Third, representative improvement through the assistance of preparing permits the worker to contribute all the more generously to the association. Fourth, every worker is considered as a person. Their requirements are deliberately evaluated and accentuation is given to them. Finally, the general fit is viewed as around the more prominent vital attack of the association. 3. Staff MANAGEMENT VERSUS HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Staff the executives is expectedly accepted as having little concentration over the business interfaces that are more extensive in nature and it is accepted that it focuses more on the exercises of the faculty experts and furthermore on the operational procedures inside the association. In this way its capacity is viewed as low managerial record keeping and support of individuals. As opposed to this capacity, human asset the board is considered to focus more on the business linkages and furthermore in contrast with faculty the board it is generally named as a built up and great individuals the executives practice (Redman and Wilkinson 2006). Legge 1995 (in Beardwell and Claydon 2007: 9), rattles off three huge focuses that show that human asset the executives contrasts from faculty the board. Initially, HRM is worried about the obligation of the top chiefs for the administration of the way of life. Furthermore, she expresses that work force the board seems, by all accounts, to be som ething performed on subordinates by directors as opposed to something that the last experience themselves. At long last, she says that human asset the board characterizes the job of the line-administrators as opposed to work force directors. She further contends that the three contrasts expressed above underline on human asset the board, in principle, of being to a greater extent a focal key administration task when contrasted with work force the executives. Armstrong (2006) states that human asset the executives lays more accentuation on the vital fit and incorporation and its way of thinking is the board and business arranged. He differentiates Human asset the board from work force the executives on the premise that accomplishment of responsibility and the administration of the association culture are given more accentuation by HRM than staff the board. Story (1992) and Guest (1987) each cautiously separate work force the board and human asset the executives. The methodologies considered by both additionally fluctuate. Story (1992) takes a gander at the distinctions considering the down to earth perspective; Guest (1987) draws more on the mental viewpoints between the two. Purposes of distinction between Personnel the board and HRM as confirmed by Story (1992) Measurement Individual Management HRM 1. Convictions and suppositions Agreement Conduct Referent Struggle Cautious outline of composed agreements Standards/customs and practice. Standardized. Plan to go past agreement. Qualities or mission. De stressed. 2. Key perspectives Key relations Activities Corporate arrangement Speed of activity Work the board. Piecemeal. Minimal to. Slow. Client. Incorporated. Fundamental to. Quick. 3. Line Management The board job Key administrators Correspondence Normalization Value-based authority. Work force masters. Circuitous correspondence. High (for example equality an issue). Transformational authority. General/business/line administrators. Direct correspondence. Low (for example equality not seen as important). 4. Key switches Determination Pay Employment structure Preparing and advancement Foci of consideration for intercessions Discrete, peripheral assignment. Occupation assessment (fixed evaluations). Division of work. Controlled access to courses. Work force systems. Incorporated, key errand. Execution related. Cooperation. Learning organizations. Wide running social, auxiliary and faculty procedures. TABLE: Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management. Source: Story, 1992: 35 In the table above, Story (1992) records potential contrasts that are available between work force the executives and human asset the board. These distinctions portray the vital part of faculty the board as work the board and of Human asset the executives as client the board. Ordinary work force the board concentrates more on rules and standards, customs of the association and the practices which have just been set up, though the human asset the board will in general be progressively disposed towards offering significance to the qualities and mission that are set for the association. The work force the executives approach is specific about the foundation of arrangements and systems inside the association and it authorizes congruity of representatives to the

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Desert Precipitation, Plant, and Animal Life

Desert Precipitation, Plant, and Animal Life Deserts, otherwise called parched grounds, are districts that get under 10 creeps of precipitation a year and have little vegetation. Deserts possess around one-fifth of the land on Earth and show up on each landmass. Little Precipitation The little precipitation and downpour that falls in deserts is normally whimsical and differs from year to year. While a desert may have a yearly normal of five creeps of precipitation, that precipitation may come as three inches one year, none the following, 15 inches the third, and two inches the fourth. Accordingly, in dry conditions, the yearly normal informs small concerning real precipitation. What does make a difference is that abandons get less precipitation than their potential evapotranspiration (vanishing from the dirt and plants in addition to transpiration from plants rises to evapotranspiration, curtailed as ET). This implies deserts don't get enough precipitation to beat the sum dissipated, so no pools of water can shape. <img information srcset=https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/WpqyTMdZ7Gj7e-dJBh_3t4L2SVQ=/300x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saguaro-desert flora woodland in-saguaro-national-park-arizona-946243008-5c4553fb46e0fb0001c1bbd8.jpg 300w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/opyiSzUapsRjFFY3zobt2UjBqHc=/755x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saguaro-prickly plant backwoods in-saguaro-national-park-arizona-946243008-5c4553fb46e0fb0001c1bbd8.jpg 755w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/M-SUQmtwQq9ZkiS8YtPCKerXuSo=/1210x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saguaro-desert plant timberland in-saguaro-national-park-arizona-946243008-5c4553fb46e0fb0001c1bbd8.jpg 1210w, https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/h65J1mJecMKWQFXZppeNuA18f_I=/2121x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saguaro-prickly plant woodland in-saguaro-national-park-arizona-946243008-5c4553fb46e0fb0001c1bbd8.jpg 2121w information src=https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/I8kiVRFjhAoP3m_I0IdQi2QeAJ0=/2121x1414/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/saguaro-desert flora woodland in-saguaro-national-park-arizona-946243008-5c4553fb46e0fb0001c1bbd8.jpg src=//:0 alt=Saguaro desert flora woodland in Saguaro National Park Arizona class=lazyload information click-tracked=true information img-lightbox=true information expand=300 id=mntl-sc-square image_1-0-7 information following container=true /> benedek/Getty Images Plant and Animal Life With little precipitation, hardly any plants develop in desert areas. At the point when plants do develop, they are generally separated far separated and are very scanty. Without vegetation, deserts are profoundly inclined to disintegration since there are no plants to hold down the dirt. Regardless of the absence of water, various creatures call abandons home. These creatures have adjusted to endure, yet to thrive, in cruel desert situations. Reptiles, tortoises, poisonous snakes, roadrunners, vultures, and, obviously, camels all live in deserts. Flooding in a Desert It doesnt downpour frequently in a desert, however when it does, the downpour is regularly extreme. Since the ground is regularly impermeable (implying that water isnt assimilated into the ground effectively), the water runs rapidly directly into streams that lone exist during rainfalls. The quick water of these fleeting streams are answerable for a large portion of the disintegration that happens in the desert. Desert downpour frequently never makes it to the sea, the streams for the most part end in lakes that evaporate or the streams themselves simply evaporate. For example, practically the entirety of the downpour that falls in Nevada never makes it to a lasting stream or to the sea. Lasting streams in the desert are normally the aftereffect of intriguing water, implying that the water in the streams originates from outside of the desert. For instance, the Nile River moves through a desert however the streams source in high in the mountains of Central Africa. Where Is the Worlds Largest Desert? The universes biggest desert is really the freezing mainland of Antarctica. It is the universes driest spot, accepting under two crawls of precipitation every year. Antarctica is 5.5 million square miles (14,245,000 square kilometers) in region. Outside of polar areas, Northern Africas Sahara Desert is the universes biggest desert at more than 3.5 million square miles (9,000,000 square kilometers), which is somewhat littler than the size of the United States, the universes fourth biggest nation. The Sahara extends from Mauritania to Egypt and Sudan. What Is the Worlds Hottest Temperature? The universes most noteworthy temperature was recorded in the Sahara Desert (136 degrees F or 58 degrees C at Azizia, Libya on September 13, 1922). Why Is a Desert so Cold at Night? The extremely dry demeanor of the desert holds little dampness and accordingly holds little warmth; in this way, when the sun sets, the desert cools significantly. Clear, cloudless skies additionally help to rapidly discharge heat around evening time. Most deserts have low temperatures around evening time. Desertification During the 1970s, the Sahel strip that extends along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa encountered an overwhelming dry season, causing land that was some time ago utilized for brushing to go to abandon in a procedure known as desertification. Roughly one-fourth of the land on Earth is compromised by desertification. The United Nations held a meeting to start talking about desertification in 1977. These conversations in the end brought about the foundation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, a worldwide settlement set up in 1996 to battle desertification.

Kotak rtgs neft free essay sample

I/We announce that I/we am/are approved to demand the Kotak Mahindra Bank (thus after alluded to as Bank) for RTGS/NEFT Facility and all the individual approved to work the previously mentioned accounts are additionally approved, according to the current method of activity, to introduce the RTGS/NEFT reserves move application structure to Bank. I/We embrace to keep Bank educated regarding any adjustments in the method of activity of any of the above records. I/We thusly affirm that the Beneficiary Bank/Branch takes part in RTGS/NEFT. I/We thusly affirm the accuracy of the subtleties like recipient name, *account number, IFSC code of the recipient Bank Branch. I/We am/know that the Bank will get the legitimate release if the sum is credited to the recipient account number mentioned in RTGS/NEFT application and the Bank will not accept any obligation emerging out of off base IFSC code, bungle in the recipient name including yet not restricted to befuddle in the spelling. We will compose a custom exposition test on Kotak rtgs neft or on the other hand any comparative theme explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page I/We thus affirm having perused the term conditions relating to RTGS/NEFT office on http://www.kotak.com/bank/terms-andconditions/terms_20.htm(hereinafter alluded to as â€Å"Terms and conditions†) and concur that utilization of the RTGS/NEFT office will be dependent upon and be represented by the Terms Conditions I/We know about the expenses as well as different charges which are presently to be imposed by the Bank for giving access to or permitting the utilization of the RTGS/NEFT office. I/We further embrace to keep ourselves mindful of any update made by Bank of the expenses and additionally different charges imposed for giving access to or permitting the utilization of the RTGS/NEFT office. I/We know that the equivalent will be advised to us by facilitating the equivalent on http://www.kotak.com/bank/terms-and-conditions/terms_20.htm

Friday, August 21, 2020

Macbeth’s Tragic Flaw Essay

Aspiration is a powerful urge to do or accomplish an objective. The degree of such aspiration is effectively affected by other internal components, for example, naïveté in light of the fact that it permits the psyche to put stock in things that will carry them closer to their goal-oriented objectives. In William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the hero Macbeth, is a portrayal of such naïveté. Macbeth permits his artlessness to overpower him in specific circumstances that intrigue to his desire. In any case, the expanding levels of his guilelessness all through the play would lead him to his own disengagement and defeat. For example, by meeting the witches and tuning in to their prediction, he gradually starts to accept the prescience which influences his dynamic later on. Furthermore, the impact Lady Macbeth has over Macbeth permits her to control him to trusting her arrangement for homicide. Moreover, by having faith in the apparitions’ three messages, Macbeth basically welcomes his end at the entryway by having an incorrect feeling that all is well with the world. Accordingly, Macbeth, who was previously a legend, drooped down to turn into a deadly and dictator lord. In any case, Macbeth isn't to blame for his shocking change. Macbeth’s grievous imperfection is his aspiration, which is vigorously affected by his guilelessness in light of the fact that it in the long run abuses enough of his desire that causes his confinement and destruction. Macbeth’s progressive separation is brought about by his artlessness abusing his aspiration from his underlying experience with the three witches and their prescience. The prescience is the foundation of Macbeth’s disconnection and destruction as the witches anticipate that Macbeth is the Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. As the witches disappear, the two trade exchange with one another, â€Å"Your kids will be rulers./You will be the best./And Thane of Cawdor as well. Went it not so?† (1.3.89-91). In spite of the fact that Macbeth and Banquo both trifled with it as the cases kept no proof to down them up, the experience eventually embedded the possibility of Macbeth turning out to be ruler later on. By having the possibility of this desire inside him, it leads into the following circumstance where his aspiration starts to sprout. Ross and Angus show up and welcome Macbeth as the Thane of Cawdor. While Macbeth is flabbergasted, Banquo cautions him that such messages, â€Å"tell us realities,/Win us with genuine wastes of time, to sell out ‘s./In most profound consequence.† (1.3.134-138). Then again, Macbeth totally ignores Banquo’s alerts and shows his guilelessness as he proceeds toâ mumble to himself about the prescience remaining constant. In any case, he is absurd to do as such as he bases his allegation off of the announcement, â€Å"Two realities are told† (1.3.140). A short time later, his aspiration is uncovered as he endeavors to be the best . Subsequently, the two his artlessness and aspiration interlace and start his way to disconnection and ruin. In the long run, Macbeth becomes lord after a progression of occasions, and he satisfies a piece of the prediction. By letting his aspiration inundate himself, his aspiration before long turns into the craving to make sure about force. As his guilelessness developed, so did his desire. He has confidence in the second piece of the prescience of Banquo having children who will be lords by pronouncing Banquo as a danger to his capacity and requests his homicide. This activity hardens the possibility that Macbeth’s aspiration reinforces his artlessness towards the prediction as he wants to keep up his capacity. By accepting that Banquo is a risk, he kills him to forestall any danger to his aggressive objective of making sure about force. This lone kept on developing all through the play after a few homicides of â€Å"threats† until his possible end. Thus, by hearing t he witches’ prediction, it permits his naïveté to abuse his desire that will impact his future activities prompting his confinement and defeat. Macbeth spiraled further toward his ruin as he was stupid to permit Lady Macbeth to single out his desire, prompting his artlessness of the arrangement to execute Duncan. Macbeth’s defect of being artless permits Lady Macbeth to besiege him with allegations and remarks that changes Macbeth’s unique choice to not murder Duncan. To be increasingly explicit, the principal thing Lady Macbeth addresses before Macbeth vacillates at long last is his irregularity and weakness. She expresses that he is conflicting in light of the fact that he referenced how confident he was the point at which he knew about the prediction, however then he surrenders from pursuing his aspiration. By assaulting him actually by saying that he is a defeatist for, â€Å"Letting ‘I dare not’ hold up upon ‘I would’,† (1 .7.48-49), she impels Macbeth into protecting himself and making him increasingly defenseless to influence. Rather than holding his ground on the choice of not executing Duncan, he gradually loses his ground as keeps on being assaulted. This effectively leads into Lady Macbeth’s next strategy of assaulting Macbeth’s masculinity since Macbeth lived in a gallant society where men were images of masculinity. By assaulting Macbeth’s masculinity, she is inferring that Macbeth has become a lesser man. Moreover, she includes, â€Å"And to be more than you were, you would/Be quite a lot more the man.† (1.7.57-58). She infers that by killing Duncan, he will end up being a more prominent man. This makes way for Lady Macbeth’s last strategy before Macbeth capitulates to her convincingness. To completely convince Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shouts to Macbeth of how easy the arrangement of executing Duncan is. By doing this, she keeps on speaking to Macbeth’s desire of turning out to be above all else and how he can undoubtedly acquire the position of authority. His artlessness takes over as he in the long run yields and goes on with the arrangement. Subsequently, however Macbeth was harsh on not slaughtering Duncan, Lady Macbeth convinces him through his guilelessness and desire to execute Duncan, which includes to his ruin. Macbeth’s activities after his experience with the three brought ghosts uncovered his naïveté and desire as they impact Macbeth to place the last stake in his own defeat. During his second visit to the witches, they gathered three spirits, each speaking to something that would demonstra te huge later on. Macbeth’s naïveté sparkles when he trusts in the three phantoms without any inquiries posed. From the start, he was advised by the principal specter to be careful about Macduff. Since Macbeth accepted this implied Macduff was a risk to his flooding desire, he had confidence in their message and chose to send killers to Macduff’s château and take out the family. Macbeth, once more, cements his picture of a dictator ruler by turning to murders to deal with dangers to his driven objective, further impelling him towards his ruin. The subsequent message was that, â€Å"none of lady conceived/Shall hurt Macbeth† (4.1.91-92). Macbeth began displaying that his stronghold would have the option to battle off an attack from the English powers drove by Malcolm. Nonetheless, a large portion of his officers left and joined the opposite side of the powers as a result of his fixation on power. This shows he was gradually getting increasingly disconnected as troopers ceaselessly left. Besides, his unavoidable end was soon to come as he met up close and personal with Macduff. While accepting the initial two messages, Macbeth got hesitant to battle Macduff in light of the fact that Macbeth’s, â€Å"soul is an excess of charge† with slaughtering Macduff’s family. Be that as it may, the second apparition’s message was confused as Macduff was not conceived of lady. This brought about Macbeth being terrified, showing that his artlessness in the messages refuted and compromised his aspiring objectives.. Next, the last message was that, â€Å"Macbeth will never vanquished be until/Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/Shall come against him.† (4.1.105-108). By trusting in the third apparition’s message, he overlooked all the reports of foes close to his château. Notwithstanding, that message was misjudged, as so did the others, as the trees were â€Å"moving† towards the stronghold. Subsequently, by expecting actually that the trees themselves couldn't move, he had left his manor alone encompassed by the English power, at last losing everything. Subsequently, in accepting the messages from the nebulous visions, Macbeth’s desire took care of his artlessness, driving him to choose not to see on circumstances which ordinarily would be viewed. All of which prompted his destruction. Due to Macbeth’s characteristic of artlessness, it uncovered his desire on various occasions all through the play, making him take activities that would intensify his disengagement and defeat. By meeting the witches and tuning in to their prediction, Macbeth had started his winding downwards by letting his desire expend him and murdering Banquo. Also, by surrendering to Lady Macbeth’s convincingness, his chang e from a regarded aristocrat to a killer included onto his detachment. Ultimately, by tuning in to the apparitions’ messages, Macbeth instigated an incorrect feeling that all is well with the world for himself which drove him to possible downfall. At long last, Macbeth’s separation and inescapable defeat was brought upon by his own artlessness and desire.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Review TOEFL iBT Prep Plus 2020-2021 (Kaplan)

Review TOEFL iBT Prep Plus 2020-2021 (Kaplan) Another year and another bad edition of TOEFL Prep Plus by Kaplan.There are four problems with this book every year. They are:It isnt updated very much.It needlessly complicates the test.The practice questions and sample are terribly inaccurate.The online resources are not as promisedIll deal with these one at a time.First of all, though this is the 2020-20201 edition of the book, it is pretty much the same as the 2008-2009 edition from11 years ago.The online content seems even older, and looks to be the same stuff that was on the CD-ROM of the 2007-2008 edition. The publisher has deleted the stuff that was dropped from the test this year, but everything else (the strategies and the samples) is almost entirely the same. The contents badly need to be replaced with new material, especially the samples which dont reflect what students get on the actual test. The samples were bad even when the book was first published, but now that a decade has passed, the errors are much less forgivable .Secondly, the book is way too complicated. The book includes69 strategies for mastering the reading section. I counted another 69 numbered strategies for the writing section (not to mention the fact that number 16 is broken down into 16A through 16E). Thats just too much crap. This aspect of the book needs be culled.Thirdly, and most importantly, the questions in the book are inaccurate. As always, thats the aspect I want to focus on most of all in this review. Lets get started.ReadingThe book starts out okay with a few decent samples of articles used in the reading section (pages 19, 25), but then pairs these with inaccurate sample questions. Instead of matching a question with a specific paragraph, students are required to read through the whole article looking for the paragraph that matches the given question. This becomes a major problem on page 32 when a NOT/EXCEPT style question refers to details that are actually spread out over three paragraphs. That means the student is ac tually required to use all three paragraphs to answer the question, rather than using just a single paragraph as on the real test. This is replicated on page 54 where students have to look through four long paragraphs to properly answer an inference question that would be specific to only a single paragraph on the real test.It should also be mentionedthat beyond the problems with question designs, most of the sample articles are somewhat weak overall. On pages 35, 51, 66 and 94 students are given articles that are generally longer than the real test, and with fewer paragraphs. This means that the paragraphs are really long, some stretching out to about 300 words. This bothers me as students really need to become familiar with hunting for answers in short but dense paragraphs.ListeningThis is probably the strongest section of the book. The conversations and lectures are about the same length as what is used on the real test. The delivery of the voice actors is somewhat monotone and l acks the natural quality of the actors on the real test, but thats a minor complaint. The questions themselves are not as accurate as the ones in the Official iBT Tests Collection, but they are pretty close. I might actually recommend this chapter to someone who needs a bit of extra practice and has already worked through everything in better books.SpeakingMostly bad here. The sample independent speaking questions on page 168 are all terrible. Instead of using proper agree/disagree or preference choices it just lists 15 yes/no questions. Kaplan should know by now that Do government workers need privacy? is not how a TOEFL speaking question is phrased.The book does have a decent type 2 speaking question on page 174 about parking on campus (a very common topic!) but quickly jumps into a terrible question on page 180 where the reading is ajob posting rather than an announcement of some change on campus.It then includes a completely wrong type 3 question which illustrates a concept usin g three examples, rather than 1 or 2 like on the real test (page 182/183).The chapter finishes with a massive type 4 question, which includes a lecture probably twice as long as what would be used on the real test.WritingThe integrated writing here is all bad as well. The authors of the book just dont understand how the reading and lecture are structured on the real test. On test day, students get a four paragraph reading that has an introduction followed by three body paragraphs, each of which includes a unique and specific point. That is followed by a lecture which begins with an introduction and challenges each of those three points in turn (and in the same order). I call this a mirror structure. If you look at the samples on pages 233 and 255 they are nothing like this. The sample on page 253 almost figures this out, but the listening fails to rebut the readings pointsin the right order.The section on independent writing is equally weak. It includes a bunch of opened-ended quest ions (268, 287, 288) that arent used on the real test. Itfails to include any multiple choice questions, which are used very often these days.The Online ResourcesThe above problems are also present in the online tests. In the reading section students again have to hunt around the whole article to answer many of the questions, instead of being told to focus on a single paragraph as on the real TOEFL. The articles again include freakishly long paragraphs that dont match the real test. Not only is this inaccurate, but it really messes up any chance students have of learning proper time management in this section.The listening content is okay, while the speaking and writing content is marred by the same sort of problems I identified above. The questions all have a superficial resemblance to the real test, but never quite achieve an acceptable level of accuracy. Notably, speaking Q3 in the first test asked me to explain the major differences between what was in the reading and the lectur e. Theres just no excuse for that.Just as frustrating is the clunkiness of the online test software. Users are unable to quickly skip ahead to desired sections. If you wish to study only writing? Too bad, you are going to have to sit through the reading, listening and speaking sections. This represents a step back from when Kaplan offered the same tests on CD.Speaking of taking a step back, it must be mentioned that the practice tests dont record student answers, so they cannot listen to what they said for review purposes. This functionality was provided 11 years ago when the same tests were provided on CD.I noticed also that Kaplan failed to record new instructions for the shortened speaking section, so the questions are now misnumbered. The same is true in the lectures provided online. Thats just laziness. In addition, the timers in the practice test are all wrong, and dont reset between questions in the speaking and writing sections. So, for example, if you only use 10 minutes to answer the first writing question youll have 40 minutes to answer the second writing question. This needs to be fixed.Finally, the cover of the book promises 4 Practice Tests (and an insert clarifies that they are all provided online) but there are only three tests provided. Last years edition had the same problem. I find that kind of sleazy.OverallDont get this book. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone. Kaplan needs to get serious about updating their material. They havent done a proper update since 2008. There are so many good resources they can use to study the design of the TOEFL that were not available when this material was first created. They need to take advantage of them.