I used this book to review for the SAT II during a study period at school. The grammar review is 60 solid pages, and so it takes some time to get through it and learn it, even if you are a good Spanish student. I studied this book for months before taking the test. Be warned that this book will not help you get a great score unless you put a lot of time in studying it (or you already know the material). However, it really does have everything you need to score well.

I think the practice tests were slightly harder than the real thing, but they were fairly close. Just a week before the actual test I got a 670 on a practice test. Then, on the actual test, I got a 710. This really isn't much of a difference when you take into account the range of SAT II scores that accompany any score.
Rather than including an exact scoring guide after every practice test (which would have been nice, but unrealistic), the book has directions on calculating your raw score and then one chart which gives a range of scores to match the range your raw score fell into. (The only soure of SAT IIs that have actually been given in previous years is, of course, "Real SAT IIs," published by the College Board.)

There were some typos in the book. I found a few in the grammar review and one or two in practice test answer keys. None of them were terrible, but if you think that the book is incorrect about something it may very well be. Overall, I good book to study, especially if you have a lot of time before the test.

This book provides a well-rounded review of grammar and reading comp for the SAT II Spanish Test. I was kind of annoyed b/c the book advertises 10 full tests but they are all tests made up by the author, so they don't accurately predict how you will do on the test. The book does prepare you well for the test though.

I took the test in November 2001 and bought this book a week before it and the test was way easier than the practice tests seemed to show, and when i finally received my scores, i was amazed, i got an 800 a perfect score, seriously all the books on the Barrons publishins company do help a lot, the same i can say for the Writing test.

Beowulf is in Anglo-Saxon, but is probably originally a Norse legend. Please ignore the comment in another review that the Anglo-Saxons were ancestors of King Arthur! Arthur, if he existed, was a British king who fought the Romans. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were teutonic tribes who came to England at the end of the Roman occupation several centuries later.

The concept of the Modern Critical Interpretation series is an excellent one. The editor, Harold Bloom, a renowned scholar in his own right, has assembled the best literary criticism of a large number of important works.

If you want to get a deeper insight into Beowulf as a work of literature, this book is an excellent way to do it. Some of the essays are a bit challenging--the book is for the fairly serious Beowulf fan. Seamus Heaney's translation really got me into a work which I've been meaning to get to for a long time. This collection of essays took me the rest of the way--it told me all I wanted to know about Beowulf as work of literature. Think of it as a senior-level college text book.

The essays give the reader some valuable insights into the language, but you don't have to know Old English to appreciate it. But a willingness to learn about a few of the words will help.

"Difficult" classics usually pay back many-fold the effort one puts into studying them. Beowulf and these essays are definitely worth that time and effort.

When I had to switch my college study to English, I was a bit frightened of all the reading before me. This book told me that I was in for a REAL exciting journey towards my B.A. "Beowulf" is no less than an exquisite masterpiece. It is just the right length, the images are well drawn, the language is well used, and the plot is more complex than we may have thought. The setting prior to Beowulf's entrance is well constructed. Beowulf's character is well prepared upon his entrance. Unferth is well placed. He reveals to us that despite Beowulf's piety and courage, he is not a flawless hero. He suffers from excessive pride. Beowulf's fight with Grendel offers suspense and captivation, and we are even allowed a small amount of sympathy for Grendel when he escapes only to die later. We are then told the story of Siegmund, and his fall over excessive pride foreshadows Beowulf's fall. (History repeats itself.) Grendel's mother than comes to avenge her son. (This goes way beyond a simple chapter.) She is a threat that must be dealt with, but it is difficult not to feel sorry for her. (She is after all a mother in sorrow over her son's death.) Although Unferth rebuked Beowulf earlier, he joins with Beowulf for a common cause, and later, Beowulf ADMITS that the battle was very close. (He is not invincible.) King Hrothgar then warns Beowulf of excessive pride. Later the dragon attacks, and Beowulf displays excessive pride (the very thing King Hrothgar warned him against). In this battle Beowulf does fight with courage, and Wiglaf displays touching loyalty to Beowulf in this battle where Beowulf dies. Beowulf's funeral is a fitting end for this masterpiece. So we have a hero with strength, virtues, and flaws, suspense, well organization, well drawn supporting characters, complex villains, and even an element of mystery! Who was this author?

I don't think anyone who doesn't love Caroline in the City would like this book, but fans will go wild over a quick Caroline pick me up. This book takes scenes from the series, and makes them into one panel comics. I was kind of disappointed that this wasn't like a comic strip in the daily newspaper where there are three panels. Fortunately very funny incidents from the series were used. It was nice to revisit favorite Caroline moments.

Anyone who is vaguely interested in this wonderful show should get this book. Although not illustrated by Bonnie Timmons (who did the artwork for the series) the characters are drawn in a similar style and quotes are used directly from the series. It is a cute and delightful little companion to a wonderful tv show.

I was recently introduced into the comedic, sarcastic, and hilarious world of Caroline Duffy and her friends, especially the sarcastic, morbid, and drop dead funny Richard Karinsky. This book is awesome and is a must have for any Caroline In The City fan.

Although this book is good to use to brush up on your Algebra skills, it doesn't really help all that much with the actual College Algebra CLEP Test. The book was good at covering the gambit of College Algebra, but lacks in helping to explain the more complex quadratic systems, and graphing problems. It was also weak in helping to explain quadratic sytems using fractions. I still recommend this book over all others that I've seen, but take my advice and get a good College Algebra book to help study the areas of complex systems of equations.

I took a clpe test yesterday. It was pretty easy. This book really helped me a lot. I also bought other books for college algebra but they were actually more difficult than actual test.
If you buy this book and hit the book, you will definitely pass the clep. Good luck!

I have bought and studied numerous CLEP guides, and this one has been the best! I was a bit rusty, being out of school for four years, but the guide had 3 practice exams, detailed solutions at the end of each section, and an overview of all the topics that helped me get a perfect score! I don't recommend any of Jack Rudman's CLEP guides however...they go into too much detail instead of effectively teaching what is actually going to be on the test.

This book gives you a lot of basic general information, not going into much detail in any subject. But touching on about every subject a new Dachshund owner should know. Look else where for advance information. But for a start book it is one of the best I have read.

My book just came today and I was very happy with what I've read. I enjoy reading the reviews to see how others feel about a book and I'm happy to say it's true. This book does have the right stuff. I'm a soon to be a new dachahund owner and this book does have what I wanted and need to know. If your looking for something good and some cute pictures I tell you this book is the one. I also wanted to thank all the people that do write a review, not only with this book but with others I've bought in the passed. I think it's the best way to get different thought's on so many different minds. I think it helps us all thank you.. As for this book it's worth the money. Looking for the right stuff look no more!

If you plan to have that special little friend to love and care for, then this edition by the authority on the dachshund, Leni Fiedelmeier, is for you. This book will prepare you to become a successful owner with topics such as buying, housebreaking, training and obedience, nutrition and health, behavior and understanding, showing, breeding, advancement of life, and even for that sad time, putting your pet to sleep. There are dozens of photographs and life-like drawings along with a history of this adorable and loveable little dog. Well written, organized, and easy to understand, this is a reference that will always come in handy as well as informative. Highly recommended...I give this wonderful work two paws up!

It's a long,foggy voyage taken in Edmond's deep ocean and its very sad. Through the blurry minds of the four members of the Tyrone's we travel back into their pasts and follow their tragic flaw. Especially Mary's choice has destroyed her whole life. Even though she loves James , its obvious that she has wasted her life by following his ambitions of becoming an actor and also has become a victim of his misery. James Tyrone is an old man now who unfortunately has not been able to get rid of his childhood's fears. The poverty that he suffered along with his three brothers has turned him into a vicious man.Who can blame him?He has suffered a lot when he was only 10 years old. How can we deny the fact that only the ones who experience real poverty, do know it closely and are afraid of it. He does not dare spend a bit more of his money for his own son's health. Money is more important than anything for him. Thus we see the couple lead their children into an unsober life .Its almost as if the father is like a Tyrant instead of a Tyrone. Thus, Jamie escapes them as a sailor and returns suffering of consumption without a penny in the till. The fog is even more depressing now. Edmond who critics believe to be Eugene O'Neill ,helps the narration by drinking with his father, where each one gives a long speech about their disillusions. They have no one else to blame but their past lives and what do we do with our wrong doings of past ? Don't we all have some long past wrong doings , haven't our parents taken the wrong choices sometimes? What are we supposed to do with them? Does the past hold in hand the right to ruin our present ? And if we allow it to happen , what will become of our future?

i don't think that the term 'enjoyable' can be attached to this poignant intensified private documentary of o'neill's life. what it is, is thought-provoking, humbling, heart-rending. one feels thoroughly uncomfortable, to say the least, reading the text; as if one were peeping through a spy-hole at a forbidden scene but with the master of the house standing behind one.

read it if you feel down in the dumps.

strangely, it promises a glimmer of hope in the enveloping 'fog' of despair.

From the opening curtain, O'Neill's play relentlessly examines the disintegration of the lives of four people. It is a disturbing drama where love and hate co-exist in such close proximity that it is sometimes difficult to separate one from the other.

The story unfolds in the course of a single day, which begins with an emergence from the fog, both literally and figuratively and ends with the descent of the fog yet again, deeper, more profound, more isolating than ever.

The youngest son, Edmund is the pivot point for the story. The other members of his family revolve around the drama of his failing health. He is represented by his family as both the cause and the victim of his mother's return to her addiction, his jealous brother's attempts to destroy his chances for success and his father's dissatisfaction with his life. And he accepts the responsibility thrust on him, all the while recognizing, acknowledging that it is merely an excuse for failures and bad choices.

The family, despite their best efforts, is bound together, caught in a web of their own creation, unable to escape eventual destruction. It is a sad commentary of life, poignant and fascinating. In spite of some dated references, it still provides an insightful look at the human condition.

Cathedrals are monoliths of faith gone by; sacred geometries that tower above cities and towns throughout Europe. Cathedrals are now major attractions for tourist groups, projects for endless restorations and museums of meditation.

In "Heaven In Stone and Glass", Father Robert Barron (a Catholic priest and professor of theology) has brought together a readable devotional, that combines a heavy dose of fundamental theology with a brief pragmatic explanation of how and why the Great Cathedrals were built as they were.

But be apprized that this text is really a devotional that uses cathedrals as the illustration for Father Barron's homilies. Robert Barron spent years in France and uses the Cathedrals of Notre-Dame and Chartres as his architectural examples, but these cathedrals are applicable to the propensity of cathedrals throughout the world Some readers may quail at the conservative theology that Robert Barron promotes. He states that we must come to grips with the fact that we are sinners "disoriented, lost, desperately in need of a guide". And that the church is the ark of our salivation "as long as we sinners stay in the confines of the church, we will make our way to the light." However, if this is not your spiritual belief, don't take flight, for Robert Barron's writing is as engaging as it is opinionated.

I read this while visiting the great Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, and I highly recommend that you read it while visiting a Cathedral. This book can add meaning to your next cathedral experience while providing a strong devotional base. It is evident that cathedrals hold stories of salvation to those who can read them as a metaphor. They are "symbolic manifestations of a spiritual universe that cannot be seen" and much more than stone and glass. Robert Barron has written an engaging devotional and useful guide. Recommended

Robert Barron's enlightening little book explores the rich symbolic world of medieval cathedrals. Written as a series of fifteen meditations, "Heaven in Stone and Glass" approaches the cathedral as an intentional evocation of both Christian belief and the Christian journey. Barron's observations are rich in metaphor and allusion. His images are strongly drawn: the nave as womb, cruciformity as a way of the cross for all entrants, verticality as an invitation to transcendence, the rose as music of the spheres. He is also a voluminous reader, citing sources as diverse as the Desert Fathers, Dante, Flannery O'Connor, and Alisdair MacIntyre.

One criticism though. Despite his deep knowledge of cathedrals and their meaning, Barron misstated a few architectural details. Mostly notable was his contention that the flying buttress (not the pointed arch) was the architectural breakthrough that made brilliant illumination possible. But don't let this lapse deter you from enjoying this excellent book.

Fr. Barron's book is truly a small gem. Very compact and readable yet extremely spiritual and philosophical, it gets right at the heart of the very essence of the great cathedrals. Simply looking at their form, though very beautiful in itself, is not enough without completely immersing oneself in the mentality and spirit of the people who built them. This rich mentality is in sharp contrast to the agnostic hedonism that resulted from the Enlightenment. As an architecture student, it gives me great hope that, as he points out in the book, we are in an age when people are becoming increasingly interested in spirituality and symbolism and long for a reality deeper than the profane and the mundane. Given the spiritually and architecturally impoverished and overall pathetic nature of most Catholic churches built in the past three decades, this meditation is like a candle in the dark, not only harkening back to a time when everyone knew that God was the center of the universe, but inspiring hope that that time will one day return. In short, this is an excellent book that I recommend to everyone.

This book is very succinct and the explanations for each accounting concepts are very easy to understand and easy to remember. The "Red Flags" after each concept are very useful in pointing out all the possible problems that may arise. While the strengths of this book is his conciseness, it does require you to have some basic accounting background. Otherwise, some of the explanations may seem confusing. Having said that, if i am reading an annual report, I would definitely want to have this book beside me. Happy reading!

"Keys To Reading An Annual Report" by George Thomas Friedlob and Ralph E. Welton is a wonderful, little book for all investors. Each of the fifty, three-or-four-page sections covers a key concept that investors should understand when reading a public company's annual report and other financial statements.

"Keys To Reading An Annual Report" is no substitute for a complete text about financial statement analysis, such as "The Analysis And Use of Financial Statements," but "Keys To Reading An Annual Report" is an excellent first read for new investors who are learning to understand financial statements. And, experienced readers of annual reports will probably find this book a useful review.

Some of the fifty key topics covered include:

--SEC Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and the 8-K
--Current Assets
--Cash and Receivables
--Cost of Goods Sold and Inventories
--Property, Plant, and Equipment
--Depreciation
--Intangibles and Other Assets
--Depletion and Amortization
--Current Liabilities
--Bonds and Amortization
--Owner's Equity
--Classes of Stock
--Treasury Stock
--Discontinued Operations
--Ratio Analysis
--Taxes and Tax Deferrals

Many of the topics "Red Flag" things to which investors should pay special attention. For example, the chapter about Depreciation Red Flags: "The basis for long-lived asset valuation is historical cost. Because depreciation does not measure actual decline in value, the net book value of a long-lived asset (historical cost - accumulated depreciation) is not a good measure of the cost of replacing the asset. Neither is net book value a good measure of what the asset would bring if sold." (i.e., depreciation expense is a way of expensing the long-lived asset. And, the balance sheet only lists the so-called "unexpired cost.")

The red flag also discusses the difficulty in comparing depreciation across different companies because of the different ways depreciation may be computed.

The section about Treasury Stock tells us: "Stock Issued by a company may later be reacquired by the company. In some cases, the company may retire or cancel this stock. When reacquired stock is not retired or canceled, it is referred to as treasury stock." (there is a nice glossary at the end of the book.).

Friedlob and Welton point out that treasury stock is not an asset. "A company cannot create an asset by holding stock in itself."

However, because the reacquired stock may have been reacquired at a different price than it was originally issued, the wealth within the company can change in such a treasury stock transaction. For example, suppose stock is issued for $20 per share, but reacquired for $2 per share (it's an internet company!), then, somehow, the company has taken in $18 per share on the transaction. How is this accounted for in the financial statements?

Friedlob and Welton explain: "Just as treasury stock is not an asset, a loss or gain cannot result from treasury stock transactions. 'Things' happen that you and I would call a 'loss' (reacquiring treasury stock for $20 per share and later reissuing it for $12) or a 'gain' (reacquiring treasury stock for $30 per share and later reissuing it for $40). But it is illegal for a company to produce a gain or loss transacting in its own stock. When total stockholder's equity is decreased by treasury stock transactions (a loss), the decrease is generally taken directly from retained earnings. No loss is taken... When total stockholder's equity is increased by treasury stock transactions (a gain), the increase is recorded as a separate source of capital called Paid-In Capital from Treasury Stock Transactions."

So, by reading a little, two-page section about treasury stock in Keys To Reading An Annual Report, you probably now know more than 99% of all investors know about treasury stock!

"...If you are new to investing, you might also want to pick up a copy of Barron's "Keys To Investing In Common Stocks," which is an excellent first read for investors.

Peter Hupalo, Author of "Becoming An Investor"

This small manual concisely and succinctly presents the major elements of financial statements in easy to read, line-by-line format. It is not only ideal for the average investor without an accounting background, but also for the accountant who needs to explain financial statement concepts and presentations to others. Its examples are easy to relate to and quite illustrative. I regret this wasn't available when I tried to decipher "Accounting 101".

I read this book as a freshmen in high school. The painful memory is still with me. The characters are somewhat colorful and eccentric, but Pip, the main character appears to be a weak individual. It seems to fit the ideal English novel, not a fast moving plot, but revalations still happen none the less.

I thought it was a great book. I'm only in 4th grade but, I thought it was pretty easy. My favorite characters are Estella, Pip, and Miss Havisham. The other characters are fine too. I reccomend this book to grades 4th and up

I may be only a 6th grader, but you wouldn't believe how much I enjoyed this book. Charles Dickens having a poor childhood because of the little money his family earned, has written a miraculous book having to do with money. Charles Dickens makes his case for there being a potential for good and evil in everyone. I really enjoyed reading this book and if you are looking for a fabulous book to enjoy, I strongly reccomend you read this.

This is the book that Bobrow gives out to his MSAT seminar students. It was recommended to me by many people. It is extremely helpful to get to kknow some of the subjects that you may not have studied for a while, or subjects you've never studied! Also, "What Every 5th Grader Should Know" and "What Every 6th Grader Should Know" were extremely helpful in studying literature and history...while Bobrow's book gives history info in outline form (which is sometimes difficult to read), the 5th and 6th grade books give it in a more reader-friendly, textbook format. I read this MSAT book, and I took the MSAT and missed passing on the first try by one point. Don't do what I did and skip any of the essays, even if you have no idea what they are asking!!!

I just took the MSAT and the multiple choice questions in it where harder than on this study guide. Although it gives a nice overview of all the material, it doesn't go on much detail mainly on the history part. That is why you should look further into other sources to be really prepared. It does give a lot of good strategies to take the test. I recommend it, but in addition to other sources.

This review applies ONLY if you're getting a credential in California. I cannot speak to the MSAT of other states...
California's new CSET: Multiple Subjects, is organized very differently from the MSAT's for other states.

I have 3 pieces of advice if you're really serious about passing in California.

Tip #1: Do NOT sign-up for 3 sections all at once. This is the kiss of death. I was warned by others and am grateful for this advice. When the state came up with the CSET format (subdividing the test into 3 sections), they apparently did so with the thought that it was perfectly acceptable to take up to 5 hours for 1 section...and believe me, it's not out of the question since there are essays to complete which should be well formatted to pass each subsection. Take 1 or 2 sections on each test date. I sat for 2 sections and completed reviewing my tests with only 15 minutes to spare in the 5 hours alloted. I scored almost a perfect score on the CBEST and so consider myself a good test taker. I also scored close to perfect on these two sections (Math/Science & Visual& Performing Arts/Phys Ed/Human Dev't). Thankfully, I did not sign up for the 3 section on the same day !

Tip #2 Use the REA book as well to ensure adequate exposure to test questions and material. While Bobrow is excellent, there are only 2 sample tests. REA offers slightly different questions and 2 sample tests as well. It will round out your understanding and prepare you adequately.

Tip #3: I strongly disagree that you will need to purchase the Hirsch books to pass as well. I purchased the 6th grader book just to see what was in it. There was 1 (one) question from the whole test that came straight from the Hirsch book. They're fabulously written books, but they are somewhat of a waste of your time for the purposes of passing this test.

Good Luck,
SZ