Middle Kingdom Essay

China is known as one the most advanced countries in the industrialized world; it is also one of the United States leading resources in products brought in to the states. China is known as â€Å"Zhongguo† which means Central Nation or Middle Kingdom. In the year 1000 B.C. the beliefs were that the Chou people really thought that they were indeed at the centre of the world. The Chou people were unaware of civilization in the west and that their empire occupied the middle of the earth, surrounded by barbarians, but in 1949 the Communist took charge and the name officially changed. China supports about a fifth of the world’s population on only 7 percent of the world’s arable land (Essentials of World Regional Geography second Edition, Pg.111, White, Dymond, Chacko, Bradshaw). The Chinese people believed in mainly their families and their community, unlike the Europeans who focused on individualism or themselves. In 1950, they introduced the Great Leap forward act that targeted Chinas’ vast population to rapidly transform the country from being agricultural based economy into a contemporary communist society by implementing industrialization and collectivization. In 1950, China’s population was about 563 million; the population grew drastically to about one billion in the early 1980’s. 1959 was the year that everything was collapsing, the people worked long and hard hours trying to make ends meet. The machinery broke down and the people were over worked and tired. Starvation became rampant. The products that the industries produced were very inferior and weak for example; the steel furnace was going down they couldn’t even use to make some of the beautiful structures they wanted to construct. The weather was so bad and the soil became very poor for farming because of consistent flooding. China’s fertility rate increased over the past few decades this was attributed to immigration and a decrease in infant mortality and a decrease  in death rate as national health improves. Later in 2010 , China’s population has reached 1.4 billion. Student Name: Latara Bradshaw Student ID#: AC1209024 Course Number and Title: EN120.2.1 English Composition 1 Assignment Number:6_06 Topic:The best teacher I ever had Date of Submission:08th November, 2012 There were lots of teachers in my school. But there was only one who stood out and I’ll never forget Mr. James Ward’s helpfulness and enthusiasm. His dedication helped me tremendously from my Elementary years and instilled with me now I am an adult. Loving, hardworking, tender-hearted and free spirited Mr. James Warde, my favourite Elementary teacher. I have had the privilege of him being a very good teacher to me for three (3) consecutive years, grades 5(five), 6(six) and a repeat of (six) 6. Short with a tall personality, medium built with black kinky hair, beady eyes and a contagious smile are some of the characteristics of my favourite teacher. He was very stern but polite and always cared about changing our failures into successes. During the day time we enjoyed going outside under a tree to capture the refreshing breezes which helped us to be more focused. Our teacher loved nature and he thought that the outside atmosphere would make us more relax and help us to c oncentrate on what he is teaching. In fact, he would turn our day dreaming into a reality with his creative ideas and interesting stories. Our classes were filled with humour and excitement; there was never a dull moment, even during Mathematics class he would demonstrate for even the slowest student to understand and at the end of the day everyone was evenly served. Mr. James Ward portrayed good characteristics of a great teacher. A knowledgeable man who was well respected by the students, teachers and community helped us be well rounded children at the end of every session. His professional duties extended from formal teaching to playing a very important part in my life as if he was my very own father. On a regular we would attend field trips pertaining to what topic we are doing in class, he would help organize school events that  were only educational and will help with the development of a student. Mr. James Ward built strong student teacher relationship and showed interest whether personal or school related, anything to help he was involved in. Enthusiastic teachers help students to have a better feeling about themselves and it also promotes a higher grade than a boring teacher who shows to love nor embrace which stimulates low esteem. Mr. Ward was known for his good manners and he always instilled in us that manners takes us a long way and we must respect ourselves and our peers. Our Motto was, â€Å"Good interaction promotes good grades.† On Friday afternoons we will have week quiz of what we learnt throughout the week, we really looked forward for Friday because he would bring us snacks and toys to motivate us if we got our questions correct and it motivated us for the next week. I never seen him with a frown or a displeased face even in a crisis he would smile and say, â€Å"God knows best.† He was a good teacher and a solid mentor and whatever was taught by him will instil in me and I will use his characteristics throughout the rest of my life. I love him and I will follow in his footsteps one day.