Best SAT Prep Books 2019

Best SAT Prep Books 2019 SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips There are a lot of "Best SAT Books" lists out there, but we think that most of them aren’t very good or thorough. As a result, I’ve tried to write a much better guide here. In this article, you’ll learn which books are absolutely critical for your SAT prep, which books you can use to improve your individual section scores, and which books you'll need if you’re aiming for a top score. More importantly, you’ll learn how to use these SAT prep books for effective studying. This guide is pretty detailed, so here are reference links you can use to jump directly to different parts of the article. That said, I recommend reading the whole guide if you can! What's Better About This Guide to the Best SAT Books? Who Is This SAT Prep Books Guide For? Critical SAT Prep Books Best SAT Books by Subject Best Books for Top SAT Scorers Best All-in-One Book for Less Motivated Low Scorers The #1 SAT Prep Book to Avoid Buying Other Free Resources to Help You Plan Your SAT Prep Is Using SAT Prep Books the Best Option for You? What’s Better About This Guide to the Best SAT Books? Since your SAT score is important for yourcollege applications and you’ll likely spend a fair amount of time studying for the test, it’s important to get the right advice. Follow the wrong advice, and by the time you realize it's wrong, it'll probably be too late to improve your SAT score. Ideally, you'll vet any advice you get (including ours) before deciding on yourSAT prep plan. Before you read each article in your research, be sure to ask yourself, "Why should I trust this person online giving me SAT advice?" Well, we answer that question right here. Here’s why this SAT prep books guide is far better than others you might find online: I explain in detail why certain SAT books are good and what each book's flaws are. You probably haven’t heard of some of these prep books; many are newer or less well known and thus aren't featured as widely as books from more popular companies with larger marketing budgets. Most other SAT books guides just list a few books without context, but we tell you every critical piece of information you need to know before buying a book. I believe it’s important to target your weaknesses and where you need to prep.I’ll point out SAT books that are best for training for specific sections and books that are better for low or high scorers. Other guides assume that all students are the same, but we tailor ours to a variety of test-taker levels. I don’t get paid for promoting these SAT books over others.I don't know any of these authors personally. In reality, I’ve studied dozens of SAT prep books, and these are the ones I'd use if I myself were prepping. Other sites, such as about.com and reviews.com, get paid to adjust theirrankings or get kickbacks from publishers for mentioning their prep books. I like to think that I know what I’m talking about. I scored two perfect scores on the SAT and have worked directly with thousands of students prepping for the SAT. I’ve helped test takers of all levels, from those scoring around 800 to those aiming for 1530+. Other writers don't have the expertise needed to differentiate between good and bad SAT books, and end up recommending books as an afterthought. One important disclaimer: I’m co-founder of PrepScholar, an online SAT/ACT prep program. I believe we’ve built the best SAT prep program available. Itdiagnoses your strengths and weaknessesand gives you a structured all-in-one guide, combining the best aspects of the SAT books below so you can know exactly what to study at every point in your prep. I want to stress that you don’t need a prep program to do well on the SAT. In fact, writing this guide could lose us some customers if you decide you don’t need a program after all. If, however, you're not interested in managing 10 books and would rather have an integrated program that's customized to your learning style,check out our SAT prep program now. In either case, if you’re serious about SAT prep, keep reading. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Tired of wasting time prepping in ways that don't work? We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. It's the best prep program available right now. Best of all, we guarantee your money back if you don't improve your score by 160 points or more. Check out our 5-day free trial today: Improve Your SAT Score by 160+ Points, Guaranteed Who Is This SAT Prep Books Guide For? First, this guide is for students who are serious about test prep.You need to be motivated to get a high score, and you need to be willing to put in hard work. Getting through these books will take dozens of hours simply because the SAT covers so much material. If you plan to study just five hours or so, your choice of book won't make much difference.In this case, it's best to focus on taking anofficial SAT practice test and reviewing your answers. With such little prep time, your score won’t go up much in the end, so don't expect any miracles. Buying SAT prep books is the first and easiest step of SAT prep. You'll need to put in serious work to actually get the score improvements you want, though. In the following sections, we explain the best ways to get the most out of each SAT book we recommend. Secondly, this guide targets students who want to improve their scores by more than 100 points. To consistently score this much higher on the SAT, you'll need more than just tricks; you'll need to understand the actual contentbeing tested- that is, the underlying math concepts and grammar rules. Don't bother with ineffective "tricks" that simply make you feel as though you've learned something when you actually haven't. If you’re only looking to improve your score by 50 points or so, however, it’s possible for you to do this just byretaking the SAT, especially if you’ve taken the test only once. Lastly,to improve your score through SAT prep books, you'll need to have an excellent study strategy.It isn't enough to just read a book cover to cover- you must focus on your weaknesses by brushing up on the content you struggle with the most. Unfortunately, many students spend dozens of hours poring over one book after another without improving their SAT scores.Why? Because they're not understanding what their weaknesses areand aren'tfocusing their time on their weaknesses. Without learning how to attack your weak spots, you won't improve your SAT score! It might sound obvious, but it's pretty hard for many students to do this well. I write a lot more about how to prep for the SAT inmy guide to a perfect SAT score. It's also how I designed our online SAT program to do all of the hard structural work for you. Ultimately, if you’re serious about SAT score improvement and want to study with top prep books, this is the guide for you. The Best SAT Prep Books of 2019 For this guide, we’re going to divide our picks for the best SAT books into the following categories: Critical Books:These are must-have SAT books for your prep, no matter your strengths or weaknesses. Subject-Specific Books: These are by far the best books to use to better your SAT Reading, Math, and Writing skills. Books for Top Scorers:These SAT prep books are guaranteed to push you over the top and help you get the best score you're capable of achieving. Books for Low Scorers and Low Motivation: If you only want to study for a few hours and improve your SAT score just slightly, these books are OK to use. Otherwise, avoid them. The #1 Book to Avoid: The book I always used to recommend for the old version of the SAT is now squarely on the "Do Not Buy" list. Find out why! Since the format of the SAT changed so much in early 2016, I do NOT recommend using old SAT books to study for the current SAT. Although older SAT practice tests doshare some similarities with newer ones, you'll waste a lot of time studying for the wrong topics and questions if you don't know exactly how the old SAT differs from the current SAT. Therefore, always use books that target the current SAT (that is, books published in 2016 or later), such as the ones listed below. You can also use our online SAT prep programto learn more about your specific weaknesses and how you can improve them. Critical SAT Prep Books These are the books I believe all test takers should have, regardless of their SAT scores or what skills they need to improve. This is an extremely high standard to meet- in fact, there are only two books out of dozens I’ve tested that qualify for this title. We introduce them below. Official SATPractice Tests We’ve written at length about the importance of official SAT practice questions. As you might know, the SAT is a bizarre exam that tests concepts in ways you’ve never seen in school. Thus, you must train with realistic questions in order to accurately learn the patterns of the SAT. Official SAT tests released by the College Board are the gold standard for practice questions. At present, there are 10 official tests. These aren't exactly a "prep book" in the standard sense, but altogether they make up quite an important resource not too different from a book. Each test contains real questions given to actual students on previous administrations of the SAT. Without a doubt, the quality of official questions is far better than that of questions written by unofficial sources such as Kaplan or Barron's. Even better,all official SAT practice tests are free!You can download the tests as PDFs from the College Board website orour complete guide to official SAT practice tests. Make sure to print them out to get the realistic on-paper testing experience. Pros They're the best set of SAT practice tests you can get anywhere, period.If you want to take a full-length practice test, these are absolutely the ones you should use first. Each test is completely free to access and download. 10 full-length practice tests mean a decent amount of studying. If each test takes about four hours to take and two hours to review, that's a solid 60 hours of study time. Answers and answer explanations are available for all questions. Cons Most students will find that the answer explanations aren't that helpful for self-learning. Many explanations read like this: "A is wrong because A is wrong. B is correct for these reasons." In other words, they don't show you how to solve the question from step one. If you don't know key strategies such as how to approach reading passages or how to plug in numbers for math problems, you'll need a different resource to teach you. The tests don't offer anyother instructional material.If you’re bad at algebra, you can’t rely on this resource alone.These tests are just that- practice tests and practice questions. Nothing else! With only 10 practice tests available, there's not enough practice material for more motivated students or those seeking a large score improvement. You'll want to have one test to get used to the format and figure out your current score level, three to track your progress, one to take right before the actual test, and a couple to keep as backups. Unfortunately, you'll need more practice questions to drill with than you can get from the leftover tests to get really good at the SAT (which is why our prep program has the equivalent of four more practice tests to help you improve your skills). You have to print out the PDFs yourself to be able to work through them on paper. But in my opinion, this is better than having to buythe tests as hard copies (more on this later). Taking practice tests without a system for learning SAT content isn’t going to improve your score, and the tests don'tprovide any guidance on how to do this.Remember, mastering the SAT is as much about strategy as it is about content! SAT Prep Black Book, Second Edition TheBlack Book byMike and Patrick Barrettis the only other critical book I recommend for SAT prep. Unfortunately, the book itself isn't sufficient, and even with the practice tests above you’ll likely need supplemental help (as I explain below). What it does have, though, is so good that I believe every student studying with SAT prep books should read it. What you’ll get from the Black Book is essentially a way to think about the SAT. But what does this mean exactly? Here are a few examples: You'll learn that the SAT is designed to be a predictable, standardized test.It needs to test basic concepts so that it can be administered nationwide to all students, but it also needs to be difficult, so it often distorts questions in a weird way. It explains how every answer on the SAT must be unambiguously correct,or else test takers would complain that their incorrect answers are correct. Therefore, your main strategy should be to rule out all incorrect answer choices- this is especiallyimportant on SAT Reading. The concepts in this book were things I understood intuitively back when I took the SAT and was studying for a perfect score. This resource influenced the way I think about teaching our students at PrepScholar. Overall, of all books on the market, the Black Book aligns most closely with my personal philosophies on how to succeed on the SAT. Pros It offers a very lucid take on the SAT. Its ideas will not only change your view on the SAT but also motivate you to work harder by showing you that any student can excel on it. The book contains practical strategies that are more helpful than those in most other SAT books. Unlike other popular prep books, this one doesn’t rely on ineffective tricks. It doesn’t assume all students are the same.Rather, the book offers a few alternatives for strategies, and then suggests you try them out to see which ones work best for you. The book has a thorough set of answer walkthroughs for all Reading, Writing, and Math questions in the first four official SAT practice tests (included in the recommended "book" above). Each explanation clearly breaks down how to approach the question and get the right answer. Cons The book requires a ton of self-discipline and insight to be able to use it effectively. Because you’re learning from your mistakeswith no one there to guide you, you must be self-driven and willing to experiment with different strategies to figure out which one works best for you. For some students, following a set of straight guidelines could be less confusing. The fundamental content is lacking. If you’re weak in word problems, for example, this book alone will not help you master the subject. I believe in recognizing your weaknesses and then mastering that skill through focused prep and practice questions. While this book gives you a general approach to SAT prep, it doesn't teach you the specific content you'll need to know. It's fairly long (more than 550 pages!), with answer explanations that often feelrepetitive; however, that's partly due to the structure of the SAT itself (remember, it's a standardized test and therefore repetitive in how it tests certain skills). I personally disagree with some of the key points in this book.For example, the writers believe you should aim to reach a certain skill level rather than aim for a particular score. By contrast, I believe that setting an SAT score goal is a useful motivator. Once again, I highly recommend these two resources for all students studying with (or only with) SAT prep books. We cover most of the important concepts in the Black Book in our SAT prep program and also provide focused practice on individual skills. As mentioned above, you'll most likely need specific training on each subject to be able to shore up your weaknesses. Next, we provide you with key resources for individual subjects on the SAT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: Best SAT Books by Subject Beyond the critical SAT books covered above, you’ll likely need supplemental help on specific SAT sections. Here, we discuss the best prep books to use for SAT Reading, Math, and Writing. These books all follow my SAT prep philosophy: Divide SAT content into skills, and then get focused training on those skills. Use realistic, high-quality questions that prep you well for the SAT. Cover only what you need to know- not advanced material that won't be on the SAT. Best SAT Reading Prep Book In my experience with thousands of students, SAT Reading is the most difficult section score to improve.This section uses logical reasoning skills that aren’t as easily mastered as math concepts or grammar rules are. As a result, it’s extremely important to learn what kinds of questions will be asked and how you can approach them in a systematic way. My recommendation for best SAT Reading book is The Critical Reader: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading, Third Editionby Erica L. Meltzer. This book dissects the SAT Reading section by question type and skill, and does a great job teaching the core of what each question is asking. It also clearly explains how to work with a passage to arrive at the correct answer. Of all writers, Meltzer uses an approach to SAT Reading prep that aligns most closely with mine: todrill questions skill by skill so you can recognize patterns. Pros It offers a great breakdown of the Reading section on a skill-by-skill level, as well as helpful strategies for every question type. This is the same approach we use in our own SAT prep program. There are lots of high-quality, realistic passages and questions.Meltzer uses passages that are extremely similar to those you’ll see on the actual SAT. The book has a helpful guide listing the questions on the SAT by skillso you can get even more focused practice. Cons The cost is somewhat high for a book that covers just one SAT section (about $30-$35). Its writing style is dry and clinicallike that of an academic textbook. It feels very formal and there are no images to break up the text. I personally prefer this style- cut out the fluff- but it can be too dense for some students. What this means is thatyou might not even read the book because you find it so boring. Its lack of creative page layouts and lots of text on large pages can get tiresome- sort of like reading a phone book. Best SAT Math Prep Book My philosophy on SAT Math is that the best way to significantly improve your Math score is to learn the underlying content.Getting familiar with math questions and learning some strategies like plugging in answer choicescan help you make some progress, but you’ll quickly run into a wall if you have gaps in your underlying math knowledge. Your best bet, therefore, is to find a book that canteach you math content in an organized way and give you practice problems you can use to focus on individual skills. It should also cater to your skill levelsince math questions that are too hard or easy for you will be a waste of time. For these reasons, I recommend Steve Warner’s series of SAT Math books.He's written multiple SAT prep books for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students, and has a set of 240 SAT Math problems organized by topic and difficulty. Pros Lessons that teach math concepts are clear and helpful. They suggest ways to speed up your ability to solve questions and help you identify what a question is really asking. Practice questions are all fairly realistic with good answer explanations. Customizing your SAT Math practice by skill level is important. If you’re scoring below 600, there’s no reason to focus on attacking the hardest questions on the test. Warner's books give you appropriate practice for your specific math level. Cons The books' categories aretoo broad, makingit difficult to find specific math concepts to practice. In contrast,our SAT programsplits large topics into smaller subjects. In algebra, for example, we go over linear functions, single-variable equations, andsystems of equations.By focusing on each individual skill, you can more accurately pinpoint your weaknesses and drill them in your prep. If you’re planning to make a large score improvement, you'll need to buy multiple SAT Math books, which can end up costing you around $100.This is pretty pricey for basically pages of practice questions. Math questions can get repetitive from book to book,as though they're being generated from templates. You definitely need to supplement these books with real practice tests to get broader exposure to how the College Board phrases SAT Math questions. The SAT has some creative, out-there Math questions that I don’t see covered well in Warner's books. If you’re really struggling with SAT Math at a basic level (say, scoring 500 and below), I recommend supplementing your work with Khan Academy’s math modules. This website is a free program that provides an engaging way to train your most basic skills. I believe the core Khan Academy program has better instruction than itsSAT prep program, even though it's not focused on the SAT. Best SAT Writing Prep Book The best way to excel at SAT Writing is to understand the grammar rules and how they appear on the test. You also need to answer a lot of high-quality practice questions to ensure you learn the patterns of the SAT (that’s how we designed our online SAT program to teach you grammar!). Once again, I’m returning to Erica L. Meltzer for her SAT grammar books.Meltzer’s fantastic at distilling all the rules of English grammar into what you need to know for the SAT; you won’t learn any arcane grammar concepts not on the SAT. For the rules that are tested, Meltzer presents them clearly and covers their foundations in case you’ve forgotten grammar rules learned in school. Unlike her single prep book covering SAT Reading, Meltzer has two books for SAT Writing: The Critical Reader: The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar, Fourth Edition: This bookcovers all SAT grammar rules you need to know and offers exercises to help you learn how to analyze grammar in the context of passages. The Critical Reader: The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar Workbook, Fourth Edition:This book offers hundreds of SAT practice questions, equivalent to six full-length Writing tests, as training material. Neither book is sufficient on its own, which is a big drawback. The first one doesn’t have enough SAT Writing questions to let you really drill grammar rules. Meanwhile, the second one doesn’t teach grammar rules, and questions aren’t organized by rule. These problems can complicate studying for students, but I still believe these are the best SAT Writing books out there. Pros Each book uses a clear writing style and cleanly articulates SAT grammar rules. The books cover only what you need to know for SAT Writing and omit extraneous material. A lot of SAT grammar books suffer from including too many esoteric rules that aren't tested on the SAT. The Writing practice questions are all fairlyrealistic. Cons There's no guidance on study strategy.The books offer a nice breakdown of the SAT, but you don't get instruction on how to use each book to best maximize your Writing score. Like other SAT resources,the price for each book is a bit high- about $30.They have good content, but I believe Meltzer could get a lot more customers by lowering her prices. I'd prefer a more unified, skill-based approach in a single book.Ideally, you'd practice single grammar rules with practice questions and then bring them all together in a full-length practice test. At PrepScholar, we believe in a unified, seamless experience, and integrate test content, customization, and feedback into a single package. Bonus: Looking for the very best guides to every SAT section? Check out our top guides for every single section of the SAT. Choose the score level you're aiming for: 800 Score Guides: SAT Reading | SAT Writing | SAT Math | SAT Essay Choose these guides if you're scoring a 600 or above on a section, and you want to get the highest SAT score possible. 600 Score Guides: SAT Reading | SAT Writing | SAT Math | SAT Essay Choose these guides if you're scoring below a 600 on a section, and you want to boost your score to at least a 600 level. These are the very best guides available on boosting your SAT score, section by section. They're written by Harvard grads and perfect SAT scorers. Don't disappoint yourself- read these guides and improve your score today. Best Books for Top SAT Scorers As you can see, you already have a lot to work on. With 10 full-length practice tests and more than five SAT books at your disposal, you'll be studying for well over 50 hours. By using the guidelines we recommend, you can make huge improvements in your score. If you still need extra practice, though, I recommend Barron's SAT prep books, especially if you want a perfect or near-perfect score. I remember using these books for my own SAT prep in high school. While their questions aren't as good as those in official SAT practice tests, they’re a solid backup source to use when you finish all the other SAT prep books above. Pros Each book offers a lot of content- thousands of practice questions and detailed lessons with many examples. The books areextremely thorough, covering every nook and cranny of what you need to know for the SAT. You can be confident that little is tested outside of what’s in these books. Cons The topics can get too difficult for what you need to know on the SAT. Some questions get unrealistically hard in a way you’d never see on the actual test. If you’re not an SAT expert yet, you won’t be able to detect when this happens and might end up wasting time studying irrelevant concepts. The books lack clear direction on what’s important and what's not for the SAT. For example, a grammar rule that appears once every SAT gets the same number of pages as a grammar rule that appears eight times on the SAT. Specifically, algebra is really important but gets far too little treatment. These are definitely not the books to use if you have limited time to study for the SAT. Not all SAT strategies are top notch.For example, I have mixed feelings about the SAT Reading passage strategies detailed in these books. Best All-in-One Book for Less Motivated Low Scorers So far my recommendations have been primarily for the super ambitious students who really want to improve their SAT scores.But I know that there are some students who just want to put in a few hours of prep, get exposure to the test, and then take the SAT and forget about it. I personally believe that for most test takers, raising your SAT score is the best way to improve your chances of college admission. If you don't want to put in hours of time to raise your score, I strongly suggest questioning your approach to test prep. Still, some of you either won't have the time or motivation to prep better. If you’re one of those just hoping to get the SAT over with, I recommend usingKaplan’s SAT Prep Plus 2019. It’s an all-in-one book that covers the three sections and has a wide assortment of practice questions and tests. The book doesn’t excel at any of what it’s doing,but it addresses the most important bases for SAT prep. It also has more reasonable content than other all-in-one SAT books like the one by The Princeton Review. The truth is, I don’t love this book. I don’t even really like it. I don’t recommend it if you actually want to improve your score and are willing to put in the study time needed to do so. However, if you just want a single resource that's easily digestible and does an OK job teaching you the basics, this book is the best one out there. Pros It covers all three SAT sections and contains five full-length practice tests. At about $20, it's quite affordable for the breadth of SAT content it covers. The book offers some basic test-taking strategies that can get you a few easy points if you're new to standardized testing and often feel like you have no idea what to do. Cons Practice questions tend to be unrealistic- the book doesn't phrase questions the way the SAT would and doesn't always test concepts correctly. In addition, the questions don’t trick you in the same ways the real test does. Answers and other materials have a lot of errors,indicatingpoor quality control. You'll probably notice many of these mistakes yourself, but if you don't catch them you'll learn the wrong facts and strategies. The strategies are not super helpful once you move past a 600 score in a section. To improve beyond this point, you'll need tomaster specific content and develop customized strategies based on your weaknesses. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: The #1 SAT Prep Book to AVOID Buying Unlike every other section in this guide, I'm making one specific recommendation againstbuying an SAT book. This is particularly unusual because, prior to 2015, this was the #1 SAT prep book to get! So what book is it? None other than The Official SAT Study Guide, 2020 Edition. It feels really weird to recommend not buying this book because, for years and years, this wasthe book to use to study for the SAT. This guide used to contain 10 full-length practice tests you could only get by buying the book. Here's the problem today, though:everything in this book is available for free online. You just go to the College Board website and download PDFs for every section of the book. (The practice tests contained in it are my #1 recommendation at the beginning of this article.) So why release this guide for free? This is all part of the College Board's move to make the SAT more accessibleto test takers and to reduce educational inequality. Such an endeavor is admirable, and I support them- but it also means thatThe Official SAT Study Guide is now a waste of money.What's more, the material outside the practice tests is superficial and overall unhelpful (we've written far better guides on the Reading, Math, and Writingsections, all of which are available on our blog for free). Pros The guide has eight official SAT practice tests pre-printed for you, so you don't need to print them out yourself. It can be ripped apart for fire kindling or birdcage lining. Cons Everything inthis guide isavailable for free through the College Board website (which actually has two additional practice tests not in this book). The book doesn’t provide any instructional material, so don't expect to actually learn skills and content here. If you’re bad at algebra, you can’t rely on this book alone. Most test takers buy it for the tests, and the College Board knows this. Taking practice tests without a system for learning isn’t going to improve your score, and the book doesn’t provide any guidance on how to do this. Other Free Resources to Help You Plan Your SAT Prep More important than buying SAT books is knowing how to use them effectively. The more prep books you have, the more important it is to build a unified study system. We've written thorough guides to help guide you through your SAT studies. Before you buy any books, though,take a realistic SAT practice test to assess what areas you're weak in. Check outour guide on how to set up a diagnostic practice testif you aren't sure where to start. After taking this first practice test, you'll need to go over your results in detail to pinpoint your weaknesses; this will help you determine where you should spend your prep time and money. For instance, if you did fine on the Reading and Writing sections but bombed Math, you'll want to focus your prep on Math and potentially invest in the SAT Math books recommended above. It's also important to set a target SAT scoreso you know what your end goal is for your SAT prep. Students aiming for around 1200 (600 on Math and600 on Evidence-Based Reading and Writing) should use different strategies and prep books than students shooting for 1600. If you're aiming for a top score, check out my comprehensive guide detailing how I got a perfect SAT score. Finally, you'll need to build a study plan that works well with your schedule and lets you figure out the best time to take the SAT. We offer a free guide explaining thefive essential components of an SAT study program guaranteed to improve your score by 160+ points. Use these free resources to guide yourself through the maze that is SAT prep. (FutUndBeidl/Flickr) Is Using SAT Prep Books the Best Option for You? There are a lot of prep methods available, and book studying is just one of them. To explore all our options, let's quickly examine whether using SAT prep books is right for you. Students who choose to study for the SAT with books do so for different reasons. Some use books because they're cheaper than other options like prep programs and tutors. That said, the best SAT books can get expensive:if you buy all top books, you'll be spending around $200.This is close to the cost of our online SAT prep program, which goes beyond books by guiding your studies step by step and motivating you to put in study time. Other students use SAT prep books because they're self-motivated and like teaching themselves. If this isn't you, books can be a disappointing way for you to spend your time prepping. Without a solid study strategy, you can put in dozens of hours yet make zero improvement since you're not understanding your weaknesses and how to fix them. By far one of the most important ways to improve your SAT score is to study and learn from your mistakes.If you can't do this reliably, you'll need extra help to get you started.We've written a free guide comparing various methods of SAT prep. Download this to see which methods are best for you. Recap: The Best SAT Book in Every Category Here's our shortlist of the best SAT prep books for 2019, complete with links: Best Critical SAT Books Official SAT Practice Tests SAT Prep Black Book (Second Edition) Best SAT Subject-Specific Books The Critical Reader: The Complete Guide to SAT Reading, Third Edition Steve Warner's SAT Math books The Critical Reader: The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar, Fourth Editionand its companion Grammar Workbook Best SAT Books for Top Scorers Barron's SAT prep books Best SAT Book for Low Scorers and Low Motivation Kaplan's SAT Prep Plus 2019 We've given you an excellent array of SAT books to choose from. Now, it's time to start looking for the ones you think will help you the most and get studying! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or more? We've put our best advice into a single guide. These are the 5 strategies you MUST be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download this free SAT guide now: What's Next? Understanding your SAT target score is critical for success. Read our step-by-step guide to help you figure out what exact SAT score you need to aim foron test day. Want to score a super high SAT score?Get all the tips and expert advice you need in my guide to getting a perfect SAT score. Looking for additional SAT prep help?Check out our picks for the top SAT prep websites and the top SAT apps you should be using in your studies. Check out our industry-leading online SAT program. We've designed it to cover all the advantages of books and tutors at an affordable price. Featuring in-depth strategy lessons and thousands of practice questions, we have the content from the leading books. We include the critical Official SAT Study Guide above. Beyond that, the program acts like your personal tutor. It guides you step-by-step through what you should be working on at every moment to best improve your score. It customizes to your strengths and weaknesses, then gives you focused practice so you learn the patterns on the SAT. Furthermore, it motivates you to study so that you put in enough time. There's a 160 point guarantee- if you don't improve your score by 160 points, you get all your money back.

Summary for Iraq Politics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary for Iraq Politics Paper - Essay Example Issues of oil have also dominated international debates and Iraqi’s influence on the entire world economy. This paper seeks to assess the Iraqi situation in the past, present, and the future, in the light of the research questions presented below. The above questions are based on conflict avoidance and conflict resolution in the Middle East, especially Iraq (Anderson, Seibert and Wagner 105). This country holds a significant percentage of an important resource; oil. One, Iraq has not had political stability for quite some time. It has also engaged in wars and violation of human rights. Using this as an excuse, a number of countries have been observed to want to control the Iraqi oil fields (Pelletiere 48). For instance, the US has installed a peacekeeping initiative in Iraq. However, over and above the peace mission, US have also been observed expressing interest in one way or another to control the rich Iraqi oil fields. The specific role and interest of the US in Iraq is ambiguous, and the US’s benefits or harm to Iraq needs critical analysis. THERE IS A GLOBAL ALLIANCE OF RULING ELITES WHICH IS ALSO IN COMPETITION WITH EACH OTHER OVER CONSUMER MARKETS, RAW MATERIALS, LABOR MARKETS. THIS IS THE CONCEPT KNOWN AS  "COMPETITOR PEERS† (Lecture: â€Å"Liberalism, Realism, theories of International Relations, and Neo-conservatism). However, the primary role of the US presence in Iraq has been to promote peace and stability of the nation Possible answers can be predetermined in relation to the research questions presented earlier. Failure to put a stable government in place and the violation of human rights from time to time have made Iraq what it is today (Smith 386). Even before the US made an entry into Iraq, this scenario had been observed.  

Chinese is similar in many ways to the politeness and respect language Essay

Chinese is similar in many ways to the politeness and respect language styles of Japanese - Essay Example This etiquette charms the day to day activities and adds luster to conversation. One derives pleasure to deal with such people. To put it in practical terms, what does it cost to be gracious and polite conversationalist? Say a few good words in appreciation of the individual with whom one is dealing?-that’s what the Chinese and Japanese seem o believe. Chinese is similar in many ways to the politeness and respect language styles of Japanese. Since language has direct bearing on then social disposition of both these people, an activity based comparison needs to be made to justify this assertion. Understanding Chinese and Japanese language means understanding their cultures and etiquettes. We find surprising similarities amongst these people. Their style of functioning is identical in many areas and activities. To cite an example, the Japanese don’t pour one’s own drink, if the glass is empty; usually the host will pour it. The Chinese also never pour one’s own drink first. Generally a toast is made for friendship, or business. While pouring drink for everyone, it is made sure, no one is left out. To forget someone is considered bad manners. Even when the glass is full, pour a few drops in, or give the cup a fond stare, before moving to the next guest. The Chinese dinner consists of many courses; just sample everything in the plate. If one empties the plate, the host observes it and he will get more food. Don’t eat the last piece; leave something. As per the Japanese traditions too, an empty plate means that one wishes to have more food. When fini shed with eating, leave some food on the plate. Chopsticks have a special importance for the Chinese as well as the Japanese. They are sacrosanct. The Chinese don’t take the chopstick and use them like forks by poking into the food. Chopsticks are used to pick up the food. In the picking process, if you drop a piece, no attempt is made to pick up another piece. Keep on trying to pick

Thomas and Frost Essay Example for Free

Thomas and Frost Essay Thomas and Frost both write about the experience of unexpected joy. In Edward Thomas’ â€Å"Adlestrop† and Robert Frosts’ â€Å"The Tuft of Flowers† we read about the speakers experiences of unexpected joy through the poet’s aspects of imagery, form, language and tone of each of their poems. In Frosts’ poem â€Å"The Tuft of Flowers† the speaker, at first, is musing on the separateness of mankind and the workers. Whilst he muses this he is led by a butterfly to gaze upon a tuft of flowers that has been left by the mower he had been following and the speaker is touched by the appreciation of beauty and feels a sense of togetherness looking at the flowers, banishing his loneliness and isolation which is shown at the beginning of the poem â€Å"And I must be, as he had been – alone†, bringing him his experience of unexpected joy. However, in Thomas’ â€Å"Adlestrop† the speakers experience comes from when he hears a blackbird singing and from his views on the surrounding field s and is about the beauty of nature. Throughout the structure of Frosts’ â€Å"The Tuft of Flowers† we see a transformation in the speakers’ attitude from universal isolation to universal togetherness. He says â€Å"†¦I must be, as he had been – alone† the word â€Å"alone† shows loneliness and isolation which at the end is transformed to the joyful statement â€Å"Men work together† showing the speakers view of universal togetherness. Frost uses heroic couplets to show the epic scope of the speaker’s experience of unexpected joy and shows the poems emphasis on harmony and clarity, whereas in Thomas’ â€Å"Adlestrop† his rhyming ABCB conveys the speakers attempt to order his recollection of his unexpected joy. The first half of â€Å"Adlestop† has a lot of punctuation, dashes â€Å"Yes I remember Adlestrop-† and full stops â€Å"unwontedly. It was late June.† showing a fractured structure and his memory of the experience is n ot very clear, however in the second half of the poem there is less punctuation showing his recollection of the experience is becoming clearer. â€Å"Adlestrop† beings as though it is answering a question â€Å"Yes, I remember Adlestrop† and the speaker is recalling his experience and he reminisces about it whereas in â€Å"The Tuft of Flowers† no question has been asked it is more the speaker’s thoughts. In Frost’s â€Å"The Tuft of Flowers† the metaphor â€Å"leaping of bloom† gives an idea of inspiration and the transcendental idea of the speaker’s joyful sense of togetherness with nature. Frost also uses imagery throughout his poem. There is an image of isolation and loneliness at the beginning of the poem, â€Å"alone†, which allows the transformation of  the speaker’s attitude that enables him to experience the unexpected sense of joy. Another example of imagery used by Frost is the image of the butterfly as an agent of change, bringing the speaker towards the tuft of flowers â€Å"he turned first and led my eye to look†, also towards this e xperience of unexpected joy. Imagery is also used by Thomas in his poem â€Å"Adlestrop†, there is a contrast in the images of bareness and isolation at the start of the poem â€Å"No one†, and the picture of song â€Å"blackbird sang† and plentitude â€Å"all the birds† at the end of the poem. Thomas also uses repetition and lists to convey the experience of joy â€Å"willows, willow-herbs, and grass and meadowsweet, and haycocks† the repetition of the word â€Å"and† indicates the speaker’s unmediated joy in nature.

How Pollution Affects Ecosystems and the Global Climate Essay example

How Pollution Affects Ecosystems and the Global Climate Introduction The main theme of our lesson is how pollution affects ecosystems and the global climate. We aim to teach 4th and 5th grade students about erosion in order for them to gain awareness about the anthropogenic (human-induced) impacts on the environment and global climate change as well as to generate ideas on how they can reduce their own ecological footprints. We feel this is important because the lesson not only educates students, but also motivates them to take action. This lesson will cover many of the Colorado State Academic Standards, not only science-related (Physical and Life Sciences, Science as an Inquiry, and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives), but also those pertaining to geography (Human Systems and Environment and Society) and language arts (Communication Skills and Strategies and Applying Language Skills). There are four essential components to the lesson. The first will serve as a formative assessment of students’ knowledge of pollution by playing a game which asks â€Å"have you ever† questions (for example, â€Å"have you ever heard of global warming?†). This activity is significant in our lesson because it is a hook to get students thinking about the ways they already help and hurt the environment. The next part will introduce students to the concept of an ecosystem, a fundamental unit of the biosphere. We will present the students with a fish inside of a bowl of water and ask whether or not they think this is an ecosystem. We will then add various other living and non-living components and ask the students each time. Afterwards, we will explain the concept of an ecosystem in further detail. The next activity com... ...obal_climate_change>. Cohen, Jordan, and Nick Hopwood. "Greenhouse Gases and Society." University of Michigan. 26 Sept. 2006 . "Ecosystems." Thinkquest. 26 Sept. 2006 . "Greenhouse Gases: Frequently Asked Questions." NOAA Satellite and Information Service. 1 Dec. 2005. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 26 Sept. 2006 . "National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Standards Key." CSI: Climate Status Investigations. The Keystone Center. 26 Sept. 2006 . â€Å"Types of Pollution.† Pollution: A Global Threat to the Environment. 2001. Thinkquest. 27 Sept. 2006

Psychoeducational Groups, the Best Option for Teen Mom

PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL GROUPS:THE BEST OPTIONS FOR TEEN MOMS. English 215 November 24,2012 Teen pregnancy has been a problem in the United States for years. Although rates have dropped since the 1990’s, teen pregnancy rates in the United States are still higher than other western societies. Teenage pregnancy is accompanied with many negative consequences such as shortened educational experience, diminished employment, larger family size, increased risk of single- parent and poverty. Teen mothers struggle on a daily basis, if you are one of them you should visit a psychoeducational group.Teen mothers should attend psychoeducational groups because they can teach teen moms parenting skills, social skills, and provide them with the support they need in order to maintain a healthy life style. The group can also include teenage fathers. Psychoeducational groups will work best for this population because it will create a safe place where teenagers can learn parenting skills and have the s upport of one another. Since each teen is going through the same situation, they will be able to relate to one another and feel understood.While there are negative consequences for the mother, the infant is also at risk by being born to a teenage mother. One of the most common occurrences is low birth weight. Low birth weight increases the mortality rate. It also has long-term effects such as developmental and cognitive delays. Low birth weight can be caused by the mother’s lack of prenatal care, poor diet and stress. Prior to becoming pregnant, the teen’s bodies are not prepared for the change. Pregnancy takes a toll on the body that most teens are not ready for. When their body is not ready, the baby can witness the negative effects.The teens need to adopt healthier lifestyles once they become pregnant. They group will provide information about the importance of a healthy diet. They will also be encouraged to seek prenatal care and attend the necessary appointments. By teaching the girls the importance of health care, they will be able to carry it over to their child’s life. The group is clearly for pregnant teens and for teen mothers since they will teach them to take care of themselves before they give birth, that way when they have the baby the teenagers will be able to take ood care of the kids. Lacking these skills is no surprise because the teens were not prepared to become mothers and have a lack of knowledge about child development. In addition, it is important that teens learn parenting skills. The teens need to be taught child care skills in order to better their life and the life of their child. Throughout life, the infant will depend on the parent for the basic needs of life. If the parent is not able to provide, the child will suffer. The group provides them with the support they need to implement the skills.The types of skills the girls can learn are†¦ Also, teenage mothers are less likely to be responsive to their chi ld, less positive child rearing attitudes, more likely to abuse their children. Learning these skills can decrease this. The stress that comes along with teen parenting is inevitable. It can stem from many aspects of their life such as school, financial responsibilities, and providing a safe environment for their child. Stress can be linked to an increase in psychological problems for the mother and increased birth complications.Teenage mothers are more prone to developing depression. However, receiving social support can decrease the amount of stress the teen experiences. When the amount of stress is decreases, the risk of birth complications also lowers. It also decreases depressive symptoms post birth. Many teen mothers lack the support they need when they are going through this stage of life. While learning new skills, the teens are also able to gain a new support system. We can define support as the presences of stable human relationships.The mothers need support because most o f them, not all, come from a low socioeconomic status; minority status, urban living, and having single parent. Having a stable human relationship can be hard to find living under these conditions. Therefore, the group is able to provide the mothers with the support they need in order to overcome the obstacles of teen pregnancy. During the teenage years, individuals go through many developmental changes such as identity development, emerging independence, and developing intimate relationships with others.When adding a baby to the equation, the situation only becomes harder and it puts stress on the development of the teenager. Much of their development is put on hold because of the baby and the need to jump into the mother role when they are not prepared. Therefore, they do not learn how to develop intimate relationships with their peers. In addition to the educational aspect of the group; it can also provide a social network for the girls. They are able to interact with others and learn how to develop intimate relationships.Since they are all struggling with the same issue, they will find it easier to relate to one another. The mother’s education level is the main predictor of the baby’s life outcome. If the mother does not receive a high school diploma, the chances of living in poverty are increased. The group can educate mothers on alternative ways to obtain a high school diploma. There are many options the teens can use to obtain a high school diploma. One alternative is obtaining a G. E. D. There are also program that allow teens to finish high school in their home.The most important thing the group can do is encourage the mothers to finish high school and teach them the negative consequences of not finishing high school. Obtaining a well-paying job will be difficult without a high school diploma. The girls will also not be able to continue their education without a high school diploma. Living in poverty can lead to a lack of many necessitie s of life such as health care. Not having health care can put the baby at risk because they are not receiving routine check-ups.If they are not able to afford health care, there are many social services that can make health care accessible to them that they may not know about. Teens need to be educated on the methods available in order to prevent having more children. Many teenagers do not use any type of contraceptive during their first sexual experience. The group can offer the girls education about contraceptives and the correct way to use them. Many sexual education courses in the United States promote abstinence. While that would be the desirable result for all teens, it is not always the case.There are many forms of contraceptives that can be readily available to the girls if they continue to be sexually active. It is important to educate them on this topic so they can avoid having another child. The group offers a neutral environment in which they girls can ask any question t hey want and offer them information about different types of contraceptives. When helping teenage mothers overcome their struggles, they need to be taught certain skills in order to survive. The psychoeducational group will provide them with the resources they need.Teenagers will benefit from a group setting over an individual setting. For one, they will be able to engage with other girls who are going through the same thing and they can see that they are not alone. In the individual setting, teenagers may feel singled out or attacked. It can be hard for them to relate to someone who is not in the same situation as them. Also, since teen mothers do not have the time to socialize and develop social skills, the group setting offers them a chance to develop the social skills needed. They will have an interactive experience for the purpose of learning new skills.While interacting with other people, they will be exposed to new ideas and viewpoints about their situation. Learning how to s ocialize with others will improve their relationships at home. It can also improve their self-esteem. While learning from the other girls, they can also teach them the strategies they have used. The focus of psychoeducational groups is preventing behaviors and teaching new skills. Therefore, it is not therapy based. This can be beneficial when working with teenagers because therapy can be viewed as a negative thing.For some cultures, seeking therapy may even be out of the question. If the group is based on developing skills, it takes away from the therapy aspect. Since many of the teen mothers are not ready for motherhood, the group can provide them with the necessary parenting skills they will need to know. By teaching them parenting skills, the girls can be more confident in their parenting abilities. When they know how to appropriately handle a situation, they are less likely to take it out on their children. Also, keeping their stress at a low level will have positive benefits f or the parent-child relationship.The benefits of a psychoeducational group for teen pregnancy are evident. At this age, teens are experiencing many developmental changes and raising a child at the same time can be overwhelming. Since teen pregnancy is becoming more common, it is inevitable that counselors working with adolescences or families will encounter this topic. Once they are taught the right skills needed, they will feel more confident about being a parent. References: 1-Ambul Pediatr (2003). The parenting project for teen mothers: the impact of a nurturing curriculum on adolescent parenting skills and life hassles. ONLINE] Available at: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/12974663. 2- Mobley, J, & Fort, S. D. (2007). Planning psycho-educational groups for school. Retrieved August 28,2007 from http://counselingoutfitters. com/vistas/vistas07/Mobley. pdf. 3- Bethany Casarjian (2003). The youth project. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. lionheart. org/youth/youth_landing. 4- Valerie Burgess (2005). Improving Comfort About sex communication between parents and heir adolescents. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. hawaii. edu/hivandaids/Improving_Comfort_About_Sex_Communication_Between_Parents

European Essay Example for College Students - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1713 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Politics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? A Case Study of a Narrow Definition of Europe Europeis ringed from Kalingrad in the North, to the Caucasus and Central Asia, tothe Balkans by an arc of danger and instability. (EU Commissioner forexternal realtions Christopher Patten, July 2001). Does this mean that at the present time Europe and the European are one and the same thing? Introduction: The European or EU citizen is at the present time becoming synonymous with the definition of the point to where the continent of Europe extends. This seems to be the case with the present reaction to enlargement and the focus on crime from outside the borders of the EU and the fears of crime from the newly integrated countries and from those countries that ring the EU. Enlargement will illustrate the new tiered system in the EU, the newly ascended countries from post-Communist countries, which are viewed as not truly European. Therefore this discussion will illustrate how the definition of what Europe is in the 21st Century has been narrowed from the expanse of the European continent to the membership of the EU; whereby countries are aiming to join this political unit in order to gain legitimacy within the global political and economic structure. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "European Essay Example for College Students" essay for you Create order Enlargement A Case Study of a Narrow Definition of Europe: Enlargement of the EU is a mixed blessing, because on one hand it is helping to achieve a status of stability and cohesiveness throughout the region. On the other hand, there are concerns that in making the Union larger will in fact de-stabilize the region. This is due to prejudice of certain groups which would have free access in the region, one such group are the Roma Gypsy migrants from Slovakia. In the past few months the newspapers have displayed the concerns of the British public and politicians about these migrants when the nation joins the EU. Therefore this introduces the question whether the EU really respects the integrity of cultural difference? Other problems include the possible de-stabilizing of the economy by incorporating smaller, less affluent countries; marginal and war torn countries; and transitional countries. These countries could also cause the EU problems in regard to its unique approach of ensuring cohesiveness by using the rule of law, because if th e EU gets too large it may not be possible any longer to ensure its political and legal stability. Therefore the consistency and coherence that the rule of law ensures is no longer apparent due to the sheer size of the Union. Another problem lies in the fact that smaller nations may not have the legal, political and economic clout to ensure that their agenda is considered. Although previously it has been mentioned that the EUs rule of law acts as a check and balance to more powerful nations, in truth the original countries in the EU were mainly ex-colonial empires. The newer nations that are joining the EU are akin to colonies of a colonial power, therefore there is an inherent imbalance in the Union. However in response to the negative effects of the possible de-stabilization of the region, one must consider that in order to join the Union each nation must have fulfilled the Copenhagen Criteria. This criterion states that each joining nation must be: Be a stable democ racy, respecting human rights, the rule of law, and the protection of minorities; have a functioning market economy; adopt the common rules, standards and policies that make up the body of EU law. The EU paints a very enthusiastic picture of enlargement, where the only outcome of enlargement is beneficial. In truth this is a very lopsided picture because of the public outcry against the possible immigration into the original EU states. This can be seen in the article by Cathy Newman in the Financial Times: Britain will throw open its doors to workers from the former communist countries joining the European Union on May 1, but those that refuse to get a job will be denied benefits and thrown out, the government has pledged Tony Blair after months of pressure from the Tories and the right wing press over fears of an influx of immigrants from the former Soviet bloc vowed: If they cant support themselves, they will be put out of the country. This article ill ustrates the problems that have occurred within one nation over the policy of enlargement. Although the enlargement is supposed to bring together the European region, the public opinion of at least one EU nation is resisting the expansion, in relation to economic migrants migrants which the nation has traditionally refused asylum applications. However these fears may be unfounded because as Kraus Schwager argue that increased migration from East to West EU countries would only occur under the fear of rejection to Union membership. In fact they argue that the EUs expansion will have a beneficial effect on the economy of these smaller nations and this will result in a boost of their economies and job market, hence reducing the amount of migrants from East to West. The conclusion of their article they state that: Policy makers who are, for whatever reason, reluctant to accept large numbers of immigrants should not feel troubled with enlargement. On the contrary, the prospe ct of joining the EU may well reduce immigration. The economic and social benefits which probably accrue to Eastern Europe from accession should be presented as a means to reducing the incentives to emigrate. Policies which enhance convergence of income levels in eastern and Western Europe, such as the internal market and, possibly, Structural Funds should be promoted. .. In this process, diverging interests of major EU members have created substantial uncertainty about the date and conditions of accession. It is quite plausible that such uncertainty has raised the fear among potential migrants that accession may fail or be postponed for a long time. According to our result, this may have increased immediate immigration. Thus, if immigration is not desirable, for future accession rounds a straightforward and predictable negotiation process is to be recommended. Hence Kraus Schwager argue that the fears of the right, which have been fed to the public through the media, conc erning immigration from the East that will de-stabilize the economy, have no place. This is because the possible migrants would prefer to stay in their homeland with a stronger and growing economy rather than move to another nation. However, although these fears may be unfounded the resistance to these new citizens from the Eastern Europe illustrates the possible de-stabilization of the EU politically. In addition to this it causes problems legally because the cornerstone and the uniqueness of the EU lies within the rule of law and one of the most important laws that is upheld is the Free Movement of EU Citizens, which includes their ability to trade, reside and work in part of the EU. Yet, the accession of the new Eastern European nations has heralded blocks to this ability by many of the original and major EU players. In the UK it has caused a debate because the government was going to allow a free movement of possible immigrants but this has been resisted by the right, as well as members of the public. This is illustrated by the arguments of Michael Howard, leader of the Conservative Party: Mr Howard, seeking to make political capital out of Labours discomfort on the issue, will accuse the Government of complacency over the implications of the EUs expansion in May. This comes as the Government sought to play down fears that Britain would be flooded by migrants seeking work in more prosperous parts of the EU. During a high-profile visit to Burnley, the scene of race riots in2001, Mr Howard will demand that Britain copy the transitional arrangements adopted by Germany and France to prevent citizens from new EU members from working there. Mr Howard will say: The Conservative Party has always supported the enlargement of the EU to take in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. We continue to do so. But he will continue: Almost every other country in the EU has quite rightly taken the precaution of putting in place transitional arrangements to deal with immigration from the accession countries. It is still not too late for the British Government to put in place transitional arrangements as well. If we were in government, we would do so. The Government has approached this problem in typical fashion. First it failed to address it, then it ignored it, now it is claiming to face up to it. In short the cohesiveness that the EU has claimed will occur with the enlargement has not happened in the expected manner. Ever since enlargement there have been a greater amount of problems combating organized crime, because of decreased security, corruption of public officials in favour of organized crime groups in the newly acceded nations and the breaches of human rights in arrests. Therefore this creates problems for combating organized crime with either prisoners being let off on technicalities, the vastness of places to hide decreasing the effectiveness of policing or the police not interested in fighting o rganized crime. Kennedy has commented that the EU is committed to justly and fairly fighting organized crime within the realms of human rights and justice; however its weakness is that it relies only on specific domestic member state intelligence: We are being told that Europol and Eurojust the new European body to strengthen collaboration between justice ministries and prosecution services- will only act on specific intelligence. This is to rely on the integrity of the state and its officials [I]t also means relying on the intelligence of other countries and, as I have said before, we have no idea about how this may be collected and by what standards. Justice does not permit shortcuts, but governments will readily pursue quick and dirty solutions to problems if not kept under scrutiny. Therefore by purely relying on only specific intelligence this will reduce the effectiveness of the fight against organized crime, especially when there is the added problem of corrup t post-communist regimes that have joined the EU after enlargement; whereby the true European, i.e. the EU citizen needs to be protected especially those original member states which define the true Europe.