Melody

I expect you will appreciate it.  I read it a very long time ago but it made a big impact on me.

I enjoyed both 1984 by George Orwell    and Lord of the flies by William Golding. 

Another that I read a very long time ago and I would thoroughly recomments is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.  

It is written in a similar era to 1984 and it also looks at a possible future society.  (1984 was first published in 1949)

Huxley could not envisage this era of computers since this book was first published in 1932, but if you use your imagination you can see that some of his ideas have come to pass. Not all of them of couse, but some.  

A book that Chris and I have both thoroughly recommended in the past is

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

and

Of Mice and Men also by John Steinbeck.

I do not think these books are hard to read but if you are into 'commentaries' on societies these books are very interesting and very thought provoking.

I am classing Brave New World and 1984 also as commentaries of alternative socieites. Difference is, John Steinbeck's societies are not ficticious.

Oofrence,

Thanks for posting this question and answer.

It was an excellent one for people to learn from.

It would have been nice if you had included the answers. Some people may be trying to learn from your question AND the answer.

I graphed it here

Yes, looks ok

I suppose they are out of fashion   

When I was at school (a very long time ago)

Correct terminology and strict setting out was all important.

Now it seems children are often allowed, even encouraged, to scribble their answers on ipads etc, setting out is too diffiult on these media so it has been at least partially thrown away. 

Poor notation is just an extension of this.  

Young teachers cannot teach good proceedures if they were never taught them in the first place.

Hi Chris,

Why couldn't it mean .. Put the result in R1 ?  

That is how I would have interpreted it.

But I am also in agreement with others that the question is incomplete.

It could mean either one.

The ratio works out the same no matter what units you use.  So long as you use the same units for both measurments.

I assume it means that  Row 2 is replaced with the old row2 - 0.5 of row1

BUT the terminology is nor correct.

So Row2 would become

-6-2,      -3-1.5,     12-0

row 1 would stay the same as it was to start with.