[{"TitleName":"French","Publisher":"Hill MacGibbon","Author":"Tony Topliss","YearOfRelease":"1986","ZxDbId":"0010986","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 29, Jun 1986","Price":"£1","ReleaseDate":"1986-05-29","Editor":"Graeme Kidd","TotalPages":140,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Publishing Executive: Roger Kean\r\nEditor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nTech Tipster: Simon Goodwin\r\nAdventure Editor: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Editor: Sean Masterson\r\nStaff Writers: Hannah Smith, Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: John Minson, Jon Bates, Rosetta McLeod\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nArt Director: Dick Shiner\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nProduction: Gordon Druce, Tony Lorton\r\nProcess Camera: Matthew Uffindell\r\nPhotographer: Cameron Pound\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\n\r\nEditorial and Production: [redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order and Subscriptions: [redacted]\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nInformation and Bookings [redacted]\r\n\r\nPrinted in England by Carlisle Web Offset (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted]. Colour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted];\r\n\r\nDistributed by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©1986 Newsfield Limited\r\n\r\nJULY-DEC 1985\r\nTotal: 93,356\r\nUK: 89,441"},"MainText":"CRASH COURSE\r\n\r\nBy Rosetta McLeod\r\n\r\nEXAM FEVER\r\n\r\nRevision software for examinations is being produced by an increasing number of publishers. Hill MacGibbon and Pan Books have now got together to issue a set of six Course Tutor packages covering Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, French and Economics at 'O' Level Each attractively presented package contains a Pan Study Aid Book, a Student Guide and two cassettes - Diagnostic Tests software and Learning Modules.\r\n\r\nA core syllabus is covered in each subject, selected from topics covered by the majority of examining boards. This may cause students to become confused about which areas of the subject covered by the packages are relevant to their particular syllabus - but teachers should be able to clarify matters.\r\n\r\nThe Student Guide gives some useful tips on how to get down to serious studying and contains instructions on how and when to administer the diagnostic tests, together with the test papers themselves. These tests are extremely well constructed with the computer monitoring the time taken by the candidate to answer each question. By reselecting a question number, it is possible to change or revise an answer, and the 'next question' key can be selected to skip past a question if need be. Each test has a target time, but this is only for guidance, and the computer tells you at the end how well you would have done if you had stopped at the target time.\r\n\r\nAt the end of the test, 3 options appear for analysing the mark obtained. The full analysis option gives the correct answer, together with the marks you were awarded and the total number of marks available. The time analysis is shown by means of a bar graph of the time actually taken compared with the target time. Questions answered correctly have the time bar displayed in one colour, questions incorrectly answered in another. The final option gives a full written report of performance, including suggestions for further work. The overall percentage mark is shown at the top of the screen, together with the number of minutes taken. If the target time has been exceeded, the screen gives the percentage score that would have been attained if the test had been stopped at the target time.\r\n\r\nThese packages are highly recommended as comprehensive and worthwhile study aids.\r\n\r\nFRENCH\r\n\r\nThe six Diagnostic Tests in the French Course Tutor package cover Verbs and Tenses, Irregular Verbs, The Perfect Tense, Making Things Agree, Vocabulary 1, and Vocabulary 2/Comprehension. While the chosen test is loading, the screen display lists the time it will take, and the equipment required - the test paper, writing paper for recording the answers, pencils and a watch or clock. Some of the questions in the papers require the full answers to he typed in, whereas others are multiple choice.\r\n\r\nThe screen clearly informs the student which keys to press in order to type in the French accents. The Learning Modules program offers twelve topics, covering tenses, adjectives and agreements, negatives and interrogatives, prepositions, pronouns and possessives, houses and homes, time, shopping and food, and personal information. For all of the options, the screen is divided into three: the top half is used for pictures and for Eng fish phrases, while the left hand side of the bottom half is the workspace where the French phrase has to be completed, and the right hand side is reserved for hints.\r\n\r\nI was extremely impressed with the amount covered in this package and with the way the material is presented. One unfortunate buy, though, does occur in the adjective program - if the correct adjective 'chers' is inserted in the phrase 'Les melons sont plus... que les oranges', the answer is rejected and the hints inform you that the correct answer is 'chers'.\r\n\r\nMATHS\r\n\r\nFor the Diagnostic tests, the core mathematics syllabus has been divided into six main topic areas: Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry, Graphs, Probability and Statistics and Matrices and Transformations. A calculator is allowed for all the tests apart from arithmetic.\r\n\r\nThe Learning Module programs cover a variety of 30 different topics ranging from multiplication and division of decimals to frequencies, 3-dimensional trigonometry, and determinant and inverse of matrices. Each section provides the student with the useful option of selecting Notes before attempting to answer the questions, and the examples are then worked out step-by-step on the screen with comments to clarify the various stages.\r\n\r\nI haven't done any serious maths for many years but I found things coming back to me after working through the Notes. The Study Aids booklet too, is an excellent source of information, and the package as a whole represents a powerful interactive revision aid.\r\n\r\nCHEMISTRY\r\n\r\nThe six main topic areas covered in the Diagnostic Tests are: Kinetic Theory, Atomic Strict ire; Bonding and the Periodic Table - salts, purification, acids, bases, metals and their compounds; Activity Series - electrolysis. reaction rates, redox reactions and the chemical industry: The Air - gas preparations, and the chemistry of sulphur, chlorine, hydrogen and oxygen; Mole Calculations - carbon and nitrogen, organic chemistry, fuels and energy.\r\n\r\nThe Study Aid book goes over all these topics in detail, while the 30 sections in the Learning Modules programs break the information into manageable units. The Hints are particularly good in this package, and if the wrong answer is typed in. a helpful comment appears and you are also directed towards the relevant pages in the Study Aid book.\r\n\r\nBIOLOGY\r\n\r\nA very nice touch in the Study Aids booklet for this package is the inclusion of a short Glossary at the start of each chapter. and a list of key words at the end. The chapter on Transport for example, begins by defining Translocation and Transpiration, while blood, lymphocyte, fibrin and ions are some of the key words listed at the end.\r\n\r\nIn this package, five main topic areas are tested: The Cell and Transport; Nutrition and Respiration; Genetics and Ecology; Movement and Co-ordination and Reproduction, Excretion and Temperature Regulation. This package is possibly the best of (hem all in the way it relates the information in the booklet to the questions which appear on the screen. In the first Learning Module for instance, the top pan of the screen display is divided into two, with the left hand section giving the explanation and referring the student to the relevant pages in the booklet, while the right hand section displays a graph of the information on which the questions are based.\r\n\r\nAnother particularly useful feature is the information contained in the package on the different types of exam questions the student may have to answer - objective, structured, essay and practical questions, and a helpful explanatory lust of the terms commonly used in the questions is also given. Overall, this is an excellent revision aid.\r\n\r\nPHYSICS\r\n\r\nMechanics, Heat. Optics, Waves and Sound, Electricity, and Atomic Physics are the topic areas covered in the Diagnostic Tests. The Learning Module programs are subdivided into 23 sections beginning with Equate ions of Motion and ending with Radioactivity. The depth of knowledge covered in this package is quite impressive, with the questions being particularly well-constructed. The Study Aids booklet is well-written, with PHYSICS the information presented in a clear and concise manner Again, the Hints section of the screen display refers the user to the appropriate page in the booklet for help. Physics is now such a vast subject that no exam syllabus covers more than a small pan oft. A student using this package would certainly need the advice of a teacher as to the sections which are relevant for the particular course being followed. The section Preparing for the Examination in the booklet, which gives helpful tips on tackling a Physics exam, should be essential reading.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nFor the serious student, these packages represent superb value for money. What they are most definitely not, is a short-cut for the less able. The fact that each Course Tutor covers such a wealth of information may cause problems to the student who is unsure about the precise requirements of the exam syllabus being followed, but an approach to the teacher would resolve this problem. The producers of these programs have avoided any temptation to include gimmicks or unnecessary graphics to give them more mass appeal, and a great deal of thought has gone into their preparation. Their main advantage lies in the way the computer is used to test understanding and pinpoint areas of weakness, to provide personal tuition based on the Diagnostic Test results, and to give practice in answering examination questions.\r\n\r\nAs examples of truly interactive learning they are impressive indeed.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"58","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rosetta McLeod","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Cameron's not so bright when it comes to parlaying Francais! He's scored a measly 0% AND it took him two minutes... O LEVEL FRENCH COURSE TUTOR from Hill MacGibbon and Pan."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue Annual 1986,  1986","Price":"£2.5","ReleaseDate":"1985-12-01","Editor":"John Gilbert","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: John Gilbert\r\nConsultant Editor: Bill Scolding\r\nStaff Writers: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Linda Everest\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User Annual is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nCover Photograph: Spitting Image Productions Ltd.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd. ©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"A FIRST CLASS ROMP\r\n\r\nTheo Wood finds that educational software is a boon to teachers.\r\n\r\nOne feature which stands out when you look back on 1985 is the increasing sophistication of software in the learning field.\r\n\r\nWhile previous years saw a mass of new software the quality was not necessarily good. There was a feeling that publishers were keen to jump on the bandwagon and produce software quickly for a perceived, rather than an actual, market.\r\n\r\nSome of those programs were distinctly dull, but 1985 saw an increase in the games element and the fun/educational borderline became blurred.\r\n\r\nPRESCHOOL LEARNING\r\n\r\nFor the pre-school and infant age group Romper Room from Beyond is another attempt at using the Spectrum for initial alphabet teaching. Romper Room is much more lively than previous programs of this type. It features a character called Max who illustrates each letter with an action. The screen picture above is one example.\r\n\r\nOn the first game, Watch the Letters, both capital and small letters are shown together with a small sentence to be read by the parent. Max then sets the word, such as dancing for D. That is much more fun than a static graphic of an object.\r\n\r\nThe three other games in the package, Press a Letter, Find a Letter, and Letter Quiz work from that basis. Letter Quiz is the hardest of the games, where the player has to observe Max's action, determine the initial letter, and then press the letter on the keyboard.\r\n\r\nEducation publisher Macmillan has produced games which follow on from the kind of skills learnt in Romper Room.\r\n\r\nTops and Tails and Castles and Clowns are designed with the help of Betty Root, who is the 1985 President of the United Kingdom Reading Association. Those games are involved with the recognition of initial sounds and Tops and Tails introduces sound blends. Both feature games and, interestingly, two people can play. That is really useful when you have two children squabbling over who should play with the computer.\r\n\r\nMr T Meets His Match by Good Housekeeping, deals with memory skills. The players have to pick out pairs of animals as they turn over cards on the screen. The one-player option allows Mr T to be a forgetful or clever computer opponent. At a higher level the animals on the cards change to geometric shapes.\r\n\r\nThe other game, Switcheroo, provides food for thought as the task is to change one animal into another in four moves. That can be done by changing the size, colour, or animal. Mr T Meets His Match is an interesting package which deals with non-verbal skills using entertaining graphics.\r\n\r\nPaddington's Garden Game is a gentle arcade frolic in which Paddington has to go around the garden to find a pot of marmalade, catching butterflies as he goes. The butterflies are released at the end of the game.\r\n\r\nJoystick control ensures easy use. The game is innocent enough for the younger age group for which it is designed. Paddington fans should enjoy it, while practising hand/eye coordination.\r\n\r\nSIMPLE ARITHMETIC\r\n\r\nWhile today's educational thinking encourages calculators for yesterday's burdensome tasks of long division and multiplication, elementary numeracy cannot be ignored. Several programs work on that problem and are so designed as to deal with varying skill levels from five to 11.\r\n\r\nMirrorsoft's Ancient Quests pack age has a game called The Count which provides practice of simple counting to more complicated sums such as division and multiplication. Moving around the castle you must solve the problems posed before reaching the library where the Count can be overcome.\r\n\r\nThe other game, King Tut's Treasure includes arcade action. You must move Professor Diggins around the screens, avoid the hazards and dig for the matching shapes, match a fraction with a decimal or fraction with a name.\r\n\r\nPsion and ASK collaborated on two of the year's best programs which deal with numbers. Estimator Racer is another arcade classic in which you have to race around a track as fast as possible. The faster you go the more frequently you have to answer questions. The speed and level can be selected and depend on the type of car and player's control.\r\n\r\nEstimator Racer is different from other similar programs in that it is not the correct answer which is needed but the one nearest to the answer. That skill is useful when using a calculator, and encourages quick thinking without the need for complete accuracy.\r\n\r\nNumber Painter is another program with the same pedigree. This time the aim is to reach the target number by painting out other numbers - such as +2, +3 - until the target is reached. Based on a platform and ladders game, and operating at a number of different skill levels, Number Painter is great fun and has enough action to appeal to players who are hooked on games.\r\n\r\nADVENTURES\r\n\r\nAdventure games have proved popular and the format is selling well in adventure books with multiple choice options. Taking an active role in the development of the plot, young readers are encouraged to improve their reading skills.\r\n\r\nMirrorsoft's Phineas Frogg must be considered a classic of its type for eight to 10 year olds. A story book is provided to fill in the plot background before you start the game, and a multiple choice of action is shown on each screen. There are also several arcade games which have to be played to solve the mystery, which is to save the scientist Mole from the Secret Lair of the Terrible Hamsters - SLOTH for short.\r\n\r\nJack in Magiciand could be played by the same age group, or as with Phineas, with younger non-readers as an alternative to reading a story. Based on the old tale it too has options. As a text-only adventure it lacks some of the interest of Phineas, but that is compensated by using a more descriptive text.\r\n\r\nSIMULATIONS\r\n\r\nSimulations are one way of introducing a subject and practising skills. Weathermaster by Sinclair/Macmillan is one of my favourites. Using it you can play at being a weather forecaster.\r\n\r\nOnscreen you see a picture of the British isles and the frontal systems moving over the chart. The aim of the game is to provide a correct forecast. That must be done for each region until the whole country has been covered. If you can do that you can become a weathermaster - no mean feat.\r\n\r\nOilstrike is another in the Science Horizons series from Sinclair/Macmillan. It is a simulation similar to Weathermaster but this time you have to survey and drill for oil. The secret is to find suitable oil-bearing strata before drilling, otherwise costs mount turning the operation into what could prove to be a fruitless exercise.\r\n\r\nThe success of sports simulations in the software charts proves their popularity. Two sports simulations which require more skill than usual are Yacht Race and Run For Gold, both from Hill MacGibbon.\r\n\r\nYacht Race is an introduction to the art of sailing and comes with a printed chart of the different courses. There are six levels of difficulty which allow the novice to learn by coping with steering the dinghy before moving on to trimming the sails and setting the balance.\r\n\r\nRun For Gold similarly requires a learning curve to fully master the pace and steering of your two chosen runners. Setting the pace too high for your runners will quickly tire them out. The object of the game is to increase your fitness level in local meets, before moving on to reach Olympic standard.\r\n\r\nThe Spectrum is not noted for its musical capability but one program stands out which uses what little there is to the full. Music Typewriter, from Romantic Robot, enables you to print out a score on to a wide selection of printers and interfaces.\r\n\r\nThe product is a real aid to budding composers who are working with a musical instrument. You can ENTER the notes with the help of the keyboard overlay which is provided, and edit the tune bar by bar.\r\n\r\nA substantial section dealing with setting key changes, rhythm or tempo, as well as right or left-hand play options, means that the package can cover a wide variety of musical styles. You cannot use chords, but that is a failing of the hardware.\r\n\r\nMORE LOGO LOGIC\r\n\r\nSinclair's own version of Logo was a critical success in 1984 and provided Spectrum owners with the chance to experiment with a full implementation of the language. Two Logo lookalikes were released in 1985 which offer Logo facilities of Logo at a reduced price.\r\n\r\nSpectrum Logo Graphics from Sigma deals purely with turtle graphics. Using a keyboard overlay the main commands can be ENTERed with single key stroke. Spacing between commands is added automatically. That may be of some help to younger children but the entry of commands will not deter most children. The big drawback with the program is, however, that routines cannot be SAVEd.\r\n\r\nThe second Logo program was Picture Logic, from Addison Wesley. The program is a reworking of Heather Govier and Malcolm Neave's earlier program Logo Challenge.\r\n\r\nPicture Logic adopts the structured approach to turtle-type graphics. The book accompanying the software takes you through the first stages and beyond by a series of exercises, called challenges, with many hints and tips to help beginners. In neither of the two programs is there any list processing facility which can be found in the full Sinclair version. If, however, you want turtle graphics and want a structural approach Picture Logic is the best buy.\r\n\r\nOne package which is easy to use and provides access to the Spectrum's graphics capability is New Generation's Light Magic. The program allows you to draw onscreen, change brush size and generally play around with colour and pattern without any programming skills. A program such as that can give some insight into how a graphic system works as well as being instantly usable.\r\n\r\nBOOKWARE\r\n\r\nFor 11 to 16 year olds the Century Communications book Maths Tutor for the Spectrum is to be recommended. It is not a revision package but a self-contained maths course in book form with a tape for a few pounds extra.\r\n\r\nA maths course could well be very difficult to follow but author Robert Carter has brought a masterly use of language into play which ensures that the whole subject does not become too dry. The explanations in the book are oustandingly clear and simple, and use of the programs in the book reinforces understanding of the mathematical concepts required up to O Level.\r\n\r\nRevision programs are the mainstay of the program lists for secondary school age. The best of those on the science side are the Pan/Hill MacGibbon packages, called Pan Course Tutors. They cover all the usual science subjects and come with a text book.\r\n\r\nThere are diagnostic tests at the beginning of the programs which help students to identify weak spots in their study course.\r\n\r\nThe student is then directed to a suitable module. The modules make extensive use of screen windows, with one for the explanation, one for a question and a third for hints.\r\n\r\nPenguin has released more titles in its study range, which mostly cover English Literature. Those operate on database techniques which allow you to browse through and follow characters in a novel or play. As the study of English Literature is largely interpretive, and the space for text is extremely limited, it would seem that those and other, similar, packages offer little real advantage over revision notebooks.\r\n\r\nWORLDLY WISE\r\n\r\nA program for older students which does not concern revision is Worldwise, a study of nuclear weapons. It operates as a database as well as providing a basis for playing negotiation simulations. It is meant as a factual program and not, in itself, an opinion former.\r\n\r\nThe Richardson institute for Conflict and Peace Research, at Lancaster University, operates an update system for members of the user group WUG - Worldwise Users Group, membership £2.00. Extra copies and microdrive versions can be obtained through the group at a special price.\r\n\r\nPrograms such as Worldwise can be used to provide the basis for intelligent discussion in an area which is renowned for bias and emotion, frequently unsupported by hard facts.\r\n\r\nAll in all, 1985 has been a good year for educational software. As it becomes less easy to rely on simple rule and drill exercises, producers of software are showing imagination and wit in their programs. In doing so the packages are becoming more attractive to use and more fun to play.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"60,62","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Theodora Wood","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Ancient Quests, opposite."},{"Text":"Phineas Frogg, below."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]