A Ton of Crap (14 page)

Legends
The stories of the Huns’ conquests played an important part in the folklore of the Germanic people. In particular, the Old Norse
Volsunga Saga
, an epic poem from thirteenth-century Iceland, and the
Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks
make considerable mention of the Huns and the battles they fought. In the
Hervarar saga
, a battle is depicted between the Huns and the Goths, and in the
Nibelungenlied
, another epic poem, a woman marries Attila the Hun.

THE ALPHABET

Modern English Alphabet
The Modern English alphabet is the current alphabet used in the United States, and it was established around 1550. With the advent of printing, the Old English alphabet evolved into the Modern English alphabet and actually got rid of many of the Anglo-Saxon letters, while maintaining the Latin alphabet. The Old English alphabet looked like this:

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z & ⁊ Ƿ Þ Ð Æ

The Modern English alphabet distinguished the letters
i
and
j
from being a single letter, as well as
u
and
v
, and it is believed the
w
was added at a later time.

GREEK MATHEMATICS

The School of Aristotle
Aristotle described three types of science. There was the theoretical, like math, physics, and logic; the productive, which were the arts; and the practical, which were politics and ethics. He distinguished the basic principles of mathematics into axioms, which include the laws of logic and contradiction, and postulates, which didn’t need to be self-evident, but the results from them must sustain their truth.

THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

The Venous System
The venous system is responsible for bringing the blood back to the heart. From the capillaries, the blood flows through small veins called venules, and from there, the blood then flows to the veins. The superior and inferior venae cavae are the two largest veins in the body, and both end in the right atrium. The superior vena cava enters on the top while the inferior enters from the bottom.

ITALIAN

Useful Italian Phrases
Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling to Italy:

Hi.
Ciao.

Good morning.
Buongiorno.

Good evening.
Buona sera.

Where is the bathroom?
Dove posso trovare il bagno?

How much is this?
Quanto costa questo?

Thank you.
Grazie.

Do you speak English?
Parli inglese?

Can you help me?
Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi?
(formal/informal)

When does the train leave?
Quando parte el treno?

1. What animal did the Huns use to make them so successful in their attacks on enemies?
   

   1. Dogs
      
   2. Horses
      
   3. Hawks
      
   4. Tigers
      

2. Attila became the sole ruler of the Huns when he:
   

   1. Killed his brother
      
   2. Killed his uncle
      
   3. Killed his father
      
   4. Killed the leader of the Roman Empire
      

3. The Phoenician alphabet was the first alphabet to:
   

   1. Use hieroglyphs
      
   2. Use cuneiform
      
   3. Use symbols representing words
      
   4. Use symbols representing sounds
      

4. What contributed to the change from the Old English alphabet to the Modern English alphabet?
   

   1. Influence of the Greek alphabet
      
   2. The invention of the printing press
      
   3. Introduction of the Latin alphabet
      
   4. Christian missionaries introduced Anglo-Saxon futhorc
      

5. Thales is credited for being the first mathematician to discover and teach deductive proofs in geometry. He was part of the:
   

   1. School of Aristotle
      
   2. The Ionian School
      
   3. The Platonic School
      
   4. The Pythagorean School
      

6. Aristotle divided math into two things, axioms and:
   

   1. Art
      
   2. Physics
      
   3. Postulates
      
   4. Logic
      

7. Your blood moves from the heart via arteries, and to your heart via veins, delivering ______ throughout your body.
   

   1. Antibodies
      
   2. Capillaries and arteries
      
   3. Superior and inferior venae cavae
      
   4. Oxygen and nutrients
      

8. After picking up oxygen from the lungs and delivering it to the cells, what do the red blood cells then transport to the lungs?
   

   1. Carbon dioxide
      
   2. Nitrogen
      
   3. Carbon monoxide
      
   4. None of the above
      

9. What vowels are always pronounced the same way in Italian?
   

   1. E, O, I
      
   2. A, I, U
      
   3. A, E, I
      
   4. U, O, E
      

10. How do you ask “How much is this?” in Italian?
    

    1. Quando parte el treno?
       
    2. Può aiutarmi?
       
    3. Quanto costa questo?
       
    4. Puoi aiutarmi?
       

ANSWER KEY: b, a, d, b, b, c, d, a, b, c

HISTORY:
The Ottoman Empire
What the Ottoman Empire Was, Rise of the Ottoman Empire, The Ottoman Empire Expands, Society of the Ottoman Empire, Decline of the Ottoman Empire, Collapse of the Ottoman Empire

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Language
Why Humans Are Different, Linguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics, Phonetics, Syntax

MATH:
Chinese Mathematics
Before the Qin Dynasty, Math of the Han Dynasty, Math of the Tang Dynasty, Math of the Song and Yuan Dynasties,
Precious Mirror of the
Four Elements
, From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty

SCIENCE:
The Respiratory System
Inhalation, Exhalation, The Lungs, The Nose and Nasal Cavity, Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
German
The Origins, Old German, Middle German, Modern German, German Today, Useful German Phrases

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

What the Ottoman Empire Was
The Ottoman Empire was based in Turkey and lasted from 1299 to 1923. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, with territory ranging from North Africa to southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe, across twenty-nine provinces. For six centuries, the empire’s capital city, Constantinople, was the center of interaction between the East and the West.

LANGUAGE

Why Humans Are Different
Human language is truly unique, and much different from languages of other animals. Humans can make an extremely wide variety of sounds to create languages, and in fact, the sounds and words we make are arbitrary. For humans, language is something that is learned through social interaction. Other animals, however, have only a very limited set of sounds they can produce, and those are genetically transmitted.

CHINESE MATHEMATICS

Before the Qin Dynasty
Mathematics has been found carved in oracle bones dating back to the Shang Dynasty, which lasted from 1600 to 1050 b.c. From the Shang Dynasty onward, the Chinese developed a full decimal system and showed a basic understanding of equations, arithmetic, algebra, counting rods, and even negative numbers. In the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted from 1122 to 256 b.c., Chinese students were required to study mathematics. There is little to no knowledge of the mathematics of the Qin Dynasty.

THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Inhalation
The function of the respiratory system is to supply the blood with oxygen, which is then transferred to the rest of the body. Oxygen is received through breathing. The oxygen enters through the nose and mouth. From there, it goes through the larynx and trachea to the chest cavity, where the trachea then splits into small tubes called bronchi. The bronchus then divides once more, creating bronchial tubes, which lead to the lungs.

GERMAN

The Origins
German is one of the largest Indo-Germanic languages today. Though it has words based on Latin, it is not a Romance language. The closest relative of German is actually English, but it is also related to Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. The earliest record of the language dates back to 750. The origins of the German language are broken down into three periods: Old German, Middle German, and Modern German.

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE