A Ton of Crap (58 page)

Dialects
Two major dialects can be found in the Czech language relating to geographic location. The most commonly used dialect is called Common Czech, which is used around Bohemia. The other dialect pertains to Moravia and Silesia, which is based on standard Czech. Moravia and Silesia have more localized dialects than Common Czech. In Silesia, for example, there exists a community that speaks a combination of Czech and Polish.

THE CIVIL WAR

The Surrender of Robert E. Lee
In the spring of 1865 Confederate General Robert E. Lee fled with his army to Appomattox County with Grant’s army in pursuit. Seven days after the capture of Richmond, on April 9, 1865, Lee knew that Grant would win another battle, and decided to meet with Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. The two men showed great respect for one another, and Robert E. Lee surrendered. Though this did not end the war immediately, the loss of Robert E. Lee’s army would lead to the surrender of the other Confederate armies.

VIRGINIA WOOLF

Virginia Woolf’s Death
After Virginia Woolf completed another manuscript, she once again became greatly depressed. Her condition worsened as World War II quickly approached and her London home was destroyed by a bomb. On March 27, 1941, Virginia’s husband took her to see a doctor. She told the doctor that everything was normal, even though she had been hearing voices. The next day, she wrote two notes to her husband and one note to her sister, placed stones in the pockets of her coat, and walked into the River Ouse, drowning herself.

LINEAR ALGEBRA

Useful Theorems
All vector spaces have a basis, meaning a set of vectors that can represent every vector in the vector space. Of the same vector, any two bases have the same cardinality, meaning the number of elements in a set. If a set is [4, 6, 8], the cardinality is three because there are three elements in the set.

JOHN DALTON

Impact of the Atomic Theory
Dalton’s atomic theory paved the way in understanding chemicals and physics, and Dalton is referred to as the “Father of Chemistry.” Though his theory had flaws, it opened the world to a new kind of science. Dalton’s work has had a truly lasting effect, leading to the eventual discovery of subatomic particles.

CZECH

Useful Czech Phrases
Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling to the Czech Republic:

Hello.
Dobrý den.

Good morning.
Dobré ráno.

Good evening.
Dobrý večer.

What’s your name?
Jak se jmenujete?

I don’t speak Czech.
Nemluvím česky.

I don’t understand.
Nerozumím.

Thank you.
Děkuji.

Where is the bathroom?
Kde jsou toalety?

How much is this?
Kolik to stojí?

Goodbye.
Na shledanou.

1. What was the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation?
   

   1. It was the South’s announcement of secession.
      
   2. It was the Union declaration of war on the South.
      
   3. It freed the slaves who were living in the Confederate states and allowed blacks to fight for the Union.
      
   4. It freed the slaves who were living in the Union states and allowed blacks to fight for the Confederates.
      

2. What was the deadliest battle of the Civil War?
   

   1. The Battle of Shiloh
      
   2. The Battle of Gettysburg
      
   3. First Battle at Bull Run
      
   4. The Battle at Fort Sumter
      

3. The work of Virginia Woolf focused on what theme(s)?
   

   1. Sexuality
      
   2. Female consciousness
      
   3. Death
      
   4. All of the above
      

4. Shortly before her tragic death, Virginia Woolf lied to the doctor about:
   

   1. Having a stomach ache
      
   2. Hearing voices
      
   3. Having a headache
      
   4. Having trouble seeing
      

5. When objects can be added together or multiplied, they are known as:
   

   1. Scalars
      
   2. Axioms
      
   3. Complex numbers
      
   4. Matrices
      

6. If a set is [4, 7, 9], the cardinality is:
   

   1. 7
      
   2. 20
      
   3. 9
      
   4. 3
      

7. Daltonism is another word for:
   

   1. Dalton’s Law
      
   2. Dalton’s theory of atomic weight
      
   3. Color blindness
      
   4. Dalton’s atomic theory
      

8. P
   _Total
    
   = 
   p
   ₁
    +
    p
   ₂
    + 
   p
   ₃
    … is an
   example of:
   

   1. Dalton’s atomic theory
      
   2. Dalton’s law
      
   3. Daltonism
      
   4. Dalton’s theory of atomic weight
      

9. What is Jan Hus responsible for?
   

   1. Breaking Czechoslovakia apart
      
   2. Standardizing the spelling of the Czech language
      
   3. Creating a combination of Czech and Polish
      
   4. Making German the official language of Czechoslovakia
      

10. Which of the following is true?
    

    1. The official language of the Czech Republic is Slovak.
       
    2. Czech was the official language of Germany during the fourteenth century.
       
    3. Czech was considered a rich man’s language, worthy of the king and nobility.
       
    4. Until the fourteenth century, Czech was considered to be a language spoken by peasants, not worthy of literature or any kind of standardization.
       

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

HISTORY:
The Spanish-American War
Cuba’s Struggle for Independence, Yellow Journalism, Sinking of the USS
Maine
, Declaration of War, The Philippines, The Treaty of Paris

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Jane Austen
About Jane Austen’s Life, The Sentimental Novel,
Sense and Sensibility
,
Pride and Prejudice
,
Emma
, Reactions Then
and Now

MATH:
Modern Algebra
What Is Modern Algebra?, History of Modern Algebra, Groups, Rings, Fields, Universal Algebra

SCIENCE:
Weather
The Water Cycle, Clouds, Thunder, Lightning, Wind, Weather Forecasting

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
Hungarian
The Origins, Turkic Influences, The Four-Tiered Level of Politeness, Writing System, Dialects, Useful Hungarian Phrases

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

Cuba’s Struggle for Independence
Cuba had always been a colony of Spain since 1492. By the mid-nineteenth century, Cuba grew dissatisfied with Spain’s corruption and sought independence. The Spanish denied the Cubans any freedom, and Cuban nationalists fought the Spaniards in the Ten Years War from 1868 to 1878. In 1896, the Spanish sent over General Weyler, aka “The Butcher,” who established concentration camps where thousands of Cubans died. As news spread to the United States, President Cleveland vowed that even should Congress declare war he would not send the military to Cuba.

JANE AUSTEN

About Jane Austen’s Life
The biography of Jane Austen is not fully known. Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Hampshire, England, and by 1787, Jane began writing plays, poetry, and stories. By the time she was twenty-three, she had already completed the original versions of
Pride and Prejudice
,
Sense and Sensibility
, and
Northanger Abbey
. Her sense of humor was evident from the beginning, and she keenly watched the interactions of the social classes. Jane Austen’s work was known for its realism, humor, and social commentary.

MODERN ALGEBRA

What Is Modern Algebra?
Modern algebra, also known as abstract algebra, is a branch of mathematics that involves abstract algebraic structures (complex numbers, real numbers, matrices, vector spaces) instead of number systems. In modern algebra, the most important features are rings, groups, and fields. Linear algebra is considered to be one of the branches of modern algebra.

WEATHER

The Water Cycle
There is a limited amount of water on Earth, which is recycled again and again. This is known as the water cycle. The first step in the process is evaporation, where the sun heats up the water until it turns into steam or water vapor, which then rises into the air. As the water vapor in the air gets cold, it turns back into water, forming clouds. This process is known as condensation. When there is so much water that the air can no longer hold it, precipitation occurs in the form of rain or snow.

HUNGARIAN

The Origins
The Hungarian language, called Magyar, is a Uralic language. Uralic languages are not related to Indo-European languages and emerged in the Urals of Russia. The history of the language can be broken down into five periods: Proto-Hungarian, when the Hungarian language first came to be; Old Hungarian (during the Middle Ages); Middle Hungarian (the language turned into a form similar to today’s); New Hungarian (when the language underwent some reforms); and Modern Hungarian (the language as it is spoken today).

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR