A Ton of Crap (11 page)

ANCIENT EGYPT

The Late Period
The Late Period lasted from 664 to 323 b.c. It is considered to be the end of the once-great Egyptian Empire. From 525 to 404 b.c., Egypt was part of the Persian Empire. The twenty-eighth dynasty, led by Amyrtaeus, saw a revolt against the Persians; however, by the thirtieth Dynasty in 343 b.c., the Persians had once again reoccupied the land.

COMPOSITION

Participle Phrases
A participle is a verb form that is used as an adjective. For example,
cooked
,
cooking
, and
having cooked
are participles of the verb
cook
. A participle phrase is a sentence that consists of a present or past participle, with any modifiers, objects, and complements. For example, in “Running down the aisle, she knocked over the soup display,”
running down the aisle
is the participle phrase.

INCA MATHEMATICS

The Yupana
In a letter to the king of Spain, Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala describes and illustrates a picture of another counting device created and used by the Incas: the yupana. His drawing resembles that of a counting board. Scientists are unsure if the Incas used this as an abacus or some type of calculator, and it is not known whether this was merely just another recording device or a tool for solving mathematical equations.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

The Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic nervous system is part of the peripheral nervous system and controls involuntary body functions. Two important aspects of the autonomic nervous system are the sympathetic nervous system, which comes into effect causing the fight or flight reaction; and the parasympathetic nervous system, which comes into effect in nonemergency situations, causing the body to rest and relax.

FRENCH

Useful Phrases
Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling to a French-speaking country:

Good morning/Good day.
Bonjour.

Good evening.
Bonsoir.

Do you speak English?
Parlez-vous anglais?

Thank you.
Merci.

How are you?
Comment allez-vous?

What time is it?
Quelle heure est-il?

I need to use the restroom.
J’ai besoin d’utiliser les toilettes.

Please repeat.
Répétez, s’il vous plaît.

1. Around 3100 b.c., the ruler Menes established Memphis as the capital city, uniting:
   

   1. Upper and Lower Egypt
      
   2. Western and Eastern Egypt
      
   3. Egypt and Mesopotamia
      
   4. The Nile River and the Yellow River
      

2. When Amenhotep IV came to power, he instituted new and radical beliefs. Which of the following was Amenhotep IV responsible for?
   

   1. Leading a revolt against the Persians
      
   2. Creating a class of scribes
      
   3. Turning the polytheistic religion into a monotheistic one
      
   4. Creating mastabas
      

3. In the sentence “Bobby sees a cat,” what is the subject?
   

   1. The cat
      
   2. Seeing
      
   3. Bobby
      
   4. There is no subject in this sentence.
      

4. “In the store” is an example of:
   

   1. A participle phrase
      
   2. A prepositional phrase
      
   3. An article
      
   4. An adjective clause
      

5. The quipu had hundreds of strings on it, and yet it was very easy to understand. That is because:
   

   1. The strings got progressively shorter.
      
   2. The knots were made bigger for larger numbers.
      
   3. The strings got progressively longer.
      
   4. The strings were color-coded.
      

6. The number 45 represented on the quipu would look like:
   

   1. 25 knots, a space, then 20 knots
      
   2. 5 knots, a space, then 4 knots
      
   3. 10 knots, a space, 10 knots, a space, 10 knots, a space, 10 knots, a space, and 5 knots
      
   4. 40 knots, a space, 5 knots
      

7. The central nervous system consists of the brain and the:
   

   1. Blood
      
   2. Lungs
      
   3. Arms and legs
      
   4. Spinal cord
      

8. Fight or flight is a result of:
   

   1. The central nervous system
      
   2. The peripheral nervous system
      
   3. The autonomic nervous system
      
   4. B and C
      

9. In French, an article is always in front of:
   

   1. A noun
      
   2. A verb
      
   3. An adjective
      
   4. An adverb
      

10. When followed by _____, French vowels sound nasal.
    

    1. P and L
       
    2. M and N
       
    3. R and Q
       
    4. K and A
       

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

HISTORY:
The Huns
Who Were They?, Conquerors, Weaponry, Attila the Hun, After Attila, Legends

LANGUAGE ARTS:
The Alphabet
The Phoenician Alphabet,
The Aramaic Alphabet, The
Greek Alphabet, The Latin Alphabet, Old English Alphabet, Modern
English
Alphabet

MATH:
Greek Mathematics
The Ionian School, The Pythagorean School, The Eleatic School, The Sophist School, The Platonic School, The School of Aristotle

SCIENCE:
The Circulatory System
What Is the Circulatory System?, The Heart, Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, The Aorta and Arterial System, The Venous System

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
Italian
The Origins, Vowels, Easy Consonants, Harder Consonants, Articles, Useful Italian Phrases

THE HUNS

Who Were They?
In the fourth and fifth centuries a.d., a nomadic group of people from Central Asia spread to the Caspian Sea, coming into contact with the Roman Empire toward the end of its reign. These people were fierce warriors (with a specialty in archery), animal herders, and expert horsemen. The tribes were called the Hsiung-nu; however, in the West, they were referred to as the Huns.

THE ALPHABET

The Phoenician Alphabet
By 3000 b.c., there was the cuneiform of Mesopotamia, and the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. The Phoenician alphabet, however, was quite a different writing system from either of these. Instead of using pictographs, the Phoenician alphabet was something called abjad. Abjad was a non-pictograph consonantal alphabet that showed symbols representing sounds. This writing system quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean and was adapted by many cultures.

GREEK MATHEMATICS

The Ionian School
Founded by Thales in 643 to 546 b.c., the Ionian School was a pre-Socratic group of philosophers that focused on teaching philosophy, science, and the origins of the universe. Thales is credited for being the first mathematician to discover and teach deductive proofs in geometry, using Thales’s theorem, which states that if there are three points on a circle and the first and last point make up the diameter, then the angle of the three of them combined is a right angle.

THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

What Is the Circulatory System?
The circulatory system consists of the heart, blood, and blood vessels. It is the body’s transportation and cooling system. Your blood moves from the heart via arteries, and to your heart via veins, delivering oxygen and nutrients throughout your body. The blood also picks up any waste products in your system, so the body can get rid of them.

ITALIAN

The Origins
Italian, like the other Romance languages, stemmed from Vulgar Latin, and it most closely resembles Latin. Around the fourteenth century, the Tuscan dialect began to dominate as a result of the aggressive commerce centered in Florence. In 1525, Venetian linguist and lawyer Pietro Bembo set out to make the dialect spoken in fifteenth-century Florence the official language of Italian literature. The first official Italian dictionary was published in 1612.

THE HUNS

Conquerors
The Huns first overcame another nomadic group that lived between the Don and Volga rivers, the Alani. From there, they attacked the Ostrogothic kingdom and in 376, the Huns attacked the Visigoths. During the fifty years following their conquest of the Visigoths, the Huns firmly established their status with both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires through constant raids and attacks.