A Ton of Crap (98 page)

Grassland
When land is dominated by grass instead of trees, it is known as a grassland. There are two types of grasslands: tropical (also known as savannah) and temperate. Savannahs have trees scattered throughout and make up about half of Africa. In order for savannahs to exist, there must be hot or warm climates and rainfall of about 20 to 50 inches a year. Unlike savannahs, temperate grasslands do not have any trees and there is more variation in temperature from winter to summer. Prairies are temperate grasslands with tall grass, and steppes are temperate grasslands with shorter grass.

MAYAN LANGUAGES

Mam
In Guatemala and Mexico, half a million people speak Mam, of which, there are three types: Northern Mam (found in Huehuetenango), Southern Mam (found in Quetzaltenango), and Central Mam (found in San Marcos). Due to mountainous terrain and isolation, there are several dialects within these different types of Mam; however, even as such, the dialects are still mutually intelligible. Mam, Tektitek, and Awakatek are closely related, and together are known as the Mamean language group.

THE COLD WAR

The Dissolution of the USSR
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became president of the Soviet Union, and as reform was being promoted and was desperately needed in the Soviet Union, Gorbachev introduced perestroika, a restructuring of the economy, and glasnost, which allowed for political freedom. As reforms continued throughout 1986–1990, Soviet states gained new autonomy, and Gorbachev’s power and ability to hold the union together weakened. In 1991, a coup was attempted against Gorbachev. The coup failed, but Gorbachev lost support and Boris Yeltsin came to power. The USSR was dissolved and the Russian Federation was created.

BIOGRAPHIES

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X was one of the most important and controversial leaders during the civil rights movement. In his autobiography, he discusses his childhood growing up in Boston as the son of a Baptist minister, how his life turned to the streets and prison, and finally, his embrace of Islam. He discusses his education, which he says he got from the schools, the streets, the prisons, and his mentor. The book was written by Alex Haley transcribing interviews he did with Malcolm X, and though Malcolm read drafts, he never lived to see it in print. Haley would later go on to write
Roots
.

APPLIED MATHEMATICS

Statistics
Though statistics is the study of organization, collection, and interpretation, it often features applied mathematics (especially when dealing with statistical procedures and research, which get improved through mathematical tests). Probability, algebra, decision theory, scientific computing, and combinatorial design are all used in statistics. Statistics can also be applied to a wide range of topics, including economics, engineering, public health, marketing, biology, education, sports, and medicine.

BIOMES

Tundra
The coldest biome is known as the tundra, of which there are two types: arctic tundra and alpine tundra. Tundra include very low diversity in wildlife, very cold climates, and short growth and reproduction seasons. Arctic tundras encircle the north pole and are desert-like. Though there are several plants that thrive in arctic tundras, they are not deep root systems. Alpine tundras are found on mountains where the altitude is so high that trees cannot grow. The plants and animals are similar to those found in the arctic tundra, able to withstand the extremely cold environments.

MAYAN LANGUAGES

Poqomchi
The Poqomchi language is spoken in Guatemala by 90,000 people. There are currently two dialects of Poqomchi, a western and an eastern dialect. Poqomchi is a Poqom language, and is related to Poqomam, which is spoken by 30,000 people. Poqom languages are also related to Core Quichean languages such as K’iche’ (which has the largest amount of speakers), Archi, and Tz’utujil.

1. The Warsaw Pact was initiated by the Soviet Union as a counter to the formation of:
   

   1. The USSR
      
   2. NATO
      
   3. The Berlin Wall
      
   4. Sputnik
      

2. How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end?
   

   1. The Soviet premier agreed to dismantle the installations of missiles in hopes that the United States would not invade Cuba.
      
   2. The United States invaded Cuba and took over the Soviet Union’s missiles.
      
   3. The United States launched an attack on the Soviet Union’s missiles.
      
   4. The United States invaded Cuba and launched a nuclear bomb at the Soviet Union.
      

3. What book was written by a
   man who suffered from locked-in syndrome, leaving his entire body motionless except for his left
   eyelid?
   

   1. A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
      
   2. Into the Wild
      
   3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
      
   4. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
      

4. Which of the following is true regarding Dietrich Bonhoeffer?
   

   1. Bonhoeffer believed the role of the churches was to help the victimized Jewish people.
      
   2. Bonhoeffer created an illegal seminary for the purpose of training pastors.
      
   3. Bonhoeffer was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
      
   4. All of the above.
      

5. Which of the following is true?
   

   1. Pure mathematics is the study of math pertaining to science and applied mathematics uses mathematical techniques in nonscientific fields.
      
   2. Pure mathematics is the study of completely abstract math and applied mathematics uses mathematical techniques in very real and specialized ways.
      
   3. Applied mathematics is the study of completely abstract math and pure mathematics uses mathematical techniques in very real and specialized ways.
      
   4. Applied mathematics is the study of math pertaining to science and pure mathematics uses mathematical techniques in nonscientific fields.
      

6. Which of the following involves the assessment of risk and the creation of insurance policies to mitigate the risk for finance and insurance industries?
   

   1. Statistics
      
   2. Actuarial science
      
   3. Operations Research
      
   4. Scientific computing
      

7. Which of the following has the highest amount of diversity in wildlife?
   

   1. Lake
      
   2. River
      
   3. Wetland
      
   4. Stream
      

8. What are the three types of
   forests?
   

   1. Tropical, arctic, and savanna
      
   2. Tropical, temperate, and boreal
      
   3. Boreal, savanna, and alpine
      
   4. Alpine, prairie, and boreal
      

9. Yucatec Maya, Uspantek, and a dialect of Tzotzil are the only Mayan languages that:
   

   1. Feature tone
      
   2. Have a writing system
      
   3. Have prefixes
      
   4. Have suffixes
      

10. The closest language to that spoken during the Classic era in the Central Lowlands is:
    

    1. Ch’ol
       
    2. Poqomchi
       
    3. Yucatec
       
    4. Poqomam
       

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

HISTORY:
The Baby Boomers and the Sixties
Postwar Baby Boom, The Suburbs, The Sixties, Civil Rights Movement, Feminism, Hippies

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Nonfiction
A People’s History of the United States
,
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
,
In Cold Blood
,
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
,
The Education of Henry Adams
,
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

MATH:
Fermat’s Last Theorem
About Pierre de Fermat, Fermat’s Last Theorem, Sophie Germain, Ernst Kummer, Faltings’s Theorem, Andrew Wiles

SCIENCE:
Photosynthesis
What Is Photosynthesis?, Leaf Structure, Chloroplast and Chlorophyll, Light Reactions, Dark Reaction, The Carbon Cycle

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
Filipino
The Origins, Differences Between Tagalog and Filipino, The Written Language, Influence of Outsiders, Filipino Today, Useful Filipino Phrases

THE BABY BOOMERS AND THE SIXTIES

Postwar Baby Boom
The term
baby boomer
refers to a person born between 1946 and 1964. At the end of World War II in 1945, millions of men returned home. On June 22, 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights, allowing for homes and farms to be available with low interest rates and little to no down payment for GIs. As soldiers returned from war, they got married and started having families. Prior to the war, the average number of births per year was from 2.3 to 2.8 million. In 1946, however, there were 3.47 million births. In the late 1950s, there was an all-time high of 4.3 million births per year.

NONFICTION

A People’s History of the United States
A People’s History of the United States
by Howard Zinn tells history unlike ever before, offering the historical context from different perspectives. For example, his first chapter deals with Columbus and the New World. He begins the chapter by telling the perspective of the Arawak Indians who met with Columbus. Zinn then provides details about the murders committed by Columbus’s men, and how this is a detail that is not widely talked about in traditional history. Within every chapter of the book, Zinn goes over a major event, retells the event from new perspectives, includes events and information mainstream history has left out, and interprets how the elite attempted to maintain control.

FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM

About Pierre de Fermat
Pierre de Fermat lived from 1601 to 1665 in France. Fermat was a lawyer and government official who provided some of the most important work in number theory, analytic geometry, and calculus of probabilities. For Fermat, math was more of a hobby and he was not interested in getting his work published. In fact, the one thing he ever published was done so anonymously. Fermat created very important work relating to minima and maxima, and had a long-standing feud with René Descartes. Fermat created many theorems that he claimed to have proven, but many of the proofs have never been found. His most intriguing work was his last theorem, which remained unsolved for three centuries.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

What Is Photosynthesis?
Photosynthesis is the process that plants and some bacteria perform to convert the energy that comes from sunlight into usable energy. The sunlight is first turned into a sugar, and then through a process called cellular respiration, the sugar is turned into adenosine triphosphate, known as ATP, a form of energy. Plants require water and carbon dioxide, and as a result of photosynthesis, oxygen is released into the atmosphere. Without photosynthesis, life would not exist. The process of photosynthesis can be summarized as:

6CO
₂
 + 6H
₂
O → 6(CH
₂
O) + 6O
₂

The products are 6(CH
₂
O), which is energy in the form of sugar and oxygen.

FILIPINO

The Origins
Filipino is a Western Austronesian language. Filipino is based on another language, Tagalog, which was spoken in Manila. It was not until 1987 that the term
Filipino
was adopted, and the language was declared the official language of the Philippines. Though little is known about the history of the language, the first written Tagalog dates to around a.d. 900. In the 1930s, the government decided that there must be an official language of the country but did not specify what the language would be. By the 1970s, more than half of the population spoke Tagalog. When Tagalog became the official language in 1987, the term
Filipino
, (originally
Pilipino
), was used to unite the people. Many feared that by using Tagalog (which was the language of the dominant group in the Philippines) there would be dominance of the Tagalog culture, and so the name of the language was changed to handle these fears and increase acceptance.