Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Baccalaureate

The Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious conflicts between Muslims and Christians between the 11th and 13th centuries for control of the Holy Land, especially the city of Jerusalem, which was sacred to both religions. The official cause of the Crusades was the conquest of the Holy Land by the Turks, who practiced a stricter interpretation of Islam, which forbade the pilgrimage of Christians to the Holy Land. However, the real cause lay in the economic and demographic expansion that Christendom experienced after the 10th century. To avoid conflicts between Christians and accommodate the growing population, religious leaders decided to direct that expansion against the Muslims.

The First Crusade and the Rise of the Crusader States

The... Continue reading "The Crusades: A History of Religious Conflict and Cultural Exchange" »

Wardan Hawa

Student Syndrome (Ariely, 2008): the tendency for students to give in to temptation and invent excuses when the deadline comes.

Planning Fallacy - Optimism trumps past experience (Buehler et al., 1997): students who believe they will finish their work on time tend to fall behind. Taxpayers who were expected to mail their taxes on time were also a week late (Buehler, Griffin & Ross, 2002).

Kahneman and Tversky (1979) proposed the Cognitive Model of Planning Fallacy:

• Inside Planning: focuses on the task rather than the mission, ignores outside factors, and leads to optimism bias
• Outside Planning: considers outside factors and learns from the past
• Optimism Bias: being overly optimistic about time leads to the least success in completing

Part of the Universal Creative Process

Composition

Golden Ratio: Fibonacci Number by Leonardo de Pisa

Composition Rules

Demographic and Economic Recovery

Major epidemics disappeared and the birth rate increased, leading to a population rise. Agricultural surplus was generated and sold. Improvements in shipping gave rise to trade. This increased the production of hand-made goods and manufacturing, and the growth of cities. Bills of exchange were created to facilitate trade and payments.

Rise of the Bourgeoisie

The economic power of the bourgeoisie did not come from the land. They made their money from capital, investing in profitable activities such as trade, manufacturing, and banking. The first capitalist companies emerged, laying the groundwork for merchant capitalism. Commercial exchanges represented a major source of wealth.

The Strengthening of the Monarchy

In... Continue reading "European Transformation: 15th-16th Century Social and Religious Shifts" »

Problemas en las plataformas online

Las plataformas pueden realizar cambios repentinos e inexplicables en los términos y condiciones para las empresas, redactados en un lenguaje claro e inteligible. No se informa claramente ni se da una razón para la terminación o suspensión de una cuenta, incluyendo el motivo por el cual una oferta puede ser eliminada. Deben proporcionar a los usuarios comerciales la razón de la suspensión de servicios. Las políticas sobre el acceso a los datos no están claras, deben formular y publicar políticas generales sobre cómo se puede acceder a los datos generados a través de sus servicios. Las reglas de clasificación no están claras, deben informar claramente a las empresas. Favorecimiento del propio servicio... Continue reading "Problemas en las plataformas online y casos de estudio" »

Mastering the Passive Voice in English

Present Simple

Active: This singer writes many songs.

Passive: Many songs are written by this singer.

Past Simple

Active: This singer wrote many songs.

Passive: Many songs were written by this singer.

Future Simple

Active: This singer will write many songs.

Passive: Many songs will be written by this singer.

Present Continuous

Active: This singer is writing many songs.

Passive: Many songs are being written by this singer.

Past Continuous

Active: This singer was writing many songs.

Passive: Many songs were being written by this singer.

Present Perfect Simple

Active: This singer has written many songs.

Passive: Many songs have been written by this singer.

Past Perfect Simple

Active: This singer had written many songs.

Passive:... Continue reading "Mastering Passive Voice in English: Examples and Key Business Vocabulary" »

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my views towards the abuse of domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Recently, more and more mistreatment cases of domestic helpers hit the headlines. It is astonishing that those helpers can be mistreated in such a violent way. Below are the reasons why the abuse of domestic helpers should be opposed.

First and foremost, any kind of abuse is illegal.

According to the law, no one can hurt the others by any cruel means, including the domestic helpers. Although most domestic helpers are foreigners, they are protected by the law. The employers who mistreat the domestic helpers break the law and should be brought to justice. How can we accept people being mistreated illegally in Hong Kong? This is why the abuse should... Continue reading "Opposing the Abuse of Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong" »

Understanding Social Influence in Groups

Social influence in groups occurs when the majority of the members influence smaller subgroups within the group to change (majority influence) and when the minority members succeed in converting the majority of group members to their position (minority influence). Asch studied conformity by measuring people's decisions when the majority of their group's members made errors judging line lengths.

Types of Conformity

When group members change their position, their conformity may result from temporary compliance to the group's pressure rather than true conversion (private acceptance). Those who do not comply may be displaying independence or deliberate defiance of the group (anticonformity). When congruence... Continue reading "Understanding Social Influence: Majority and Minority Dynamics" »

Be (ser) was been

Beat (golpear) beat beaten

Become (volverse) became become

Begin (empezar) began begun

Bend (doblar) bent bent

Bet (apostar) bet bet

Bite (morder) bit bitten

Bleed (sangrar) bled bled

Blow (soplar) blew blown

Break (romper) broke broken

Bring (llevar, traer) brought brought

Build (construir) built built

Burn (quemar) burnt/burned burnt/burned

Buy (comprar) bought bought

Catch (atrapar) caught caught

Choose (elegir) chose chosen

Come (venir) came come

Cost (costar) cost cost

Cut (cortar) cut cut

Dig (cavar) dug dug

Do (hacer) did done

Draw (dibujar) drew drawn

Dream (soñar) dreamt/dreamed dreamt/dreamed

Drink (beber) drank drunk

Drive (conducir) drove driven

Eat (comer) ate eaten

Fall (caerse) fell fallen

Feed (alimentar) fed fed

Feel (sentir) felt felt

Fight... Continue reading "Irregular Verbs in English: Past Simple and Past Participle" »