Angola Higher War College (ESG) Exam cheat sheet

Crase: the contraction of preposition a + article a/as is marked with a grave accent (à, às); it does not occur before masculine nouns, most verbs, or indefinite articles.

Verb tenses: pretérito perfeito states a completed past action; pretérito imperfeito states habitual or ongoing past action; pretérito mais-que-perfeito states an action prior to another past action.

Regency: assistir a (to watch) takes the preposition a; obedecer a and desobedecer a also require a; preferir is direct transitive with no preposition.

Pronoun placement: próclise is obligatory after negations, adverbs, relative pronouns, and subordinating conjunctions; ênclise follows a verb opening a clause.

Agreement: the verb agrees with the subject, not the nearest noun, in structures such as 'a maioria dos alunos chegou'; collective partitives may allow both readings.

Orthography: -ção nouns correspond to -tor/-do agent nouns (nação/nacional, ator); words ending in -gem take -ns in the plural (viagem/viagens).

Redundancy to avoid: 'subir para cima', 'entrar para dentro', 'protagonista principal', 'há dois anos atrás' are pleonasms.

Cohesion: use connectives by function - addition (além disso), contrast (contudo), cause (visto que), conclusion (portanto).

Arithmetic progression: a_n = a_1 + (n−1)d; sum S_n = n(a_1 + a_n)/2.

Geometric progression: a_n = a_1·r^(n−1); sum S_n = a_1(r^n − 1)/(r − 1) for r ≠ 1.

Percentage change = (new − old)/old × 100; successive changes multiply factors, so +20% then −20% gives −4%.

Simple interest I = C·i·t; compound amount M = C(1 + i)^t, with i and t in the same time unit.

Quadratic roots: x = (−b ± √(b² − 4ac))/(2a); discriminant Δ > 0 two real roots, Δ = 0 one double root, Δ < 0 no real roots.

Probability of an event = favourable outcomes / total equally likely outcomes; P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A and B).

Pythagorean theorem a² + b² = c² for right triangles; area of triangle = ½·base·height; circle area = πr².

Rule of three: for direct proportion multiply crosswise; for inverse proportion invert one ratio before cross-multiplying.

Independence from Portugal was proclaimed on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto as the first President of the People's Republic of Angola.

The Alvor Agreement (January 1975) recognised three liberation movements - MPLA, FNLA and UNITA - as partners in a transitional government; it collapsed into civil war.

The civil war (1975–2002) ended with the Luena Memorandum of Understanding, signed in April 2002 after the death of Jonas Savimbi.

Angola's 18 provinces include Cabinda (an exclave north of the Congo River mouth), Luanda, Huambo, Huíla, Benguela and Namibe.

The country borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Namibia, and has a South Atlantic coastline of about 1,600 km.

The Kwanza is Angola's currency and also the name of its principal river; the Zambezi and Cunene are other major rivers.

Angola is a major oil producer (offshore blocks) and a leading diamond producer (Lunda provinces); coffee and maize are traditional agricultural exports.

The climate ranges from tropical humid in the north to semi-arid in the south; the Benguela Current cools the coastal strip and limits rainfall near the coast.

Angola's national symbols are the flag (red, black and yellow with a machete, cogwheel and star), the national anthem 'Angola Avante!', and the coat of arms.

National holidays include 4 February (start of the armed struggle), 11 November (Independence Day) and 17 September (National Hero's Day, honouring Agostinho Neto).

The Constitution of 2010 defines Angola as a democratic state based on the rule of law, with sovereignty resting with the people.

Fundamental rights include life, liberty, equality before the law, freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial; duties include paying taxes and defending the country.

The national motto is 'Virtus Unita Fortior' (unity gives strength), reflecting national unity and reconciliation.

Civic duty includes respect for public property, tolerance, and participation in elections; voting is a right and civic responsibility for eligible citizens.

National unity and reconciliation, non-discrimination, and respect for elders and traditional authorities are core civic values promoted in Angolan education.

The African Union, founded in 2002 (replacing the OAU), has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Angola is a member state.

SADC (Southern African Development Community) is headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana; Angola is a founding member.

Angola joined OPEC in 2007 and is a member of the United Nations (since 1976) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

The UN has 193 member states; its Security Council has five permanent members with veto power: China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.

The CPLP comprises Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Equatorial Guinea.

The African Union's Agenda 2063 is its long-term development framework; the AU's Peace and Security Council is its standing decision-making organ for conflict.

World Health Organization, UNESCO and UNICEF are UN specialised agencies; the World Bank and IMF are Bretton Woods institutions.

Validity concerns the form of an argument (if premises are true, the conclusion must be true); soundness requires validity plus actually true premises.

Modus ponens: from P → Q and P, infer Q. Modus tollens: from P → Q and not-Q, infer not-P.

Affirming the consequent (P → Q, Q, therefore P) and denying the antecedent (P → Q, not-P, therefore not-Q) are formal fallacies.

Contrapositive of P → Q is not-Q → not-P (logically equivalent); the converse (Q → P) is not equivalent.

De Morgan's laws: not(P and Q) = not-P or not-Q; not(P or Q) = not-P and not-Q.

Ad hominem attacks the person rather than the argument; straw man misrepresents an opponent's position; false dilemma limits options to two.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc assumes sequence implies causation; hasty generalisation draws a broad conclusion from too few cases.

A necessary condition must hold for the outcome; a sufficient condition guarantees the outcome; the two are not interchangeable.

Present perfect (have/has + past participle) links past action to present relevance; simple past fixes the action in a finished time period.

Third conditional: If + past perfect, would have + past participle, expressing unreal past situations.

Passive voice: be + past participle, used when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or to shift focus to the object.

Reported speech shifts tenses back one step (present → past, will → would) and adjusts pronouns and time expressions.

Articles: 'a/an' for indefinite singular count nouns; 'the' for specific or previously mentioned nouns; no article for generic plurals.

Common prepositions: depend on, interested in, responsible for, capable of, good at; these are fixed collocations.

Relative clauses: 'who' for people, 'which' for things, 'whose' for possession; defining clauses take no commas.

Countable vs uncountable: 'much' and 'little' with uncountable nouns; 'many' and 'few' with countable plurals.

Deterrence aims to prevent action by credibly threatening unacceptable costs; it requires capability, credibility and communication.

Just war theory: jus ad bellum covers just cause, legitimate authority, proportionality and last resort; jus in bello covers discrimination and proportionality in conduct.

Security sectors include state (military, police, intelligence) and non-state actors (civil society, private security, international organisations).

Human security shifts focus from state territorial defence to individuals: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community and political security.

Civil-military relations require clear civilian authority over the armed forces and respect for constitutional order.

Angola's armed forces (FAA) comprise the Army, Navy and Air Force; compulsory military service and veterans' affairs are constitutionally framed.

Conflict resolution stages: prevention, mediation, peacekeeping, peace enforcement and post-conflict reconstruction.

Intelligence cycle: direction, collection, processing, analysis and production, dissemination.