UB Concours d'Entrée flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Quadratic formula

For ax² + bx + c = 0 with a ≠ 0, the solutions are x = (−b ± √(b² − 4ac)) / 2a, where the discriminant b² − 4ac determines how many real roots exist.

Derivative of a composition

The chain rule states that the derivative of f(g(x)) equals f'(g(x)) multiplied by g'(x), allowing differentiation of nested functions such as sin(3x²).

Arithmetic sequence sum

For an arithmetic sequence with first term u₁ and common difference r, the nth term is u₁ + (n−1)r and the sum of the first n terms is n(u₁ + uₙ)/2.

Conditional probability formula

The probability of A given B is P(A∩B) divided by P(B), provided P(B) is not zero; this underlies Bayes' theorem and tree diagrams.

Oxymore

A figure of speech that joins two contradictory terms in a single expression, such as 'obscure clarté' or 'silence assourdissant', producing a striking tension of meaning.

Focalisation narrative

The point of view adopted by a narrator: internal when filtered through a character, external when limited to observable behaviour, and omniscient when the narrator knows everything.

Classicisme français

A seventeenth-century French literary movement valuing order, clarity and reason, governed by rules of vraisemblance and bienséance, represented by Racine, Molière and Boileau.

Commentaire composé

A French literary exercise analysing a passage through thematic axes, each supported by precise quotations and stylistic observations, framed by an introduction and conclusion.

Cogito cartésien

Descartes' first certainty: even if everything can be doubted, the act of doubting proves a thinking subject exists, expressed as 'I think, therefore I am'.

Categorical imperative

Kant's moral test: act only on a maxim you could will to become a universal law, treating humanity always as an end and never merely as a means.

Allégorie de la caverne

Plato's image of prisoners mistaking shadows for reality, illustrating the passage from opinion to knowledge through education and the ascent toward the intelligible world.

Mauvaise foi sartrienne

Sartre's term for the self-deception of denying one's freedom by pretending to be determined by a role, nature or circumstance, thereby fleeing responsibility.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 settlement ending World War I with Germany, imposing territorial losses, military limits and heavy reparations, whose harshness is often linked to later instability.

Fifth Republic founded

The French Fifth Republic was established in 1958 under Charles de Gaulle, with a strengthened executive; direct presidential election was introduced by referendum in 1962.

Demographic transition

The historical shift from high birth and death rates to low ones as a society develops, passing through a phase of rapid population growth before stabilising.

Évian Accords

The 1962 agreements between France and the Algerian FLN that ended the Algerian war and led to Algerian independence after a referendum approving self-determination.

Newton's second law

The net force acting on a body equals its mass multiplied by its acceleration, written ΣF = ma, valid in an inertial reference frame.

Ohm's law

For a conductor at constant temperature, the voltage across it equals the product of its resistance and the current through it, written U = RI.

Mole and Avogadro constant

One mole contains 6.02 × 10²³ entities; the amount in moles equals mass divided by molar mass, and concentration equals moles divided by volume in litres.

pH definition

The pH of a solution is the negative logarithm of its hydronium ion concentration; at 25 °C values below 7 are acidic and above 7 basic.

Semi-conservative replication

DNA replication produces two molecules, each containing one original strand and one newly synthesised strand, ensuring faithful transmission of genetic information.

Monohybrid 3:1 ratio

A cross between two heterozygotes for a single gene with complete dominance yields phenotype proportions of three dominant to one recessive, following Mendelian segregation.

Photosynthesis equation

Green plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, summarised as 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂.

Negative feedback homeostasis

A regulatory mechanism in which a deviation from a set point triggers a response that counteracts the deviation, stabilising variables such as blood glucose or temperature.

Third conditional

An unreal past conditional using 'if' plus past perfect in the condition and 'would have' plus past participle in the result, as in 'If I had known, I would have come'.

Reported speech backshift

When reporting speech, tenses usually shift one step into the past and time or place markers change, for example 'now' becomes 'then' and 'will' becomes 'would'.

English false friends

Words that look similar in French and English but differ in meaning, such as 'actually' meaning in fact and 'sensible' meaning reasonable rather than sensitive.

Passive voice formation

The passive is built with the appropriate tense of 'be' plus the past participle; the active object becomes subject and the agent may be omitted or introduced by 'by'.

Paris Agreement 2015

An international climate treaty under the UN framework aiming to keep global warming well below 2 °C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C.

Laïcité française

A constitutional principle of French neutrality toward religions, guaranteeing freedom of conscience and separating public institutions from religious organisations, notably in state schools.

European Commission role

The EU's executive body, one commissioner per member state, which proposes legislation, manages EU policies and budget, and negotiates international agreements on the Union's behalf.

GDP definition

Gross domestic product measures the total market value of final goods and services produced within a country's borders during a given period, usually a year.