Member |
CJ's post elsewhere about "How many people were in The Three Stooges ?" reminded me of this. The World's easiest quiz - a score of four is a pass. 1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 2) Which country makes Panama hats? 3) From which animals do we get catgut? 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? 6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? (The answer to this was quetioned by a few people at snopes where I originally saw the quiz.) 7) What was King George VI's first name? 8) What color is a purple finch? 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries usually from? (I can't vouch for the accuracy of all the answers but I'll post them later in the week.) I'll add a question ten. 10. Paul McGann played the eighth incarnation of Doctor Who on television. How many actors preceded him in the role ? Non curo ! Si metrum no habet, non est poema. Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | ||
|
| Member |
I've seen this quiz before, so I'll abstain. Besides, I only know the answer to one of them: "7) What was King George VI's first name?" The answer is KING (as in "What was Richard III's middle name?" "the" ) | |||
|
Member |
I'll also abstain, having seen most of these before, but I'll also add one: 11.) Who's buried in Grant's Tomb? I would debate the title "World's Easiest Quiz," though. | |||
|
Member |
I've seen these (at snopes) as well, so I'll have to abstain also. | |||
|
Member |
I passed!  | |||
|
| Member |
quote: Well just to check your answers. ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ 1) How long did the Hundred Years War last? 116 years 2) Which country makes Panama hats? Ecuador 3) From which animal do we get cat gut? Sheep and Horses 4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? November 5) What is a camel's hair brush made of? Squirrel fur 6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? Dogs 7) What was King George VI's first name? Albert 8) What color is a purple finch? Crimson 9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from? New Zealand 10) Eight (One Doctor was played by two different actors) ------------------------------------------------ Regardless of your final score as the only entrant I declare you to be the winner. Collect your gold,silver and bronze medals at the podium. Non curo ! Si metrum no habet, non est poema. Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
|
| Member |
quote: | |||
|
| Member |
I flunked!  [I thought I at least got the Grant's Tomb question right. Sheeesh!] | |||
|
| Member |
quote: The Doctor - a timelord who got a new body every time he "died" was played in his eight incarnations by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann. However the BBC decided to have one story (Peter Davison was the (fifth) Doctor) featuring our time travelling hero meeting all four of his previous selfs (selves ?). Unfortunately by then William Hartnell had passed away and for that one story only Richard Hurndall took the role of the first Doctor. As for Grant's Tomb - then surely the correct usage would be the Grants' tomb. Non curo ! Si metrum no habet, non est poema. Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
|
| Member |
Bob, you are completely right about "Grants'" Tomb. Had the apostrophe been used correctly, maybe, just maybe (had I been vigilant!), I would have gotten 1 right.  That actually is the story of my life. When I was in high school, my chemistry teacher was our football coach. While I was an excellent chemistry student, I knew nothing about football. He gave us what he termed a "gimme" extra credit question on an exam. He asked, "What do you think the football score will be this weekend?" Now, he would have accepted any guess; you didn't have to guess the real score. However, yours truly guessed "1-0", which according to him is absolutely impossible. Therefore, he refused to give me the points! Now, Shufitz tells me there is a way to get a 1-0 score (I can't recall how) so I should have argued that one! Years later he was one of my student's patients in the hospital. We laughed over that scenario as I had been quite miffed not to have gotten the points! | |||
|
| Member |
Isn't 1-0 the score of a forfeit? | |||
|
Member |
Kalleh, quote: You might want to edit that line before C.J. sees it and withholds points. Unless the coach was the patient of your single solitary student, proper apostrophe placement calls for a rewrite, such as "He was a patient of one of my students ... Just trying to be helpful!!!  ~~~~ jerry | |||
|
| Member |
Of course, if you played the game known throughout the rest of the world as "football", a 1-0 score would be one of the most common results. | |||
|
| Member |
Yes, haberdasher, it was a forfeit. See, I deserved the points! Jerry, you are completely right about the apostrophe. But, I have come a long way, Baby, with the help of the "apostrophe militants" on this board! | |||
|
| Member |
My two cents: "Years later he was one of my student's patients in the hospital." = linguistically correct but slightly awkward "He was a patient of one of my students." = better, clearer. The paraphrase is so often an improvement. "He was the patient of one of my students." = better yet, a bit, though I couldn't explain why quoting line and verse from any established reference. Also, you could have "former" preceed "students" since, I assume, he or she has gone on to bigger and better things, though this is the tiniest nits to pick. Lastly, "Grant's Tomb" is how they write it, referring just to Ulysses S. Grant. His wife is only along for the ride, as it were, so "Grants' Tomb," while correct apostrophizationingly (note the influence of the "long German words" thread) is not what is seen as correct. Just another example of a woman taking a back seat to her man. | |||
|
| Member |
quote: The correct answer IS China - it's even in the botanical name - sinensis. The Chinese gooseberry grew wild in parts of China and was brought here some time ago. It bears little resemblance to the kiwifruit (and please note, that is its name - a "kiwi" is a bird, not a fruit). The kiwifruit is the result of extensive horticultural work on improving size, texture and taste. The kiwifruit comes from here, but the Chinese gooseberry (a fruit I have had only once) does not. It comes, as its name suggests, from China. | |||
|
| Member |
Welcome aboard max. One of the best things about new blood on the board is the resurrection of old threads. I knew that several of the answers to that joke quiz were debatable at best but it's still a funny quiz. Actually, although it's technically wrong, kiwi fruit are quite often called chinese gooseberries in this part of the world. You're right of course - they shouldn't be. They are different things. Glaubt es mir - das Geheimnis, um die größte Fruchtbarkeit und den größten Genuß vom Dasein einzuernten, heisst: gefährlich leben. - Friedrich Nietzsche Read all about my travels around the world here. Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog. | |||
|
| Member |
Wellcome aboard, maxqnz. When I first saw your post I thought, “Great, another phytophile!” Was I right in that assumption? “Chinese gooseberry” is a misnomer. True gooseberries are in the genus Ribes, while “Chinese gooseberry” is in the genus Actinidia. The OED says that “Chinese gooseberry [is] the N.Z. name for the plant and fruit of Actinidia chinensis, a deciduous fruiting vine”, but the Center for New Crops & Plant Products (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA) says the Europeans began calling it “Chinese gooseberry” because of the flavor and color of the flesh. This replaced the Chinese name, yang tao,, which means "strawberry peach". A. chinensis seeds were introduced to England from China in 1900 and to New Zealand in 1906. New Zealand growers began calling it “kiwifruit” in 1962 to give it market appeal. In 1974 “kiwifruit” became a trade name. The name has been shortened to “kiwi” by many people, though apparently not by maxqnz. This is understandable, since “kiwi” is a small, flightless bird (Apteryx spp.) and “Kiwi” refers to a New Zealander. (The OED reports that “kiwi” is slang for a non-flying member of the Air Force.) “Kiwifruit” does not appear in the OED (online version) as a main entry, but does appear under the entry “kiwi”: “kiwi berry, fruit = Chinese gooseberry". Further reading: Wikipedia: Kiwi and kiwifruit. New Crops & Plant Products: kiwifruit. Kiwi Recovery: Home, Kiwis saving kiwi, About the bird (great sign!), The kiwi family Tinman [This message was edited by tinman on Wed Sep 3rd, 2003 at 21:45.] | |||
|
| Member |
quote:  | |||
|
| Member |
Here's a link about what a kiwi is, and what it isn't. Kiwi | |||
|
| Member |
Was there not also a Kiwi Shoe Polish fifty years or so ago? Came in a little can (about the size of a can of shoe polish) and had a picture of the bird on the lid... | |||
|
| Member |
My, my, you are alert, Hab. I have bought Kiwi shoe polish before, but I hadn't remembered the bird. I have to confess, until this discussion I had always considered "kiwi" to be a fruit...and a good one, at that! | |||
|
Member |
Indeed there was; and it was around 25 years ago too; and a year ago; and 25 minutes ago. The brand is alive and well and I have tins of it in my shoe-cleaning drawer. Richard English | |||
|
Member |
Max's link (here is a longer version) above teaches that of all birds (with the possible exception of the hummingbird), the kiwi has the largest egg in proportion to its body size. Kiwi are about the same size as chickens, but their eggs are almost as big as those of ostriches!  The poor dears! | |||
|
| Member |
quote: Yeah, Hab! Imagine that! A can of "Kiwi shoe polish" that comes in a can "(about the size of a can of shoe polish)"! Will wonders NEVER cease! | |||
|
| Member |
Sorry - I looked, but couldn't find the "with a straight face!" emoticon. (There it is again! :-| ) | |||
|
| Member |
... smells a lot like shoe polish, too. I remember the aroma although I have used no Kiwi or any other shoe polish in these past 23 years -- the Sandal Era of my life, where my only footgear is sandals. | |||
|
| Member |
Reading back in the posts of last April and May and reading the quiz, I notice "The Canary Islands in the Pacific ..." As nearly as we can determine, there are no Canary Islands in the Pacific. Did the composer of the quiz mean Atlantic ? BLTN = Better Late Than Never. | |||
|
| Member |
Um ... They were made in April and May of 2003, jerry - over five years ago. Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. | |||
|
| Member |
Seems like only yesterday. How Time does Fly !! | |||
|
| <Asa Lovejoy> |
| ||
|
| Member |
| |||
|
Copyright © 2002-12