a mini quiz.
Ok, this isn't THE quiz, but it will hold you wild animals over for a spell. The idea is, we all generally know one important town, river, etc. in a given country, but what about two? And other things comes in pairs, not just geographical objects.
I want to keep this simple and we're all adults here, so please: No looking at maps, globes, wikipedia, or cheating in any other fashion. Answer off the top of your head. You won't get money for winning, so just be honest. It's good karma.
Also, post your answers (if you want to play) directly on the blog rather than emailing me, because that means less work for me. Just please have some hono(u)r and don't look at anyone else's posted answers first. Jot them on a piece of paper or a Notepad file before you even get there or something.
Now that that's done with, here are your questions! They start very easy and get a bit more difficult as one proceeds. I think.
01. Name two cities in Brazil.
02. Name two cities in Austria.
03. Name two cities in Switzerland.
04. Name two cities in Pennsylvania.
05. Name two cities in Scotland.
06. Name two famous clowns.
07. Name two famous silent film actors.
08. Name two famous 70s or 80s horror movies.
09. Name two type of sharks known for attacking humans.
10. Name two previous names for modern Istanbul.
11. Name the two longest rivers in the world.
12. Name the two main peaks of Hawai'i.
13. Name two groups of islands off mainland Scotland.
14. Name two famous burial sites in ancient Egypt.
15. Name two species which went extinct in the 1900s.
16. Name the most famous tap-dancing duo ever.
17. Name the two most successful($) music artists of the 80s.
18. Name two veggies that love a high, winter climate.
19. Name two superheroes who have no superhuman powers.
20. Name two breeds of cats purportedly from Thailand.
That's it! This is just to whet your appetite. I may offer a few more themed, mini-quizzes in the following days as my 30+ pages of REAL trivia questions seems to have gone awry. But no fear, Gentle Reader, I will find them and cough up the true quiz as soon as I am able. In the meantime, have fun and please don't cheat. It's pointless in a quiz purely for fun and to pass the time. Thanks!
NOTE:
If you care to, mention what your major trivia interests are after your answers or in a seperate email address to justin.sias[AT]gmail.com. I have plenty of fodder for a Tolkien Quiz, a Dark Materials Quiz, an Art (Paintings) Quiz, an American/European/Ancient Greece/Ancient Egypt/Mesoamerican/Mesopotamian Quiz (all separate), an Extremes of Geography OR Geology Quiz, a Name-That-Cocktail Quiz, an Animal Quiz, a Cities of the World Quiz, an Astronomy Quiz, a Cosmology Quiz, a Famous Poets Quiz, a History of the Personal Computer Quiz, a Linguistic Families Quiz, a Philosophy Quiz, a Plants and Trees Quiz, an English Grammar Quiz, an Evolution by Natural Selection Quiz, a Chemistry Quiz, a History of Video Games Quiz, a Dungeons & Dragons Quiz, various Music Quizzes, a Mental Health Quiz, a Cat Quiz, a Physical Anthropology Quiz, a History of Mathematics Quiz, a Geometry/Topology Quiz, a Quantum Physics Quiz, a Logicical Fallacies Quiz, a Classical Literature Quiz, a Cold Wars Politics Quiz, an Old Testament Quiz, and many, many others.
Anything the audience would care to be challenged on, I'll either know about or can quickly bone up on and write a quiz about it for fun!
33 comments:
1. Brazilia, Rio de Janiero
2. Salzburg, Vienna
3. Bern, Lucern
4. Pittsburg, Philadelphia
5. Edinburgh, Aberdeen
6. Bozo, Emmett Kelly
7. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Astor
8. Friday the 13th, Exorcist
9. Great White and Mako
10. Constantinople, Byzantine
11. Amazon, Ganges
12. Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa
13. seychelles, Northern Antilles (?)
14. Giza Pyramid, King Tut's tomb
15. dodo bird, two molared jersey cow
16. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
17. Pink Floyd, U2
18. potatoes, turnips
19. green lantern, iron man
20. Korat, Burmese
Total of 40 points possible (20 x 2).
Empath:
2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2
2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2
1 - 2 - 1*- 2 - 0* (but haha)
2 - 0*- 2 - 2 - 2
TOTAL: 34/40
*No Antilles Islands are in British posession. I gave you Seychelles, but I was looking for island physically close to the UK. My question was ambiguous though.
*The dodo was extinct before the 20th century. The cow.... }:8\
*So close! You got #4 and #6 of the 80s, according to my source.
1 Brazilia, San Paulo <- not spelled right.
2 Saltzberg, Vienna
3 Geneva, interlaken
4 Pittsberg, Philadelphia
5 Inverness, Glasgow
6 Bozo, Grumpy
7 Chaplin, harlow
8 Vertigo, Jaws
9 bad, hungry
10 Constantinople,
11 Amazon, Danube
12 Mauna Kea, Mauna loa
13 Where Darwin worked ??? duh
14 Pyramids, King Tut's tomb
15
16 Gene Kelly - ??
17
18
19 Spiderman Batman
20 got me
Billybytedoc:
2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2
1 - 2 - 1*- 0 - 1
1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 0
1*- 0 - 0 - 1*- 0
TOTAL: 22/40
*Vertigo was made in 1958.
*I'll give you Gene Kelley. Was looking for Astaire & Rogers.
*Batman is correct. Spiderman had superhuman powers though, like being able to shoot webs from his wrists. I should change the wording 'supernatural' to superhuman.
Thanks for playing!
Billybytedoc,
I decided to give you a point for the islands question since it was so poorly worded. I've since re-written the question to be clearer.
However, you still only named one island group, hence the one point.
NEW TOTAL: 23/40
1. Sao Paolo, Rio De Janiero
2. vienna, salzburg
3. geneva, zurich (i confuse sweden and switzerland all the time!)
4. shavertown, philly
5. edinburgh and um...
6. Krusty, Bozo
7. Chaplin, clara bow
8. night of the living dead, nightmare on elm street
9. great white and tiger?
10. ummmm....
11. nile, amazon
12. oh, my tutu would be SO disappointed in me!
13. again with the ummm
14. valley of the kings, tut's tomb
15. dodo? or was that the 1800s?
16. shirley temple & bojangles
17. madonna, prince, michael jackson
18. broccoli? cauliflower?
19. batman! green lantern- his power comes from that ring, right??
20. uh, the bengal?
thank you darling, for allowing me the opportunity to demostrate my ignorance! ;)
Alirock:
What do you mean, your ignorance? You're awesome, Ali. Let me just tally up your score here and we'll see just how awesome...
2 - 2 - 2 - 2*- 1
2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 0
2 - 0 - 0 - 1*- 0*
1*- 2*- 2*- 2 - 0
TOTAL SCORE: 27/40
*I had to look Shavertown up myself. Did you live there or something?
*Tut's tomb IS in the Valley of the Kings. So only 1 point.
*Yes, dodo was before the 20th century.
*I'm being charitable on this question to others, so I'll give you Shirley Temple for 1 pt. But as a duo the "most famous" pair were by far Astaire and Rogers.
*You gave three answers... but since you got #1, #2, and #3, I felt I had to give you the full 2 points. Nicely done.
*Both your veggies like "cool" weather, which is sorta borderline, but I gave it to you.
(btw good Green Lantern knowledge - I thought only boys knew stuff about comic books)
Good job and thanks for playing!
1. Rio de Janeiro;Sao Paolo
2. Vienna
3. Zurich;Geneva
4. Philly
5. Edinburgh
6. Bozo;Pennywise
7. Chaplin;
8. Fri 13th;Nightmare on Elm St
9. Bull shark;Great White
10. Constantinople
11. Amazon;Nile
12. Kiluauia (sp?)
13.
14. Giza
15.
16. Fred Astaire;Ginger Baker
17. Michael Jackson;Madonna
18. Yam;Potato
19. Batman;Green Lantern
20. Korat
Delusionist:
2 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 1
2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1
2 - 0*- 0 - 1 - 0
2*- 2 - 2 - 2 - 1
TOTAL SCORE: 27/40
Very consistent. Pennywise, =O.
*Kilauea is an active volcano on Hawai'i, one of five shield volcanos that make up the entire landmass. But it's not one of the two *peaks* of the island, it's actually right down by the sea, constantly making new land.
*It's Fred Astaire and Ginger ROGERS, but you had the right idea and I've been generous on this question, so you get the 2 points.
Good job! You and Ali must be made for each other! ;-)
So far three of four people have busted out The Green Lantern. I'm pretty surprised by this, but pleasantly so. I expected Batman and Iron Man on every list. Nice to see DC get some McLovin'.
my aunt and uncle lived in shavertown, is that cheating?? *lol* is this gonna be graded on a curve??? ;)
so which sharks?? what veggies??
Good question, Ali. But, not everyone has played yet...
I'll be offering up an answer key once I'm convinced everyone who wants to play has. Many questions have more than two correct answers, so I'll just list the most common of which I am aware.
And if anyone wants to challenge any of my scoring judgments, I'll listen to what you have to say, though so far I don't see any situations where I think I've been unfair. And it's only a FUN quiz, after all.
But even fun quizzes and haves rules and answers sheets. Though, between all of you, I believe nearly every question has been answered correctly at least once by someone.
But some of my extended lists of answer choices may interest you; really depends how much of a nerd you are.
P.S. No curves in my classroom! Unless they belong to an attractive female.
Well it's been four days and I even sent out emails to every who normally checks my blog, so I guess that's all the people who are going to take it.
Therefore Empath is the winner! Good job, Empath.
I'll post a list of common correct answers in a bit.
KEY:
Common, correct answers.
01. Rio, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte.
02. Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz, Linz.
03. Geneva, Zurich, Basel, Lausanne, Berne, Lucerne, Interlaken.
04. Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Scranton, Erie, Allentown.
05. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Paisley, Inverness, Kirkcaldy.
06. Bozo, Ronald McDonald, Pennywise, Emmett Kelly, Krusty, many others.
07. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Lon Chaney, Mary Astor, Jean Harlow, Clara Bow, others.
08. The Amityville Horror, The Shining, Friday the 13th, Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street, endless others.
09. Great White, Tiger, Mako, Bull, Oceanic Whitetip.
10. Constantinople, Byzantium.
11. Nile, Amazon.
12. Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa.
13. Hebrides (Inner and Outer), Shetlands, Orkneys.
14. Giza plateau (pyramids), Valley of the Kings, Saqqara.
15. Tasmanian Wolf, Bali Tiger, Barbary Lion, Caspian Tiger, Passenger Pigeon, Przewalski's Horse, Pygmy Hippopotamus.
16. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
17. In order: Michael Jackson, Madonna (Prince, U2, Whitney Houston, Pink Floyd, The Police, Phil Collins, Dire Straits (or Bruce Springstein on another list) round out the top 10).
18. Beets, Brussels sprouts, Carrots, Collard greens, Kale, Parsley, and Spinach are champs; Broccoli, Cabbage, Caulflower, Chard, Lettuce, Mustard, Onion, Radish, Turnips, and a few others hardy but less so. Potatoes/yams/squash/okra are marginal and may not survive a frost.
19. Batman, Iron Man, Green Lantern, The Punisher, others.
20. Siamese, Burmese, Korat.
01. Name two cities in Brazil.
Rio De Janeiro... pfff, failed. I don't remember a second city...
02. Name two cities in Austria.
They're neighbours, it is easy... :) Wienna, Graz, Salzburg...
03. Name two cities in Switzerland.
Bern, Zürich, Luzern, Interlaken...
04. Name two cities in Pennsylvania.
I don't know any... :(
05. Name two cities in Scotland.
Manchaster, Edinborough
06. Name two famous clowns.
Ronald McDonald :D Anyway, I only know famous hungarian clowns, Zoli bohóc (Zoli clown)for example... :)
07. Name two famous silent film actors.
Charlie Chaplin the only I know...or.. I can't rember well, maybe the Lugosi brothers?
08. Name two famous 70s or 80s horror movies.
The Mass, The Red Cat, The Attack of the Killing Tomatoes /Return of the Killing Tomatoes...and of course FREDDY KUGER FOR DA WIN! :D
09. Name two type of sharks known for attacking humans.
White shark, blue shark (?)
10. Name two previous names for modern Istanbul.
In hungarian: Konstantinápoly, Bizánc. In english... pfff... maybe Constantinapol, Bizantium?
11. Name the two longest rivers in the world.
huhh... Amazonas, Yangce (I don't know the english form...)?
12. Name the two main peaks of Hawai'i.
:cry:
13. Name two groups of islands off mainland Scotland.
:nope: :(
14. Name two famous burial sites in ancient Egypt.
Giza, mmm... sorry. :D
15. Name two species which went extinct in the 1900s.
???
16. Name the most famous tap-dancing duo ever.
Gene Kelly and Ginger Rogers (we call her "Géppuskalábú"="machinegun-legged" Ginger Rogers) :)
17. Name the two most successful($) music artists of the 80s.
hm... define successful. :) Jon Bongiovi, C.C. Catch? :D
18. Name two veggies that love a high, winter climate.
Ginger, maybe... cabbage? If fruit is okay too, cranberries and blue/blackberries, and maybe rosehip
19. Name two superheroes who have no superhuman powers.
Batman! Aaaaand... aaaaand... huhh....
20. Name two breeds of cats purportedly from Thailand.
Siamese... aaaand...tonkinese? Abessinian?
Geez, Im late... :D Sry... :D Its okay, out-of game, checking the answers...
1-2-2-0-1
1(2?)-1-2-1-2
1-0-0-1-0
1-0-1-1-1
19 (maybe 20) of 40, hard average... :)
Thanks and sorry again. :)
That's ok, thanks for playing still! I'll grade you again because I think you were a bit hard on yourself.
Mandula:
1 - 2 - 2 - 0 - 1*
2 - 1*- 2 - 2 - 2
1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0
1 - 0*- 1*- 1 - 2*
Total: 22/40
*Manchester is in Northern England, close to Scotland but not quite!
*I searched the Internet for the "Lugosi Brothers" but didn't find any evidence of them in silent films, mostly it was all about Bela, whose film career started in 1931 and was a talking role.
*I specified "successful" in the question with dollar sign ($), meaning financially successful.
*Ginger grows in tropical areas like India, definitely not cold areas or high elevation. Cabbage does ok, though.
*I didn't list it in my 'answer key', but Tonkinese is another cat commonly traced to Thailand, even though it's name links it more to Vietnam. I gave you the point.
Good job! You got the same score as Billybytedoc. :)
Sorry I took so long, hope it's not too late.
1. Brasilia, Sao Paolo
2. Vienna, Salzburg
3. Bern, Geneva
4. Erm...Pittsburg??? Sounds as though it could be in Maryland. A second one is beyond me.
5. Dundee, Aberdeen
6. Coco, Pulcinella
7. Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton
8. What counts as horror? Erm... An American Werewolf in London, The Lost Boys.
9. Great white and....hmmm, erm...nope, my mind's gone blank
10. Byzantium, Constantinople
11. The Nile, The Amazon
12. Eeek, I have no idea.
13. The Hebrides, The Orkneys.
14. Does Thebes count? And The Valley of the Kings.
15. Several types of tiger but their names escape me right now...Javan?
16. Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
17 At a guess, Michael Jackson & Madonna
18. Brussel sprouts, kale
19. Gah, I should be able to answer this one, but beyond Superman on Kryptonite you have me stumped, ooh, sudden inspiration: does Rogue count?
20. Siamese, Burmese
Oops, I've just scrolled down. Too late, but it was still fun.
Thanx a lot, Sir Justin. :)
Mandy: NP.
Raelha:
2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2
2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2
2 - 0 - 2 - 1*- 1*
2 - 2 - 2 - 0*- 2
TOTAL: 32/40
*Thebes is located east of the Nile, historically considered the side of the Living, whilst the west was considered the land of the Dead, and was the location of all important pharaohnic tombs, such as the pyramids of the Giza plateau or the Valley of the Kings. Thebes was capitol of Egypt several different times. While it is true there is a "Theban necropolis" just outside the city's borders to house the remains of ordinary citizens and mid-ranking officials, this was true of nearly every city in ancient Egypt (and the ancient world generally) and thus I don't count it as a "famous burial site" of Ancient Egypt. Those were, again, all located west of the River Nile.
*You're correct in that two of the 15 or so species known to have gone extinct were tigers (unfortunately), and your guess of Java is very close, as the Bali Tiger was one of those extinctions. Bali is a small island just off of Java, so I gave you the point.
*I never thought about this question from the angle of "superhuman superheroes who can LOSE their powers. I was after superheroes who were self-made men or women as it were, using special suits or other technology to give them powers rather then possessing them innately. Your idea about Superman being near kryptonite is interesting, but I've decided not to award it any points. For Superman, his lack of powers near kryptonite is a temporary condition, and thus I wouldn't characterise him as "not having superhuman powers" as a general statement. And Rogue most certainly has superhuman powers - the ability to absorb those of anyone she touches! For normal human, this does not happen. So she's right out.
Thanks for playing.
Didn't Rogue lose her powers at one point? Hmm, maybe I got it wrong.
Oh, and I think the Pygmy hippo is, happily, still around. If I remember correctly the BBC showed a picture of it caught on film several months ago.
Oh, I'm thrilled to hear about the pygmy hippo! I was sad when I saw it on the extinction list.
Ah, I believe you're right about Rogue. Though I've only seen the movies each once, I remember in the third one she stood in line to get her mutant power 'cured' and then they cut away to something else, which led you to believe she'd gone through with it. Near the end, I wondered if she really had, but then she held someone's hand (maybe Iceman or Wolverine's? Though I think Iceman was bonking Kitty Pride by then, sensibly) and nothing happened, so apparently she *did* use the cure.
I just looked up some info on the web, since I don't read X-Men and never have, and it says that in the novelization she actually decided at the last minute to *keep* her powers, though that conflicts directly with the scene in the movie.
Then there are hints dropped in both the film and the book/graphic novels that the 'cure' is only temporary anyway (check out Magneto moving the chess piece with his mind), so I guess it's an unresolved issue.
But here's a better way to sum it all up: If Rogue has lost her superpowers, then she's no longer a superhero, right? It's not as though she has a spare batsuit (or catsuit, reowr!) in her closet and wants to go on fighting evil. She explicity wants to be "normal." By giving up her superhuman powers (if she does), she also gives up being a superhero. Thus, problem solved: She's never - at a given instant - a superhero without superpowers, and thus... sorry, but no point. Not trying to be mean about it, just logical. Good try though.
And for all non-Americans:
Pittsburg and Philadelphia should now be easy for you to remember, because they are both major US cities that begin with the letter 'P' just like the state they're in, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia is an especially old city, a one-time (temporary) US capitol, the city where the Constitution was debated and eventually ratified, and where the famous cracked Liberty Bell now hangs. With Washington, DC, it's probably our most historic city.
Pittsburgh on the other hand is more known for its steel industry and its successful American football team - sort of the Manchester of America, I suppose. But anyways, next time you come across either the cities or the state, just remember they all start with 'P'!
There are other cities in the US of course whose names start with 'P', but among them only Phoenix is a major city like Philly and Pittsburgh. The next down the list would be Pasadena in Southern California (home of the Rose Bowl, the Rose Parade, and former home of me), but that's quite a smaller town, more the size of Santa Rosa, where I live now. Maybe 150,000 people or so, rather than in the millions.
And that's your US Geography lesson for the day :)
I'd love to learn facts about Hungarian or British or another country's geography, if anyone else ever posted quizzes.
I wasn´t after extra points, just wondering if I was right about her losing her powers. Yes, I remember her holding hands at the end of the film, so we were to assume she´d gone through with the procedure. Though then we saw Magneto regaining his.
Anyway, I knew what you were after but Batman never came to mind, and I didn´t know the others anyway. I was just trying to be inventive :) It´s all those years at school of being told to write something in an exam, even if you don´t think you know the answer.
Thaks for info. on the P cities. I´m normally quite good at geography - comes from a lifetiem of looking at maps - but maybe not so good if it´s US.
And here´s the hippo for you:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7286860.stm
As for other themed quizes, I´d always have a go whatever, though I think you mightlimit your participant numbers if you made it too specialist. One on The His Dark Materials trilogy would be great though. Anything on cats/animals;geography; perhaps a American-European one combined; anything to do with food/drink/cooking; famous quotations; song lyrics - name the artist/song/complete the lyric; Greek/Roman/Norse mythology.....
I know you weren't after extra points, or cared about points at all. I appreciate you taking the time to answer the quiz even after it was officially over, you did very well.
Thanks for the link on the hippos, they're so cute (though not necessarily in that photo).
Thanks too for the quiz ideas - Those all sound fun.
One last question for anyone who actually reads down this far (and if no one does, I'll ask the question in another post):
How did you like the format of the quiz? 20 questions grouped into 4 ssections of 5 each. It seemed people had an easy time with the logistics of posting their answers, and I certainly had an easy time grading it by just thinking, "third group, second question" or something like that.
It's a pretty simple way to do it - was it ok or too simplistic?
My idea is maybe to forego the big quizzes that never seem to get written given my horrid attention span, and just periodically throw out topical quizzes using this format. Whaddya y'all think of that idea?
Thanks for your input. I'm trying to keep it easy for everyone but still fun.
Meta.
If I make a quiz about Hungary, no one would know - or care about - the answers... :) Small country, small facts. :D But I try to answer your questions if you ask. :)
Well, I DO ask you, and you DO answer, so it's already working!
And just because your country is small now, as part of the Autrian-Hungarian empire it was one of the most important and progressive places in the wold. And, as we've talked about, more Nobel prize winning scientists have come from Hungary (per capita) than from any other country.
Plus it's got great food!
You should be proud of where you live. I'd love to see Budapest and the Danube, as well as the lakes, forests, and mountains.
And the history is fascinating. First came the Celts, then Romans, a brief invasion by Tatars, then Magyars/Huns settled in, then Mongols attacked, then the Ottoman Turks occupied for a 150 years or so, then into the Rennaissance as an independent country (for awhile) and finally today that's all mixed together plus Jews, Russians, Austrians, and lots of other minorities.
And the way the two towns of Buda and Pest grew together until they joined into one city, and then much later how that one city became one of the two capitals of one of the most power empires in the world, and even the sad bit when it all fell apart as a result of the two World Wars and then was made into a boring bureaucracy during the Cold War... that's all fascinating.
As well as the folklore and vampire legends, Castle Buda, Andrássy Avenue, The Hungarian State Opera House, and so on...
So you see, there's no "small country, small facts" about your country at all :) It's full of history and culture and I'd love to know more about it. Thanks for helping me to learn, slowly.
It is my pleasure. :) For these words, I'm really proud of my hometown. :D
Thank _you_. :)
The quiz was just right. Some easy, some medium, some hard - lots of variety and geared towards most people (who aren't from Hungary - sorry Mandy - just kidding). Maybe less geography from where we all live - more remote areas or geology questions?
Good ideas - thanks!
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