Me mum-in-law pulled this out of today’s newspaper. No googling, take it clean and honest! I’m pleased to say that I scored 17! ISAAC ASIMOV’S SUPER QUIZ Take this Isaac Asimov’s Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the Graduate Level, and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level. Subject: WARS AND BATTLES (e.g., What 1800s fleet was called “The Invincible Fleet”? Answer: The Spanish Armada FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. Name Napoleon’s last battle? 2. What was the first city in history subjected to nuclear war? 3. Which countries were involved in the Cod Wars? (this was the one I missed.) GRADUATE LEVEL 4. What new weapon was used at the Battle of the Somme? 5. What general surrendered at Yorktown in 1781? 6. Name any of the three U.S. aircraft carriers in the Battle of Midway? PH.D. LEVEL 7. The aim of this 1900 uprising was to rid China of foreign influence? 8. What famous battle took place on Oct. 14, 1066? 9. What war started on the Jewish Day of Atonement in 1973? ANSWERS: Well, they go here, but I’m not gonna post ‘em just yet! SCORING: 18 points – congratulations, Doctor! 15-17 points – honors graduate 10-14 points – you’re plenty smart, but no grind 4-9 points – you really should hit the books harder 1-3 points – enroll in remedial courses immediately 0 points – who reads the questions to you?
Good quiz! An interesting thing I noticed is that how well you go on the test might be dependent upon which country you are from. I actually found the PHD level questions far easier than the graduate questions, because being schooled in Australia, we spent a large amount of time learning about British History and not quite as much on American history. Thus I knew the answers to Q.7 and Q.8 (which was literally the first thing we learnt in primary school history class), but didn't have an inkling as to Q.5 and Q.6. I'm guessing that someone schooled in America and who learnt American History, but not necessarily British History, would find the inverse. Incidentally my answers were... 1- Waterloo 2- Hiroshima 3- UK & Iceland 4-Tanks! 5- err, Washington? 6- Yorktown, Lexington, and another one! 7- Boxer Rebellion (not revolution ) 8- Battle of Hastings 9- Yom Kippur War
All I got was 1) Waterloo (though on a test I would have scraped it because it seems too obvious) 2) Hiroshima. I did ask my mommy to explain what those weird symbols in front of each question mean.
1. Waterloo 2. Hiroshima 3. UK and Iceland 4. Tanks 5. British general Cornwallis 6. Enterprise 7. Boxer Rebellion 8. Hastings 9. Yom Kippur
1 Waterloo (pronouced Vaater-lo-o) 2 Hiroshima 3 Iceland and Great Britain 4 The tank 5 ? (I think you have to be from the US, or at least interested in the American War of Independance, to know this one) 6 Enterprise (this one was a lucky guess) 7 Boxer rebellion 8 Battle of Hastings 9 Yom Kippur War (named after the days name in Hebrew)
1. Waterloo 2. Hiroshima (an atomic bombing, not a nuclear war) 3. Iceland and the UK 4. tanks 5. Lord Cornwallis 6. Yorktown (or Enterprise or Hornet) 7. Boxer Rebellion (US Gen Adna Chaffe, father of the first commander of the US Armored Forces) lead the US contingent). 8. Battle of Hastings 9. The Yom Kippur War P.S. The Spainish Armada as the invincible fleet of the 1800's??!! :-?
I just plain didn't know Q5. The others I got. Do I get a bonus point for getting all 3 aircraft carriers right?
Sorry, only if one of them had been the USS Cornwallis, not the Yorktown. Cornwallis surrendered his command to the tune of the "World turned Upside Down". Cornwallis was "too ill" to attend the ceremony and his delegate tried to surrender to a French General instead of the Americans(a large portion of the troops were French and the French navy prevented the RN from lifting Lord C out of trouble).
When General Washington discovered that Cornwallis had sent one of his subordinates, he had one of his officers accept the surrender.
USS Yorktown was a bit of a giveaway. I didn't remember Cornwallis either, so along with the European and Australian crowd I got 16 points on the quiz. I was in doubt about the new weapon for the Battle of the Somme, I thought for a second it might be the flamethrower. Other than that, this quiz isn't actually so hard. I'd have preferred if they asked as a trick question which was Napoleon's last battle before he got captured and sent to Elba...
Actually, Roel, I have to agree with you. I could have come up with much harder questions. Then again, we all study this stuff, so we're a little more in tune than most students who take history classes because they are required!
