ISAAC ASIMOV’S SUPER QUIZ

Take this Super Quiz to a PhD. Score one point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, two points on the Graduate Level and three points on the PhD Level.

SUBJECT: CULTURAL LITERACY

(e.g., Who wrote The Fall of the House of Usher? Answer: Edgar Allan Poe.)

FRESHMAN LEVEL

1. What fictional character said, “Alas, poor Yorick!”

2. Who was Bonnie Parker’s partner in crime?

3. Who was Stan Laurel’s partner?

4. For what does the ‘M’ stand in M*A*S*H?

5. What musical instrument did Benny Goodman play?

GRADUATE LEVEL

6. What was the pen name of Samuel L. Clemens?

7. Monticello was the primary plantation of which president?

8. In which field of endeavour did Martha Graham excel?

9. In the song, who was “lost and gone forever”?

10. “I’ll bet my money on de bobtail nag ...” At which racetrack?

PHD LEVEL

11. This satirical novel by Sinclair Lewis is about a preacher.

12. For many years it was the home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

13. Who composed the musical West Side Story?

14. In which song are the lyrics “Jimmy crack corn, and I don’t care”?

15. Which anthropologist wrote Coming of Age in Samoa?

ANSWERS FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19:

1. Tower of London. 2. Tower of Babel. 3. The Watchtower. 4. Leaning Tower of Pisa. 5. Ivory tower. 6. Fawlty Towers. 7. Anne Boleyn. 8. Devils Tower (Wyoming). 9. The Two Towers.

SCORING:

24 to 30 points – congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points – honours graduate; 13 to 17 points – you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 5 to 12 points – you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 4 points – enrol in remedial courses immediately; 0 points – who reads the questions to you?