ISAAC ASIMOV’S SUPER QUIZ

2024-03-09 -

Take this Super Quiz to a PhD. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the Graduate Level and 3 points on the PhD Level.

SUBJECT: 20TH CENTURY DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE

Dystopia is an imaginary dehumanized place. Use the clues to name the novel. (eg, 1949: George Orwell: Set in the totalitarian state Oceania. Answer: ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’)

FRESHMAN LEVEL

1. 1953: Ray Bradbury: Firemen burn any books that are located.

2. 1945: George Orwell: Farm animals rebel against their human farmer.

3. 1932: Aldous Huxley: A future with scientific advances but no personal freedom.

4. 1954:William Golding: British boys are stranded on an uninhabited island.

5. 1985: Margaret Atwood: Set in the patriarchal, totalitarian Republic of Gilead.

GRADUATE LEVEL

6. 1938: Ayn Rand: Individuality is eliminated. A man named Equality 7-2521 rebels.

7. 1962: Anthony Burgess: The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits.

8. 1968: Philip K. Dick: The plot follows Rick Deckard in post-apocalyptic San Francisco.

9. 1978: Stephen King: A lethal strain of influenza is developed as a biological weapon.

10. 1925: Franz Kafka: A man is arrested and prosecuted for a crime not revealed to him.

PHD LEVEL

11. 1963: Pierre Boulle: Humans and intelligent apes clash for control.

12. 1901: H.G. Wells: The two protagonists undertake a journey to the moon.

13. 1942: John Steinbeck: A small coastal town is overrun by an invading army.

14. 1955: John Wyndham: Postapocalypse Labrador people believe God sent Tribulation.

15. 1953: Evelyn Waugh: Miles Plastic goes to work at a state-run euthanasia center.

ANSWERS, FRIDAY, MARCH 8:

1. Twelve. 2. Thirty. 3. Twelve. 4. Forty. 5. Ten. 6. Twenty. 7. Eight. 8. Forty. 9. Three.

SCORING

18 points – congratulations, doctor; 15 to 17 points – honours graduate; 10 to 14 points – you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 4 to 9 points – you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 3 points – enrol in remedial courses immediately; 0 point – who reads the questions to you?