Friday 25 June 2010

Return of the Monthly Quiz

Yes, it’s the return of the monthly quiz.

This first set are from the 1952 Quiz Inquisition book I wrote about a week or two ago.

1) What name was given to the ruler of Hyderabad ?
2) How many herrings are there to a cran ?
3) What name is given to Instructions in the Prayer Book for the conduct of Divine Service ?
4) Who was Sir William Orpen ?
5) What is afforestation ?
6) What are Torpids ?
7) What is a khaki Campbell ?
8) What is a verst ?
9) Who was Sir Truby King ?
10) How did Carey Street become a term used to denote financial difficulties ?

OK – that’s enough of them for now. Something a little more modern, and a bit easier. This next set are all from the Bumper TV Top of The Form Quiz Book ( 1974)

1) Which natural disaster befell the Italian village of Longarone in 1963 ?
2) What are the names of the two cities at either end of the journey in The Pilgrim’s Progress ?
3) Why did Cain kill Abel ?
4) Which type of thermionic valve has a cathode, and anode and a control grid ?
5) Where does the term cathedral come from ?
6) What is the difference between a knight and a baronet ?
7) What specific type of bridge is London’s Tower Bridge probably the most famous example of ?
8) What is a lady’s smock,and where would you find it ?
9) In which hills does the River Mersey have its source ?
10) Which bird is sometimes called the invisible bird ?

Compare them with something much more recent – this next set come from Foley and Coates’ Advanced Homework for Grown Ups ( published 2009 )

1) Who wrote a volume of literary criticism called New Bearings on English Poetry ?
2) What is a surd ?
3) Which stretches further north – Lancashire or West Yorkshire ?
4) The Sao Gabriel was the ship of which explorer ?
5) In which year was the IMF set up ?
6) Whose film-like work, such as Nighthawks, greatly influenced photorealists and pop artists of the 1960s ?
7) Which is the odd one out – charm – beta – strange – up ?
8) Who were the parents of Ptolemy Caesarion ?
9) Enter Lavinia – her hands cut off, her tongue cut out and ravished – is a stage direction from which Shakespeare play ?
10) The french subtitles to which film include the line “Demain c’est un autre jour “ ?

Alright, lets take the tempo down a notch or two to finish. This final set are from a randomly picked page of Collins’ Pub Quiz book 1 ( 2004 ) , and are a pretty representative sample of the kind of stuff that you get in an average quiz book. Draw your own conclusions : -

1) What country is also known as the Union of Myanmar ?
2) How many brothers were in the Kennedy Family ?
3) Which country uses the dong as its main unit of currency ?
4) Which hugely successful movie sparked off a succession of disaster movies in the 1970s ?
5) Which important set of manuscripts from the time of Jesus were discovered in a cave over 50 years ago ?
6) Which Spanish singer used to play in goal for Real Madrid reserves ?
7) What are the two types of canoe used in international competition ?
8) Do arteries carry blood to the heart or away from it ?
9) What seas are linked by the Kiel Canal ?
10) What happened to the Stone of Destiny in 1950 ?

Ho hum.

Answers to be posted in a few days. Email me if you can’t wait.

2 comments:

Ben Dutton said...

Interesting set of questions. In my quizzing area - north Wales - I win quite frequently, and sometimes with huge margins (a 12 point lead last Tuesday and a 16 point lead on Wednesday). Others rate me but I often think I know nothing at all - and these questions prove it.

The 1952 questions: I know two for certain.

The 1974: Three

The 2009: Three again

The Collins: All ten without sweat.

I think, therefore, that modern quiz books are pretty simplistic. I'm now off to google all the answers I don't know from these questions.

Londinius said...

Hi Ben

They don't really prove anything to your detriment at all, only that the content of quiz books has changed, and maybe what we would expect to be asked in a quiz too. I tend to agree about the run of the mill, common or garden generic quiz books that are the norm, but there are also some great ones ou tthere too - Bamber's and Magnus' books - Beadle's Miscellany - The Prince of Wales quiz book - they're all good stuff.