When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to answer a series of general questions about those events...........well, it can be surprisingly tricky. Even when the subject is as familiar as the U.S.A. Sure, we're a young country; but there's still 237 years of history to master. Plus, America is really big! From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, there's just so much to know. But fear not, myfellow Americans: This quiz provides a refresher on our nation's history, geography, arts, and sciences, just in time for the Fourth.
So grab a pencil, take a deep breath, and see how much star-spangled trivia you really know.
1. Three of these foreign-sounding foods are actually American in origin. Which ones?
a) German chocolate cake
b) French fries
c) Russian dressing
d) Chinese chicken salad
e) Danish pastries
f) English muffins
2. The Stature of Liberty, dedicated in 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of what nation?
3. Can you, the people, put these constitutional amendments in correct numerical order?
a) Women receive the right to vote
b) Freedom of speech is protected
c) Prohibition is repealed
d) The right to a jury trial is established
e) Slavery is abolished
f) The voting age is lowered to 18
4. Do you recognize the first words communicated by these technologies?
Match the medium to its message.
(1) Samuel Morse's commercial telegraph
(2) Alexander Graham Bell's telephone
(3) Feature film with synchronized dialogue
(4) YouTube video
(a) "All right, so here we are in front of the elephants."
(b) "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet."
(c) "Mr. Watson, come here----I want to see you."
(d) "What hath God wrought?"
5. Which of the following products did botanist and inventor George Washington Carver make from peanuts?
a) Shampoo
b) Fake oysters
c) Fruit drink mix
d) Nitroglycerine
e) Insecticide
f) Printer's ink
6. Sequoyah is a hero of the Cherokee people because in 1821 he gave them what?
a) A decisive victory over the U.S. Cavalry
b) An elected government
c) A major land grant
d) A written language
7. Abner Doubleday is sometimes called the inventor of baseball. That's not true, but what was Doubleday's real historical claim to fame?
a) He ordered the first Union shots of the Civil War
b) He purchased Alaska from Russia
c) He was the only survior of the Alamo
d) He mapped the Oregon Trail
8. Match each president to his administration's domestic policy program.
(1) Franklin D. Roosevelt a) The New Frontier
(2) Theodore Roosevelt b) The New Deal
(3) Harry Truman c) The Square Deal
(4) John F. Kennedy d) The Great Society
(5) Lyndon B. Johnson e) The Fair Deal
9. The man on the $10 bill was never president. So why is he on the bill?
a) He was the first secretary of the Treasury.
b) He was chief justice of the Supreme Court
c) He said, "Give me liberty or give me death"
d) he was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence
10. Match these fabled Old West gunslingers to their real names.
(1) Billy the Kid a) Myra Shirley
(2) Butch Cassidy b) Robert Parker
(3) Calamity Jane c) Martha Canary
(4) Buffalo Bill d) William McCarty
(5) Belle Starr e) William Cody
(6) Annie Oakley f) Phoebe Moses
11. The Oscar for Best Picture has gone to a western ----- that quintessential American movie genre ------ only three times. Which of these classics was not a winner?
a) High Noon
b) Unforgiven
c) Dances With Wolves
d) Cimarron
12. The famous long glissando that opens composer George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is played on what instrument?
a) Harp
b) Clarinet
c) Trumpet
d) Violin
13. Why was lyricist Francis Scott Key present at the British bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry the night he conceived "The Star-Spangled Banner"?
a) He was a militia member defending the fort.
b) He was a lawyer negotiating the release of a prisoner.
c) He was a doctor treating the wounded.
d) He was a barber cutting the British admiral's hair.
14. How much do you know about the fruits of America's literary labors? Complete each title with its missing ingredient.
(1) The House on ________ Street by Sandra Cisneros
(2) The _________ s of Wrath by John Steinbeck
(3) On the Banks of __________ Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(4) The Adventures of _________ Finn by Mark Twain
(5) A ___________ in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
a) Plum b) Raisin c) Mango d) Grape e) Huckleberry
15. 90 Percent of America's freshwater is contained in the Great Lakes. Put the lakes in order of the amount of water each holds (from the most gallons to the least).
a) Lake Erie b) Lake Huron c) Lake Michigan d) Lake Ontario e) Lake Superior
16. The tip of the Washington Monument was constructed out of a material that (at the time) was one of the rarest and most precious substances on earth. What is that material?
a) Celluloid plastic
b) Stainless Steel
c) Rubber
d) Aluminum
17. Houston, we have a problem: These milestones in American space exploration are all mixed up. Can you put them in chronolgical order?
a) First American space walk
b) First landing on an asteroid
c) First American woman in space
d) First man on the moon
e) First Mars orbiter
f) First multinational manned mission
18. The Salt and Start treaties that the U.S. signed between 1972 and 1991 were aimed at limiting what?
a) Nuclear weapons
b) Greenhouse gas emissions
c) Human rights violations
d) Tax dodging
19. True or False : George Washington decorated the White House personally, not even accepting help from his wife, Martha.
20. Complete this title of one of the most important memoirs of the 19th century : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass : An American __________
a) Admiral b) Tycoon c) Slave d) Poet
21. Who is the only woman ever to lie in honor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol following her death?
a) Helen Keller b) Susan B. Anthony c) Rosa Parks d) Eleanor Roosevelt
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. a, c, d ; 2. France ; 3. b (First), d (Sixth), e (13th), a (19th), c (21st), f (26th) ; 4. (1) d, (2) c, (3) b, (4) a ; 5. All of them ;6. d ; 7. a ; 8. (1) b, (2) c, (3) e, (4) a, (5) d ; 9. a ; 10. (1) d, (2) b, (3) c, (4) e, (5) a, (6) f ; 11. a ; 12. b ; 13. b ; 14. (1) c, (2) d, (3) a, (4) e, (5) b ; 15. e, c, b, d, a (Lake Superior holds almost 3,000 cubic miles of water, more than the four other lakes put together) ; 16. d ; 17. a (1965) d (1969) e (1971) f (1975) c (1983) b (2001) ; 18. a ; 19. False ; 20. c ; 21. c
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment