The King William's College 2004 Quiz

A UK college creates an annual quiz for their students. Here's the Questions and Answers from a previous year, if you want to get an idea of just what sort of esoterica you're seeking.

Comments

Raise your hand...

[bdigit]

if you thought that said erotica. ::raises hand::

Re:Do Europeans Know this stuff?

[mccalli]

Speaking as a UK resident, I can pretty confidently say that....no, we haven't a clue about all that stuff. I can say this with great confidence, having dismally failed at the similarly-themed BBC quiz University Challenge for decades now. That link is to a search, not the homepage. Just read some of the comments about failing spectacularly...

Cheers,
Ian

Those questions are so easy...

[MisanthropicProgram]

and the answers are wrong! The correct answer to all of the questions is "CowboyNeal"!

Now, back to the eggnog!

Quick...

[Packet Fish]

someone, for the love of god, get James Burke on the phone.

You know you are screwed...

[fermion]

when you can't even read the instructions. I assume this is latin, and I just discovered that google does not have a latin translators, the bastards.

"Scire ubi aliquid invenire possis, ea demum maxima pars eruditionis est"

It seem to say something about write down the stuff you make up to the best of ability yours, but I will leave the real translation to those who are smart and well educated.

All I can say is that the test seems to over useless stuff. Give me a quiz over Star Trek or South Park or ATHF or TNMT. That would be time well spent and prove my superiority.

Re:You know you are screwed...

[bc90021]

It means:

"To know where you can find anything, that in short is the largest part of learning."

Three years of Latin + a confirmation by Google. ;)

uuh.. google

[luvirini]

Funny how google seems to be my first thought for finding these..

And true enough quickly looking at the first section I was able to find answers to 9 withing few minutes... The last one would require probably few more minutes..

In a way it is strange how much information is searchable... and how the action of searching the web has taken over. Back when younger we were supposed to LEARN the history...:)

Re:uuh.. google

[Jonathan]

Exactly. That's why non-realtime trivia contents are meaningless in the modern epoch.

Re:uuh.. google

[ignipotentis]

Back when younger we were supposed to LEARN the history...:)

I agree with this, to a point. The big things like the major wars (why and what for) and polical ideals and so on we should learn. The minor points such as dates and who cooked apple cobler in maine on the second of november etc is pointless to memorize. We should learn the major concepts, and know how to find the details when we need them.

Just my 2cents.

Re:uuh.. google

[jokumuu]

Seems someone was faster, though I did find all the answers for the first section.

I do concur with the thought of how information retrieval, atleast fot the first cut has changed.

Ofcourse if you want to actually be sure of something you still need to do proper study of the references.

Re:uuh.. google

[luvirini]

Well, when I learned history theexact dates ans such were not my forte. I did actually answer an essay that composed a full test with only one year.. and that wrong. But still got 5+ of 6 points for the proper analysis of how the events went and what they caused. I think such thing is much more important that trivia type questions as given above.

Re:uuh.. google

[fiddlesticks]

coupla point from the FA

'Q2: How do you make the quiz Googleproof? "I do put the questions through Google, and change some to make it more unlikely that the answers will be thrown up immediately, but there is only so much I can do in that respect." Q3: What do you consider to be cheating? "There's nothing I would regard as cheating. If you want to do it entirely through Google, good luck. The only question is, will it reduce your pleasure if you do so?" That is, perhaps, the best question Cullen has posed so far, to which the correct answer is: "Yes."


also, in earlier years 'If you weren't sure of the answer to a question, but it had nothing to do with Bruges, Delft, Dickens or Austen, it was probably Queen Elizabeth.'

in even earlier years, success would be rewarded with half a pint.

I believe Alan Cox does this quiz every year.

Re:uuh.. google

[biggles2k]

In a way it is strange how much information is searchable... and how the action of searching the web has taken over. Back when younger we were supposed to LEARN the history...:)

Yes, but information retrieval is a necessary means to learning. Think of it this way: Back in the day,

(1) I probably never would have learned about this quiz because it's an esoteric test found in England.

(2) Even if I *had* learned about it, I never would have bothered to learn about the answers because it would have been too time-consuming to research.

Two of the main reasons I search through Google and read Slashdot is to learn. Praise be to the power of the Internet!

Interesting post..

[jtbauki]

I was thinking if they made an Slashdot Quiz how would it be, I wonder?

Slashdot Quiz

1. What is Raistlin Majere's middle name?

2. Name 10 species that existed in Middle Earth.

3. If someone offends you with a post, should you a). Flame him b). Flame him c). Flame him.

4. Name the past 10 iterations of intel's processor.

etc...

Historical Background

[kf6auf]

Here is another Guardian article with some more information about the quiz, as opposed to the quiz itself, which is ridiculously hard. It tells a bit about the author (quizmaster) of the quiz and other bits of useful information like the fact that they take the quiz once before winter break and then once after winter break after having some time to prepare responses using any means available (including the Internet, which is one reason it has gotten harder in recent years -- the author wants to make sure that google is all but useless).

Anyway, I'd hate to have to take one of these, and the last thing I want to do over break is look up 180 obscure questions.

Re:Interesting post.. (Further Questions)

[bc90021]

5) In Soviet Russia, what happens?

6) What kind of cluster are you imagining right now?

7) In Korea, what demographic group is particularly special?

8) Who is Cowboy Neal?

9) What is the best material for covering Natalie Portman?

10) Can you trust your computer to this quiz without its digital signature?

Re:Ken Jennings

[cioxx]

He still would have won. Remember, it's not that Ken Jennings was superior in every discipline that no amount of ambiguity could make him lose. The reason he was victorious is because he was better than the contestants on the panel.

Throwing these hard questions at him wouldn't have been enough. First, you would need someone who could beat Jenings in regards to accessible (easy) questions.

I like to consider Jenings' string of victories not as Jenings vs. Knowledge, but Jenings vs. Weak peers.

Re:The answers are not clever

[zakezuke]

test: What is the average flight-speed of a sparrow?
a: african or european?
test: I don't know arrrrrggggggggg

Re:Ken Jennings

[jrl87]

I got 25-30 , I wasn't really counting, but I did get more than 10% correct and I'm certain Ken can beat me, so I think that your guess is wrong.

A good deal of the questions (after I looked at teh answers) actually weren;t that hard to answer if the question had been straight forward. In my opinion most of the difficulty in those questions is not knowing what the answer is, because almost anyone can memorize answers, but having a broad enough knowledge of the topic in order to understand the question

Re:Interesting post.. (Further Questions)

[Frostalicious]

9) What is the best material for covering Natalie Portman?

Saran wrap?

King William's College is NOT in the UK

[Anonymous Coward]

The college is a public (in British sense) school on the Isle of Man - which lies in the middle of the Irish Sea and is not part of the UK

Re:King William's College is NOT in the UK

[temojen]

For those not in the UK, "public school" means what "private school" means everywhere else.

New Jeporady Category

[Anonymous Coward]

"Could I have Obscure and British for $1,500, Alex"

FYI

[Lproven]

It freaks me out every time I see a mention of that online. It's the school I used to go to - indeed right now I'm only a few miles away, back on the Isle of Man for the holidays. We used to have to do that quiz every year and we all hated it!

Anyway, some information...

[1] KWC is not a 'college', really, despite its name. It's a primary and secondary boarding and school, these days, for boys and girls. (When I started there, it was male-only.)

[2] It's in the Isle of Man on the outskirts of the town of Castletown and the village of Ballasalla. This means it is not in the UK, strictly: the Isle of Man is an independant protectorate of the British crown. The Manx Tynwald is the oldest government in the world - 1,025 years of continuous rule.

Re:Interesting post.. (Further Questions)

[bc90021]

Well, that might work, but the correct answer is:

HOT GRITS ;)

The college *NOT* the UK!

[Alioth]

King William's college is NOT in the UK! It's in the Isle of Man, which is neither part of the UK nor part of the European Union.

Since we're talking about my home (and a general knowledge quiz that eminates from there) I thought I ought to point this out.

Re:Interesting post.. (Further Questions)

[wyndigo]

Saran wrap?

Before or after the hot grits?