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::

Quick...

[Packet Fish]

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

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

[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.

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:Interesting post.. (Further Questions)

[Frostalicious]

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

Saran wrap?

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.