Mark Twain is famous for having said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
Well, just to prove you can have a bit of fun with statistics have a look at this set of nonsense that came to me in an email a while ago.
They are a complete reversal of the usual figures which continually highlight the increasing world population and the problems that will cause in the future.
These numbers look at the world if it was scaled down to just one hundred people.
It might make you think or it might not.
But it is a new way of looking at population statistics, so I hope you enjoy them anyway.
The usual mixture of subjects including geography, history, science and nature, so something for everyone perhaps.
And remember, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?
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Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?
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Q. 3: Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?
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Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?
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Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?
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Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?
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Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)
a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam
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Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)
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Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?
a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935
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Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?
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Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?
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Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?
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Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?
a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants
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Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)
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Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?
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Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?
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Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?
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Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?
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Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?
A. 1: Nitrogen. (By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.)
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Q. 2: What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?
A. 2: They are all called ‘Doe’.
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Q. 3: Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?
A. 3: President Harry Truman in 1947.
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Q. 4: What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 4: NASA is the North American Space Agency and ESA is the European Space Agency.
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Q. 5: What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?
A. 5: A duck.
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Q. 6: Who was the first American President of the United States?
A. 6: The first President of the United States, born in the United States after July 4th, 1776, and therefore American, was Martin Van Buren (born in 1782).
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Q. 7: Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?
A. 7: Surface tension.
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Q. 8: Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)
a) Australia b) Iceland c) Syria d) Uruguay e) Vietnam
A. 8: The correct answers are
a) Canberra b) Reykjavík c) Damascus d) Montevideo e) Hanoi
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Q. 9: And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)
A. 9: South Africa – Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).
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Q. 10: In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?
a) 1924 b) 1927 c) 1931 d) 1935
A. 10: The correct answer is a) 1924.
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Q. 11: What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?
A. 11: ‘Sn’ is the chemical symbol for Tin.
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Q. 12: In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?
A. 12: Mercury.
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Q. 13: When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?
A. 13: 2016. (It’s easier than you think, any leap year starting on Friday, January 1, should be divisible by 28, such as 1932, 1960, 1988, or 2044.
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Q. 14: What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?
a) Hair b) Trees c) Teeth d) Plants
A. 14: The correct answer is b) trees.
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Q. 15: What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)
A. 15: Romeo and Juliet.
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Q. 16: Which is the largest planet in the solar system?
A. 16: Jupiter.
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Q. 17: Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?
A. 17: Sir Humphrey Davy.
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Q. 18: Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?
A. 18: On a book.
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Q. 19: Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?
A. 19: Rome.
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Q. 20: Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?
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