Saturday, March 15, 2008

Weeklypedia Quiz #2: Sophomore Slump

OK. It's a bit late, but here is the second Weeklypedia quiz, comprised of stuff I learned or re-learned because I read about it on Wikipedia this week. The answers to last week's quiz have been posted as a comment to that blog entry, so check 'em out.

Here's the new quiz:
1. If The Ramones had reset their song "Rockaway Beach" in the next nearest peninsula to that shore, it might have been called this.

2. When he takes office to succeed NY Gov Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson will be the United States' fourth African-American governor and, significantly, only the second governor who is this.

3. Although wildly popular in American Chinese restaurants, this dish, named for a ming dynasty warrior, is largely unknown in China.

4. It is a statistical phenomenon that may be seen as a basis for a "sophomore slump," the tendency of those who excel to be less above-average in their next performance.

5. For most of NASA's Space Shuttle project, extra-vehicular manipulations have been performed by astronauts and by eponymous robotic "arms" produced in this country.

6. This British rock band was hailed as "the next Beatles," had the support of the Fab Four and even performed original songs by Lennon & McCartney, before spectacularly flaming out.

7. This presidential appointee is not part of the military, but is the head of one of the United States' uniformed services. Hence the naval-styled attire. (Note: multiple correct answers are possible.)

8. They are what the two syllables of the geographic slang BosWash refer to.
I still have not blogged about how my Jeopardy! audition went on Monday. I'll do that soon, honest. Short version: it went well, I think, and I hope that I have a decent shot at being a contestant. I'll know if they call me or not in the next 18 months. More to come, but in the meantime, check out the blog of one of the other applicants at my session, kmkat, who knits! She even got some great pictures!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure the uniformed official you are thinking of in #7 is actually a cabinet-level post.

Fred said...

You're totally right. I'll fix that.

LRM said...

That's odd, I was just reading the wiki entry on the answer to #4 this week. I was looking at it as it relates to the ridiculousness of homeopathy. You?

Also, I feel like #3 was talked about on BoingBoing or NPR recently...was it?

Fred said...

Hi Liz!

On #4, I had looked up sophomore slump after thinking about writing this quiz, hoping to find a list (Wikipedia being good for lists) of alleged instances of sophomore slumps. I guess that's too subjective and expansive, even for Wikipedia.

#3 I read about in an interview on Salon.com with the Chinese-American author of a new book tracing the history and development of American style Chinese food back to China, and finding that much of it is American-developed.

Fred said...

1. What is Coney Island?
2. What is legally blind?
3. What is General Tso's Chicken?
4. What is Regression Toward the Mean?
5. What is Canada? (in reference to the Canada Arm)
6. Who are Badfinger?
7. Who is the Surgeon General? (also acceptable: the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps)
8. What are Boston and Washington, DC?