National Merit Semifinalists take on the Budget’s Super-Quiz

September 25, 2009 • Samantha Schwartz, Online Editor-in-Chief  
Filed under Student Life, Web Exclusive

Take this challenging quiz and see you how stack up against LHS’ National Merit Semifinalists.

Budget Online’s National Merit Super-Quiz

Write down your answers, compare them with the Semifinalists and then click here for the correct answers.

1) Prove your intelligence in one sentence.
Roy Wedge: (8×8) -1 =7×9
Patrick Magneson: I’m smart.
Matthew Drahozal: The supernominative quantal subatomic dimensional manipulation cannot handle the hyperspatial stresses induced by the transmatter event.
Addison Frei: I is smart.

2) What does lucubrate mean?
RW: to increase sound
PM: the opposite of calibrate
MD: a transitive verb meaning to roughen; to increase the frictional coefficient
AF: umm…

3) Why does Swiss cheese have holes?
RW:  bacteria
PM: Air pockets in the cheese cause the holes.
MD: The bacterial cultures produce gas, which bubbles through the solidifying cheese, creating holes
AF: They are put in at the factory.

4) Who was the only president to be inaugurated in a sweater?
RW: William Howard Taft
PM: William Henry Harrison
MD: Franklin D. Roosevelt
AF: Jimmy Carter

5) Complete the pattern: O, T, T, F, F, S, S, ___ , ___ , ___.
RW: L H S
PM: E N T
MD: E N T
AF: I D K

6) Who was the first woman elected to US congress? (Hint: she was the only legislator to vote against both WW I and WW II)
RW: Mr. Ortmann would kill me if I answered this wrong, so I can’t answer this.
PM: Sarah Palin.
MD: Jeanette Rankin.
AF: Jeanette Rankin.

7) What is the only letter of the alphabet that does not appear in the name of a U.S. state?
RW: Q
PM: Z
MD: J
AF: Q

8)  How many pigs does a typical American eat in his/her lifetime?
RW: just the right amount
PM: Zero: people don’t eat whole pigs.
MD: 15,000
AF: 5

9) What is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust?
RW: iron 
PM: iron
MD: copper
AF: heavy metal

10) What is telesphobia?
RW:  fear of telescopes
PM:  fear of lenses
MD: fear of faraway places
AF: fear of phones

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