Whiz Quiz
For Decades, 'It's Academic' Has Put Students to the Test. How would you fare?
By Kathy Blumenstock, Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 14, 2004; Page Y06
If you think you know all the answers, think again, because "It's Academic" will likely prove you wrong.
The world's longest-running TV quiz show -- so crowned last year by the Guinness Book of World Records -- has been on the air through nine presidential administrations.
Hosted by the ageless Mac McGarry since its beginning in 1961, the show is taped at the Nebraska Avenue NBC studios of WRC-TV, Channel 4. High school students from 81 schools in the Washington area compete, with three teams showing off their smarts on air every Saturday. As in some sports, the winning three-person teams return after their first-round matches, moving through playoffs, semifinals and a championship.
Among the show's best-known alumni are ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, who competed on a spinoff edition in Cleveland, and The Washington Post's Don Graham, who led his St. Alban's team to victory during the show's first year. Actress Sandra Bullock also made an appearance, as a cheerleader rooting for her team from Washington-Lee in Arlington.
To see how you measure up to the area's best and brightest, try these questions asked recently on the show. Unlike the students in the stands, you're not battling the clock -- or the area's top brainiacs.
1) Who was the only American president to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy?
A. George H.W. Bush
B. John F. Kennedy
C. Jimmy Carter
2) Movie star Jude Law got his name from "Jude the Obscure," a novel by what 19th-century English author?
A. Thomas Hardy
B. Charles Dickens
C. Sir Walter Scott
3) In the United States, the most popular name for baby boys in 2003 was what Biblical name?
A. Jacob
B. Nathaniel
C. Noah
4) Which one of these inventions was patented before the Civil War?
A. Air brake
B. Telephone
C. Mechanical reaper
5) What is the principal quantum number associated with the K shell of an atom?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
6) Periodically, the mythical Minotaur ate one enormous meal, which consisted of which of these menus:
A. Fifteen fat cows
B. One small village
C. Seven youths and seven maidens
7) Since 1981, what man has been the president of Egypt?
A. Anwar Sadat
B. Gamal Nasser
C. Hosni Mubarak
8) If you enjoy listening to books on tape, you'll love the 29-hour recorded version of "The Sum of All Fears" by which American author?
A. Tom Clancy
B. John Grisham
C. Ernest Hemingway
9) Common logarithms have what number as their base?
A. One
B. 10
C. 100
10) "The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression." These are the words of which African American scholar who was one of the founders of the NAACP?
A. W.E.B. DuBois
B. Martin Luther King
C. Nat Turner
11) In 1564, the English Parliament passed a resolution begging what Queen to find a husband?
A. Victoria
B. Mary Stuart
C. Elizabeth I
12) According to a recent study, you can lose two pounds a year if you spend an hour a day doing what?
A. Meditating
B. Playing the violin
C. Cleaning the house
13) There was a royal wedding in Madrid in May for Crown Prince Felipe, son of what current Spanish king?
A. Ferdinand
B. Juan Carlos
C. Constantine
14) "Misery" was the title of a novel by what modern American author, who was anything but miserable when the book became a bestseller?
A. Michael Crichton
B. Stephen King
C. Tony Hillerman
15) What West African nation surrounds the Gambia Republic on three sides?
A. Senegal
B. Guinea
C. Niger
16) "The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." So said Dean Acheson, secretary of state for which Missouri Democrat, our 33rd president?
A. Woodrow Wilson
B. Harry Truman
C. Lyndon Johnson
17) In Japan, there is a shrine dedicated to the "tsunami," which is what sort of natural phenomenon?
A. Geyser
B. Tidal wave
C. Earthquake
18) For reasons that were not explained, the Beatles' movie "Help!" was dedicated to which man, who also invented the sewing machine?
A. Thomas Edison
B. Enrico Fermi
C. Elias Howe
19) A New Zealand chef might want to prepare which of the following dishes that names New Zealand's capital city?
A. Beef Wellington
B. Chicken Marsala
C. Crab Norfolk
20) It's not just rock stars who have been entertaining our troops this year. There also was a traveling production of which Shakespearean play set in Scotland?
A. "King Lear"
B. "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
C. "Macbeth"
21) If you're into long-range planning, you should mark your calendar for what year, in which the cicadas will return to our area?
A. 2011
B. 2021
C. 2017
22) The world's oldest continuing parliament is located in what country?
A. Switzerland
B. Great Britain
C. Iceland
23) Theodore Roosevelt once said his favorite children's book was which work by Kenneth Grahame?
A. "Lassie"
B. "The Wind in the Willows"
C. "Black Beauty"
24) U.S. women first had the vote in 1920, in time for the election of which president?
A. Woodrow Wilson
B. Warren Harding
C. Herbert Hoover
ANSWERS: 1-c; 2-a; 3-a; 4-c; 5-a; 6-c; 7-c; 8-a; 9-b; 10-a; 11-c; 12-b; 13-b; 14-b; 15-a; 16-b; 17-b; 18-c; 19-a; 20-c; 21-b, 22-C; 23-B; 24--B.
It's Academic
Saturdays at 10 a.m. on NBC4