12 out of 15. Curse your tricky Russo-Cana-Northern African questions!
March 9, 2009 at 1:19 am
(2) Don Hirschberg says:
I only got 10 correct answers. And quite frankly even that includes some shakey lucky guesses. Should I be embarrassed?
These questions are far too esoteric for the general public. The average depth of the Pacific Oacean? Come on, who would know that?
How about asking the distance (muliple choice) New York City to LA? Or how many square miles in the US? Or the population of China, India, Malasia? These questions have pertinence.
March 9, 2009 at 10:42 am
(3) Steve says:
I LIKE the difficult questions. Most geography quizzes are ridiculously easy. This way I actually learn something.
March 9, 2009 at 7:28 pm
(4) Matt Rosenberg says:
Don- I have to agree with Steve; my quizzes are not designed for the general public but I would hope them to be the most challenging geography quizzes on the Internet. -Matt
P.S. I’m not sure how less pertinent the area of the U.S. is vs. the average depth of the Pacific Ocean.
March 10, 2009 at 12:53 am
(5) Don Hirschberg says:
Steve – Good point. But the thrust of this of this site has been to encourage teaching geography in schools and basics. I‘d guess that a good student fresh out of a school geography course would not score highly on this test.
Knowledgeable as you are it would not be hard to compose a test that would stump you.
Matt – When I suggested asking the area of the US as a multiple choice question I was thinking along these lines: The US is about 3 thousand miles E to W and about one thousand miles N to S. Taken as a rectangle that’s 3 million square miles. Add in Alaska and if one of the multiple choices was 3 to 4 million square miles you’d have picked a winner.
Hence my suggested question would reveal, and reward, far more knowledge than merely having memorized the answer as about 3 1/2 million square miles. And isn’t this what a test should reveal?
March 10, 2009 at 8:23 am
(6) John Roberts says:
I question Matt’s ‘credibility’ of geography, as he suggests that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, I wonder! The irony is, of course he would say that, the clue is in ‘Rosenberg’..
March 10, 2009 at 8:44 am
(7) Matt Rosenberg says:
John- The U.S. Department of State also recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and they are not known for their philo-Semitism. As I have pointed out before, in Jerusalem you will find the headquarters of Israel’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches – making it the de facto capital no matter how anti-Israel you might be.
I don’t wish to go into a full debate with you, all I’m saying is that the United Nations and most countries (near enough all the countries worldwide) do not accept that Jerusalem is the capital but rather Tel Aviv is, the US Department of State doesn’t represent the world!! My argument is that if you wish to put geography online to assist people, teach people, or just merely for added information, the least you should do is be accurate; why not ‘point out’ to people that it is not simply the ‘de facto’ capital, but it is not recognised by anyone including the UN except for the US and Israel, and because of the former, Israel is illegally demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, such as the 80 homes destroyed last week! Let us not politicise this as I’m sure your view is different to mine, but I would add that Jerusalem will never be recognised as the capital of ‘Israel’..
March 10, 2009 at 10:05 am
(9) Mike Culp says:
John Roberts, if you think you can judge a person based on their last name, you are an asshole. My last name is German, want to guess my feelings on Israel?
March 10, 2009 at 1:50 pm
(10) Eve Belos says:
It is the right of every sovereign state to determine which city will be its capital. John – Let’s not let antisemitism take part in this discussion.
I find the raising of claims of anti-semitism interesting whenever Israel is criticised in any way. No country is perfect and all countries should be open to criticism. If I criticise Japan’s whaling policies does that make me anti-Shinto? Likewise, if someone wishes to criticise Israel’s West Bank policies they should be able to say what they think, and have their argument debated on its merits, without the old anti-Semitism chestnut being raised.
March 11, 2009 at 10:57 am
(13) Steve says:
Eve, not that I think this is the right forum, but every country, including Israel, should be open to criticism without charges of anti-anything being laid. If I criticise Japan’s whaling policy does that make me ant-Shinto? Likewise, John’s argument should be judged on its merits, without the assumption that he must be in some way anti-Semitic.
Comments
12 out of 15. Curse your tricky Russo-Cana-Northern African questions!
I only got 10 correct answers. And quite frankly even that includes some shakey lucky guesses. Should I be embarrassed?
These questions are far too esoteric for the general public. The average depth of the Pacific Oacean? Come on, who would know that?
How about asking the distance (muliple choice) New York City to LA? Or how many square miles in the US? Or the population of China, India, Malasia? These questions have pertinence.
I LIKE the difficult questions. Most geography quizzes are ridiculously easy. This way I actually learn something.
Don- I have to agree with Steve; my quizzes are not designed for the general public but I would hope them to be the most challenging geography quizzes on the Internet. -Matt
P.S. I’m not sure how less pertinent the area of the U.S. is vs. the average depth of the Pacific Ocean.
Steve – Good point. But the thrust of this of this site has been to encourage teaching geography in schools and basics. I‘d guess that a good student fresh out of a school geography course would not score highly on this test.
Knowledgeable as you are it would not be hard to compose a test that would stump you.
Matt – When I suggested asking the area of the US as a multiple choice question I was thinking along these lines: The US is about 3 thousand miles E to W and about one thousand miles N to S. Taken as a rectangle that’s 3 million square miles. Add in Alaska and if one of the multiple choices was 3 to 4 million square miles you’d have picked a winner.
Hence my suggested question would reveal, and reward, far more knowledge than merely having memorized the answer as about 3 1/2 million square miles. And isn’t this what a test should reveal?
I question Matt’s ‘credibility’ of geography, as he suggests that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, I wonder! The irony is, of course he would say that, the clue is in ‘Rosenberg’..
John- The U.S. Department of State also recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and they are not known for their philo-Semitism. As I have pointed out before, in Jerusalem you will find the headquarters of Israel’s legislative, executive, and judicial branches – making it the de facto capital no matter how anti-Israel you might be.
The State Department list…
http://www.state.gov/s/inr/rls/4250.htm
I don’t wish to go into a full debate with you, all I’m saying is that the United Nations and most countries (near enough all the countries worldwide) do not accept that Jerusalem is the capital but rather Tel Aviv is, the US Department of State doesn’t represent the world!! My argument is that if you wish to put geography online to assist people, teach people, or just merely for added information, the least you should do is be accurate; why not ‘point out’ to people that it is not simply the ‘de facto’ capital, but it is not recognised by anyone including the UN except for the US and Israel, and because of the former, Israel is illegally demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, such as the 80 homes destroyed last week! Let us not politicise this as I’m sure your view is different to mine, but I would add that Jerusalem will never be recognised as the capital of ‘Israel’..
John Roberts, if you think you can judge a person based on their last name, you are an asshole. My last name is German, want to guess my feelings on Israel?
It is the right of every sovereign state to determine which city will be its capital. John – Let’s not let antisemitism take part in this discussion.
Well, if Wikipedia says it’s Jerusalem, it must be so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel.
I find the raising of claims of anti-semitism interesting whenever Israel is criticised in any way. No country is perfect and all countries should be open to criticism. If I criticise Japan’s whaling policies does that make me anti-Shinto? Likewise, if someone wishes to criticise Israel’s West Bank policies they should be able to say what they think, and have their argument debated on its merits, without the old anti-Semitism chestnut being raised.
Eve, not that I think this is the right forum, but every country, including Israel, should be open to criticism without charges of anti-anything being laid. If I criticise Japan’s whaling policy does that make me ant-Shinto? Likewise, John’s argument should be judged on its merits, without the assumption that he must be in some way anti-Semitic.