' About America ' - ' A Quiz '

‘ About  America ‘  -  A Quiz

• P.Natarajan, camp: Canton MI

A week and 5 months are over since our arrival in U.S. We have been able to visit more places of tourist interest this time, pursue books, read novels, refer to journals, and  to learn and refresh our memory about this most powerful and advanced country on the Earth, where living comforts are in abundance and the routines of life less taxing, and moving abouts are rendered orderly. Above all, we are overjoyed in the company of Isha, our little granddaughter (turning one year), singing with her ‘Cock a Doodle Dog’ ;’ Lady Bird, Lady Bird’ , ‘Old King Cole ,’ Roses are Red’  and so on.

This introduction is good enough to share what we have learnt about America in the form of a quiz with all of you, though it may not be anything new, nor a riddle but perhaps more of a refresher. The answers can be seen below the questions and shall be glad if you could take some interest to go through this mail.

1.0   Dwight D.Eisenhower was the 34th U.S. President.  Who was 43rd ? ; Who succeeded the 34th ?

( Ans:- 43rd President was George W. Bush ;  John F. Kennedy was the 35th President. )

2.0  Which President delivered the famous “ House Divided  Speech “ ?  What was its full form ?

( Ans:- Abraham Lincoln in 1858. “ A House Divided in itself cannot stand. I believe Govt. can not permanently endure half-slave, half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I don’t expect the house to fall , but I do expect it will cease to be divided “. )

3.0  Four U.S. Presidents had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Name them. Who among them won after leaving the office ?

( Ans:- Theodore Roosevelt;  Woodrow Wilson;  Jimmy Carter;  Barack Obama in 2009  -  Jimmy Carter in 2002 after leaving the office ).

4.0 Which State is called Grand Canyon State ? What is its Capital ?  What are the two main rivers there ?

( Ans:- Arizona -  Capital:  Phoenix ,  Rivers : Colorado and Gila )

5.0  In which U.S. State the tallest ancient Trees are the living things in the world ? By what nickname they are otherwise well known ?

( Ans:- California; Giant Redwood Trees, they are also well known as Sequoia Trees which grow high 300 feet - they are very ancient and stand over a long period of time.

6.0 Which Four States meet at a place called  ‘ Four Corner Region ‘ ?

( Ans:- Arizona , Utah,  New Mexico  and Colorado are the Four States Making a meet at Four Corner region  )

7.0  Which State is called the First State in U.S.? The State is also named by its main River.

(Ans:- Delaware  -   River also by the same name )

8.0  How many mountains Colorado boasts of ? How many of them are 14000 feet high ?

(Ans:-  80 , 53 are as high as 14000 feet )

9.0  Which President is known as father of U.S. Constitution ?

(Ans:- James Madison - 4th President 1809 - 1817 )

10.0  Who are known as Founding Fathers of U.S.A.?

(Ans:-  refers to those individuals of the Thirteen British Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of British Crown and established U.S. They are :- (1) James Adams, (2) Benjamin Franklin, (3) Alexander Hamilton, (4) John Jay, (5) Thomas Jefferson, (6) James Madison, (7).George Washington

11.0  The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is comprised of the ‘Preamble’ which famously begins “ ------” As what?

(Ans:- “We The People “ )

12.0  Whose First inaugural Presidential Address ran like this:-  “ .... You Have No Oath Registered in Heaven to destroy the Govt. While I have the most solemn one “ to preserve, protect and defend” it  ?

( Ans:- Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861 )

13.0  Four Presidents who were assassinated ...?

(Ans:- Abraham Lincoln (1865) , James Garfield (1881), William Mckinley (1901), John F.Kennedy (1963)

14.0  Which State is known as Sunshine State ? What is its motto? & its Capital ?

(Ans:- Florida,  “ In God We Trust “ (motto), Tallahassee is the Capital )

15.0 State the top 5 largest Cities in U.S. ? (by population)

(Ans:- New York -  8.36 million ;  Los Angeles  -  3.83 million;  Chicago  -  2.85 million;  Houston  -  2.24 million;  Phoenix  -  1.56 million )

16.0  Kansas State is known as Sunflower State. Name the other known names for the following:- (1) Idaho, (2) Kentucky (3) Maine (4) Washington (5) West Virginia (6) Wyoming (7) Texas (8) Tennessee (9) New York (10) Nevada (11) California (12) Connecticut (13) Georgia

(14)Colorado and its capital  (15) Michigan with a short description

(Ans:- (1) Gem State (2) Bluegrass State (3) Pine Tree State (4) Evergreen State (5) Mountain State (6) Equality State (7) Lone Star State (8) Volunteer State (9) Empire State (10) Silver State (11) Golden State (12) Constitution State (13) Peach State (14) Centennial State , capital DENVER (15) Great Lakes State, Capital : Lansing . Michigan is bordered by four of the great Lakes which create two peninsulas. They are Lake Superior, Huron, Michigan & Erie. Lake Ontario borders with the State. Lake St. Clair , relatively smaller,surrounds.

In 1903 Henry Ford built an automobile factory in Michigan which dominates the economy of the State. Most of the Nations cereal is made in Battle Creek, Michigan. The 3rd most largest Freshwater lake by surface area (23000 Sq.miles) is in Michigan ( Lake Huron ).

17.0  Which President served the shortest term? - His grand son also became the 23rd President

(Ans:- William Henry Harrison - 9th President served from March 4 1841 to  April 4 1841;  31 days, 12 hours and 30 minutes to be exact - first to die in office ) - Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd and his grandson )

18.0   Which President was the author of ‘ Profiles in Courage ‘ which book won the Pulitzer Prize ? What is the other book he had authored ?

(Ans:- John  F. Kennedy;  The other book “‘ Why England Slept “ )

19.0 Which President addressed his inaugural speech like this “ ... Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country ..)

( Ans:- John Fitzgerald Kennedy - Jan 20 1961 )

20.0 Which President delivered the famous Gettysburg Speech ? Spell the famous words ?

(Ans:- Abraham Lincoln on Nov 19, 1863 -   .. Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from Earth ..” in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which is also called as the Keystone State.

I feel 20 would be enough......

Though the quiz ends with sl.no.20, I am tended to accord a finishing touch by adding short notes about the current U.S. President Obama. Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of U.S.A. in 2009 Jan.-   taught earlier constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He has published two books- autobiography ‘ Dreams from My Father ‘ and ‘ the Audacity of Hope ‘. Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2009  for improving international peace dialogue. A major reform of Nation’s Health Care System brought in by him is known as Obama Care. The President is serving his second term currently.

pn