How Interesting is Your Information? Quiz

Answer: This book won the Man Booker Prize in 1974.

While all of your friends and family deeply respect your recommendations, the players on FunTrivia don't know you and so they are less moved by your opinions. It is better to express appreciation of a work (book, movie, play, television programme) by reporting any awards and recognitions it has received which players might accept as endorsements. If you then wish to add your own endorsement to those of others, you may.

Answer: The couple disagrees about the Church of Scientology.

Religion is a hot-button issue which must be approached carefully if at all. The information provided needs to be not only factually accurate but neutral in its presentation. In other words, in this question, the author ought not "take sides" with Holmes or Cruise nor with either her Roman Catholicism nor his Scientology.

Answer: The author should reduce ambiguity by using both names.

Using both names with one in parenthesis will help both to clarify the country intended and to educate quiz takers about the changes in country names, e.g. Dahomey (Benin); Burma (Myanmar); Ceylon (Sri Lanka); Thailand (Siam); Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). If there is a dispute between factions about the proper name for a geographic region (such as the argument between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia over the use of the name "Macedonia"), it is important to remain neutral out of respect for the parties.

Answer: People Magazine named him the Sexiest Man Alive in 2005.

Human attraction is a highly subjective, highly personal thing. There is no sensible way to compare two people and determine which is the cutest, the sweetest, the hottest nor the best looking. Fortunately, the star-driven media do these sorts of comparisons for us. People Magazine has named "The Sexiest Man Alive" every year since 1985. Reference to these sorts of accolades is at least a quasi-objective measure. If you then wish to add your own subjective assessment, you may.

Answer: Never

FunTrivia is a family website. Children are welcome to access the site and attempt any quizzes that attract them. There is no way to exercise parental control over which portions of the site are accessed. Therefore quiz authors must edit themselves. In a disagreement with an editor over the use of any term, the editor's decision is conclusive.

Answer: The novel was on the New York Times bestseller list; the film was the first horror movie ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

It is well nigh impossible to compare scares in that they are so very subjective. It is possible to count the number of books sold and the number of movie tickets sold. These are the sorts of measures which can be accessed to make a point about how successful William Peter Blatty was in concocting a story (based on a true story) which made the hairs on the backs of people's necks stand up. If you then wish to add your own assessment of how frightening a novel is, you may.

Answer: The margin was narrow, thus the issue of Scotland's place in the United Kingdom remained somewhat unsettled.

Political issues tend to be inflammatory. Quiz authors must be careful in crafting quizzes with political implications. Because some quiz takers are quick to take offense, extra caution is in order to prevent needless discontent. A policy of explicit neutrality should guide the writing in these areas. There remain plenty of other websites where potential political combatants can go to exercise their need to joust.

Answer: in any of these

There is rarely a reason to mention the gender identity or sexual preference of a notable person. It is only in those situations where it bears directly on an important part of their public life that it should be expressed. The Turing case, the Wilde case and the Hudson case are all important to the history of society's response to homosexuality.

Answer: While any of these might provide the basis for an exception, the general rule is "Very Rarely."

Novels such as Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" contain racist language. Other literature contains slurs offensive to Irish, Asians of all sorts, Native Americans, Jews, and other ethnic groups. Setting aside the debate over whether these works should be taught in schools, there is almost never good reason to reproduce this offensive language at FunTrivia. In a disagreement with an editor over the use of any term, the editor's decision is conclusive.

Answer: In my humble opinion ...

It is reasonable to ask of every assertion in Interesting Information "sez who?" Attribution to an authority higher than yourself is the road which leads to credibility. Besides, Terry Pratchett once wrote that introducing one's thoughts by saying "in my humble opinion" means "these are the mean little views of someone with the social grace of duckweed"." Once you have established a factual basis for a positive or negative opinion, it may be enriched with your own.