Impossible General Knowledge - The Sequel Quiz

Answer: Coprastasophobia

Unlike in the first quiz, there are no grammatical clues within the stem (a/an - is/are) directing you to look for an answer starting with a vowel or in the plural. Classical Greek scholars (or sufferers) have most chance of answering this question correctly.

The word comes from three Greek words: "kopros" meaning "dung" or "excrement"; "statikos" meaning "static" or "stationary" and "phobos" meaning "fear".

Answer: 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds

Unlike in the first quiz where there were different levels of precision in the answers, this time the precision level is the same and the list is logically progressive.

Measuring the length of a day has always been a problem because the earth revolves around the sun at the same time it revolves on its axis. This means that the point at which the sun is overhead on two successive days takes slightly longer than if you were measuring against a star which has (for all practical purposes) no apparent motion relevant to the earth within the space of one day.

For these reasons we have both the sidereal day and the solar day.

Answer: Ohio

In the first quiz, the answer could be gleaned by eliminating the other three answers. This time you have to KNOW the answer as none of the options are obviously different from each other and are in fact the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th states to join the union (but not necessarily in that order).

IN point of fact, Ohio joined the Union on 1st march 1803. Louisiana (the 18th) didn't join for another 9 years.

Answer: the process by which fat globules in the milk are broken down into smaller pieces and dispersed through the milk. This process improves texture and extends life.

Each of the suggestions are different types of milk treatments. The incorrect answers are Sterilisation, Standardisation and UHT. Each of the options is of a similar length and should appear equally credible.

It has been noted by many observers that human beings are the only creatures never to be properly weaned. Due to a mutation on Chromosome 2 we retain our ability to process lactate which on most other mammals shuts down after about 3% of the overall lifespan of the animal concerned.

Answer: "The Illearth War" and "The Power That Preserves"

Each of the options appears exactly twice which removes the possibility of cluing by frequency.

Donaldson, to the delight of his many avid readers, has returned to the Thomas Covenant story with a new set of Chronicles (entitled "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever) the first of which was "The Runes of the Earth" which was published in 1994, to be followed by "Fatal Revenant" (due out later this year), "Against All Things Ending" and "The Last Dark".

Answer: bringing an end to the American Revolution

A question about a remarkably unsung British Prime Minister with four equally plausible outcomes of similar length, thus precluding the possibility of cluing from the answers.

Fitzmaurice was better known as the Earl of Shelburne and only consented to become Prime Minister on the condition that the King recognise the United States. This he duly did and Fitzmaurice was duly elected PM from 4th July 1782 (interestingly) to 2nd April 1783.

Answer: Equal Pay Act 1970

Each of the options is logically feasible and the respondent would either have to KNOW the answer or have a 1 in 4 chance of making a lucky guess. None of the options is particularly strongly clued.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 was designed to address the significant difference between the earnings of men and women performing the same job. Even though the gap has narrowed over the intervening years all the signs are that a gap still exists.

Answer: 76

By providing a logical progression none of the options STANDS OUT from any of the others, which could, at least at a subconscious level provide either a clue or a false clue, both of which should be avoided in a robust and effective question.

Osmium and Iridium are still fighting it out as to which is the densest element (the jury is still out). In its pure state it is extremely toxic but as an alloy (often as Osmiridium) it is very hard indeed and the alloy of choice for fountain pen nibs and gramophone needles (although the market for these has somewhat contracted over recent years).

Answer: inversely proportionate to the total amount of pressure applied

A technical question with four equally technical answers that would prevent a non-scientist from guessing correctly with any confidence.

How many of us remember learning "Boyle's Law" at school, I wonder? It is also known as the Mariotte Boyle Law on account of the fact that it was also discovered independently of Boyle by the Frenchman Edme Mariotte who also discovered the eye's blind spot.

Answer: Left

Again, the answers all seem to have the same "flavour" and therefore knowledge, rather than any intrinsic clues within the question stem or options, is required to answer the question confidently.

The word "quark" was originally coined by Murray Gell-Mann to rhyme with "pork" not realising until later that the word had already been coined by James Joyce in his novel "Finnegan's Wake" in which it was rhymed with "Mark". Both pronunciations have lived on.

Answer: Carbon Monoxide

All of the four options are constituents of Town Gas in different proportions and are all therefore credible.

Town gas is also referred to as "coal gas", "manufactured gas" or "hygas". Town Gas use went into decline following the discovery of natural gas fields in the North Sea during the latter part of the 20th Century which could be moved around much more safely and which had no smell compared to Town Gas which was considered "nasty, smelly, dirty and dangerous" according to market research conducted during the 1960s.

Answer: Hulsbergen

By ensuring a seeming commonality of nationality of the surnames of each of the four painters, the question setter avoids the possibility of cluing by matching the painting title to the artists surname.

Han Hulsbergen was a Dutch painter (usually classified, possibly incorrectly, as a Cubist) who lived from 1901 to 1989.

Answer: Fish Oil

To be honest, none of the options looks that credible (although the question is based on peer reviewed research) and none looks any more likely than any of the others.

Fish Oils have, of course, become very popular lately due to the perceived benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids and feeding them to cows has proved to be an effective way of boosting the Omega 3 content of cow's milk.

Answer: Between 4% and 6%

Once again, the options are a logical progression and grouped very closely together, precluding the possibility that someone might know roughly how much iron was in the core and was able to guess because only one of the options was close to that figure (e.g. 6%, 12%, 18% and 24% would be poor options because of the range that they cover).

As you get closer to the inner core of the earth, the iron content increases until, at the centre (according to the latest research) you will find a solid iron core.

Answer: Jurassic-Cretaceous transition

Again, each of the options flows logically, one from the other, ensuring that no one option stands out from all the rest.

Sauropods were the largest of the dinosaurs and included Brontosaurus (now called Apatosaurus), Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. They were all herbivorous.

It is worth making the point that a test that allows candidates to pass by being able to discount the wrong answers to arrive at the correct one is not the same as a test that demonstrates that they knew the right answer in the first place.

As an example, think about an aircraft technician sitting an examination to prove his or her capability to spot a problem which could cause a plane to crash. Knowing three things that DO NOT meet the specified criteria does not mean that that they would spot the one that DOES and therefore an exam result obtained this way does not prove them COMPETENT to do the job.

In a similar way, the average person could spot the antibiotic in the following list:

Amoxicillin
Ibuprofen
Paracetamol
Aspirin

but it doesn't mean that you are capable of prescribing it at the right dosage for the correct ailment.

Broadly speaking, a multiple choice test of any description is only as good as the distractors (wrong answers) provided.