Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Your faulty time machine has left you in the pouring rain of some 1850s small town, whose streets are deserted except for a lone buggy which stops at a nearby house. Out steps a well-dressed man carrying a small black bag. He splashes up to the porch and knocks. A worried-looking woman lets him in. What is his profession?
2. Wherever your time machine has landed, it's hot here. A man with a whip and pistol sits astride a horse at the edge of a cotton field, where dozens of African-Americans are busily hoeing. You ask, "Are those your slaves?" He answers, "No. They're Mr. Smith's." Who are you talking to?
3. Your time machine has settled in a northern city. Among the women in ankle-length dresses, you notice one wearing knee-length skirts with trousers showing below. She ignores some small boys who point and laugh, but catches you staring. "Does it bother you to see a woman in trousers?" she asks. When you answer "No," she smiles and offers you a handbill. What is it most likely advertising?
4. Snow-capped mountains rise in the distance beyond the desert where your time machine has paused. Nearby, you notice a neat little pioneer home beside an irrigated cornfield. You knock. A woman carrying a baby invites you in. She speaks with a charming British accent. You ask, "Is your husband home?" She explains he'll be here soon, but he was spending some time with his other wife. What religion is this family?
5. Leaving your time machine in the woods where it came to rest this time, you explore a muddy lane and meet a man working on a pile of logs by a plowed field. He pounds a wedge into the end of one with a massive wooden sledge hammer, to start a crack. Then he inserts another wedge in the crack and pounds again, repeating until the entire 16-foot log splits in two down its length. He starts again on one of the halves, dividing them until the final pieces are only a few inches on each side, but still full length. It looks like hard work, so you hurry on before he asks you to help. What is he doing and why?
6. Your time machine stops near a cluster of ramshackle homes. It's night, but you hear angry voices and soon see a mob approaching with torches and clubs. From your carefully chosen observation point crouched behind a rain barrel, you hear a mob member growl, "Go home, you bog-trotters," as he pounds on a door. Frightened and angry voices of men and women with Irish accents come from inside. You quickly retreat to your time machine and take off, as flames flicker in the straw around the outbuildings. What political party are the mob members most likely members of?
7. You step into a nearby general store, after your time machine splutters to a halt by a village. The shelves along the walls are filled with fascinating merchandise, from coffee grinders to rubber overshoes. The clerk is busy behind the counter waiting on someone, so you browse, picking up and examining one item after another. As you've trying on a straw hat, the clerk storms over and barely hides his annoyance as he says, "May I help you?" You've apparently broken some 19th century social rule. What is it?
8. Your time machine has left you deep in a swamp. You follow a faint footpath without meeting anyone for half an hour, when suddenly an African-American man carrying a bundle appears around a bend. You both jump in surprise, but he looks more frightened than just startled, and in a hurry.
He pulls off his hat and says, "You want to see my pass, sir? I got one." You answer, "Not really. Where does this path go?" He looks at you warily, without making eye contact, and observes, "You ain't from around here, are you, sir?" Inwardly smiling at how right he is, you answer, "No. I'm from a long way off."
He glances behind, then cautiously says, "Maybe you're one of them gentlemen from up north I heard of, that's a friend to the poor slave. Maybe you could help me."
Who is he and who does he think you are?
9. Your time machine has left you near a gravel turnpike lined with huge limestone buildings and rich farmland where horses, cattle and sheep graze the bluegrass. Knocking on a door, you are greeted by a plainly dressed man. Behind him, dozens of similarly dressed men are assembling chairs in a workshop that's as neat as a pin.
You ask if he and his family live in one of these beautiful buildings. He says he has no wife, but the men sleep in one of the buildings, and the women in another. He adds, "Do you like dancing? You should come visit our worship tomorrow."
You have landed in a community of what religious group, and where?
10. No one notices your time machine landing on the prairie, because a huge crowd is gathering at a nearby town square where a platform is set up. Two men are the focus of all the hoopla. Both are clean shaven and holding top hats, but one is tall and thin, while the other is short and somewhat stout. The tall one, in particular, looks familiar. By luck, you have stumbled on something famous. What are the two men contending for?
Source: Author
littlepup
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
bloomsby before going online.
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