Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Thursday Quiz XXII

The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is, as always, a "Is It or Isn't It" game. From the list of twelve items, your job is to determine whether each IS or ISN'T a true example of the week's category.

Treat this rule as though your life depended on it:

No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. The Thursday
Quiz is a POP quiz. Violators will lose their power of speech.
This Week's Category is the living end!

Death in America

There are many ways to make one's exit from life's great adventure, but some are more popular than others. Of the following, some claimed more than 17,000 victims in the United States in 2004, the last year from which complete records have been published. The others are relatively rare, each resulting in fewer than 3500 deaths. Which of the following are common (ie. more than 17000 per year) causes of death in the United States?

1. Accidental Discharge of Firearms
2. Accidental Drowning
3. Accidental Falls
4. Appendicitis
5. Death of Mother in Childbirth
6. Homicide
7. Kidney Failure
8. Leukemia
9. Meningitis
10. Salmonella
11. Suicide
12. Syphilis

Submit your "final answers" -- so to speak -- by posting them in the comments.

25 comments:

Karin said...

1. is
2. is
3. is
4. isn't
5. isn't
6. is
7. is
8. is
9. isn't
10.isn't
11.is
12.isn't

Rex Parker said...

17000 deaths IN AMERICA, right? Not worldwide. OK.

1. no - I suppose this depends on how you define "accidental." True accidents would send the bullet in random directions.
2. yes
3. yes
4. no
5. wow ... I'm gonna say 'no,' but I'm not sure.
6. absolutely yes
7. yes
8. yes
9. hmmm ... knew someone who died of this ... but I probably shouldn't extrapolate. I'm gonna say 'yes,' actually.
10. yes
11. yes
12. dear god no. I hope not.

rp

d said...

1 n, 2 y, 3 y, 4 n, 5 n, 6 y, 7 y, 8 n, 9 y, 10 n, 11 y, 12 n

(i really want 12 to be yes, 'cause AWESOME, but i don't think it can possibly be true. which means it probably is. i mean, syphillis is making a comeback, but 17,000? nah.)

Rebel said...

dude! Heart Disease, Lung Cancer & Auto Accidents... where are these options???? Ok

1. is
2. is
3. is
4. isn't
5. isn't
6. is
7. isn't
8. isn't
9. isn't
10. isn't
11. is
12. isn't

Rebel said...

you know... I'm vascilating on #7... there are a LOT of old people in the US and kidney failure seems like one of those things that would happen to an old person... so I kinda want to say "is" but I'm still bitter Heart Disease & Cancer aren't on the list so... nevermind.

Anonymous said...

1 no
2 no
3 yes
4 yes
5 no
6 no
7 yes
8 yes
9 yes
10 no
11 yes
12 yes
I feel really confident on two or three of these!

Karin said...

Rebel: I'm guessing Heart Disease and Cancer are in their own *special* category, claiming far more than 17,000 lives per year. This is a list of *common* causes of death in the US. Those would be among the *leading* causes of death. Good thinking.

Anonymous said...

1. is not
2. is
3. is not
4. is not
5. is not
6. is
7. is
8. is
9. is
10. is not
11. is
12. is not

Anonymous said...

1. In America? Yes.
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. No
5. No
6. No
7. No
8. No
9. No
10. No
11. Yes
12. No

Seems like a lot of "no" answers... maybe I'm just feeling glass half full today.

Anonymous said...

1 is
2 Is
3 is
4 ain't
5 ain't
6 is
7 is
8 is
9 ain't
10 ain't
11 is
12 ain't
13 is (doing miserably at pop quizzes)

DrSchnell said...

1. isn't
2. is
3. is
4. isn't
5. isn't
6. is
7. is
8. is
9. isn't
10. isn't
11. is
12 isn't

Elizabeth said...

What a grim way to start the morning ....

I'll say that 3, 4, 8, 11, and 12 are NOT common and the rest I will be very careful about.

Rebel said...

Karin - I know... he's just being tricksy again, and I'm whiney first thing in the morning =P

McGuff said...

Yes: 3, 6, 7, 8, 11

No: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12

First read through thought I saw "homicide during childbirth". Frighteningly, that has become an annual occurrence.

On salmonella - this is a personal cause of mine. Deaths are in the thousands, but food borne illnesses rank in the tens of millions annually in the US. What people often chalk up to "what's going around the office" is very, very often the food.

Bear with my two cents on this:

- Report problems to local health departments. Please. If you don't want to jeopardize your favorite restaurant, call them directly (and you'll likely get a free meal too).
- Never eat catered chicken. Never. Really.

Anonymous said...

P.S. Does your collection include a postcard from Accidental Falls?

Cartophiliac said...

6. Homicide
7. Kidney Failure
11. Suicide

Anonymous said...

1. Isn't
2. Isn't
3. Isn't
4. Isn't
5. Isn't
6. Is
7. Isn't
8. Isn't
9. Isn't
10. Isn't
11. Is
12. Isn't

I'm pretty certain about the ISes but not the ISN'Ts

Jessica said...

I don't feel like guessing at these, so I'll share an interesting bit from Shakespeare class today... (That's right, I'm finally in her class!)

Okay, so she mentions murder, gang rape, and other very bad occurrences found in Shakespeare. We, the class collective, don't so much as bat an eye. She mentions that the ulcer in All's Well most likely was of the outer (i.e. not in his stomach) variety. And puss filled. We all squirm in our seats and get queasy.

Ah... of what horrible moral fiber we are.

Michael5000 said...


Answer Time:

1 -- Accidental Discharge of Firearms. Much to my surprise, NO. 649 Deaths in 2004.

2 -- Accidental Drowning. This one fooled almost everyone, but NO. 3308 Deaths.

3 -- Accidental Falls. YES, 18807 Deaths.

4 -- Appendicitis. NO, 452 Deaths.

5 -- Childbirth. NO, 697 Deaths.

6 -- Homicide. Much to MY surprise (though most of you got it right), YES. 17357 Deaths.

7 -- Kidney Failure. YES, 41732 Deaths.

8 -- Leukemia. YES, 21395 Deaths.

9 -- Meningitis. NO, 674 Deaths.

10 -- Salmonella. NO, 90 Deaths.

11 -- Suicide. YES, 32439 Deaths.

12 -- Syphillis. NO, 43 Deaths.

Michael5000 said...

(All this from the CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports 55:19, "Deaths: Final Data for 2004." It is an incredibly interesting document that you could study for days. Here are a few interesting details I noticed, just scratching the surface:

Accidents are the 5th most common cause of death, breaking down to roughly 48000 transportation accidents (mostly automobile accidents, of course), 19000 falls, 3300 drownings, 3200 deaths in fires, 650 gun accidents, and -- surprisingly, to me -- 21000 poisonings.

Men are more than twice as likely to die in an accident as women. They are also roughly four times as likely to die from suicide, or from homicide, as women.

Black people are five times as likely as white people to die from homicide. White people are 2 1/2 times more likely than black people to die from suicide.)

Michael5000 said...


With a perfect 12/12, Phineas takes home the TQXXII Gold Star. It is his third, putting him into a tie for first place (with Blythe) for most Gold Stars accumulated.

Right behind him with 11/12, DrSchnell grabs the Silver Star, his second. This makes him only the second ever two-time Silver winner, behind Rex Parker, who owns a whopping six of them.

Karin's early 10/12 scored her the Blue Star; she ties the record for that color category, with four Blues in her trophy case.

Green Stars this week go to d, Karmasartre, and Cartophiliac. It's Cartophiliac's first Star in competition.

Congrats all around.

Bridget said...

Ok - but how many of those suicides were with firearms?

Michael5000 said...

@bridget: Lots. 17650.

mhwitt said...

I find this one tougher than I would have guessed.

1. Isn't ... hard to decide on this one
2. Isn't
3. Is
4. Isn't
5. Isn't
6. Isn't ... hard to decide on this one too.
7. Is
8. Is
9. Isn't
10. Isn't
11. Isn't
12. Isn't

McGuff said...

Quite surprised to nail this, as after the fact I was certain I blew the firearm one.

Though I personally knew one person killed by lightening, it's amazing how often death by lightening is discussed. Other than for avid golfers (like me) and people that live in Florida, it shouldn't be that big a deal.

Falls from ladders are another thing. My favorite story:

Guy at my golf club claims he's injured in a fall from a ladder in which he broke both heels. Not ankles, not legs, knees, or back. Just heels.

However, this guy's a well known sandbagger who gambles pretty heavily - in other words a hustler. He also travels quite a bit to Mexico and likely has a chance to get himself into all kinds of trouble.

Were I to be on the wrong side of a hustle, doing in the hustler's heels seems like a good way to keep him off the golf course for quite a long time. Took this guy about a year before he could play again.

Fell off a ladder? Hah.