Sunday, May 4, 2008

Decathlon Event #1 / The Monday Quiz XXVI



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(People of Oregon (and other late-voting states)! The official L&TM5K endorsement for the Democratic national primary is here. Vote!)

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Decathlon Event #1: Geography, Knowledge and Reasoning

Note: As a Decathlon Event, the Monday Quiz will expand to ten questions, some extremely difficult, for the next two weeks. Remember, it is supposed to be a challenge. I would expect less than 0.1% of the population to get a perfect score on this quiz.

Answer the questions regarding the images below. You may submit your answers either in the comments, or by email to M5Kdecathlon@gmail.com.

Judging: Each question is, unless otherwise specified, worth a single point. For Decathlon scoring, there will be no tiebreakers; if the two best scores are 8/10, followed by two of 7/10, the former two will both be scored as first place in the event, the latter two both as third place in the event, and so on. For Monday Quiz scoring, in light of the expanded format, at least the top three scores will be awarded the MQXXVI Exclamation Point.

Deadline: Answers must be submitted no later than 10 p.m. Monday, May 5th (Pacific Daylight Time).



Aerial Images

1. What large Midwestern American city is this?


2. What large Atlantic Coast American city is this?

3. What large Atlantic Coast American city is this?

4. What large American city is this?

5. What well-known place in the western United States is shown here?

None of the remaining places are in the United States.

6. Where is this?

7. This is an island in the Pacific Ocean. What is its name? (Or for 1/2 credit, what country is it part of?)

8. This image shows part of an island split by an international boundary. The right half of the image shows fairly intact forests; the left half shows pronounced deforestation. For full credit, give the name of both countries and of the island.

9. This image shows an area that has been an important connection between two land areas, and between two bodies of water, since the beginning of recorded history. What is the name of the very large city in the image?

10. What European capital is shown here?

You may submit your answers either in the comments, or by email to M5Kdecathlon@gmail.com.

24 comments:

fingerstothebone said...

"Deadline: Answers must be submitted no later than 10 p.m. Monday, April 10th (Pacific Daylight Time)."

Am I in a time warp, or is it you?

Karin said...

1. Chicago
2. Washington, DC
3.
4.
5.
6. Egypt, Nile River Delta and Valley
7.
8. Hispanola, which consists of Haiti and the Dominican Republic
9. Istanbul
10. Athens

Michael5000 said...

@fingers: We probably both are, since we're able to talk. Corrected to Monday the 5th.

Cartophiliac said...

I assume the rules are, as usual, no research?

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Miami
4. Pittsburgh
3. La Brea Tar Pits
6. Nile Delta, Egypt
7. The big island is Hokkaido, part of Japan
8. Haiti and the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispanola
9. Istanbul (it was Constantinople. Why'd they change it? I can't say. maybe they like it better that way.)
10. Stockholm

Christine M. said...

1 Chicago
2 New York City
3 Miami
4 Pittsburgh
5 no idea -- Disneyland?
6 Nile delta
7 Hokkaido, Japan
8 Haiti on the left, Dominican Republic on the right, Hispanola all over
9 Istanbul
10 Stockholm

d said...

oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.

1. chicago
2. washington dc?
3. miami?
4. the only one i can think of where two rivers intersect is st louis, but it's not all that 'large'.
5. well-known, really? area 51
6. africa/the nile delta
7. japan
8. haiti and the dominican rep. but i don't know the name of the island.
9. istanbul?
10. helsinki? is helsinki even a capital? i don't know.

mhwitt said...

A tougher quiz than I'd like to admit.

1. Chicago
2. New York, New York
3. Miami
4. Pittsburgh
5. I really do not know this one. Heck, perhaps it is the corporate campus for Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. Probably not though.
6. Egypt (the Nile River Delta) plus the Suez Canal, some of the Sinai Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. I won't get into the controversy of which country is the home of Gaza, the coastal part of the Sinai.
7. Hokaido, in Japan. I am probably misspelling the island name.
8. My guess: the island is New Guinea and the countries are Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. I may be misspelling Guinea too.
9. Panama City?
10. Athens?

Elizabeth said...

We who are about to guess salute you!

1. Chicago
2. Boston
3. Miami
4. Columbus, Ohio
5. Disneyland
6. Baja, Mexico
7. Hokkaido, Japan
8. Dominican Republic/Haiti, Hispaniola?
9. Cairo
10. Athens

Nichim said...

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Miami
4. Portland
5. Golden Gate Park
6. Egypt
7. part of Japan
8. Dominican Republic/Haiti, HispaƱola
9. Istanbul
10. Athens

DrSchnell said...

1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. Miami
4. Pittsburgh
5. Salt Lake City?
6. Nile River Delta, Egypt
7. Hokkaido
8. Haiti/Dominican Republic, island of Hispaniola
9. Istanbul. Was Constantinople. Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. Been a long time gone, Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks!
10. Copenhagen?

Dan Nolan said...

1. Looks like some toddling there. I'll say Chicago.
2. Looks like some brothers loving eachother there. I'll say Philly.
3. Looks Floridaey. I'll say Miami.
4. Looks like I see 3 rivers. Pittsburgh.
5. Looks like I'm an ignorant East coaster. San Francisco is my guess.
6. Looks like the ignorance is going to step it up a notch for the second half of this quiz. Africa.
7. [I don't know if it] looks like Guam (US), [but that's my guess].
8. Looks like I'm lost. Is it the Island from Lost, with the countries being the survivors of the plane crash and the Others? No, that's not my guess. I'll say Haiti and the DR and I don't know the name of the island.
9. I don't think it looks like Cairo, but that's my guess.
10. Looks like Athens

Anonymous said...

Glad to know, finally, definitively, that I'm not in the top 0.1% of the population...

1. Chicago
2. Baltimore
3. Charleston
4. Pittsburg
5. Define "well known."
6. Africa. Can't be more specific ('cause I really don't have a clue)
7. Rangitoto. New Zealand. Hey, it could be.
8. New Guineau. Indonesia. Papua New Guinea.
9. Instanbul
10. Crickey. Um. Athens. Sure. Whatever.

Anonymous said...

1. Chicago
2. NYNY
3. Miami
4. Three River Stadiumville?
5. Disneyland
6. Nile Delta
7. Maui
8. Haiti, Dom. Republic. Hispanolia?
9. Istanbul
10. Copenhagen.

Anonymous said...

So many questions for a Monday!
1 Chicago, I think.
2 Why, that looks like New York City.
3 Why do there seem to be vast turquoise swimming pools? I'm guessing Miami.
4 Um, Pittsburgh?
5 I know Disneyland when I see it.
6 Could that be Egypt, looking at the Nile delta?
7 I'm thinking that looks like Hokkaido? Part of Japan.
8 Jeez. One should never leave a blank, right? Let's say the island is Borneo, and the countries are Indonesia and, uh, Papua New Guinea.
9 Must be Istanbul. (Istanbul, not Constantinople. . .)
10 Stockholm? I have a terrible fear it's Oslo, but I'm sticking with Stockholm.

CPM said...

1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. Miami
4. St. Louis
5. Disney Land?
6. Africa
7. Malyasia is the country
8. Dominican Republic and Haiti?
9. Istambul
10. Athens, Greece

McGuff said...

1. Chicago - but you cut off the western suburbs so nobody can see my old house.
2. Baltimore
3. Miami
4. Pittsburgh
5. The Getty Museum
6. Nile River Delta
7. Want say Nauru, owing to the magnificent white guano deposit out there on the tip. That makes your 1/2 point question senseless, though. How about Japan for .5 please, Alex?
8. Haiti (deforested), Dominican Republish (lush-ish), Hispaniola.
9. Istanbul
10. Stockholm

jovaliquilts said...

Here goes, just remember that I'm hoping to win the booby prize!
1) Chicago
2) Boston
3) New York
4) St. Louis
5) don't even have a guess for this
6) Egypt
7) Indonesia
8) Cyprus (Greece & Turkey)
9) Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul
10) the picture didn't load, so I can't guess. Well, of course, I can GUESS --- Amsterdam.

Anonymous said...

1 / Chicago
2 / New York
3 / Miami
4 / Pittsburg
5 / La Brea Tar Pits
6 / Egypt
7 / Part of Japan
8 / Haiti and Dominican Republic / Island = ?
9 / Istanbul
10 / Helsinki

Anonymous said...

Almost too late, but I thought I'd throw my hat in...

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. ?
4. Pittsburgh
5. Disneyland?
6. Egypt/the Nile Delta?
7. Fiji?
8. Sorry, I can't see this question because my brain exploded on the monitor.
9. ?
10. Athens

Anonymous said...

Guesses, all. Is this decathalon like a high/low poker game? Maybe?

1. New York?
2. Baltimore?
3. Are those pools? Miami?
4. Pittsburgh?
5. Yay! Disneyland!

The rest are more than guesses -- they are flailings.

6. Egypt
7. Japan
8. Galapagos
9. Something Russian
10. ???????

Michael5000 said...

Wow. The first event of the first running of the M5K Decathlon, and you'll be able to tell the grandchildren not only that you were there, but that you competed. This is a great moment.

Let's take a look at the answers:

1. Chicago, radiating out from Lake Michigan.

2. New York City, with Manhatten, Long Island, and so on.

3. Miami, between the sea and the Everglades.

4. Pittsburg, with its famous "three rivers."

5. Disneyland.

6. The Nile Delta and the Gulf of Suez.

7. Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan.

8. Haiti and the Dominican Republic, uneasily sharing the island of Hispaniola.

9. Istanbul. Or, Constantinople. Or, Byzantium.

10. There were a number of excellent guesses for this widow-maker. It is in fact Helsinki.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Not that I played, but I would have sworn that #7 was New Zealand, North Island. The shape is similar, but the proportions are different.

Unknown said...

Can I just say, before we go on, that I was very impressed by the day's running?

With the dust settling, we have an impressive high score of 9/10 for La Gringissima! She earns 1200 Decathlon points, and the right to wear the fresh-out-of-the-wrapper yellow jersey. Also, of course, a MQXXVI Exclamation Point -- her third in four weeks, and her fourth overall.

There's a four-way tie for second with 8/10 apiece. Cartophiliac, drschnell, Mrs.5000, and karmasartre share the honors. For them, 1000 points toward the decathlon, plus Exclamation Points of their own.

Fifteen other entrants earn 200 points for their pains.

Those of you who are showing up late -- I think it will be possible to miss an event or two and still be competitive. Give it a whirl!

Anonymous said...

I missed the start! Okay, I will remember 10PM from now on. And I will get here on Monday. This was a cool one to.

I am off to read above and hope to participate soon!