1. True or false: The Amati, Stradivari, and Guarneri families were best known for making exquisite Italian harps.
2. Most wind and brass instruments are played with the mouth. Match these characteristic mouthpieces to their instruments.

   A. Double-reed	1. Irish tin whistle
   B. Fipple	2. English horn
   C. Funnel	3. French horn

3. In the West Indies, the tops of oil drums are tempered in fire and used to make harmonic instruments. True or false: Musicians who play these steel drums are called panmen.
4. In Japan, geishas are famous for playing which instrument?

   A. Maraca

   B. Samisen

   C. Taiko drum

5. During radio's heyday in the United States, sales of sheet music took off, along with sales of which instrument?

   A. Trombone

   B. Piano

   C. Drum

6. Few instruments can be traced to a single inventor, but, in 1829,Englishman Sir Charles Wheatstone introduced what he called a "symphonium with bellows." The instrument's name was later changed to:

   A. Accordion

   B. Steam-powered calliope

   C. Concertina

7. Originally, hammers set in a large rotating cylinder struck and played the bell instrument known as a:

   A. Gong

   B. Carillon

   C. Bell tower

8. The Belgian who invented the saxophone never heard jazz or the blues. True or false: Antoine-Joseph Sax's instrument was originally used in military bands and symphony orchestras.
9. The ligawka is a Polish horn traditionally played during Advent to summon people to church. True or false: It is a small, hand-held instrument.
10. Although most South African music is entirely vocal, indigenous musical instruments do exist. Which of the following instruments is used in traditional South African music?

    A. Marinba (gourd-resonated xylophone)

    B. Mbila (hand piano)

    C. Both

Answers

1. False. Each of these families crafted world-renowned violins.
2. A, 2; B, 1; C, 3
3. True. The top of the steel drum is called the pan.
4. B. Geishas play the samisen, which is a three-stringed instrument. The taiko is a huge barrel drum. Maracas are dried gourd rattles.
5. B. Before the advent of television, many large homes had pianos— generally Steinways.
6. C
7. B
8. True. Military bands were popular in 1846, when the sax was invented.
9. False. The ligawka is a large instrument, often two or three yards long, and is usually supported on a fence while being played.
10. C

1. True or false: One of the world's oldest known paintings was found on a cave wall in Pech-Merle, France.
2. Most Muslim art, including architecture and paintings, is limited by which of the following proscriptions?

   A. Blue and red may not be used together

   B. Geometric patterns may not be depicted.

   C. Images of humans and animals may not be depicted.

3. Which of the following cities was Japan's traditional center for art, as well as the country's ancient capital?

   A. Kyoto

   B. Osaka

   C. Tokyo

4. The two largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin's work are found in Rodin museums located in which two cities?

   A. Frankfurt and Montreal

   B. Paris and Philadelphia

   C. Brussels and Warsaw

5. True or false: The center of Brazil's capital city, Brasília, is a wonderful place to stroll, but contains nothing of architectural interest.
6. One of the most expensive opera houses constructed in the twentieth century was designed by the Danish architect Joern Utzon. Where is this building?

   A. Zurich

   B. Sydney

   C. Johannesburg

7. True or false: John Constable is considered by many to be England's greatest naturalistic landscape painter.
8. The National Gallery of Canada, renowned for its unique architecture, can be found in which Canadian city?

   A. Vancouver

   B. Montreal

   C. Ottawa

9. True or false: The Medicis of Florence, Italy, are universally associated with the Renaissance because of the role they played as patrons of the arts.
10. The Louvre, the Museo del Prado, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are three of the world's most outstanding art museums. In which three cities are they found?

    A. Quebec, Rome, and Los Angeles

    B. London, Milan, and Boston

    C. Paris, Madrid, and New York

Answers

1. True. The painting depicts the image of a white hand surrounded by red ocher.
2. C. Not all Muslim countries, however, adhere to this restriction.
3. A. Japan's capital was moved to Tokyo in 1869.
4. B. Philadelphia's Rodin Museum is second only to the Musée Auguste Rodin in Paris.
5. False. Brasília's architecture is so impressive that UNESCO placed the city on the list of World Heritage Sites. Built on a grand scale for automobiles, Brasília is not a comfortable place to walk.
6. B. The Sydney Opera House was expected to take four years and $7 million to build, but it took fourteen years and more than $100 million to erect.
7. True
8. C. Ottawa is also Canada's capital city.
9. True. The Medicis were also important Renaissance politicians, merchants, and religious leaders.
10. C

1. The oldest major theater form still performed regularly is the no drama. In which country did no plays originate and develop?

   A. Peru

   B. Japan

   C. Singapore

2. Commedia dell'arte was the only type of theater in Europe to use natural speech patterns and depict everyday life between 1550 and 1750. True or false: It was developed primarily in Italy.
3. Germany had a great impact on twentieth-century theater. Match the following Germans with their most significant positions.

   A. Bertolt Brecht	1. Producer
   B. Max Reinhardt	2. Composer
   C. Kurt Weill	3. Dramatist

4. August Strindberg is considered Sweden's greatest playwright. True or false: His most famous play is A Doll's House.
5. In which country is the Shakespearean Stratford Festival Theatre located?

   A. Jamaica

   B. Canada

   C. South Africa

   D. Australia

6. The Frenchman considered by many to be "the greatest comic playwright" in Western Europe is:

   A. Jean Racine

   B. Marcel Marceau

   C. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière

7. True or false: Although the roots of musical theater can be traced to European operettas, it developed into its current form in the USA.
8. True or false: During the Golden Age of Spanish Drama (1580-1680), Lope Félix de Vega Carpio was considered a more important playwright than Miguel de Cervantes.
9. Adolphe Appia is considered one of the founders of modern experimental theater. In which country was he born?

   A. Switzerland

   B. Dominican Republic

   C. The Netherlands

10. "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." This observation came from which Shakespearean play?

    A. Hamlet

    B. As You Like It

    C. Much Ado About Nothing

1. B
2. True
3. A,3; B,1; C,2
4. False. A Doll's House is a play by Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's most famous play is Miss Julie.
5. B. Ontario, to be precise.
6. C. Jean Racine was a dramatist, well-known for his tragedies, and Marcel Marceau is a mime.
7. True. Musical theater's American roots go back to minstrel shows and vaudeville.
8. True. Cervantes is best remembered for his prose masterpiece, Don Quixote. Vega Carpio was a more prolific and important playwright.
9. A
10. B. As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII.

Answers

1. Confucius (551-479 BC) believed that learning and wisdom were keys to the path of virtue. True or false: One of his doctrines parallels the golden rule in Western tradition.
2. In contrast to Confucius, Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) advocated a double standard for sovereigns and subjects in The Prince. He proposed that great leaders should be duplicitous when necessary, because:

   A. Success, as the end, justifies the means.

   B. Political adversaries must be rendered harmless.

   C. Princes should know how to use force when the law won't work.

   D. All of the above.

3. Canadian philosopher Herbert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was renowned for his theories about media. True or false: He was also famous for his cameo in a Woody Allen film.
4. Match the philosopher with his country.

   1. Baruch Spinoza	A. Scotland
   2. Martin Heidegger	B. Germany
   3. David Hume	3. Netherlands

5. Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist and theologian. True or false: His followers founded a religion based on his precepts.
6. Japanese philosopher Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) helped open Japan to Western ideas. True or false: His writings were not popular during his lifetime.
7. The principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, incorporated into the United States Constitution, were formulated by which French philosopher?

   A. Montesquieu (1689-1755)

   B. Foucault (1926-1984)

   C. Voltaire (1694-1778)

8. "There are more things in heaven and earth ... than are dreamt of in your philosophy." This line is attributed to:

   A. Jean-Paul Sartre

   B. William Shakespeare

   C. Benjamin Franklin

9. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) shifted a paradigm. True or false: He proposed that the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun.
10. Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) was one of the leading European intellectuals of his time. True or false: Because of his fame, he was never persecuted by the Spanish government.

1. True. Confucius' teachings also emphasized sincerity, justice,courtesy, respect for elders, and ancestor reverence.
2. D. Benito Mussolini greatly admired Machiavelli, but wouldn't allow his subjects to read The Prince.
3. True. He had a walk-on role in Annie Hall.
4. 1, C; 2, B; 3, A
5. True. Swedenborgianism, also known as the Church of the New Jerusalem, was founded in Philadelphia in 1784.
6. False. In 1866, he wrote Japan's first best-seller book,Conditions in the West.
7. A.
8. B. It is a quote from Hamlet Act I, Scene V.
9. True.
10. False. He was once exiled, twice fired from the University of Salamanca, and died under house arrest.

Answers

1. True. Confucius' teachings also emphasized sincerity, justice,courtesy, respect for elders, and ancestor reverence.
2. D. Benito Mussolini greatly admired Machiavelli, but wouldn't allow his subjects to read The Prince.
3. True. He had a walk-on role in Annie Hall.
4. 1, C; 2, B; 3, A
5. True. Swedenborgianism, also known as the Church of the New Jerusalem, was founded in Philadelphia in 1784.
6. False. In 1866, he wrote Japan's first best-seller book,Conditions in the West.
7. A. 
8. B. It is a quote from Hamlet Act I, Scene V.
9. True. 
10. False. He was once exiled, twice fired from the University of Salamanca, and died under house arrest.

1. Match the holiday with its faith and representative country

   A. Eid al Fitr (end of Ramadan)	1. Hindu (Singapore)
   B. Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent)	2. Jewish (USA)
   C. Vaisakhi (Solar New Year)	3. Islamic (Oman)
   D. Shavuot (laws given to Moses)	4. Christian (Venezuela)

2. True or false: An early Scandinavian calendar was based upon the phases of the moon.
3. The solar year, which reflects the approximately 365 days and six hours it takes for the earth to revolve around the sun, was made the basis of a calendar in 46 BC by:

   A. The Aztecs

   B. The Polynesians

   C. The Romans

4. Pope Gregory XIII made the last day of the Julian calendar Thursday, October 4, 1582. The next day was Friday, October 15 -- the first day of the new Gregorian or Western calendar. However, Protestant princes ignored the papal bull and continued using the Julian calendar for many years. Match the countries with the year they adopted the Gregorian calendar.

   A. England	1. 1700
   B. Germany	2. 1752
   C. Russia	3. 1918

5. Lunation refers to the interval from one new moon to the next, and is the basic unit for the oldest calendars of record. True or false: The Islamic, or Hijrah, calendar has 354 days.
6. True or false: Belgium is one of the top trading nations in the world, yet has one of the shortest workweeks.
7. What's a normal workweek? If you are on the job Saturday through Wednesday, you are in:

   A. Tortola

   B. Belize

   C. Bahrain

8. True or false: Christmas Eve and the first full day of Hanukkah fall on the same date in 1997.
9. The Chinese calendar has major cycles of sixty years, and minor cycles of twelve years, each named for an animal. Which is not one of the twelve years: Rat, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Eagle, Monkey, or Rooster (or Cock).
10. The Romans named their days after planets, and Dies Veneris eventually evolved into our favorite -- Friday! Match Venus' day with its language.

    A. Vendredi	1. Spanish
    B. Venerdi	2. Italian
    C. Viernes	3. French

Answers

1. A, 3; B, 4; C, 1; D, 2
2. False. Calendars in environments such as Sweden and Finland, where the end of winter is a major event, were based upon the seasons of the year.
3. C. The Julian calendar was a sweeping reform implemented by Julius Caesar. It is still the calendar of Eastern Orthodox churches, and runs approximately thirteen days behind the Gregorian.
4. A, 2; B, 1; C, 3
5. True. The Hijrah is a lunar-based calendar. With a lunation being twenty-nine and one-half days long, the lunar year has 354 days -- eleven days less than a solar year.
6. True. At 35.8 hours, the Belgian workweek is one of the shortest in the world.
7. C. Friday is the Muslim Holy Day, and in Islamic countries such as Bahrain, most practicing Muslims take off Thursday and Friday.
8. True. However, Hanukkah begins at sundown on the evening prior to the 24th.
9. The Eagle is not one of the twelve. The other animals are the Horse, Ox, Sheep (or Goat), Dog, and Pig (or Boar).
10. A, 3; B, 2; C, 1

1. Sir Winston Churchill inspired millions with the line, "...[T]his was their finest hour." True or false: He was referring to World War II veterans who died for their countries.
2. One of the most famous speeches ever given in Mexico is known as the grito de Dolores (cry from Dolores). This 1810 speech was:

   A. Pancho Villa's cry of defiance toward the United States

   B. A sermon for Mexican independence

   C. The last words of rebel Emiliano Zapata

3. In 1860, an Italian patriot warned, "Women, cast away all the cowards from your embraces; they will give you only cowards for children ... " True or false: This dictum came from Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi.
4. "The great questions of the time are not decided by speeches and majority decisions ... but by iron and blood." Which of the following men spoke these famous words?

   A. German chancellor Otto von Bismarck

   B. Statesman Klemens von Metternich

   C. Wilhelm I, King of Germany

5. French revolutionist Maximilien Robespierre urged people to "be generous toward the good, compassionate with the unfortunate..." True or false: Robespierre himself was judged leniently when he was later arrested.
6. "Deign to grant to Venezuela a government preeminently popular, preeminently just, permanently moral." What South American patriot made this speech in 1819?

   A. Simón Bolívar

   B. Bernardo O'Higgins

   C. José de San Martín

7. The term "New World Order" is not new. True or false: In 1947, Brazilian diplomat Oswaldo Aranha proclaimed, "The United Nations stands for the new order..."
8. During World War I, Cardinal Désiré Joseph Mercier lamented to his countrymen, "Today the hymn of joy dies on our lips." What country was he from?

   A. Austria

   B. Belgium

   C. The Netherlands

9. Sir John Macdonald gave many speeches supporting the Canadian federation. True or false: Macdonald became the first prime minister of Canada.
10. While on trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela gave a four-hour speech in his defense. Which of the following points were included?

    A. That he was not a Communist

    B. That he had fought against both white and black domination

    C. That many of his people were forced to live like serfs

    D. All of the above

Answers

1. False. He was referring to the British people, rallying them to support the war effort in 1940.
2. B. The sermon was given by Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the parish priest of Dolores, Mexico, in 1810.
3. True.
4. A. Bismarck gave this speech in 1862 to a group of King Wilhelm's ministers. He became known as the Iron Chancellor.
5. False. Robespierre was executed by guillotine.
6. A. Bolívar gave this address in the town of Angostura, which has been renamed Ciudad Bolívar.
7. True. Aranha was a president of the United Nations General Assembly.
8. B. This line was from a sermon he delivered in occupied Brussels in 1916.
9. True.
10. D. Mandela spent more than twenty-seven years in prison. He quoted from this defense speech in another speech after his release in 1990.

1. Many sports are televised in the United States. In 1996, the longest-running locally produced sports show went off the air in Boston. Which of the following sports was featured on this show?

   A. Basketball

   B. Baseball

   C. Candlepin bowling

2. In the winter sport of curling, a stone weighing more than forty pounds is slid along the ice toward a target zone. Curling rivals ice hockey as the national sport of Canada. True or false: Canadians are credited with adding the use of brooms to curling.
3. Participants in this Nordic sport must be able to cross-country ski and shoot a rifle. This Olympic sport is called:

   A. The mogul

   B. The biathlon

   C. The luge

4. True or false: Legend says that the Italian pastime of boccie dates backabout 2,000 years.
5. An Olympic bobsled team from a Caribbean country inspired the 1993 filmCool Runnings. Which country was this team from ?

   A. Aruba

   B. Bermuda

   C. Jamaica

6. True or false: Cricket is a leading sport on all of the following Caribbean islands: Antigua, Babbados, and Trinidad.
7. Precursors to the game of golf were played in many countries, including France, England, and the Netherlands. True or false: One of the first modern golf organizations was established in Scotland.
8. In 1969, Honduras and El Salvador fought a brief war. What sporting eventled to the outbreak of this war?:

   A. Baseball

   B. Basketball

   C. Soccer

   D. Synchronized swimming

9. Although the modern game of tennis was first played in Wales in 1873,precursors to the sport were around for centuries. True or false: Tennis wasmentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare.
10. Australian Rules football is colloquially known down under as:

    A. Arvo

    B. Footy

    C. Two-up

Answers

1. C. A variant of bowling indigenous to New England, candlepin had been featured on Boston's channel 5 for thirty-seven years.
2. False. The Scots were the first to use a broom to sweep the ice clear of snow from the path of a curling stone. Canadians added many innovations, including bringing the game indoors onto specially prepared sheets of ice.
3. B. The sport is believed to have evolved from hunting on skis.
4. True. Roman legionnaires are said to have invented boccie during the Punic Wars.
5. C.
6. True. This is not surprising, since they are all former British colonies.
7. True. The Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers was established in Edinburgh in 1744.
8. C. The five-day Soccer War ended when El Salvador withdrew from Honduran territory.
9. True. Racket games are mentioned more than once, and the term tennis balls appears in the comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
10. B. Arvo is Australian slang for "afternoon," whiletwo-up is a game played with two spinning coins.

What motivates people to buy things? Why do you make the decisions you do? Here are some different priorities around the world.

1. Which of the following Japanese concepts is an important motivational factor?

   A. Giri

   B. Kanban

   C. Zaibatsu

2. "What do you do?" is a normal icebreaker in the USA. To a great extent, a person's job defines who he is. True or false: US citizens often worry about how their jobs will affect their health.
3. Bolivians purchase a product because:

   A. It's the best technology.

   B. Their family will love it.

   C. It's the best price.

4. True or false: In Germany, outstanding technology is usually "the steak and the sizzle" for the consumer.
5. You live in Saudi Arabia and want to purchase a fancy new widget. It is so expensive that you need a loan. Why aren't you charged any interest?

   A. Because Islam prohibits charging interest

   B. Because you own the bank

   C. Because of your good looks

6. Your fine English features have faded along with your youth, and a big promotion is pending. You want that job! True or false: You pop over to the plastic surgeon.
7. There is a morale problem among the workers in your factory in Sweden. You fix it by:

   A. Giving them extra paid-vacation days

   B. Giving them certificates of merit

   C. Giving them free tuition grants

8. True or false: Australians value status and prestige and have a keen sense of etiquette.
9. You have been working out the details of another meeting with your Asian supervisors. However, they always seem to know everything about you, your operation, and the issue at hand, and have decided on the outcome of the meeting before you ever set foot in the door. Why should you even bother going?

   A. Because they said so

   B. To gain consensus

   C. To get frequent-flyer miles

10. Time may equal money in Switzerland, but managing your time in microseconds is viewed askance by every one of these ethnic groups except:

    A. Native South Africans

    B. Arabs

    C. Polynesians

    D. Latin Americans

    E. White South Africans

Answers

1. A. Giri means duty or sense of obligation, and motivates much of Japanese life. Kanban is an advertisement, while zaibatsu is a network of companies. (None of these words translates exactly.)
2. False. If they get sick, they probably worry about how it will affect their jobs.
3. B. Family is the highest priority.
4. True
5. A. Saudi Arabia is a theocracy. Banks, like individuals, are subject to Islamic precepts.
6. False. Most English find it curious how US executives can't cope with aging, and would not consider their opportunity for promotion enhanced by a facelift or tummy tuck.
7. A. Certificates are not too impressive, and tuition is free in Sweden, but quality of life (i.e.: a big vacation) is key.
8. False. The French, oui; the Aussies, no.
9. B. Many meetings in Asia may seem ceremonial, but the good of the group -- reaching a consensus -- is often the primary goal.
10. D. Many cultures view time as flexible, but white South Africans have inherited their English and Dutch ancestors' insistence on punctuality.

1. Match the volcanoes with their countries.

   A. Etna	1. Hawaii
   B. Izalco	2. Ecuador
   C. Mauna Loa	3. El Salvador
   D. Cotopaxi	4. Italy

2. True or false: Aconcagua is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.
3. Match the lakes to their lands.

   A. Great Bear	1. South Australia
   B. Titicaca	2. Sweden
   C. Nicaragua	3. Canada
   D. Eyre	4. Peru
   E. Vänern	5. Nicaragua

4. True or false: South America has a desert with the highest elevation in the world.
5. Earth is riddled with caverns -- from enormous ones loaded with stalactites and stalagmites to those smoothly eroded by eons of water. To what countries do these caves and caverns belong?

   A. Devil's Hole	1. Spain
   B. Fingal's Cave	2. Puerto Rico
   C. Jenolan Caves	3. Bermuda
   D. Crystal Caves	4. England
   E. Altamira Cave	5. Scotland
   F. Las Cuevas de Camuy	6. Australia

6. Venezuela's Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world. True or false: The second-highest waterfall, 3,110-foot Tugela Falls, is also in Venezuela.
7. With approximately 200 geysers, Yellowstone National Park has the most spectacular displays of geothermal energy existent today. However, the world-record geyser -- blasting 1,500 feet -- is:

   A. Pele, in Hawaii

   B. Waimangu, in New Zealand

   C. Caliente, in Mexico

8. Colombia's huge salt mine at Zipaquirá is so large that it can fulfill all of South America's salt needs. True or false: There is a cathedral large enough for 10,000 worshipers carved into this mine, 450 feet underground.
9. There are tens of thousands of glaciers on the earth's surface, and approximately seventy-five percent of the planet's fresh water is stored in them. True or false: Glaciers exist on every continent except Africa.
10. True or false: Mt. Waialeale, a volcanic peak on Kauai, Hawaii's oldest island, is the wettest place on earth.

Answers

1. A, 4; B, 3; C, 1; D, 2
2. True. Aconcagua is in the Andes, shared by Argentina and Chile, and reaches 22,834 feet.
3. A, 3; B, 4; C, 5; D, 1; E, 2
4. True. It's the 600-mile-long Atacama Desert. Valuable for its nitrate deposits, Chile annexed it from Peru in the War of the Pacific (1879 to 1883).
5. A, 4; B, 5; C, 6; D, 3; E, 1; F, 2
6. False. Tugela Falls is in South Africa.
7. B. Unfortunately, many of New Zealand's geysers have been destroyed by recent geothermal-energy development.
8. True. Dedicated in 1954, it is a major tourist attraction.
9. False. Australia is the only continent without glaciers. (Based upon the seven accepted continental divisions of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.)
10. True. Mt. Waialeale feeds seven rivers on Kauai.

1. France has a literary tradition unsurpassed by any nation. Match the French authors with their works.

   A. Gustave Flaubert	1. Nausea
   B. Jean-Paul Sartre	2. Germinal
   C. Émile Zola	3. Madame Bovary

2. True or false: The all-time best-selling German fiction writer is Karl May, author of Wild West adventures.
3. Match the following Caribbean authors (and their works) with their island homes.

   A. Austin Chesterfield Clarke, Growing Up Stupid under the Union Jack	1. St. Kitts
   B. Michelle Cliff, Claiming an Identity They Taught Me To Despise	2. Guadeloupe
   C. Pedro Mir, Cuando Amaban las Tierras Comuneras	3. Barbados
   D. Caryl Phillips, A State of Independence	4. Dominican Republic
   E. Simone Schwarz-Bart, Between Two Worlds	5. Jamaica

4. True or false: V.S. Naipaul, author of A Turn in the South and An Area of Darkness, is a native of Trinidad and Tobago.
5. Isabel Allende, acclaimed author of The House of the Spirits and The Stories of Eva Luna, is the niece of the late president of which Latin American country:

   A. Argentina

   B. Brazil

   C. Colombia

   D. Chile

6. The novels of B. Wongar were hailed as the work of a talented Australian Aborigine. Many Australians were outraged when it was revealed that "Birimbir Wongar" was not Aboriginal at all, but of European descent. True or false: B. Wongar's true ancestry is Irish.
7. While all of these authors are of Irish descent, none lives in Ireland. Match the authors with their long-time countries of residence.

   A. Patrick O'Brian, the Aubrey/Maturin series	1. United States
   B. Edna O'Brien, Time and Tide	2. France
   C. John O'Brien, Leaving Las Vegas	3. England

8. An insult match between two characters in a long (usually epic) poem is known as:

   A. Leitmotif

   B. Roman à clef

   C. Flyting

   D. Feuilleton

9. Belgian author Georges Simenon wrote at least 250 novels under many pseudonyms, seventy-six of which featured the Parisian inspector Maigret. True or false: Like his fictional creation Maigret, Simenon was a man devoted and faithful to his wife.
10. Which Japanese author won the 1994 Nobel Prize for literature?

    A. Yukio Mishima

    B. Masuji Ibuse

    C. Kenzaburo Oe

    D. Kobo Abe

Answers

1. A, 3; B, 1; C, 2
2. True. The Western tales of Karl May outsell such world-renown German authors as Günter Grass, Hermann Hesse, and Thomas Mann.
3. A, 3; B, 5; C, 4; D, 1; E, 2
4. True. Although, V.S. Naipaul left his Trinidad birthplace in 1950.
5. D. Isabel Allende's father, Salvador Allende, was the first and only Marxist elected as head of state in Latin America. He died during a coup in 1973.
6. False. B. Wongar's ancestry is even more unlikely -- he is of Serbian descent.
7. A, 2; B, 3; C, 1. Of these authors, Edna O'Brien is the only one who writes about Ireland. However, her work was often banned in Ireland, so she moved to London.
8. C. The best example of a flyting match is in the sixteenth-century Scots poem Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie.
9. False. The impulsive Simenon was quite different from Maigret. A notorious roué, Simenon was married twice and claimed to have slept with 10,000 women!
10. C. The author of such haunting works as Teach Us To Outgrow Our Madness and A Personal Matter, Kenzaburo Oe has often written fictionalized versions of his tribulations in raising his mentally impaired son, who is a musical prodigy.