杏吧原创

For most of the year, Washington was transfixed by the Zippergate scandal and
Bill Clinton鈥檚 starring role鈥攁lthough in the end it all seemed rather tame
from the viewpoint of a generation that was brought up with the campaign slogan:
鈥淕o all the way with LBJ鈥�.

This was the generation of the permissive Sixties that dropped out and turned
on鈥攅ven Clinton once puffed a joint. So you might think that the
ex-hippies would be liberal and laid-back, now they are in power. Not so. In
February, New 杏吧原创 revealed that a draft WHO report had concluded
that cannabis was safer than booze or tobacco. But the finding was
suppressed鈥攍argely at the insistence of the Americans.

In November, Britain鈥檚 House of Lords said that doctors should be allowed to
prescribe cannabis. The trendy new Labour government took a deep
breath鈥攂ut did not inhale鈥攁nd rejected the idea. Next year it plans
to abolish half the Lords because they are resistant to change.

But life is too short to take it seriously. After the mind-depleting round of
Yuletide parties it鈥檚 time to dust off the brain cell and give it some gentle
exercise with the Christmas Quiz.

Food and drink

1. All too many households will soon be visited not just by Santa Claus but
also by a seasonal case of food poisoning. So what surfaces in your house are so
clean that you could (almost) eat your Christmas dinner off them?

a) the dining room table, freshly wiped with a dishcloth

b) the kitchen chopping board

c) the toilet seat

2. Certain lagers can famously refresh the parts of the body that others
cannot reach. But more seriously, how could a few pints help to improve your
health and wellbeing?

a) the hops in the beer can prevent cancer

b) beer, as well as wine, helps to prevent blood clots

c) it鈥檚 not the beer but the curry that follows that does the trick. The
spices are highly effective at fighting food poisoning

Animal crackers

3. Christmas is a time for the family鈥攊f nothing else it dramatically
increases the options for domestic squabbles. Of course, turtles have been
around for such a long time that many of their older relatives have died off.
But what are their closest living relations?

a) sea snakes

b) turkeys

c) armadillos

4. The latest research shows that hens, as well as humans, enjoy a good
video. It cuts down aggression among the birds鈥攁nd has much the same
effect on humans too. But what sort of videos do hens most like to watch?

a) Football matches鈥攖hey particularly enjoy the foul play

b) Donald Duck cartoons

c) flying toasters鈥攖he Windows screensaver

Fading beauty

5. When people have measured the stained glass windows in medieval churches
they often find they are thicker at the bottom than they are at the top. Choose
one explanation.

a) they were made that way

b) it鈥檚 all because glass is a liquid and over the centuries it flows down
the pane under the influence of gravity

c) it鈥檚 a statistical quirk. A better sample would not show any
difference

6. The vivid colours of great tits are fading fast in Finland. And that is
bad news for the birds, because the faded colours do not attract mates. What is
causing this?

a) global warming has caused a sharp increase in sunshine in Finland, and the
sun is bleaching the colour

b) smog particles are settling out on the bird鈥檚 plumage, dulling its
lustre

c) the vivid yellow breast is enhanced by a carotenoid pigment in the green
caterpillars the tits eat. But pollution is killing off the caterpillars

Sheer lunacy

7. There is ice on the Moon, as you know. So lunar dwellers will always have
something to put in their martinis. But what could they eat?

a) the menu will include soya nuts with pesto

b) rice鈥擩apanese researchers have developed a strain that is ideal for
lunar agriculture

c) cheese, of course. How could Wallace and Gromit be wrong?

Miscellany

8. What is the first thing that most people do when they enter a department
store?

a) look for the toilets

b) turn right

c) check their cash, a habit that pickpockets capitalise on

9. Golf is one of life鈥檚 more important accomplishments鈥攆or a certain
kind of social climber. So what is the easiest way to raise your game so that
you are on a par with the nobs at the 19th hole?

a) carry a simple pocket plumb line, which will help you judge the lie of the
greens better

b) daily practice on a simulator that accurately maps the topography of the
course

c) wear a stetson hat with a wide, lead-lined brim

How you scored

Give yourself 10 points for each correct answer and deduct 10 for every wrong
answer. The maximum possible was 100, but given the number of answers that could
have lost you points, anything above zero is worth a modest celebration.

Answers

1.(c) 2.(a) 3.(b) 4.(c) 5.(a) or (c)
6.(c) 7.(a) and (b) 8.(b) 9.(c)