Apr 1, 2010

April Fool Special- Hoaxes, Frauds and Pranks Quiz!!

A small quiz on a quite 'different' topic....enjoy.....


1. X was unveiled at a press conference held by National Geographic in October 1999. At the same press conference also plans were announced to return the fossil to Chine authorities, as it was illegally exported. In November 1999 National Geographic featured the fossil in an article written by art editor Christopher Sloan. The article in general discussed feathered dinosaurs and the origin of birds. It claimed the fossil was "a missing link between terrestrial dinosaurs and birds that could actually fly" and informally referred to it as "X", announcing it would later be formally named as such. This name means "ancient robber of Liaoning", Liaoning being the Chinese province from where it was 'excavated' from. The fossil was later proved to be a fraud and remains possibly the biggest 'fossil fraud' ever. In October 2000 National Geographic published the results of their investigation regarding the authenticity of the 'fossil', in an article written by investigative journalist Lewis M. Simmons. They concluded that the fossil was a composite and that virtually everyone involved in the project had made some mistakes. The fossil's head and upper body actually belonged to a specimen of the primitive fossil bird Yanornis and the tail apparently belonged to a small winged dromaeosaur, called the Microraptor. The legs and feet belong to an as yet unknown animal.

ID X, whose picture is shown below (1 Point)


2. X is said to have been one of the most talented confidence tricksters who ever lived. X's first con involved selling a $30,000 money-printing machine that didn't worked well.

In 1925, X'smaster con began when he was reading a newspaper: an article discussed the problems the city was having maintaining the Eiffel Tower. So headopted the persona of a government official, and sent six scrap metal dealers an invitation to discuss a possible business deal. X told the group that the upkeep on the Eiffel Tower was so outrageous that the city could not maintain it any longer,and wanted to sell it for scrap. So he sold the Eiffel Tower to one of the scrap metal dealers and took a train to Vienna with the suitcase full of cash. The buyer was too humiliated to complain to the police.

Later, X even convinced the legendary Al Capone to invest $40,000 in a stock deal. X kept Capone's money in a safe deposit box for two months, then returned it to him, claiming that the deal had fallen through. Impressed with X's integrity, Capone gave him $5,000. It was, of course, all that X was after.

On 1907, X arrived to the United States and conducted a number of scams, but eventually his luck ran out: he was arrested for counterfeiting and sent to Alcatraz prison. ID X whose picture is shown below (1 Point)




3. Connect the images and the quote (1 Point)



'Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two'

Ans.

Connect is the April Fools Day Tradition

(picture 2 is of Geoffrey Chaucer)

The first ever historical reference to the April Fools Day tradition is found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392).The "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two.Chaucer probably meant 32 days after March, i.e. May 2,the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381. However, readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "March 32," i.e April 1. In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecler is tricked by a fox.

Picture 1 is a print Ad of a famous April Fool Prank which occurred on On April 1, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_fools_day




4. Put Funda (2 Points) (long question...but its pretty funny...please read through it)

Audette: Yes, hello, Governor Palin? Yes, hello, Mrs. Governor?

X: Hello this is Sarah, how are you?

Audette: Fine, and you, this is Nicolas Sarkozy speaking, how are you?

X: Oh... so good, it’s so good to hear you. Thank you for calling us.

Audette: Oh, it’s a pleasure.

X: Thank you sir, we have such great respect for you, John McCain and I, we love you and thank you for spending a few minutes to talk to me.

Audette: I follow your campaigns closely with my special American Advisor Johnny Hallyday you know?

X: Yes! Good!

Audette: Excellent! Are you confident?

X: Very confident and we’re thankful that the polls are showing that the race is tightening and--

Audette: Well I know very well that the campaign can be exhausting. How do you feel right now my dear?

X: Ah, I feel so good. I feel like we’re in a marathon and at the very end of the marathon, you get your second wind and you plow to the finish—

Audette: You see, I got elected in France because I’m real and you seem to be someone who’s real as well.

X: Yes, yeah, Nicolas, we so appreciate this opportunity.

Audette: You know, I see you as a president, one day, you too.

X: [laugh] Maybe in 8 years.

Audette: Well, ah, I hope for you. You know we have a lot in common because personally one of my favorite activities is to hunt too.

X: [giggle] Oh very good, we should go hunting together.

Audette: Exactly! We could go try hunting by helicopter, like you did, I never did that.

X: [giggle]

Audette: Like we say in France, "on pourrait tuer des bébés phoques aussi"

X: [giggle] Well I think we could have a lot of fun together as we’re getting work done, we can kill two birds with one stone that way.

Audette: I just love killing those animals. Mm, mm. Take away a life, that is so fun!

X: [hahahaha]

Audette: I’d really love to go as long as we don’t bring your Vice President Cheney [hahahaha]

X: No, I’ll be a careful shot, yes.

Audette: You know we have a lot in common also except that from my house I can see Belgium. That’s kind of less interesting than you.

X: Well, see, we’re right next door to other countries that we all need to be working with, yes.

Audette: Some people said in the last days, and I thought that was mean, that you weren’t experienced enough in foreign relations, and you know, that’s completely false, that’s the thing I said to my great friend, the Prime Minister of Canada.

X: Well, he’s doing fine, too, and yeah when you come into a position underestimated, it gives you the opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder-

Audette: I, I was wondering because you are also next to him, one of my good friends, also, the prime minister of Quebec, Mr. Richard Z. Sirois have you met him recently? Did he come to one of your rallies?

X: Uh, haven’t seen him at one of the rallies, but it’s been great working with the Canadian officials in my role as governor; we have a great cooperative effort there as we work on all of our resource development projects. You know I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife, oh my goodness, you’ve added a lot of energy to your country, even, with that beautiful family of yours.

Audette: Thank you very much. You know my wife, Carla, would love to meet you. You know even though she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today. [hahahaha]

X: [hahahaha] Well give her a big hug from me.

Audette: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she’s so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.

X: Oh my goodness! I didn’t know that.

Audette: Yes, in French, it’s called "Du rouge à lèvres sur une cochonne" or if you prefer in English Joe the Plumber, [sings] It’s his life, Joe the Plumber...."

X: Maybe she understands some of the unfair criticism but I bet you she is such a hard worker, too, and she realizes you just plow through that criticism like....

Audette: I just want to be sure, I don’t quite understand the phenomenon "Joe the Plumber", that’s not your husband, right?

X: Mmhmm, that’s not my husband, but he’s a normal American who just works hard and doesn’t want government to take his money.

Audette: Yes, yes, I understand, we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France, it’s called, "Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit, oui."

X: Right. That’s what it’s all about, is the middle class, and government needing to work for them. You’re a very good example for us here.

Audette: I seen a bit about NBC even Fox News wasn’t an ally, an ally, sorry, about as much as usual.

X: Yeah that’s what we’re up against.

Audette: I must say, Governor Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life, you know, Hustler's Nailin Palin

X: Oh, good, thank you. Yes.

Audette: That was really edgy.

X: [laughs] Well good.

Audette: I really love you. And I must say something, so, Governor, you’ve been pranked


Ans.

This is the telephone transcript of

The Masked Avengers' prank on Sarah Palin on November 1, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Avengers'_prank_on_Sarah_Palin


5. What is being depicted? (1 Point)


Ans.

The Turk, a famous Chess Hoax


It was a fake Chess-playing 'machine' constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was explained in the early 1820s as an elaborate hoax.




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