How Smart Are Frequent Business Traveler Readers?
As each year draws to a close, we test, you, our loyal readers, on how well you paid attention to the news we reported throughout the year. Over 1,400 people took the quiz this year and most passed with flying colors.
Here’s how you did.
Some 16% of you get an A for the semester, with every answer correct. Almost 9% got an A-, with nine out of ten questions answered correctly. Almost 17% earned a B+ (8 out of 10) and 70% were straight B students, with 7 out of 10. Let’s just say it went downhill from there.
The easiest question was Question 10, “Which automaker was accused of tampering with its cars’ software to enable them to pass emissions tests?” Some 97% of you got this right (it was Volkswagen) although a few brave souls, who may have been watching Deutschland ’83 on television, guessed the 26-horsepower Trabant, not even an automaker (it was made in the former East Germany or DDR by VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau).
Ninety-four percent of you knew that it was US Airways that faded into history in 2015 and 85% knew that it was LaGuardia Airport that would get a new terminal building to replace several of its decrepit terminals.
The proctors were also pleased to see how much attention you were paying to news reportage, because 84% of you knew that it was Transaero Airlines that had ceased operations in October, a number that likely exceeds the number of FBT readers who actually ever traveled on the airline.
When it comes to world affairs, your knowledge was impressive. Eighty-two percent knew that diplomatic relations with Cuba had been restored, U.S. airlines had announced non-stop flights to the island nation, and that the U.S. government had announced the resumption of commercial flights to Cuba by selecting “All of the above.”
The trickiest questions were the two that probably received the most coverage in the general press. The one with the fewest correct answers was “Which state made fake service animals illegal?” Only 32% stated the correct answer, Florida, which made us wonder how many of you are seeing service pigs and llamas on flights.
Next was “What secure credit card technology came into widespread use in the United States in 2015?” Some 40% of you must have been hungry as you chose “Chip ‘n’ Dip” as the correct answer. (It was “EMV,” something 46.8% of you got right.)
Six out of ten of you are clearly aviation geeks and knew that the A350 was the new high-tech plane that went into service in 2015.
To point out our lack of enthusiasm for Delta’s rebranding of its BusinessElite business-class cabin, we asked, “What name did Delta select for its international business-class cabin?” One quarter of you said it was “Delta BusinessFirst,” despite the fact that BusinessFirst is United Airlines’ business-class brand. Two-third of you did, however, get it right.
What we thought would be the trickiest question – “Which city announced it will offer overnight stays in some of its famous temples?” – actually wasn’t very hard. Seven out of ten of you got it right (it’s Kyoto).
To borrow from Alice Cooper: school’s out for winter, at least for now. To our A and A- readers (you know who you are since you were given the results immediately), congratulations – and if you still want to try the quiz after reading all of the answers, you can do so by clicking here, but it won’t help your final grade.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
