1. A customer in a restaurant found a dead fly in his coffee. He sent the waiter back for a fresh cup. After a sip he shouted “This is the same cup of coffee I had before!” How did he know?
2. “I guarantee,” said the pet-shop salesman, “that this parrot will repeat every word it hears.” A customer bought the parrot but found it would not speak a single word. Nevertheless, the salesman told the truth. What is the explanation?
3. This little poem by Bennett Cerf includes every letter in the alphabet but one. Which letter is missing?
A jovial swain should not complain / Of any buxom fair
Who mocks his pain and thinks it gain / To quiz his awkward air.
4. Why are 1998 pennies worth more than 1997 pennies?
5. A man lives on the 100th floor of an apartment building. On rainy days he rides the elevator all the way up. However, on sunny days, he goes half way and takes the stairs the rest of the way. Why?
6. A repeat from last time – this one is too much fun to not have any takers!! GEOGRAPHY FUN: A) Missouri is tied with one other state for the title of ‘state with borders the most other states.’ Can you name the other state, and can you tell how many states they border? B) Missouri is also one of EIGHT states that start with the letter M. Can you name the other seven? C) There are also eight states beginning with the letter N, but they kinda have to ‘cheat’ to do it? Why is that?
7. Write the numeral for 8 trillion, forty million, two.
8. Which weighs more – a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?
9. 0.1 + 0.2 x 0.3 – 0.4 ÷ 0.5 = _______ ?
10. The first 10 numbers in the sequence 3, 33, 333, 3333, . . . are added. What is the digit in the thousands place of the sum?
11. Find a fraction between 3/7 and 4/9.
12. If I count at the rate of one number a second, how long (to the nearest year!) will it take me to count to a billion?
1. He put sugar in it and it was sweet when he drank it.
2.The parrot is deaf.
3.The letter E
Q 1, The other flies were giving the dead one a funeral.
Q.2 The bird was deaf.
Q3. Missing the most used letter of all, E.
1. He put 3 packets of sugar into the coffee and he can taste the very sweet coffee. The fly was attracted to the coffee by all of the sugar.
2. The parrot is deaf.
3. Jim read the poem with zest/yearned to do it with glee/quick, at his very best/he wants a fix and insert an E,
4. 1998 pennies equal $19.98 and 1997 pennies equal $19.97.
6. A. Kentucky, 8 states
B, Maine, Montana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts
C. North Dakota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Nebraska
They have to use north and new for 6 of the states.
2.
6. A. Kentucky is the new Tennessee.
5. Answer #1: he is very short and cannot reach above the 50th floor button. On rainy days he has an umbrella and uses it to reach 100th floor button. On sunny days he does not have the umbrella and can only reach the 50th floor button. Of course if this is a persistent problem, why doesn’t he use a cane on sunny days?
Answer #2. The lower half of the building is wider than the upper floors. The elevator is interior up to the 50th floor and exterior above the 50th floor. The sun shines through the glass in the elevator above the 50th floor. He is a vampire and must not be exposed to direct sunlight. So, he exits the elevator at the 50th floor to avoid the sun. Direct sunlight is not an issue on rainy days, so he can ride the elevator all the way to the 100th floor.
No. 4. Obviously 1998 pennies is one more than 1997 pennies and therefore a tiny bit more valuable.
No. 8. A pound is a pound of anything unless it is gold which is weighed in Troy ounces instead of Avoirdupois ounces which is why we should all switch to the Metric System and, I dare say, 24 hour time!
1. The man had added sugar to the coffee before he sent it back, and when the waiter brought it back, he tasted it and noticed it was still sweet so he knew the waiter had just removed the dead fly and brought back the same cup of coffee.
2. The parrot was deaf.
3. the letter “e”
4. Because there is one more penny (which makes it worth $.01 more)
5. The man is short and can’t reach the 100 button, but on rainy days he can use his umbrella to hit the button.
6. A). Tennessee and MO both border 8 states
B). Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, and Montana
C) 2 states start with “North” and 4 states start with “New”
7. 8,000,040,000,002
8. They both weigh the same – 1 pound.
9. -0.64
10. 3
11. 34/79
12. about 31.7 years, or almost 32 years