TeachersFirst Brain Twisters

TeachersFirst Printable Middle School Brain Twisters
Week of January 9, 2009

Genes are often classified as either dominant or:
    Reverted
    Regressive
    Recessive
    Reactionary
    Perverted

Which pair is not correct?
    Vatican – Rome
    Louvre-- Paris
    Coliseum -- Pisa
    Pentagon – Washington
    Parthenon – Athens

Which word pair contains a root meaning “to see?”
    involve – evolve
    eviscerate – viscera
    involve – evolve
    invisible-envision
    revolution – revolve

Which musical time signature can also be represented by a letter of the alphabet?
    6/8
    4/4
    1/2
    2/4
    3/4

Abraham Lincoln was first elected president in this year.
    1900
    1856
    1864
    1914
    1860

John, Mary and Susie are all over the age of 9. The sum of their ages is 43. John is 2 times as old as Mary. Susie is 3 years older than Mary. How old is Susie?
    10
    9
    13
    11
    15

Thomas Jefferson bought it cheaply from the French, who stole it from the Spanish. What was it?
    New Mexico
    Florida
    A draft of the Declaration of Independence
    The Louisiana Purchase
    Alaska

Which line does not contain an error?
    Now everyone who failed will have to have his or her parents sign the test.
    More then half the class failed.
    They mist at least ten questions a peace.
    None of the kids were ready for the test.
    Each kid could have improved their score.

A kitchen measures 12 by 9 feet and has a 1.5 by 3 foot island. How many boxes of 9 inch tiles will the owner have to buy to cover the floor if there are 12 tiles in a box?
    16 boxes
    15 boxes
    18 boxes
    10 boxes
    81 boxes

According to a biologist, which does not belong to the same group of animals?
    ewe
    goat
    horse
    antelope
    cow

Which would not affect the surface air temperature at a given location?
    Jet stream
    Elevation
    Rotation of the earth
    Barometric pressure
    Season of the year

To climb Mt. Everest, you must first travel through:
    Tibet or Laos
    India or Laos
    India or Pakistan
    Nepal or Turkey
    Nepal or China

Which is different from the others when you change its form to make it a noun?
    resolve
    involve
    solve
    revolve
    evolve

Who was not an Olympian?
    Hera
    Apollo
    Zeus
    Hephaestus
    Hercules

Sue and Fred want to take the 250-mile trip from New York to Washington to see the inauguration. Sue plans to take the train, which costs $85. John is going to drive his car, which costs 50.5 cents a mile to operate. Which one-way trip costs less and by about how much?
    John's trip by about $35
    They cost within a dollar of each other
    Sue's trip by about $40
    John's trip, but only by $5
    Sue's trip by about ten dollars

Within the next month, President-elect Obama will be doing all of the following except...
    swearing to protect the Constitution
    receiving security briefings about Gaza
    moving into a new home
    voting to confirm new cabinet members
    appointing a new Secretary of Commerce

Which is greatest?
    The number of prepositions in the Pledge of Allegiance
    The number of years in a U.S. Senator’s term
    The number of countries that border Spain
    The number of atoms in a molecule of table salt
    The number of vertices in a septagon

Which match is correct?
    Shakespeare – Whose woods these are, I think I know…
    Homer Simpson – I shall return
    George Washington – Fourscore and seven years ago…
    Rudolph Guilliani – I have a dream…
    Emma Lazarus - your poor, your huddled masses…

Which of these invented words is most likely to be the name of a specialist who would work in ponds in New Hampshire in winter?
    Cardio-ornithologist
    Temponeurologist
    Astronumismatist
    Lumenphysician
    Cryohydrologist

During World War II, rationing in the United States involved
    Sugar, gasoline, and meat
    Water, sugar, and flour
    Newspapers, chocolate, and disks
    Glass, plastic, and newspapers
    Gasoline, film, and shoes