This is Only a Test

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it seriously. After all, your Texas bona fides are at stake. You have one hundred questions to prove you’re one of us. (No cheating. No makeups. And no grade grubbing.)

by Anne Dingus

September 2005

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44.	What late, great Texas musician was the first spokesman for the state’s “Don’t Mess With Texas” anti-litter campaign?
A	Bill Haley
B	Stevie Ray Vaughan
C	Doug Sahm
D	Waylon Jennings

45.	In the TV miniseries of Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove, who played Gus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call?

46.	What event was front-page news for 51 days in 1993?

47.	What extended from the Rio Grande, through San Antonio and Fort Worth, all the way to Abilene, Kansas?

48.	Name the three other passengers in JFK’s limousine on November 22, 1963.

49.	Match the Spanish word with its English definition:
A	maquiladora	1. good (or hello)
B	bracero	2. three milks (a type of cake)
C	tres leches	3. beer
D	amarillo	4. factory
E	bueno	5. laborer
F	cerveza	6. yellow
G	conjunto	7. group

50.	Match the person to the crime of which he or she was convicted:
A	Jean Lafitte	1. murder
B	O. Henry	2. horse theft
C	Leadbelly	3. piracy
D	Willie Nelson	4. embezzlement
E	Belle Starr	5. possession of marijuana

51.	What Houston dance hall co-starred with John Travolta and Debra Winger in Urban Cowboy?

52.	Texans generically refer to any soft drink as:
A	a soda
B	a pop
C	a Coke
D	a tonic

53.	True or false: This is how the Alamo appeared at the time of the 1836 battle.

54.	Which of the following athletes did not win an Olympic gold medal in track?
A	Michael Johnson
B	Carl Lewis
C	Hallie Stilwell
D	Babe Didrikson

55.	What is a Texas tuxedo?

56.	This is a picture of the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. Name her.

57.	What was called the Eighth Wonder of the World when it opened in 1965?

58.	What is a quinceañera?

59.	The Dallas Cowboys have won five Super Bowls. What team did they beat two years in a row?

60.	Which of these Texas movie titles best sums up the presidential administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson?
A	Terms of Endearment
B	Semi-Tough
C	Days of Heaven
D	Dark Command

61.	True or false:
A	Howard Hughes fathered daughters with actresses Jean Peters and Terry Moore.
B	Prickly pear cactus, if de-spined, is edible.
C	Rattlesnakes lay eggs.
D	A prairie dog is really a rodent.
E	A horny toad is really a reptile.

62.	Below is the familiar logo of a venerable Texas product. Is it correct as depicted here?

63.	List three Larry McMurtry novels that were made into feature films.

64.	What major outdoor event begins in most of Texas in early November?

65.	Who was the only Texas governor to win three consecutive terms?
A	George W. Bush
B	John Connally
C	James Ferguson
D	Allan Shivers

66.	In 1984 a University of Texas student used $1,000 to start an Austin business that in 2004 reported revenues of almost $37 billion. Identify him and his company.

67.	The worst natural disaster in U.S. history occurred in Texas in 1900. Identify the type of disaster and the town it destroyed.

68.	A common Texas nickname for boys is “Bubba,” which is baby talk for:
A	baby
B	brother
C	buddy
D	Beelzebub

69.	Since 1982, when the death penalty was reinstated, Texas has executed more inmates than any other state. How many had been executed as of June 7, 2005?
A	267
B	345
C	514
D	720
E	908

70.	These are statements about the Texas Revolution that were once accepted as fact. Which one do modern historians believe is not bunk?
A.	William Barret Travis drew a line in the sand.
B.	Emily Morgan, the “Yellow Rose of Texas,” seduced Santa Anna in his tent at San Jacinto.
C.	Santa Anna intended to execute surviving Alamo defenders.
D.	Susanna Dickinson was the only woman in the fort.

71.	In 1962 Texas humorist and radio broadcaster John Henry Faulk sued for libel and was awarded $3.5 million, at that time the largest libel judgment ever. Why did Faulk sue in the first place?
A	A rival broadcaster had hinted on the air that he was homosexual.
B	A rival broadcaster had accused him of having to steal material because he was “a rube from Texas.”
C	A New York gossip columnist alleged that as a young man he had belonged to the Ku Klux Klan.
D	An ultraconservative group had gotten him blacklisted as a Communist sympathizer during the red scare of the fifties.

72.	What Texas city has a Latin name?

73.	In July 1969 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Who stayed behind to pilot Apollo XI?

74.	These five Texas lawsuits ultimately resulted in decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. Match each case with its subject:
A	Turner v. Big Lake Oil Company (1936)	1. offshore land rights
B	U.S. v. Texas (1950)	2. flag burning
C	Sweatt v. Painter (1950)	3. abortion
D	Roe v. Wade (1973)	4. damages caused by oil-field wastes
E	Texas v. Johnson (1989)	5. racial segregation at UT’s law school

75.	Match the name with the correct animal:
A	Reveille	1. legendary quarter horse sire
B	Buttermilk	2. cougar
C	Bevo	3. collie
D	Shasta	4. performing quarter horse
E	Shamu	5. Scottish terrier
F	Barney	6. Longhorn
G	Steel Dust	7. killer whale

76.	True or false:
A	The top speed limit on the state’s roadways is 65.
B	The legal drinking age is 21.
C	Houston surgeon Michael DeBakey performed the first human heart transplant.
D	Texas A&M is the oldest public university in Texas.
E	The final battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas.
F	The Texas Capitol dome is taller than the U.S. Capitol dome.

77.	There are three ingredients in a margarita. Two are tequila and lime juice. What is the third?

78.	Solve this rhyming riddle to find a familiar two-word phrase: Favored brew, Sayles movie too.

79.	Match the wealthy families with their hometown:
A	Hunt, Perot	1. Houston
B	Harrington, Bivins	2. Dallas
C	Hobby, Brown, Root	3. Fort Worth
D	Bass, Carter	4. Amarillo

80.	What company launched in 1972 owes its success, at least in part, to hot pants?

81.	What nickname is shared by the Quitman native who won the 1980 Oscar for best actress and the former state legislator who was nominated for the vice presidency at the 1972 Democratic National Convention?

82.	Texas leads the nation in all of the following agricultural products but one. Which one?
A	roses
B	cattle
C	marijuana
D	cotton

83.	What nickname precedes the surnames Avery, Cobb, Rickard, and Schramm?

84.	Rick Perry is our current governor. Name three of the previous four.

85.	Name the animal and the man who have won the Triple Crowns of horse racing and auto racing, respectively.

86.	If you uproot a Russian thistle and let it dry, what do you have?

87.	The title of one of these classic Texas songs was inspired by a catchphrase of John Wayne’s in the movie The Searchers (1956). Which one?
A	“Mal Hombre”
B	“If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time”
C	“That’ll Be the Day”
D	“I Fought the Law”

88.	On May 15, 1916, 15,000 people gathered on the grounds of Waco’s city hall to do what?
A	attend a free public concert by opera star Nellie Melba
B	listen to a fiery speech by temperance leader Carrie Nation
C	watch the lynching of a black teenager convicted of raping and murdering a white woman
D	catch a glimpse of captured Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who was being transferred to the city’s federal building

89.	Which of the following is the colorful Texas oilman who inspired the character Jett Rink in Edna Ferber’s novel Giant?
A	Glenn McCarthy
B	Cormac McCarthy
C	Slim Pickens
D	Boone Pickens

90.	What is the name of the alfresco automotive sculpture west of Amarillo?

91.	At what Dallas company was Jack Kilby employed when he invented the integrated circuit in 1958?

92.	To what sport do the terms “eight seconds” and “free hand” apply?

93.	To what game does the expression “eighter from Decatur” apply?
A	poker
B	pool
C	dominoes
D	craps

94.	By what names do we now know the following sports teams?
A	Houston Colt .45s
B	San Diego Rockets
C	Minnesota North Stars
D	Houston Oilers
E	Dallas Chaparrals
F	Washington Senators
G	Dallas Texans

95.	Give the name of the Dallas resident whose home movie of the Kennedy assassination now resides in the Smithsonian.

96.	A famous breakfast cereal king established what he considered a model community in Texas. He named it:
A	Graham
B	Oatmeal
C	Wheatland
D	Post City

97.	What are Limousin, Simmental, Zebu, and Belted Galloway?

98.	At various times the late, lamented Southwest Conference included college teams from three states. Name the states.

99.	What bevy of 32 is the most famous group of women in the state?

100.	Who is La Llorona?

Extra credit #1

Which one of these words rhymes with Jim Bowie’s last name?
A	gooey
B	doughy
C	Maui
D	Bob

Extra credit #2

What color are peanut patties and the granite of the Texas Capitol?

Extra credit #3

What do singer Selena, actress Sharon Tate, and atheist leader Madalyn Murray O’Hair have in common?

Extra credit #4

Fill in the missing word on this bumper sticker seen in South Texas farming country: “Eat more ______ . Idaho potatoes make your butt too big.”

Extra credit #5

Fill in the blank:
“I may be a little fellow, but my ______ is big as Texas.” —Michael Jackson, singing “ABC,” 1977

Extra credit #6

Fill in the blank:
“He can’t help it. He was born with a silver ______ in his mouth.” —Ann Richards on George H. W. Bush, 1988

Extra credit #7

Fill in the blank:
“Give me an army of West Point graduates and I’ll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas ______ and I’ll win the war.” —General George S. Patton, circa 1944

Extra credit #8

A classic blues song is named after a Southern Pacific train that once passed the prison farm near Sugar Land on its way from Houston to San Antonio, El Paso, and ultimately San Francisco. What is the song’s title?

Extra credit #9

Fill in the blank: “If the King’s English was good enough for ______ , it’s good enough for me!” —Governor Miriam “Ma” Ferguson, circa mid-twenties

Extra credit #10

What Oscar nominee wrote the screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies, and The Trip to Bountiful?

Extra credit #11

Stephen F. Austin is called the Father of Texas. What does he have in common with Governor James Ferguson, Governor W. Lee O’Daniel, and oilman C. M. Joiner?

Extra credit #12

Who shot J.R.?

Answers

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