What’s your TQ? Here’s your final chance to gauge your intelligence quotient (Lone Star division). If the mere prospect makes you testy, note that most of you are likely to excel on this installment of my cultural literacy quiz because, this time around, you were around too: Part four covers the state’s recent history, from the sixties through the nineties. It was the best of times (in terms of music, literature, film, and more), and it was the worst of times (at least for certain oilmen and politicos). See the last page to check your answers, give yourself four points for each one that’s correct, then consult the score box to interpret (and celebrate!) your score.

1. Which of the following statements about John Connally is not true?

a. He won three successive terms as a Democratic governor.
b. He was wounded during the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
c. He switched to the Republican party in 1973.
d. He died in a plane crash in 1993.

2. In 1961, who won the special election to fill Lyndon Baines Johnson’s U.S. Senate seat after LBJ resigned to become vice president?

a. Lloyd Bentsen
b. George Bush
c. John Tower
d. Ralph Yarborough

3. In what year were all four of these events making headlines in Texas: the debut of Southwest Airlines, the passage of liquor-by-the-drink laws, the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal, and Roe v. Wade, the Dallas case that challenged Texas’ abortion law?

a. 1966
b. 1971
c. 1978
d. 1981

4. Which of the following statements about Texas politicians is not true?

a. In 1968 Ben Barnes became the youngest person ever elected lieutenant governor.
b. In 1979 Bill Clements became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
c. In 1983 Ann Richards became the state’s first female attorney general.
d. In 1991 William P. Hobby, Jr., left office after eighteen years as lieutenant governor, the longest tenure ever.

5. Which of the following has never been commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp?

a. HemisFair
b. the Texas sesquicentennial
c. Lyndon Baines Johnson
d. Selena

Match the Texas politician with the correct quote:

6. George H. W. Bush a. “Poor George. He can’t help it—he was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”
7. George W. Bush b. “Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but stand there and take it.”
8. Ann Richards c. “My faith in the Constitution is whole. It is complete. It is total.”
9. Barbara Jordan d. “I’m the president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.”
10. Lyndon Baines Johnson e. “Make the pie higher.”

11. Which of the following events was the most expensive?

a. Hurricane Carla, 1961
b. the special legislative session convened to rewrite the state constitution, 1974
c. the savings-and-loan bailout, 1989
d. H. Ross Perot’s presidential campaign, 1992

12. Which of the following is a real Texas town?

a. Terlingua
b. Dancer
c. Tuna
d. Lonesome Dove

13. List the following sports events in chronological order:

a. the University of Texas’ first national football title
b. the Dallas Cowboys’ first Super Bowl win
c. Texas Western College’s NCAA basketball title
d. the firing of Texas Rangers manager Billy Martin

14. Which of the following did not take place in the Astrodome?

a. a series of Elvis Presley concerts that set attendance records
b. the Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs tennis match
c. Nolan Ryan’s fifth no-hitter
d. a welcome-home party for Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski

Match the Texas movie title with the Texan it best describes:

15. Michael DeBakey a. D.O.A.
16. Willie Nelson b. Places in the Heart
17. T. Boone Pickens c. Urban Cowboy
18. Lee Harvey Oswald d. Piranha

19. Who died en route to Houston on April 5, 1976?

a. Howard Hughes
b. John Henry Faulk
c. Janis Joplin
d. Hondo Crouch

20. Which of the following was a Hispanic political force in Texas in the seventies?

a. the PRI
b. La Raza Unida
c. De Colores
d. El Nacimiento

Match each Jones with the word that best describes him:

21. Jesse a. playwright
22. Tommy Lee b. businessman
23. George c. singer
24. Preston d. actor

25. Who shot J.R.?

a. Farrah Fawcett
b. Sue Ellen Ewing
c. Kristin Shepard
d. Madalyn Murray O’Hair

Answers:

1, d. 2, c. 3, b. 4, c. 5, d. 6, d. 7, e. 8, a. 9, c. 10, b. 11, c. 12, a. 13, a, c, b, d. 14, d. 15, b. 16, c. 17, d. 18, a. 19, a. 20, b. 21, b. 22, d. 23, c. 24, a. 25, c.

Lore Score:

80-100: Native Texan or Long-term Resident (LTR): You have all your wits about you—and several other people’s too. Transplant: You are sharper than a pocketful of toothpicks.

60-76: Native or LTR: You are definitely a scion of the times. Transplant: When it comes to modern Texas, you are wise about the wherefores.

40-56: Native or LTR: Hmm . . . better keep your TQ on the QT. Transplant: Time for a brainwashing, perhaps?

0-36: Native or LTR: Ooh—that smarts! Transplant: Oh, well—who the heck wants to while away the hours conferring with the flowers anyhow?