Although there is a part of western Spain that extends further west than some but not all of Portugal, if you sailed due east from Boston; based on latitude, would you not hit Portugal first?
Hmm. I don't know. If you ever go to Detroit, you'll hear pretty quickly that Windsor, Ontario is just over the bridge. Yes, you have to cross the Detroit River to get there, but they are so close that it's hard to claim they don't border each other. It takes like three minutes by car to get from Windsor to Detroit. And of course, there is a border in the most technical sense about halfway across the Detroit River. I suppose if you've never been near Detroit or Windsor, it comes across very differently. But if you've been to either, you know that you can look right across the water and see the other city very clearly.
Does anyone else find it surprising that the most wrong-answered question is the one about Maine and Alaska? Did a lot of people assume it was a trick question?
I got it right, but I stopped to think about, wondering whether there was some Alaskan island that drooped waaaaaay down the Canadian coast. If someone had asked me that question at random, I could answer it without flinching, but in the context of this site and the quiz, I wondered if I was being duped.
Maybe you know and maybe you don't, but for any comment-readers who don't know: Sarah Palin's famous "quote" regarding her ability to see Russia from her house was Tina Fey on SNL, not Palin.
The literal quote about her house, yes, was from SNL. What she said, in response to a question about her insights into foreign affairs, was that you could see Russia from land in Alaska.
While the actual quote might be misattributed, misleading or out-of-context, it's popular because it uses exaggeration to mock the deeply stupid idea that being able to see Russia from an island in Alaska gives Palin insight into foreign affairs, which is what she was claiming in her answer.
So, no, the quote isn't literally true, but it also wasn't made up out of thin air, and there's a somewhat nuanced truth underneath it. It's not something she literally said, but it's an exaggeration of something she said that was equally stupid.
Beverly Hills is a city because it has its own municipal government with a mayor, city council, etc. Hollywood and Venice are neighborhoods governed by the city of Los Angeles. Venice Beach is just a beach.
There is a city in Los Angeles County called West Hollywood. The city of West Hollywood is considered part of the Hollywood area; the rest of which is made up of neighbourhoods of the city of Los Angeles - such as East Hollywood. I think.
So the question is technically correct, but not straightforward.
Yeah, this is what confused me. I've heard people who live in West Hollywood discuss it as though it were a city, so I assumed Hollywood, too, must be a city.
But most people have not made that mistake, so perhaps I just over thought it.
Well, my uncle who used to live in Alaska has said he's seen Russia from Anchorage himself. (I actually haven't heard it directly from him but from my mom who is sisters with him so I trust her)
Er, for those of us who like to discuss how Semisopochnoi, an island with active volcanoes, is the easternmost part of the U.S., can you add a "continental" to Q2 please?
No, St. Louis (Missouri) is completely on the west side of the river. You might be thinking about the separate city of East St. Louis (Illinois), which is on the east side of the river.
While the actual quote might be misattributed, misleading or out-of-context, it's popular because it uses exaggeration to mock the deeply stupid idea that being able to see Russia from an island in Alaska gives Palin insight into foreign affairs, which is what she was claiming in her answer.
So, no, the quote isn't literally true, but it also wasn't made up out of thin air, and there's a somewhat nuanced truth underneath it. It's not something she literally said, but it's an exaggeration of something she said that was equally stupid.
So the question is technically correct, but not straightforward.
But most people have not made that mistake, so perhaps I just over thought it.