Q 01/05

Which two continents are larger than North America by area?

A) Asia and Africa

B) Asia and Europe

C) Africa and South America

D) Asia and Antarctica

Answer · why

A) Asia and Africa

Asia and Africa: Mercator world maps make Greenland look almost as big as Africa, though Africa is about 14 times larger.

Q 02/05

The Americas were named after which explorer?

A) Christopher Columbus

B) Amerigo Vespucci

C) John Cabot

D) Ferdinand Magellan

Answer · why

B) Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci: Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 map gave his first name a feminine Latin form, 'America', to match Europa and Asia, and placed it on Sou...

Q 03/05

Early European maps called part of North America 'Bacalaos', meaning the land of which fish?

A) Herring

B) Salmon

C) Cod

D) Tuna

Answer · why

C) Cod

The name nodded to the huge cod stocks off the East Coast that drew European fishing fleets to Newfoundland.

Q 04/05

What is the highest peak in North America?

A) Mount Logan

B) Pico de Orizaba

C) Mount Whitney

D) Denali

Answer · why

D) Denali

Denali: in 1910 two climbers planted a pole on its lower North Peak to prove a doubted ascent, and the 1913 first-ascent team reported spotting it thr...

Q 05/05

In 1896 a gold prospector renamed North America's highest peak after which presidential candidate?

A) William McKinley

B) Grover Cleveland

C) William Jennings Bryan

D) Benjamin Harrison

Answer · why

A) William McKinley

William McKinley: prospector William Dickey reportedly picked him to spite silver-standard miners he had met; the federal name was dropped in 2015 and...