Minnesota State Aptitude Test (MSAT)
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DIRECTIONSThe test consists of three parts (critical reading, math & writing). Take as much time as you need and use any resource you like—Google, a calculator, Garrison Keillor. But would a real Minnesotan ask for help? You decide. SCORINGYou'll get instant answers here, though they'll also be provided in Minnesota Monthly's July issue. In any case, it’s like this: Pass or we’ll tell Iowa to be expecting you.
- 1.What percentage of the world population is estimated to live in a warmer climate than the Twin Cities?
- A.
96 percent
- B.
45 percent
- C.
78 percent
- 2.Which two of the following are not cities in Minnesota?
- A.
Nimrod
- B.
Boring
- C.
Nowthen
- D.
Sleepy Eye
- E.
Niceville
- 3.Where is the lowest point in Minnesota?
- A.
Lake Superior
- B.
The Mississippi River at Lake Pepin
- C.
The pothole on I-94 in Maple Grove
- 4.Which one of these gargantuan roadside attractions cannot be found in Minnesota?
- A.
World's largest fishing bobber
- B.
World's largest prairie chicken
- C.
World's largest ear of corn
- D.
World's largest pelican
- E.
World's largest moose
- 5.Since 1944, how often has a Minnesotan run for president or vice president?
- A.
- 6.In the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest, where is Northwest Orient Airlines taking Cary Grant?
- A.
New York to Minneapolis
- B.
Chicago to Rapid City, South Dakota
- C.
Detroit to Memphis
- 7.The Minnesota State Fair has been canceled only five times since its inception in 1859. Which one of the following is not among the real reasons for the cancellations?
- A.
The Dakota Indian Conflict
- B.
The Civil War
- C.
The Great Influenza Epidemic
- D.
World War II
- E.
The World's Columbian Exposition
- 8.Of the following states, which one did Bob Dylan not claim to have grown up in?
- A.
Oklahoma
- B.
New Mexico
- C.
South Dakota
- D.
Minnesota
- 9.If Don Shelby parachutes into the diametrically opposite (antipodal) location of Minneapolis on the globe and makes his way to the nearest city, what language will be spoken there?
- A.
English
- B.
Chinese
- C.
Malay
- D.
French
- 10.Sven and Ole are working one freezing night at the old Grain Belt Brewery in northeast Minneapolis when Sven turns to Ole and says, “I don’t understand why I’m so cold, seeing as how we’re closer to the equator than to the North Pole.” To which Ole replies, “You’ve been sampling too much of the product. I’ll bet you my Vikings season tickets that we’re closer to the North Pole than to the equator.” Who’s right?
- A.
Sven
- B.
Ole
- C.
Both
- D.
Neither
- 11.Prince is standing on the observation deck of the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis, from which, on this cloudy day, he can only see roughly 15 miles in every direction. Which of these princely landmarks can he theoretically spot?
- A.
Paisley Park Studios
- B.
The Capri Theater
- C.
First Avenue nightclub
- D.
Lake Minnetonka
- 12.A barge containing Jesse Ventura’s latest memoir has sunk in the Mississippi River. Donning his Navy Seal gear, Jesse dives to the barge and surfaces with it in just 30 seconds. If Jesse swims at a speed of 1 foot per second, how deep was the barge?
- A.
60 feet
- B.
15 feet
- C.
30 feet
- D.
Not deep enough
- 13.You’re bicycling toward the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth from 1 mile away at 10 miles per hour just as it’s beginning its descent. Will the bridge be lowered in time for you to cross?
- A.
Yes
- B.
No
- C.
Depends if I stop to feed the gulls
- 14.If Francis Johnson, the man who built the world’s largest ball of twine in Darwin, began on his 50th birthday to roll 100 pounds of twine per day onto what would become a 17,400-pound ball, how old was he when he finished?
- A.
52
- B.
73
- C.
50
- 15.You’re the best sugar-beet processor in Crookston—cranking through a million of the vegetables every year—and you decide to advertise this fact in an ad proclaiming, “We beet all, churning through enough sugar beets every year to line the road from Crookston to Duluth!” Could you be sued for false advertising?
- A.
Yes
- B.
No
- 16.Sven Sundgaard begins climbing, Spiderman-style, to the top of the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis at a rate of 1 foot per second. At the very same time, Mary Tyler Moore drops her tam from the top of the IDS Center, and the hat falls down the side of the building at a rate of 3 feet per second. At what height will Sundgaard get a headful of hat?
- A.
594 feet
- B.
198 feet
- C.
167 feet
- 17.Frostbite Falls is to International Falls as [blank] is to [blank]?
- A.
Lake Wobegon is to Staggerford
- B.
Gopher Prairie is to Sauk Centre
- C.
Woodbury is to St. Paul
- 18.Waterskiing is to Lake City as [blank] is to [blank]?
- A.
Snowmobiling is to Brainerd
- B.
Rollerblading is to Wayzata
- C.
Ice-fishing is to Mille Lacs
- 19.Robert Zimmerman is to Bob Dylan as [blank] is to [blank]?
- A.
James Janos is to Jesse Ventura
- B.
John Nelson is to Prince
- C.
Liza Minnelli is to Judy Garland
- 20.Lou Grant is to Minneapolis as [blank] is to [blank]?
- A.
Paul Bunyan is to Bemidji
- B.
Brandon and Brenda Walsh are to Wayzata
- C.
Winona Ryder is to Winona
- 21.The Spuds are to Moorhead as the [blank] are to [blank]?
- A.
Awesome Blossoms are to Blooming Prairie
- B.
Saints are to St. Paul
- C.
Thundercats are to Grand Rapids
- 22.Tim Pawlenty is singing the Minnesota Rouser at the University of Minnesota homecoming (“Rah, rah, rah for…”), when he suddenly forgets what comes next. Can you help him out?
- A.
The Golden Gophers, yah!
- B.
U-M hurrah!
- C.
Ski-U-Mah!
- D.
MN-hi-yah!
- 23.Three pints of Summit Extra Pale Ale into your book club, you’re asked to recite the famous final passage of The Great Gatsby. What is it, F. Scott?
- A.
“In the real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’ clock in the morning, day after day.”
- B.
“His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him.”
- C.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
- D.
“Clearly I could see him now, as though I had traded night for day, and knew we should not see his kind again, if indeed we ever had.”
- 24.Don Shelby is canoeing in the Boundary Waters when a moose suddenly rises beneath him, tipping the canoe over. Upon surfacing, Shelby exclaims, “___________!”
- A.
"Uff da!"
- B.
"I smell moose chili!"
- C.
"Good to know!"
- 25.EXTRA CREDIT - If Mayor R. T. Rybak leaves Williams Arena riding his mountain bike at 15 miles per hour heading east on University Avenue, and Mayor Chris Coleman leaves the Minnesota State Capitol (Rice Street and University Avenue) at the same time doing backflips at 8 miles per hour heading west on University Avenue, where are they meeting?
- A.
Cheng Heng Restaurant
- B.
The Dubliner Pub
- C.
Arnellia's "The Legendary Club Apollo of Minnesota"
- D.
Twins Motor Inn
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