Do You Think You're Clever? : The Oxford and Cambridge Questions

A wonderful collection of oddly brilliant questions and answers taken from the infamously challenging Oxbridge interviews.'What happens if I drop an ant?' 'What books are bad for you?' 'What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?' The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. Cambridge-educated John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem. Oxford graduate Libby Purves lends her own thoughts and reflections on what it's like to have your mind stretched in unusual ways in a thorough introduction. This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb ... and that's just the start of it. "'What happens if I drop an ant'? 'What books are bad for you'? 'What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow'? The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem. This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb ... and that's just the start of it."--Publisher's description A wonderful collection of oddly brilliant questions and answers taken from the infamously challenging Oxbridge interviews. 'What happens if I drop an ant?' 'What books are bad for you?' 'What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?' The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates, and from these peculiar enquiries, professors can tell just how smart you really are. Cambridge-educated John Farndon has collected together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and gives full answers to each, tak You have a 3-litre jug and a 5-litre jug. Make 4 litres. Was it fair that a woman's planning application for painting her door purple in a conservation area was declined?; Do you think Chairman Mao would have been proud of the China of today?; Why isn't there a global government?; Is the Bible a fictional work? Could it be called chick lit?; Is feminism dead?; What percentage of the world's water is contained in a cow?; If you're not in California, how do you know it exists?; When are people dead?; Chekhov's great, isn't he?; What is the population of Croydon? I am an oil baron in the desert and I need to deliver oil to four different towns which happen to lie in a straight line. I must visit each town in turn, returning to my oil tank between each visit. Where should I position my tank to drive the shortest possible distance? Roads are no problem, since I have a sheikh friend who will build me as many roads as I like for free. Think of a painting of a tree. Is the tree real?; Does a snail have a consciousness?; Why is there salt in the sea?; What is the point of using NHS money to keep old people alive? Is it moral to hook up a psychopath (whose only pleasure is killing) to a reality-simulating machine so that he can believe he is in the real world and kill as much as he likes?Should obese people have free NHS treatment?; Why did they used to make the mill chimneys so tall?; Why can't you light a candle in a spaceship?; If I could fold this paper an infinite number of times, how many times must I fold it to reach the moon?; Can history stop the next war?; Where does honesty fit into law?; What books are bad for you? What would happen if you drilled through the earth all the way to the other side and then jumped into the hole?Does a Girl Scout have a political agenda?; What does it mean to be happy?; Smith sees Jones walking towards a cliff. Smith knows Jones is blind but doesn't like him, so allows him to walk off the edge. Is this murder?; How would you measure the weight of your own head?; What is fate?; How would you describe an apple?; The stage: a platform for opinions or just entertainment - what are your thoughts? Introduction; Do You Think You're Clever?; The Questions; Do you think you're clever?; What happens when I drop an ant?; Why is the pole vaulting world record about 6.5 metres and why can't it be broken?; If you could go back in time to any period of history, when would it be and why?; Are you cool?; If there was an omnipotent god, would he be able to create a stone that he couldn't lift?; Should someone sell their kidney? This is a book for everyone who likes to think they're clever, or who thinks they'd like to be clever. And cleverness is not just knowing stuff, it's how laterally, deeply and interestingly you can bend your brain. Guesstimating the population of Croydon, for example, opens a chain of thought from which you can predict the strength of a nuclear bomb and that's just the start of it. Humour The Oxbridge undergraduate interviews are infamous for their unique ways of assessing candidates. This book collects together 75 of the most intriguing questions taken from actual admission interviews and offers answers to each, taking the reader through the fascinating histories, philosophies, sciences and arts that underlie each problem The brilliant offbeat guide to tackling Oxbridge's infamously challenging interview questions