1. Subtract these numbers: 9,864-5,947
2. Multiply: 92x34
3. Add the following: $126.30 + $265.12 + $196.40
4. An airplane travels 360 kilometres in three hours. How far does it go in one hour?
5. If a pie is cut into sixths, how many pieces would there be?
6. William bought six oranges at 5 cents each and had 15 cents left over. How much had he at first?
7. Jane had $2.75. Mary had 95 cents more than Jane. How much did Jane and Mary have together?
8. A boy bought a bicycle for $21.50. He sold it for $23.75. Did he gain or lose and by how much?
9. Mary's mother bought a hat for $2.85. What was her change from $5?
10.There are 36 children in one room and 33 in the other room in Tom's school. How much will it cost to buy a crayon at 7 cents each for each child?

"Comment: We used to think that when people came out of university they could read, write and count." We've learned that some cannot." Read his findings here

Not much, judging by the test this dismayed lecturer put to his college classes. See if you can do better than they did.

When I started teaching a literature course at university, it immediately became apparent to me that most of the students had not the faintest idea about the basic who's who and what's what of our civilization. I had taken it for granted they knew some names, places and dates. I was wrong. Finally, I put a test together. The results were heartbreaking.

Unless more attention is paid in school to the essentials of history and literature, college professors will continue to waste most of their time filling in the basic facts.

Here are some of the questions from the test, given in three different years to three classes of 15 to 20 students, aged between 17 and 22. If you'd like to see how you stack up against them, try the quiz, then consult the answers.

1. What do these mean: (a)100 B.C.? (b) sic? (c) i.e.?
2. Who were (a) Faust? (b) Mary Magdalene? (c) Goliath?
3. Who won these battles: (a) Waterloo? (b) Gettysburg? (c) Iwo Jima?
4. What is (a) a sonnet? (b) a pas de deux? (c) a centaur?
5. How many are there: (a) Muses? (b) Gospels? (c) deadly sins?
6. What is the capital of (a) Portugal? (b) Mexico? (c) South Africa?
7. What were their occupations: (a) Richard Wagner? (b) Lord Byron? (c) Le Corbusier?
8. Who wrote (a) The Divine Comedy? (b)King Lear? (c)Don Quixote?
9. Name one book written by (a) Gabrielle Roy; (b) Charles Dickens; (c) George Orwell.
10. In what centuries did these events take place: (a) the Italian Renaissance? (b) World War I? (c) the fall of the Roman Empire?
11. In what language did they write: (a) Jules Verne? (b) Cervantes? (c) Freud?
12. Who (a) split the Red Sea? (b) established the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? (c) painted the Mona Lisa?
13. What nationality was (a) Michelangelo? (b) Bach? (c) Lawrence of Arabia?
14. Do you know the difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism?
15. These are the gods of what: (a) Mars? (b) Apollo? (c) Pluto?