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Taking the nation's test
by Michelle Minnoch

I am always up for a challenge, so when I saw the ad for Test the Nation on CBC Sunday night, I thought, "hey, why not?"

According to the Test the Nation website (www.cbc.ca/testthenation), Test the Nation is one of the biggest surveys ever conducted to see how smart Canadians are. The live two hour special saw seven teams pitted against each other, while viewers at home took the test as well. The seven teams - made up of tattoo artists, surgeons, radio DJ's, millionaires, fitness instructors, mayors and celebrities - were monitored throughout the evening and their results were posted throughout the night.

If you were following online, there are some personal information questions to be answered before starting. The questions - gender, age, star sign, hair colour, lefty or righty, the numbers of siblings you have, your place in birth order, favourite sport, alcohol preference and your province/territory - were to help determine the location and the demographics of the people taking the test.

The test covered all areas; language, mathematics, logic, memory and perception. It turned out the subject I excel at the most is perception.

It's interesting when you view the results from across Canada. People in the 50-59 and 60 and above age category had the highest IQ's (156), and people between the ages 20-29 and 30-39 scored slightly higher (145) than those between the ages of 40-49 (143).

Those with the signs of Aries, Taurus, cancer, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Pieces scored the highest, with an average IQ of 156, which incidentally was the high score for the people who live in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Those who drink spirits, wine or no alcohol did better than those who drink beer.

The language questions were not always easy (What is the closet meaning to circumvent? It's avoid) and the memory questions, in which you view a picture and description, had me reaching into the far corners of my memory chip so I would not only remember the description of the person (height, address) but what they were wearing in the particular photo.

Most of all, I had a fun time taking the test. I know, taking tests are not supposed to be a good time, but I was challenged, and suck I had to it up when I got the wrong answer.

If you haven't done the test, go to www.cbc.ca/testthenation and see how you fair up. Let me know how you did. How did I do? Well, I am in the average, which is alright. Average is from 90 - 109 (I scored 108) and if you score higher than 132, you are considered a genius. I am lying in the same bracket as 50% of this country, so I am in good company.

You are never too old or too young to challenge yourself. Whether you are taking a test online or trying to figure out a sudoku puzzle (I still don't get it), your mind always needs to be challenged and if you learn something new, you're all the better for it.