Cambridge Quiz
for use as a sidebar associated with THE WHOLE WORLD by Emily Winslow

1. How old is Cambridge University?
a) 200 years
b) 800 years
c) 1000 years

2. How many colleges make up the University?
a) 2
b) 12
c) 31

3. How is Magdalene College pronounced?
a) MAG-da-len
b) Mag-da-LAY-na
c) MAWD-lin

4. Where did the name Cambridge come from?
a) From the town's bridge over the river Cam
b) From the name of the man who founded the University, Lord Cambridge
c) A corruption of the word "camber"

5. What does the phrase "town and gown" refer to?
a) day clothes and evening clothes
b) poor and rich
c) residents and students

ANSWERS:

1-B
The University celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2009. It was founded in 1209, when conflict in Oxford between students and townspeople caused some scholars to flee and settle elsewhere.

2-C
The University is made up of 31 different colleges. The University departments provide lectures and exams; the individual colleges provide housing, meals, activities, and, crucially, private tutoring.

3-C
Magdalene College is unexpectedly pronounced like the word "maudlin."

4-A
Cambridge is named for being the ancient crossing point over the river Cam.

5-C
"Town and Gown" refers to the historic tensions between permanent residents who have nothing to do with the University, and the young and repeatedly temporary, sometimes rowdy, student population. The word "gown" refers to the academic robes that used to be worn by students all the time, and are now still worn on certain occasions.