Reading - Brain Teasers
On this page, you'll find questions that will make you really look at what you are reading, not just let the words flow by. To be able to answer them, you'll have to really think about what you're reading and think about it differently. Try these brain teasers one
at a time in any order to exercise your brain!
Once you get one, you'll feel like kicking yourself - and you'll be proud as well!
Once you get one, you'll feel like kicking yourself - and you'll be proud as well!
Fred and Ethel
Something terrible has happened!!
You walk into your apartment to find Fred and Ethel lying dead on the floor. There’s no blood anywhere, but a table is upset, there’s broken glass scattered around, and the carpet is soaked. The dog is hiding under the sofa, looking very guilty.
What happened?
You walk into your apartment to find Fred and Ethel lying dead on the floor. There’s no blood anywhere, but a table is upset, there’s broken glass scattered around, and the carpet is soaked. The dog is hiding under the sofa, looking very guilty.
What happened?
What's My Name?
Mr. Jones one day got off the train in Chicago and while passing through the station, met a friend he had not seen in years. With his friend was a little girl.
“Well, I certainly am glad to see you,” said Mr. Jones.
“Same here,” said his friend, “Since I last saw you I’ve married – to someone you never knew. This is my little girl.”
“I’m glad to meet you,” said Mr. Jones. “What’s your name?”
“It’s the same as my mother’s.” answered the little girl.
“Oh! Nice to meet you Anne!” said Mr. Jones.
How did Mr. Jones know the little girls’ name?
“Well, I certainly am glad to see you,” said Mr. Jones.
“Same here,” said his friend, “Since I last saw you I’ve married – to someone you never knew. This is my little girl.”
“I’m glad to meet you,” said Mr. Jones. “What’s your name?”
“It’s the same as my mother’s.” answered the little girl.
“Oh! Nice to meet you Anne!” said Mr. Jones.
How did Mr. Jones know the little girls’ name?
Wash Your Face
Two workmen were repairing a roof. They fell through a large chimney and landed in a fireplace on the floor below. Both men arose unhurt. They looked at each other, walked around the room, stretched their arms and realized that they had sustained no injuries.
Without speaking a word or discussing their sudden fall, both men started back to the job. Now, it happened that one man’s face was well-smeared with soot from his passage through the chimney. The other man’s face, however, was absolutely clean. Yet, the man with the clean face went and washed his face; the man with the dirty face went back to work without washing his face!
Can you explain, logically, why they did this?
Without speaking a word or discussing their sudden fall, both men started back to the job. Now, it happened that one man’s face was well-smeared with soot from his passage through the chimney. The other man’s face, however, was absolutely clean. Yet, the man with the clean face went and washed his face; the man with the dirty face went back to work without washing his face!
Can you explain, logically, why they did this?
Sheep for Lunch
A wolf is crossing a wasteland and arrives in a starving condition halfway across, too weak to go farther, when he finds and enclosure of iron bars completely surrounding some delicious looking fat sheep. The sheep are too big to fit through the bars, but the wolf is so thin that he can. He knows that he will be too fat to get back out if he eats enough meat to keep him going across the wasteland. The fence is too high to jump and unbreakable. The shepherd will be coming next week with his gun, and the wolf cannot undergo another starvation period like the last.
What is the wolf’s best strategy?
What is the wolf’s best strategy?
Do Helmets Increase Brain Injuries?
At the beginning of the first World War, the uniform of the British soldiers included a brown cloth cap. They were not provided with metal helmets. As the war went on, the army authorities and the War Office became alarmed at the high proportion of men suffering head injuries. They therefore decided to replace the cloth headgear with metal helmets. From then on, all soldiers wore the metal helmets. However, the War Office was amazed to discover that the incidence of head injuries then increased. It can be assumed that the intensity of fighting was the same before and after this change.
So, why should the recorded number of head injuries per battalion increase when men wore metal helmets rather than cloth caps?
So, why should the recorded number of head injuries per battalion increase when men wore metal helmets rather than cloth caps?
Getting to Market
A farmer on his way to market with a fox, a goose, and a basket
of corn, comes to a river. The boat will carry only the farmer and one of his charges.
This presents a problem, for if he takes the corn and leaves the
fox and the goose, the fox will eat the goose. If he takes the fox and leaves the goose and the corn, the goose will eat the corn. He must plan so that these combinations are not left together on either side of the river.
How does he get to market without losing anything?
(Help: Print and rip out the characters below to help. Move them across a "river" to find a solution.)
of corn, comes to a river. The boat will carry only the farmer and one of his charges.
This presents a problem, for if he takes the corn and leaves the
fox and the goose, the fox will eat the goose. If he takes the fox and leaves the goose and the corn, the goose will eat the corn. He must plan so that these combinations are not left together on either side of the river.
How does he get to market without losing anything?
(Help: Print and rip out the characters below to help. Move them across a "river" to find a solution.)
Death Comes to the Squire
In a small English town a long time ago, this story was told:
It was a hot summer Sunday. The squire and his wife were in church when the squire fell asleep.
He dreamed he was a French nobleman at the time of the Revolution. He had been condemned to death, and he was waiting on the scaffold for the guillotine to fall.
Just then his wife, noticing that he was asleep, tapped him sharply on the back of his neck with her fan. The shock was so great –in view of what he was dreaming – that the squire immediately slumped over, dead.
Do you believe this story? Why or why not?
It was a hot summer Sunday. The squire and his wife were in church when the squire fell asleep.
He dreamed he was a French nobleman at the time of the Revolution. He had been condemned to death, and he was waiting on the scaffold for the guillotine to fall.
Just then his wife, noticing that he was asleep, tapped him sharply on the back of his neck with her fan. The shock was so great –in view of what he was dreaming – that the squire immediately slumped over, dead.
Do you believe this story? Why or why not?
Mailbox Key Mystery
The vice-president of a big corporation had an extremely efficient housekeeper. When he left for his summer vacation, he instructed her to forward the mail to him at his camp.
During July he received no mail, so he phoned his home and asked the housekeeper what had happened. She explained that he had forgotten to leave her the mailbox key.
The vice-president apologized and promised to mail her the key right away. During August, he still received no mail, though the housekeeper had told him there was a batch of mail in the box. So, when her returned home, he immediately fired the housekeeper.
Do you think the vice-president was right in doing this? Why or why not?
During July he received no mail, so he phoned his home and asked the housekeeper what had happened. She explained that he had forgotten to leave her the mailbox key.
The vice-president apologized and promised to mail her the key right away. During August, he still received no mail, though the housekeeper had told him there was a batch of mail in the box. So, when her returned home, he immediately fired the housekeeper.
Do you think the vice-president was right in doing this? Why or why not?