MIDDLE SCHOOL GRAMMAR
This punctuation mark is used to show possession and form contractions.
What is an apostrophe?
These two brothers achieved the first powered, controlled flight of an airplane in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Who are the Wright Brothers?
This video rental chain, once with over 9,000 stores worldwide, filed for bankruptcy in 2010 after failing to adapt to streaming and mail-order rentals.
What is Blockbuster?
This king of the Greek gods rules from Mount Olympus and wields a lightning bolt as his weapon.
Who is Zeus?
This Latin phrase, meaning "seize the day," encourages making the most of the present moment.
What is "carpe diem"?
This part of speech connects words, phrases, or clauses, such as "and," "but," or "because."
What is a conjunction?
This device, developed by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, used movable type and dramatically sped up the spread of written information across Europe.
What is the printing press?
This iconic toy retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and closed all its remaining stores the following year.
What is Toys "R" Us?
The first human woman, she was given a box (though it was actually a jar) containing all the world's evil, that she was instructed not to open.
Who is Pandora?
This Latin phrase, meaning "the state in which," refers to the existing condition or current state of affairs, especially one some parties wish to preserve.
What is "status quo"?
This type of sentence combines a complete thought with an incomplete one, using words like "because," "although," or "when" to join them.
What is a complex sentence?
This Scottish-born inventor, who later became a Canadian citizen and did much of his research from a lab in Nova Scotia, is credited with patenting the telephone in 1876.
Who is Alexander Graham Bell?
This company invented the digital camera in 1975 but filed for bankruptcy in 2012, having failed to capitalize on the shift away from film photography.
What is Kodak?
This goddess of wisdom and warfare sprang fully grown and armored from the head of Zeus.
Who is Athena?
This Latin phrase means "in good faith," used to describe honest, sincere intent, especially in legal and business contexts.
What is "bona fide"?
This term describes a group of words that looks like a sentence but is missing a subject, a verb, or a complete thought, as in "Running down the street."
What is a sentence fragment?
This unstable compound, invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867, made him so wealthy from its use in mining and construction that he later funded the prizes that bear his name.
What is dynamite?
This American auto giant filed for bankruptcy in 2009, marking the largest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history, before receiving a government bailout and returning to profitability.
What is General Motors?
This Titan was condemned by Zeus to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders for eternity.
Who is Atlas?
This Latin phrase, literally meaning "something for something," describes an exchange where one thing is given in return for another.
What is "quid pro quo"?
This part of speech modifies a verb or adjective, and frequently (though not always) ends in "-ly," as in "she ran quickly."
What is an adverb?
Invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 while working at CERN, this is a system of interlinked documents accessed via browsers.
What is the World Wide Web? (I'll also accept "the internet" even though it's wrong).
This investment bank's 2008 collapse, with about $600 billion in assets, remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
What is Lehman Brothers?
This gifted musician traveled to the underworld to bring back his love, Eurydice, but lost her forever by looking back at her too soon.
Who is Orpheus?
This Latin phrase, literally meaning "method of operating," is commonly used by investigators to describe a criminal's characteristic pattern or way of committing crimes.
What is "modus operandi"?