I admit it, I'm a nerd (though I claim not to be a dork, geek, spaz, goon, or doofus). I love statistics. I have entire books full of them and I can quote them at you all day long. I just went back to check on some stuff I'd said before. (I'm wrong about 1/3 of Americans being Catholic. It's 21%. The stats are Protestant 57.9%, Catholic 21.0%--though the Catholics are bigger than any single Protestant denomination--, other Christian 6.4%, Jewish 2.1%, Muslim 1.9%, nonreligious 8.7%, other 2.0%.) Anyway, I started flipping through the World Almanac and decided I'd come up with this quiz on US statistics. Let's see how well y'all do. Obviously, you're not supposed to go look up the answers; you're supposed to make your best guess among the four choices. Post your answers on the Comments section. My source is the 2004 Encyclopedia Britannica Almanac. First prize is a date with the Jedman. Second prize is a date with the Jedman with tongue. Third prize is a night in a cell downtown at 12th and Locust with the Jedman.

(Local Kansas City doggerel:

Hocus pocus
12th and Locust
There's a party in the city jail
You must be indicted
To be invited
Unless your mama throws you bail.)

1. What percentage of Americans are black?
A. 4% B. 12% C. 18% D. 26%

2. What percentage of Americans have moved from one house/flat to another in the last year?
A. 2% B. 9% C. 16% D. 31%

3. What percentage of Americans were born outside the United States?
A. 1% B. 5% C. 10% D. 19%

4. What's the average workweek in the US?
A. 39.5 hours B. 42.5 hours C. 46.5 hours D. 51.5 hours

5. What's the murder rate in the States per thousand people per year?
A. .06 B. .37 C. .96 D. 1.47

6. What percentage of Americans went to at least one movie last year?
A. 28% B. 45% C. 66% D. 86%

7. What percentage of American households own a car?
A. 54% B. 73% C. 84% D. 95%

8. Rank American consumer spending, in order first to fourth, on these leisure activities:
A. books B. spectator sports C. movies D. flowers and gardening

9. What are America's three biggest crops (in value, not quantity)?
A. Wheat, cotton, tobacco B. Wheat, corn, cotton C. Cotton, tobacco, corn D. Wheat, soybeans, corn

10. What's the median income per US household?
A. $19,000 B. $28,000 C. $35,000 D. $43,000

11. Which of these is a US household's biggest expense? Bonus point: rank them in order.
A. Housing B. Health care C. Food D. Transportation

12. Which country receives most American visitors?
A. Mexico B. United Kingdom C. Ireland D. Israel

13. What percentage of Americans have completed secondary education (high school until age 18)?
A. 53% B. 67% C. 84% D. 97%

14. What percentage of its GNP does the US spend on its military?
A. 1% B. 3% C. 9% D. 18%

15. How many Europeans visit the US every year?
A. 1 million B. 4 million C. 11 million D. 22 million