Brain Teasers

• Engels
• Secundair onderwijs

Brain Teasers

A window cleaner was cleaning the windows on the 25th floor of a skyscraper, when he slipped and fell. He wasn’t wearing a safety harness and nothing slowed his fall, but he wasn’t injured.

Brain teaser 

Why wasn’t the worker injured?

• He was cleaning the inside of the windows!
  

In a year there are 12 months. 7 months have 31 days. 

Brain teaser 

How many months have 28 days?

• They all do.

You are on the bank of a river. You have to get a fox, a hen, and corn to the other side of the river. If left alone, the fox will eat the hen, and the hen will eat the corn if left alone. The boat is only big enough to take you and one other three to the other side. 

Brain teaser 

How do you get all 3 across intact?

• Answer: First take the hen across. Leave the hen. Go back and get the fox. Take the fox to the other side. Leave the fox there, but take the hen with you back to get the corn. Leave the hen and take the corn to the other side. Drop the corn off with the fox, then go back to get the hen. Bring the hen to the other side. All 3 make it fully intact!

Please add the following numbers in your head.

Start with 1000.

Add 40

Add 1000

Add 30

Add 1000

Add 20

Add 1000

Add 10

Brain teaser 

Write down your answer.

• Answer: Many will get 5000. But the actual answer is 4100!

What are the next 3 letters in the following sequence?

J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, __, __, __

Show Answer

Brain teaser 

• Answer: S, O, N The sequence is first letter of the months of the year. September, October and November are the next in the sequence.

Jimmy's mother had 4 children. She named the first Monday. Named the second Tuesday. The third is named Wednesday. What is the name of the fourth child?

Brain teaser 

• Answer: Jimmy. "JIMMY'S MOTHER had 4 children"!

An Arab sheik is old and must will his fortune to one of his two sons. He makes a proposition. His two sons will ride their camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish line LAST will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two brothers wander aimlessly for days, neither willing to cross the finish line. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He tells them something; then the brothers leap onto the camels and charge toward the finish line. What did the wise man say?

Brain teaser 

• Answer: The rules of the race were that the owner of the camel that crosses the finish line last wins the fortune. The wise man simply told them to switch camels.

A man is looking at a photograph of someone. His friend asks who it is. The man replies, "Brothers and sisters, I have none. But that man's father is my father's son." Who was in the photograph?

Brain teaser 

• Answer: His son.

1. Watch the news item and write down what it is about.

• This news item is about a simulation exercise in which paramedics use jetpacks to get to patients quicker in areas that are hard to reach.
  

2. Watch the news item again and tick the correct answer to the question below. Sometimes, more than one answer is possible.

a) What vehicles do paramedics normally use for emergency care?

• an ambulance, a motorbike, a helicopter
  

b) When should this jetpack ideally be used?

• for short distances with steep hills
  

c) How long did it take for the paramedic to reach his patient?

• 90 seconds

d) How long would it have taken to reach the patient on foot?

• 25 minutes

e) Is this jetpack safe to use?

• Very. If the paramedic falls, he will surely survive.

3. How does the jetpack work exactly? Explain in your own words.

• You wear microjet engines (two on each arm, one on the back) which blow air downwards. This lifts you up from the ground and then you use your arms to move around.
  

• = a concussion
  

• = a broken leg
  

• = a black eye 
  

• = a nosebleed
  

• = a burn
  

• = a sprained ankle
  

• = a dislocated shoulder
  

• = a cut
  

• = a bruise
  

• = a graze
  

• an injury 
  

• injured
  

• zich verwonden
  

• to cut
  

• cut
  

• snijden
  

• to bruise
  

• a bruise
  

• kneuzen
  

• to graze
  

• grazed
  

• schaven
  

• a sprain
  

• sprained 
  

• verstuiken
  

• a fracture/    a break

• fractured/ broken 

• breken 

• to burn 

• a burn 

• zich verbranden

• antiseptic solution
  

• a bandage
  

• painkillers
  

• a pair of tweezers
  

• disposable sterile gloves
  

• an ointment for burns
  

• a triangular bandage
  

• plasters
  

• safety pins
  

• sterile gauze pad(s)
  

• a pair of scissors
  

• adhesive tape