Quiz: North Korean Slogan or TED Talk Sound Bite? by Dave Gilson.
From the post:
North Korea recently released a list of 310 slogans, trying to rouse patriotic fervor for everything from obeying bureaucracy (“Carry out the tasks given by the Party within the time it has set”) to mushroom cultivation (“Let us turn ours into a country of mushrooms”) and aggressive athleticism (“Play sports games in an offensive way, the way the anti-Japanese guerrillas did!”). The slogans also urge North Koreans to embrace science and technology and adopt a spirit of can-do optimism—messages that might not be too out of place in a TED talk.
Can you tell which of the following exhortations are propaganda from Pyongyang and which are sound bites from TED speakers? (Exclamation points have been added to all TED quotes to match North Korean house style.)
When you discover the source of the quote, do your change your interpretation of its reasonableness, etc.?
All I will say about my score is that either I need to watch far more TED talks and/or pay closer attention to North Korean Radio. 😉
Enjoy!
PS: I think a weekly quiz with White House, “terrorist” and Congressional quotes would be more popular than the New York Times Crossword puzzle.