"Fantastic Christmas Aptitude Test

You know about the dreaded FCAT, that all-consuming academic test that sends students and teachers into a panic. Now, just in time for the holidays, here's our (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) own version of the FCAT - the Fantastic Christmas Aptitude Test."
This test appeared in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on Saturday, December 15, 2001. Try it out. It is very challenging. I missed 3 (numbers 5, 9 and 17) and you know how much I love Christmas and the real FCAT!

 1. What beloved Christmas special debuted in 1965?
A. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
B. The Cabbage Patch Kids' First Christmas
C. A Charlie Brown Christmas
D. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

 2. Who is credited with creating Kwanzaa?
A. Eldridge Cleaver
B. Martin Luther King, Jr.
C. Jesse Jackson
D. Maulana Karenga, chair of black studies at California State University, Long Beach

 3. What is mincemeat?
A. Sausage
B. Chopped raisons, apples and spices
C. Shepherd's pie
D. Coq au vin

 4. What actor, long associated with westerns, had a hit singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
A. Roy Rogers
B. Clint Eastwood
C. Gene Autry
D. John Wayne

 5. Which of these Sherlock Holmes short stories involves a mysterious goose found on Christmas Day?
A. The Adventures of the Blue Carbuncle
B. A Case of Identity
C. The Five Orange Pips
D. The Man With The Twisted Lip

 6. What was the title of the 1996 Christmas movie starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston that was a remake of the 1947 film, The Bishop's Wife?
A. A Christmas Promise
B. The Preacher's Wife
C. Holiday Hope
D. The Bishop's True Love

 7. What's dreidel, a toy traditionally associated with Hanukkah?
A. A spinning top
B. A miniature castle
C. A wooden doll
D. A scooter

8. Ramadan, a holy time for Muslims, lasts how long?
A. A day
B. A week
C. Two weeks
D. A month

9. The song White Christmas made it's debut in which movie?
A. Holiday Inn
B. White Christmas
C. Frosty the Snowman
D. Heidi

10. What was the name of the angel played by Cary Grant in the holiday classic, The Bishop's Wife?
A. Dudley
B. Henry
C. Reginald
D. Oscar

11. Who of the following wasn't born on Christmas Day?
A. Jimmy Buffett
B. Sissy Spacek
C. Annie Lennox
D. Will Smith

12. In O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, what does the man sell to buy combs for his wife?
A. His watch
B. His winter coat
C. His mother's wedding band
D. His hammer and saw

13. Who wrote the book A Christmas Carol?
A. Valentine Davies
B. Clement Moore
C. Charles Dickens
D. Charles Schulz

14. Three Kings day is associated with what event?
A. The arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem
B. The arrival of Christmas Eve
C. The arrival of Christmas
D. The arrival of the wise men to see infant Jesus

15. What color is the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
A. Red
B. Yellow
C. Green
D. Blue

16. How many days is Hanukkah celebrated?
A. 5
B. 8
C. 12
D. 20

17. In this holiday movie, who says the line, "You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas?
A. Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
B. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) in Christmas Vacation
C. Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) in A Christmas Story
D. Frank Cross (Bill Murray) in Scrooged

19. The line "Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to" comes from what holiday classic?
A. Scrooged
B. The Santa Clause
C. Miracle on 34th Street
D. Christmas Vacation

20. In the movie The Bells of St. Mary's, who sings the title song?
A. Vera Ellen
B. Bing Crosby
C. Rosemary Clooney
D. David Niven

21. What's the name of the town in How the Crinch Stole Christmas?
A. Bedford Falls
B. Santa Clause, Ind.
C. Frostproof
D. Whoville

22. In the movie A Christmas Carol, what kind of fowl does Scrooge ask a boy to buy as a gift for the Cratchit family?
A. Chicken
B. Ostrich
C. Turkey
D. Goose

23. What modern-day Christmas custom is believed to have evolved from the old Christmas custom of wassailing?
A. Cookie baking
B. Caroling
C. Greeting cards
D. Christmas trees

24. Who didn't appear in the classic White Christmas?
A Bing Crosby
B. James Stewart
C. Danny Kaye
D. Rosemarry Clooney

25. The poem that begins, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, was originally known as what?
A. A Visit from St. Nicholas
B. Santa Comes to Town
C. The Christmas Poem
D. The Happy Holiday Story