Outliers Chapter 1

How is Canadian hockey a "meritocracy"?

• Children from wealthy families have the greatest advantage.

• Children with athletic siblings have the greatest advantage.

• Children are rewarded based on talent.

• Children are rewarded based on popularity.

What does success in hockey appear to be based on?

• Purely athletic skill and individual merit.

• Resistance to injuries and setbacks.

• Having the best and most expensive equipment.

• Having overbearing parents who push their kids to the brink.

Who are the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants?

• Two successful Canadian youth hockey teams.

• Two successful Canadian youth baseball teams.

• Two successful Canadian youth circus groups.

• Two successful Canadian youth singing groups.

What assumption do people make about the successful?

• That they cheat and lie to get ahead.

• That individual personal qualities propel some people to the top.

• That success is based solely on luck and chance.

• That successful people don't ever face any setbacks.

With what do we deeply associate success?

• The efforts of the individual.

• A decent education.

• Chance and luck.

• Dishonesty and scheming.

How does the author, Malcolm Gladwell, feel about personal explanations of success?

• He agrees with these explanations wholeheartedly.

• He is somewhat skeptical.

• He feels these explanations don't work.

• He thinks the matter needs further investigation.

What factors does Gladwell believe greatly impact our success?

• Only our own individual drive and effort.

• Where and when we grew up, our culture, and our forebears' legacies.

• Which college or university we attend.

• Whether we read or watch TV, play an instrument or a sport, and whether we eat home-cooked meals or fast food.

What did the majority of elite youth and professional hockey players have in common?

• They are left-handed.

• They were born in January, February, or March.

• They have red hair.

• They speak more than one language.

Who was Roger Barnsely, and what phenomenon did he draw attention to?

• He was a hockey coach who noticed that many players were left-handed.

• He was a hockey scout who noticed that many players said a special chant before games.

• He was a psychologist who first drew attention to the idea of relative age.

• He was a trainer who first drew attention to the importance of stretching before athletic activity.

What explanation does Gladwell offer for Barnsley's observation?

• Children born in cold weather months are naturally more inclined to play hockey and sustain the cold conditions.

• Children born during certain months have more opportunities to skate on ice, thus improving their skating skills early on.

• Children born in the first three months of the year are the oldest in their youth hockey league, giving them a substantial advantage in size and strength.

• Parents who are hockey fans often choose to have children during the height of hockey season.