>Not only did the students not know the answer that won the round for my team, they didn't know ANY of the answers (they were easy ones like quotes by Henry Ford,

Was it the one which would have "metallic gray" instead of "black" if it was upgraded to this decade?

> Shakespeare, Plato, and Gandhi) . I knew 4 out of the 5 questions (I missed the quote by Lucretius - I thought it was Horace) and surprisingly, the question that won it for my team was this one:
>
>"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
>
>which all of the students thought was Voltaire (at least they were familar with the name). I was the only one who knew it was Evelyn Beatrice Hall (although the teacher had it wrong, because he had the answer written down as Stephen G. Tallentyre which was a pseudonym and it was even more disappointing that he didn't know the answer).

I didn't know this. I guess in many places the quotes are seriously misattributed - I remember this one being assigned to Voltaire the first time I met it. Let's face it - publishing collections of quotes is only one notch above phonebook, as far as publishing skills matter. You don't get the best, the brightest and the most diligent to recheck everything they put in.

>I thought it was pretty hilarious that it was famous quotes that won the round (given our recent discussion and you mentioning Voltaire), but even more sad that the kids were so weak in that area.

I don't think moving to a different area would help their knowledge... :)