2009 Asian Pacific Heritage Month Quiz
Question 1: What island was nicknamed "Ellis Island of the West" because it was a major immigrant
processing station in the early part of the twentieth century?
a) Goat Island
b) Angel Island
c) Alcatraz
Question 2: Who were the Pensionados?
a) Japanese American veterans from World War II who lobbied congress for pension plans
b) Filipino students who came to the U.S. to study medicine, agriculture, and other fields from
1903 to 1910.
c) Asian American students who started the Yellow Power movement in the 1970s.
Question 3: What's a "picture bride"?
a) An Asian woman who agrees to an arranged marriage through the exchange of
photographs
b) A traditional ceremony in which a bride is prepared for her wedding day
c) Any woman of Asian descent who marries interracially
Question 4: Why did many Laotians immigrate to the U.S. after 1975?
a) The Khmer Rouge established a state-sponsored extermination of Laotian citizens.
b) The Cultural Revolution threatened Laotian teachers and intellectuals.
c) The Pathet Lao, a Communist independent movement, came into power and Laotians
feared retaliation.
Question 5: What was the purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
a) To increase taxation of the wages of Chinese laborers
b) To prohibit the immigration of Chinese laborers to the U.S.
c) To establish greater trade controls with China
Question 6: When did Chinese workers begin to build the Transcontinental Railroad?
a) 1865
b) 1900
c) 1915
Question 7: What is the name of the Asian American cultural movement in the 1960s that advocated
self-acceptance and fought racism and ethnic prejudice?
a) Brown Power Movement
b) Yellow Power Movement
c) People’s Power Movement
Question 8: In 1976, whose work incorporated Asian American history, myth, and memories of the
author's family?
a) Pear S. Buck, The Good Mother Club
b) Maxine Hong Kingston, Woman Warrior
c) Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
Question 9: What group helped to spur passage of the 1991 Civil Rights Act?
a) Chinese Americans who felt discriminated against in San Francisco's Chinatown
b) Cambodian immigrants who had resettled in New England
c) Filipino American workers in the Alaskan salmon canneries
Question 10: What was the major reason for boycotts of Miss Saigon on Broadway in 1991?
a) Racial stereotypes of the musical's main characters
b) The casting of Caucasians in major Asian roles
c) The use of laborers in Asian countries to build the show's
Question 11: Kauai, the 'Garden Island', is said to have once been inhabited by the Menehune. What
were the Menehune?
a) A Polynesian tribe
b) Jesuits Missionaries
c) Small, dwarflike people
Question 12: Many hotels in Hawaii offer private lanais. What are these?
a) Hot tubes
b) Balconies, veranda or roofed patio.
c) Carports
Question 13: How would you say “hello” in Samoan?
a) Tofa
b) Malo
c) Tama
Question 14: A major ingredient in Indian cooking is ghee. What is ghee?
a) Type of chutney
b) Clarified butter
c) Flour made with chickpeas
Question 15: What is omelet in Thai?
a) Kai Con
b) Kai Jeaw
c) Kai Tom
Bonus Question: Who was the first Japanese player to play in Major League Baseball?
a) Masanori Murakami
b) Ken Takahashi
c) Hideo Nomo