7 Mensa Questions Trump, Tillerson Could Be Asked On IQ Test

The high-IQ society American Mensa has offered to give its admissions test to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after Trump boasted to Forbes magazine that he would win a battle of the brains. For the obvious reason of weeding out cheaters, Mensa doesn’t reveal its questions ahead of time, but after the dust-up between Trump and Tillerson — which started when Tillerson reportedly called Trump a “moron” — the organization has offered a peek at what an applicant might be asked on an admissions test.

The test requires not only intelligence, but also mental agility. The 80 or so questions must be answered in 30 minutes, according to Charles Brown, Mensa America’s communications director. And, if Trump really wants to challenge Tillerson to an IQ showdown, Mensa is offering several tests in the Washington, D.C. area, as well as across the nation, as part of its anniversary celebration this month.

Mensa, which describes itself as “an international society whose only qualification for membership is a score in the top 2 percent of the general population on a standardized intelligence test,” made its offer Tuesday after Trump revisited earlier reports that Tillerson denigrated him by calling him a moron.

“I think it’s fake news,” the president told Forbes magazine, “but if he did that, I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.”

Also See: Huckabee Sanders: Trump Was Joking About Tillerson's IQ

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday the president was just kidding around in the Forbes interview. His remarks were “a joke and nothing more than that,” she said in a news briefing, admonishing the media to “get a sense of humor and try it sometime.”

“The president never implied that the secretary of state was not incredibly intelligent,” Sanders said, adding he has “100 percent confidence” in Tillerson.

Mensa Calls President’s Bluff, Offers IQ Test To Trump And Tillerson

Here are seven typical Mensa test questions the organization provided to CBS News and Business Insider (answers at the bottom):

1. A’s house is situated northeast of B’s. B’s house is situated northeast of C’s. Therefore …

A’s house is nearest to C’s
C’s house is nearer to A’s house than B’s
A’s house is northeast of C’s

2. What number is missing from this sequence?

4 — 9 — 16 — 25 — 36 — ? — 64

3. Which four-letter word can be attached to the following words to form five longer words?

Age — Width — It — Stand — Wagon

4. Rearrange the letters of “anytime” in a seven-letter word.

5. Replace the blanks in this sentence with two three-letter words; the same three letters must be used for both words:

The woman decided to _____ a well-known firm of solicitors to _____ for compensation?

6. If FP = 10 and HY = 16, what does DS = ?

7. What letter should be next in this sequence?

L — K — J — H

Answers

1. Answer: C
2. Answer: 49 (they’re all square numbers)
3. Answer: Band
4. Answer: Amenity
5. Answer: Use/Sue
6. Answer: 15 (the number of alphabetical places between the first and second letter)
7. Answer: G (these letters appear from right to left in the middle row of a keyboard)

If you’re interested in taking a Mensa admissions test, you can find one in your area during October here.

Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP