A noted psychiatrist was a guest at a party and his host, Banta,
naturally broached the subject in which the doctor was most at ease.
“Would you mind telling me, Doctor,” Banta asked “how you detect a mental deficiency in somebody who appears completely normal?”
“Nothing is easier,” he replied. “You ask him a simple question which
everyone should answer with no trouble. If he hesitates, that puts you
on the track.”
“What sort of question?”
“Well, you might ask him, ‘Captain Cook made three trips around the world and died during one of them. Which one?’
Banta thought for a moment, and then said with a nervous laugh, “You
wouldn’t happen to have another example would you? I must confess I
don’t know much about history.”
Thinking Between the Lines 