Intermediate Level >> Miscellaneous Materials >> The teacher describes situations to students which seem illogical. Students discuss the problems to try and 'solve' them.
Riddles
Intermediate
A man is going towards a field. He knows he will die when he gets there. What is the situation?
Quite simple - his parachute has failed!
Mr. Johnson lives in an apartment on the 30th floor of an apartment block with 30 floors. He is 39 years old, single and works in the local bank. Every morning, he leaves his apartment at 8 a.m. He gets into the lift and goes down the 30 floors to the street and goes to work. In the evening when he returns, he gets into the lift, goes up to the 10th floor, gets out and walks up 20 floors of stairs. On rainy days, he gets into the lift, goes up to the 20th floor, gets out and walks up the remaining 10 floors using the stairs. Mr. Johnson hates using the stairs. Explain.
Mr. Johnson is very short and can't reach all the buttons in the lift. On rainy days, he has his umbrella with him and can therefore reach ten buttons higher.
A man is found dead in the desert. He's naked, there is no trace of footsteps nearby, and the only thing he's got in his hand is a little piece of wood. How did he get there?
The man was on a balloon trip with some friends over the desert and suddenly, the balloon started to go do down: they were too heavy and there wasn't enough gas to complete their journey, so they decided to lighten the balloon by throwing their clothes over board. But still that wasn't enough so they brought themselves to draw lots to know who would jump over board. Eventually this poor man lost the game, jumped naked over board and died!
Mystery Death
David Jones was found dead last week in a telephone box on Filbert Street. Dressed in green boots, police said he had died of blood loss. The telephone receiver was found hanging down from the phone and someone on the other end was shouting "Dave, are you there? What were you saying?"
David Jones is a fisherman and was explaining to his friend how large a fish he had caught. So, as most fishermen do, he spread his arms wide and put his arms through the glass sides of the phone box.
A woman walked into a bar and asked for a glass of water. The barman pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman. The woman thanked the man and left the bar. Why?
The woman had hiccups and wanted a drink of water to stop them. The barman had a better idea to stop them and decided to frighten her instead. It worked and the woman was pleased.
A father and son were involved in a car accident. The father was trapped in the car and the son was taken to a nearby hospital. As the ambulance pulled up, a doctor in the hospital rushed out to look at the new arrival and shouted "Oh I don't believe it!! That's my son!". How is it possible?
Simple one which may not work at all - it may depend on where you are teaching. The doctor in the hospital is a woman, the boy's mother.
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