Hobson's Choice

Number of people who have died since April 1997 at the hands of the South African police service:

1,472

Number of amnesty applications for crimes and atrocities committed in the apartheid era received by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Committee:

7,000

Number of pardons granted by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee:

200

Number of words known by a typical literate English-speaking adult:

60,000

Percentage of all speech by aforesaid that consists of 4,000 words:

98

Litres of pure alcohol consumed per head per year in France:

11.9

Probability that someone going to hospital in France is doing so through reasons connected with alcohol:

1:4

Number of boxes of silkworm eggs sold by Turkey per year before the Gulf War, mainly to Arab countries:

80,000

Number of boxes of silkworm eggs sold by Turkey per year since the Gulf War and an Arab boycott on Turkish products:

8,000