In my checkered past, I spent a few years as a high school history teacher. It was back in the '80s, so I've had enough time to break most of my teacherly habits. But I still keep a red pen at my desk. And I still wake up kind of early. And I still take work home, to occupy some evening hours.

This job that I have now, writing as a Fool, is perfect for me. I get to write a lot, which I like. I get to inject some humor into what I do. I can wear jeans and sneakers to work every day. (If I'm painting an appealing picture, head over to our Fools Wanted area.) And most important, I get to serve a useful purpose in society, helping people improve their lives a bit.

There are still some things I miss about teaching, though. Such as the many colorful characters who filled the seats in the classrooms. And watching kids occasionally get excited by the material I presented, such as oral histories of slaves or Vietnam vets.

Suffused with nostalgia now, I think I'll spring a pop quiz on you all. (I'll pause now while you utter angrily to yourself, "That's not fair!")

Got a paper and pencil ready? Here we go.

1. The Rule Breaker Portfolio sold off its Foolish Four holdings today. Why did it do this?

A) So that the Rule Breaker Port would be represented purely by Rule Breakers.
B) Because the Breaker managers no longer have faith in the Foolish Four approach.
C) Because Madame Farida's chicken entrail reading suggested that this was a smart thing to do.

2. You checked your portfolio's performance over the past year and you underperformed the S&P 500. What should you do?

A) Call it quits. You're clearly not cut out to manage any money.
B) Switch all your money into an S&P 500 Index fund. If you can't beat the market, meet it.
C) Have patience, and realize that a year is a relatively short time for most portfolios. Pay attention to what you're doing, and keep learning and improving. If you persist in underperforming, then consider switching to an index fund.

3. The point of the Rule Breaker Portfolio is:

A) To show people which stocks they should buy.
B) To serve as amusement for Fool critics.
C) To teach, by serving as an example of how two people are managing some actual money -- so that others can learn from their successes and mistakes.

4. You're a new investor and you're really impressed with the Rule Breaker Portfolio's performance. Should you become a Rule Breaker investor?

A) Yes, of course! It's perfect for novice investors.
B) It's best to learn gradually and begin with less-aggressive investing approaches. (Rule Breaker investing is risky.) If you must invest in a Rule Breaker or two, do so with a small portion of your portfolio until you learn more.
C) The pancreas is a large gland that secretes digestive juices into the intestine and also produces insulin.

5. What does the Fool mean when it advocates buy-and-hold investing?

A) It will never sell any stock it buys.
B) It will hang on to stocks it owns as long as it can, as long as the companies remain compelling and promising.
C) It will not quickly trade in and out of stocks, looking for short-term profits.
D) A & B
E) B & C
F) F

6. How much money did the Fool community raise for five exciting charities this past year?

A) $375
B) $120,000
C) $200,000
D) $762,000
E) Infinity

7. Do the Rule Breaker Portfolio managers really disregard a stock's valuation?

A) Yes. They never consider a company's total market valuation.
B) No. They carefully calculate a fair market value for each stock when they buy it.
C) Yes and no. They don't keep target prices in mind for stocks, as Rule Breakers are typically so young and dynamic that their futures are hard to estimate. But matters of valuation never really go away. By buying any stock, you're thinking that its valuation now is lower than it will be in the future.

8. The Rule Breaker Portfolio has about 70% of its net value represented by three stocks. What should the managers do?

A) Sell some shares to rebalance.
B) Let winners run.
C) The official artichoke home page is at www.artichokes.net.
D) Huh?

9. How can you maximize your Motley Fool experience?

A) Participate, or at least lurk, on our message boards.
B) Register with us, so that you'll get a free book and we can keep in touch with you better.
C) Sign up for some free educational e-mails.
D) Take the Fool Tour.
E) Explore our Fool Help area, as it harbors all kinds of useful information.
F) Set up a "My Fool" page, which will keep all your favorite message boards and Fool articles in one handy place.
G) Tell some friends or relatives about the Fool. You may be doing them a huge financial favor, and you'll also be able to discuss things you read at the Fool with them.
H) Use the "Quick Find" pull-down menu in the upper right of each Fool window to explore additional Fool offerings.
I) All of the above.

10. The Motley Fool Radio Show will be broadcasting from the Stanford University Bookstore this Friday (March 3), from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. PT. Which of the following are true?

A) Tom and David will be talking with Built to Last author Jim Collins, JDS Uniphase CEO Kevin Kalkhoven, Stanford hoops star Mark Madsen, Sequoia Venture Capitalist Michael Moritz, and eBay CEO Meg Whitman.
B) If you live in the area, you're welcome to drop by and watch.
C) If you'd like to listen to the show online or on a local station, you can click over to our Radio Show page for more info.
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.
F) Some of the above.
G) One or two of the above.
H) Nine or ten of the above.
I) Kumquats

That's it! Pencils down. Here are the answers. See how many you got right.

1. A. For those interested, Goodyear (NYSE: GT) was sold today at $22 1/4, DuPont (NYSE: DD) was sold at $47 7/8, Chevron (NYSE: CHV) was sold at $75 11/16, and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was sold at $34 11/16.

Know that the Fool is not abandoning the Foolish Four. We still have a real-money Foolish Four portfolio and an active community of people discussing the strategy on our message boards. That said, there has been some concern raised lately about how effective the approach will be in the future, given the recent changes in the Dow. Portfolio manager Ann Coleman has addressed this, as have others. Additional research is underway. Keep an eye on the Foolish Four portfolio reports for further thoughts on this.

2. C.

3. C.

4. B. If you're new to investing, read through our "13 Steps to Investing Foolishly" and our "Investing Basics" series.

5. E. Some people think we're being hypocritical when we advocate buying and holding and then sell a stock after holding it for only a year or two. We would be hypocrites, if we meant to never sell anything we bought. But that's not what we mean by buying and holding. We mean to hang on to the companies we buy as long as we remain optimistic about them.

Imagine this scenario. Or just remember it, because it's happened several times in this portfolio's history. After a lot of research and thought, we buy stock in a promising company. We follow its progress and continue to monitor it. After a while, though, things have changed. Maybe its financial statements are taking on a nightmarish appearance. Perhaps the competitive landscape has changed and this company is no longer poised for success. What to do? Hang on for the next decade or two even though we think our investment dollars would fare much better elsewhere? Or sell, and invest in another company in which we hope to remain invested for a long time? The Rule Breaker managers have opted for the latter choice and I agree that that's really the only sensible choice. You purchase aiming to hold for the long term, but if things change, you rejigger.

6. D. Together, we all raised three quarters of a million dollars. This will accomplish much good in the world, as the funds will be going to some very nifty organizations. Please read more about our Foolanthropy drive's success and expectations.

7. C. For more on valuation matters, read up on the Rule Breaker principle that addresses it.

8. There's no right or wrong answer. This is the subject of a poll that Jeff Fischer has created on the Rule Breaker Strategy message board. Click into the board if you'd like to vote in the poll and/or see the results.

9. I.

10. D.

Here's how to evaluate your performance:

If you got 0-10 questions right, you're a Fool.
If you got 11 or more questions right, you must have been taking another quiz.

Fool on!