Q 01/05

Which major US airline began as Huff Daland Dusters, a crop-dusting outfit that fought boll weevils?

A) United

B) American

C) Delta

D) Southwest

Answer · why

C) Delta

Delta grew out of the world's first aerial crop-dusting company and kept a dusting division until 1966.

Q 02/05

Which children's author spent more than a decade drawing cartoon ads for Flit, a common bug spray?

A) Dr. Seuss

B) Roald Dahl

C) Maurice Sendak

D) Shel Silverstein

Answer · why

A) Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss said he landed the Flit job after an advertising executive's wife spotted one of his cartoons at a hairdresser's.

Q 03/05

Which rat poison, named after a Wisconsin research foundation, is also prescribed as a blood thinner?

A) Arsenic

B) Warfarin

C) Thallium

D) Cyanide

Answer · why

B) Warfarin

Warfarin went on sale as a rat poison in 1948 before doctors adopted it, and President Eisenhower took it after his 1955 heart attack.

Q 04/05

Which fungicide began as a bitter spray to stop passersby eating roadside grapes in French vineyards?

A) Lime sulfur

B) Burgundy mixture

C) Marseille soap

D) Bordeaux mixture

Answer · why

D) Bordeaux mixture

Bordeaux mixture, a blend of copper sulfate and lime, caught a botany professor's eye when the sprayed roadside vines stayed free of mildew.

Q 05/05

Which Rachel Carson book turned Americans against DDT and helped launch the environmental movement?

A) Silent Spring

B) The Sea Around Us

C) The Population Bomb

D) A Sand County Almanac

Answer · why

A) Silent Spring

Silent Spring drew fierce opposition from chemical companies, yet it swayed public opinion and led to a US ban on DDT in farming.