Q 01/05

Which dwarf planet, discovered in 1930, was given its name by an eleven-year-old English schoolgirl?

A) Ceres

B) Pluto

C) Eris

D) Haumea

Answer · why

B) Pluto

Pluto was the idea of Venetia Burney of Oxford, who loved classical mythology. Her grandfather passed it to an astronomy professor, who cabled it to t...

Q 02/05

Which tiny birds can hover in mid-air, fly backwards and beat their wings dozens of times a second?

A) Honeycreepers

B) Sunbirds

C) Swifts

D) Hummingbirds

Answer · why

D) Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are the only vertebrates capable of sustained hovering. The smallest of them, the bee hummingbird, is about 5 cm long and weighs less tha...

Q 03/05

Which Paris landmark, built for the 1889 World's Fair, was originally due to be dismantled in 1909?

A) Arc de Triomphe

B) Eiffel Tower

C) Notre-Dame

D) Sacré-Cœur Basilica

Answer · why

B) Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was allowed to stay, and it remained the tallest human-made structure in the world for 41 years, until New York's Chrysler Building w...

Q 04/05

Which popular snack 'nut' is really a legume whose pods ripen underground rather than on a tree?

A) Peanut

B) Almond

C) Cashew

D) Pistachio

Answer · why

A) Peanut

Peanut plants belong to the pea and bean family, not to the nut trees. Botanist Carl Linnaeus named the species hypogaea, from the Greek for 'under th...

Q 05/05

Which toy brand from Billund, Denmark, takes its name from a Danish phrase meaning 'play well'?

A) Playmobil

B) Meccano

C) Lego

D) Brio

Answer · why

C) Lego

Lego began in the workshop of carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, who started out making wooden toys in 1932. His company only began producing its interl...