Q 01/05

Which popular snack is really a legume, like beans and lentils, whose pods grow underground?

A) Almond

B) Cashew

C) Peanut

D) Walnut

Answer · why

C) Peanut

A peanut plant flowers above ground, then sends a thin stalk called a peg down into the soil, where the pod finishes growing.

Q 02/05

Which plant is really a giant grass, with some kinds growing about three feet in a single day?

A) Bamboo

B) Kudzu

C) Willow

D) Ivy

Answer · why

A) Bamboo

Bamboo shoots, stems and leaves are the main food of the giant panda, and the stalks of the biggest kinds grow about 150 feet long.

Q 03/05

Which weather event heats the air until it booms, reaching five times the heat of the Sun's surface?

A) Sandstorm

B) Heat wave

C) Hailstorm

D) Lightning

Answer · why

D) Lightning

Lightning heats the air it passes through to about 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the rumble made by that sudden burst of heat is what we call thunder...

Q 04/05

Which landmark, a gift from the people of France, was shiny brown copper before turning green?

A) Golden Gate Bridge

B) Statue of Liberty

C) Gateway Arch

D) Mount Rushmore

Answer · why

B) Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty changed color within about twenty years, and its green coating now shields the metal underneath from more damage.

Q 05/05

Which icy world, named by an eleven-year-old schoolgirl, was called the ninth planet until 2006?

A) Pluto

B) Neptune

C) Uranus

D) Ceres

Answer · why

A) Pluto

Pluto got its name from Venetia Burney of Oxford, England, who loved ancient myths, and astronomers now class it as a dwarf planet.