Q 01/05

Beneath the thick white-looking fur of a polar bear, what colour is the animal's skin?

A) Pink

B) Black

C) Grey

D) Brown

Answer · why

B) Black

Black skin lies under a polar bear's coat and soaks up heat. The fur only looks white: its outer guard hairs are actually transparent.

Q 02/05

Which British monarch is credited with popularising the white wedding dress after wearing one to marry in 1840?

A) Queen Victoria

B) Queen Anne

C) Queen Mary II

D) Queen Elizabeth I

Answer · why

A) Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in white satin trimmed with Honiton lace. Royal brides before her usually chose heavy brocade worked with silver ...

Q 03/05

Which classic board game's rules give the first move to the player with the white pieces?

A) Othello

B) Gomoku

C) Chess

D) Backgammon

Answer · why

C) Chess

Chess hands White the opening move, an edge worth 52 to 56 percent of the points in recorded games. In Othello and Gomoku the darker side goes first.

Q 04/05

Which marine mammal is known to hunt great white sharks, flipping them over to eat their energy-rich livers?

A) Walrus

B) Narwhal

C) Sea lion

D) Orca

Answer · why

D) Orca

Orca pods turn great whites belly-up, which puts the shark into a paralysed state called tonic immobility. The prize, the liver, can be over a quarter...

Q 05/05

The White Cliffs of Dover on England's south coast owe their colour to which soft rock?

A) Chalk

B) Marble

C) Pumice

D) Quartz

Answer · why

A) Chalk

Chalk formed there from the skeletons of tiny floating algae that settled as white mud on a Late Cretaceous sea floor. The dark streaks in the cliff f...