Warm-Up
Which animal has the slowest metabolism?
A. Sloth
B. Koala
C. Tortoise
D. Crocodile
A. Sloth
The animal with the slowest metabolism is the three-toed sloth. It has the lowest energy needs of any mammal, taking up to a month to digest a single leaf due to its incredibly low metabolic rate that conserves energy for its low-nutrient diet.
Which word is spelled correctly?
A. Accomodate
B. Occurrance
C. Definately
D. Supersede
D. Supersede
Which has the greatest mass?
A. A liter of water
B. A liter of oil
C. A liter of mercury
D. A liter of air
C. A liter of mercury
(Density quietly enters the room.)
Which book was published first?
A. Frankenstein
B. Dracula
C. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
D. The Picture of Dorian Gray
A. Frankenstein
What is the only metal that is liquid at standard room temperature?
A. Cesium
B. Mercury
C. Gallium
D. Francium
B. Mercury
What does a camel store in its humps?
A. Water
B. Fat
C. Air
D. Muscle
B. Fat
A camel's hump stores fat, not water, which serves as a vital energy reserve for weeks or months when food is scarce in the desert.
True or false: The tongue has specific zones for tasting sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.
False
All parts of your tongue with taste buds can detect sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes.
True or false: A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.
True
A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus; it takes Venus about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation (a day), but only around 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun (a year).
Which of these words entered English most recently?
A. Robot
B. Television
C. Internet
D. Computer
C. Internet
The word "Internet" entered English as a technical term in the early 1970s, specifically in 1974.
Which of the following countries has coastline on both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans?
A. South Africa
B. Mozambique
C. Namibia
D. Tanzania
A. South Africa
Africa has coastlines on both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with the two oceans officially meeting at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of the continent in South Africa.
Which animal has fingerprints nearly identical to humans?
A. Chimpanzee
B. Koala
C. Gorilla
D. Orangutan
B. Koala
The animal with fingerprints almost identical to humans is the Koala, whose dermal ridges (fingerprints) are so similar to ours, even under a microscope, that they could potentially confuse forensic scientists.
Which word is incorrectly spelled?
A. Pharaoh
B. Consciencious
C. Omniscient
D. Prescient
B. Consciencious
(It’s -tious, not -cious.)
True or false: A penny dropped from a skyscraper can kill someone.
False
No, a penny dropped from a skyscraper will not kill you; it reaches a low terminal velocity (around 25-70 mph) due to air resistance, meaning it can't accelerate enough to cause fatal injury. (It could be dangerous if it hits someone's eye.)
Which planet in our solar system has the shortest actual day, measured by one full rotation?
A. Earth
B. Jupiter
C. Mars
D. Saturn
B. Jupiter
Jupiter has the shortest day in our solar system, completing one rotation on its axis in just under 10 hours (about 9 hours and 55 minutes) due to its massive size and fast spin, making it the fastest-rotating planet.
Which language family does Hungarian belong to?
A. Slavic
B. Indo-European
C. Uralic
D. Turkic
C. Uralic
Hungarian belongs to the Uralic language family, specifically the Ugric branch, making it distinct from most European languages and related to Finnish, Estonian, and the Mansi and Khanty languages of Siberia.
Which travels faster?
A. Sound
B. Light
C. Electricity
D. Heat
B. Light
Light travels vastly faster than sound, electricity, or heat, as it's the universe's speed limit (around 186,000 miles/second in a vacuum).
Which animal has the longest lifespan?
A. Bowhead whale
B. Giant tortoise
C. Greenland shark
D. Elephant
C. Greenland shark
The Greenland shark has the longest lifespan, potentially living over 400 years, making it the longest-living vertebrate known. Bowhead whales live over 200 years, giant tortoises can reach 150-250 years, and elephants live around 70-80 years.
Which of these punctuation marks was introduced most recently into standard English writing?
A. Period
B. Comma
C. Question mark
D. Quotation marks
D. Quotation marks
In Roman numerals, which number is written using the most characters?
A. 88
B. 99
C. 388
D. 888
D. 888
DCCCLXXXVIII — a monster.
Here's the breakdown:
The city of Timbuktu is located closest to which major river?
A. Senegal River
B. Congo River
C. Niger River
D. Volta River
C. Niger River
Which word is incorrectly spelled?
A. Liaison
B. Questionnaire
C. Miniscule
D. Millenium
D. Millenium
Should be Millennium — double N, double L.
Which of these animals can survive longest without water?
A. Water-Holding Frog
B. Kangaroo Rat
C. Desert Tortoise
D. Thorny Devil
B. Kangaroo Rat
A Kangaroo Rat can go its entire life without ever drinking water, getting all the moisture it needs from the dry seeds it eats. They are metabolized to produce water, thanks to incredibly efficient kidneys that produce highly concentrated urine to minimize loss.
What is the capital of Australia?
A. Sydney
B. Melbourne
C. Canberra
D. Perth
C. Canberra
Which Shakespeare play is the shortest?
A. Macbeth
B. Hamlet
C. Othello
D. King Lear
A. Macbeth
On the U.S. one-dollar bill, which of the following appears closest to the center of the bill, measured in a straight line?
A. The eye atop the pyramid
B. The letter “G” in the word “ONE”
C. George Washington’s left eye
D. The number “1” inside the left serial number
C. George Washington’s left eye
Washington’s portrait, specifically his left eye, ends up being closest to the exact geometric center of the bill.