• The Cebrennus rechenbergi, or Moroccan flic-flac spider, doesn’t simply run from danger; it cartwheels away like a gymnast doing an Olympic floor exercise routine. Found only in the Erg Chebbi desert in Morocco, it is active at night and spends its days inside a tubelike shelter that it builds from sand and spider silk.

• Because roundness symbolizes prosperity, it’s customary for people in the Philippines to eat 12 round fruits on New Year’s Eve to ensure 12 prosperous months in the coming year. In keeping with the roundness idea, some people also believe it’s lucky to wear polka dots on New Year’s Eve. (It certainly couldn’t hurt!)

• The Dublin Zoo in Ireland is known for its success in breeding lions in captivity. Since 1857, more than 700 lion cubs have started life in Dublin. The most famous Dublin-born lion was Slats, the first MGM lion. Leo was his stage name!

1. Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 in Olympic competition while representing what nation?

A) Bulgaria

B) Hungary

C) Romania

D) Soviet Union

2. Which round fruit is a hybrid that 18th-century botanists called the “forbidden fruit”?

A) Blood orange

B) Grapefruit

C) Key lime

D) Tangerine

3. The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom shows a lion and what mythical beast?

A) Basilisk

B) Chimera

C) Phoenix

D) Unicorn

4. In Roman mythology, Vulcan is the god of what?

A) Fire

B) Ice

C) Thunder

D) Wind

5. Because of its snazzy yellow crest, Eudyptes chrysolophus is known by what common name?

A) Butter penguin

B) Canary penguin

C) Macaroni penguin

D) Marigold penguin

6. In which English city would you find the Ashmolean Museum?

A) Cambridge

B) London

C) Manchester

D) Oxford

Answers

1) Gymnast Nadia Comaneci represented Romania at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

2) Grapefruit is a hybrid of sweet orange and pomelo that botanists once called “forbidden fruit.”

3) The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom shows a lion and a unicorn.

4) Vulcan is the Roman god of fire and volcanoes.

5) Eudyptes chrysolophus is commonly known as the macaroni penguin.

6) The Ashmolean Museum is in the English city of Oxford.

Email Leslie at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.