Because they have small mouths and big appetites, some starfish can thrust their stomachs out through their mouths so they can swallow and digest food outside their bodies. This lets the carnivorous starfish eat prey that wouldn’t otherwise fit in their mouths.
Don’t drop the mic. Have a little respect for David Edward Hughes, the man who invented it. In a period of history crammed with inventors whose names you know — Edison, Morse, Bell — Hughes was every bit their peer. He devised the carbon microphone to amplify sound in telephone receivers and then realized pretty quickly that it had broader applications. He didn’t patent his design, deciding instead to make it a gift to the world.
One of the longest trade disputes in the history of the World Trade Organization was a battle over the price of bananas. It began in the early 1990s when the European Union raised tariffs on banana imports from Latin America. After nearly 20 years of disagreement, the dispute was settled with the signing of the Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas in 2010.
1. Which showstopping song is performed at the end of Act I of the Broadway musical “Man of La Mancha”?
A) “I Could Have Danced All Night”
B) “If Ever I Would Leave You”
C) “If I Were a Rich Man”
D) “The Impossible Dream”
2. A huge, circular rotating banquet hall was built for what Roman emperor famous for his extravagance?
A) Claudius
B) Nero
C) Tiberius
D) Trajan
3. What word stands for the letter M in the NATO phonetic alphabet?
A) Maximum
B) Mellow
C) Mike
D) Moxie
4. The sloe used to make sloe gin is most closely related to what other fruit?
A) Apple
B) Blueberry
C) Orange
D) Plum
5. In 1986, which university adopted the banana slug as its official mascot?
A) University of California, Santa Cruz
B) University of Central Florida
C) Kenyon College
D) Western Connecticut State University
6. The plea for peace, “And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,” comes from which book of the Old Testament?
A) Genesis
B) Isaiah
C) Jeremiah
D) Ruth
Answers
1) “The Impossible Dream” ends Act I of “Man of La Mancha.”
2) The ancient Roman emperor Nero had a huge, circular banquet hall that rotated to mimic the movement of the Earth.
3) “Mike” stands for the letter M in the NATO alphabet.
4) Prunus spinosa, also called sloe, is related to plums.
5) In 1986, the University of California, Santa Cruz, adopted the banana slug as its official mascot.
6) “And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares” comes from the book of Isaiah.
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