1. What's the fastest growing land plant?
A. BambooB. Zucchini
C. Creeping Charlie
D. Redwood trees
1. What's the fastest growing land plant?
A. Bamboo
B. Zucchini
C. Creeping Charlie
D. Redwood trees
2. What sense does the cobra
lack?
A. Smell
B. Hearing
C.
Touch
D. Common
3. Which animal has the
longest gestation period?
A. Blue whale
B.
African elephant
C. Human being
D. Salamander
4. What makes the planet Mars red?
A.
Iron
B. Sunburn
C. Rubies
D. Volcanic
activity
5. How many taste buds do you
have?
A. 4
B. 458
C. 9,000
D. 2 million
6. Who invented the
Slinky®?
A. A marine engineer
B. A toy
inventor
C. Ogden Slinky
D. A car mechanic
1.
Which plant is on the fasttrack?
Bamboo (A) has been known
to grow as much as 1 meter (3') in 24 hours. Conditions for optimal (and rapid)
growth include plenty of sunshine and lots of water in the soil. Consequently,
most bamboo plants are found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Just what's going on inside that causes it to grow so fast? The growth is
produced partly by cell division and partly by cell enlargement. Now that you
know how fast bamboo grows, does that give new meaning to the word
"bamboozled"?
2. What makes
sense?
Cobras lack the sense of hearing (B). They don't
have any eardrums. No eardrums, no ability to hear-they're deaf. Then why do they
sway to the flute music played by those snake charmers? The snake is following
the motion of the flute. Snake charmers keep the snake inside a dark basket. When
the lid is lifted, the surprised snake must adjust to the sudden light. It
assumes its distinctive hood-spread, defensive pose and follows the first thing
it sees: the flute. And you thought that poor snake had to listen to the same
song over and over again.
3. Gestating with the
answer?
The Alpine black salamander (D) has the longest
gestation period-a whole 38 months. As its name implies, it can be found in the
Swiss Alps. While these salamanders can live at different elevations, the higher
the elevation, the longer the gestation period. When you get up to 1,402 meters
(4,600'), the gestation period can last up to 38 months. The salamander bears two
young at a time. A "pregnant pause" in the salamander world can mean a
long, long wait.
4. The hills are alive with
what?
There's iron (A) in them thar' hills. Sixteen
percent of the soil on Mars consists of iron compounds. In the distant past,
oxygen existed in the atmosphere of Mars. The oxygen combined with the iron and
created iron oxides, which have a characteristic red color. And you thought was
because it had a permanent sunburn.
5. Did you pass
the taste test?
You have 9,000 (C) taste buds. However,
contrary to what you might think, not all 9,000 are on your tongue. Some taste
buds are located in other areas of your mouth. For example, lips (usually very
salt-sensitive), inner cheeks, the underside of the tongue, the back of the
throat, and the roof of the mouth are some of the areas of your mouth that are
"flavor-sensitive." And just in case you're worried about losing your
taste buds, here's some good news: They replace themselves about every 10 days.
So that spicy enchilada you had the other day probably didn't do too much
irreparable damage.
6. Slinking
around?
Marine engineer (A) Richard James accidentally
"invented" the Slinky in the 1940s. He was trying to develop a spring
that could keep sensitive nautical instruments balanced even as a ship pitched
and yawed. One day, James knocked a set of experimental springs off a shelf. They
"crawled" down rather than just falling. A few quick experiments
revealed the springs were quite good at descending stairs. But it was his wife,
Betty James, who saw the potential as a toy. She spent several days looking
through a dictionary to come up with the perfect name for this irresistible toy.
Betty James still runs the company she founded with her husband in 1946.
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