A 'U-Niversal' Quiz

Answer: U2

The members of U2 are Paul 'Bono' Hewson, guitarist Dave 'The Edge' Evans, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. They were formed in Dublin in 1976 and released their debut album 'Boy' four years later. While singles such as 'Pride (In the Name of Love)' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' made them famous in the UK, their fifth album, 'The Joshua Tree', was the one that put them on the map worldwide. They are also known for their extravagant tours; on their 1992 'Zoo TV' tour, Bono played multiple characters - including the devilish MacPhisto - and the show featured a variety of media on giant screens, while on the PopMart tour, the Edge had a 'Spinal Tap'-esque moment where he got stuck in a giant lemon that would not open. In the '00s, they teamed up with Apple to promote its new music player, the iPod; the single 'Vertigo' was used in iPod adverts.

(On another note, I must be one of the few people out there who thinks their 1997 comeback single 'Discotheque' was actually pretty good.)

Answer: Utah

Utah is a western state in the Mountain West region of the US, the 45th to join the Union, and is known for its beautiful and diverse scenery - including Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon - and having a large Mormon population, with the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints being based in the state capital of Salt Lake City. Notably, it is the only US state where the majority of the population belong to a single church.

The name of the state comes from the local Ute tribe, meaning 'people of the mountains', while the nickname of the state is nothing to do with beekeeping, but because bees represent perseverance and industry.

The beehive was chosen as the state symbol in 1848 and appears on the state flag.

Answer: Uganda

Uganda is a landlocked republic located in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, bordered by Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its national animal is the grey crowned crane, which also appears on the national flag (and the national football team are nicknamed the Cranes).

Although its official language is English, many other languages are spoken, such as Luganda and Swahili. It is home to multiple ethnic groups, including Ugandan Asians, who were expelled from the country during Idi Amin's regime.

It also contains several national parks, home to various animals from golden monkeys to Ugandan kobs (a type of antelope).

Answer: Urals

The Ural Mountains, or Urals, are mainly based in Russia, with a portion in Kazakhstan, and are considered to be part of the boundary separating Asian Russia from European Russia. They range from the Kara Sea and the island of Novaya Zemlya in the north to the Kazakh steppe in the south.

The highest point in the Urals is Mount Narodnaya, located between the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. The region around the mountains is known as Ural. The mountains are rich in minerals and ores; the industrial city of Magnitogorsk, a steel production centre that was founded during Stalin's time, is located in the Urals.

Answer: Urticaria

Urticaria can be triggered by allergies to food or pollen, insect bites, heat, certain infections (such as mononucleosis) or stress, and although it can go away with the use of antihistamines, it can sometimes be chronic and last for weeks or even months.

The term 'urticaria' comes from the Latin word for nettle, and is similar to nettle rash, in that it is characterised by raised red welts that are itchy and sometimes painful. It affects 20% of people at least once in their lives and although it is annoying and frustrating, it is not serious unless accompanied by other symptoms, such as anaphylactic shock. (I get hives from time to time and in my case, it is an autoimmune reaction.)

Answer: Unction

Unction involves pouring or sprinkling aromatic oil (or any other fat), or unguent, over a person's head or body, usually as part of a religious ceremony; for instance, at a coronation or a baptism. Extreme unction is a form of anointing used for people who are seriously ill; the oils used for unction have been blessed by a priest, and the sacrament involves anointing the eyes, lips, hands, feet, nostrils and ears. Men may also have their genitals anointed in some countries.

While performing the sacrament, the priest will ask for G-d's forgiveness for any sins the patient has committed.

Answer: Ultramarine

Ultramarine is a deep blue pigment, towards the purple end of the colour spectrum, originally made from grinding lapis lazuli, a dark blue precious stone much beloved in ancient cultures for its colour. It is a valuable pigment, not just because it is made from a gem, but also because of the lengthy grinding and washing process used to create it.

It was originally imported from Afghanistan by Italian traders in the 14th and 15th centuries, and exported from Italy via Venice. Renaissance painters often used ultramarine pigment to colour the robes of the Virgin Mary. Synthetic ultramarine is used in cosmetics, paper manufacturing and paints.

Answer: Ulna

The forearm is made up of two bones, the radius and the ulna. The radius extends to the thumb side of the wrist, while the ulna is the smaller bone and extends to the little finger side. Their counterparts in the human leg are the tibia and fibula. A fracture of the proximal third of the ulna (i.e. the part closest to the elbow) is known as a Monteggia fracture, while a fracture of the olecranon - the bony bit in your elbow that sticks out - is known as a Hume fracture.

In four-legged animals, the ulna is mainly used for muscle attachment and is sometimes fused partially or completely with the radius.

Answer: Ud

An ud, also known as an oud, is a pear-shaped fretless lute originating in Mesopotamia, later spreading into what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Most uds have eleven strings, though some version can have ten or thirteen. After the Muslim conquest of Persia, other countries developed their own version of the ud; it was also introduced to the Iberian peninsula by the Umayyad Caliphate. According to some legends, it was invented by Lamech, a descendant of Adam. Nowadays, the main types of ud are Arabian, Persian and Turkish; the Turkish ud is also played in Greece, and has a higher pitch than the Arabian one.

A similar Persian instrument is the barbat, though it has a longer neck and shorter body.

Answer: Ungulate

There are two types of ungulates: Perissodactyla or odd-toed ungulates, such as rhinoceroses, horses, zebras and tapirs, and Artiodactyla or even-toed ungulates, such as giraffes, cattle, deer and sheep. Many of these beasts are herbivorous, although there are some exceptions, such as pigs. 'Ungulate' comes from the Latin 'ungulatus', or 'hoofed'.

The majority of ungulates have reduced canine teeth and specialised molars, and others - such as camels - have a dental pad instead of a set of top teeth, and use their tongues to grasp plants and pull them up.

Many male ungulates also have horns or antlers.

Answer: Umeboshi

Umeboshi are a tsukemono, or Japanese pickle; they are made from the fruit of the Prunus mume tree, known as 'ume' or Japanese plums, and are pickled by being packed in barrels with salt, which extracts the juice. The resulting brine is known as 'umezu', or 'plum vinegar'. Umeboshi can be eaten as a side dish with rice, or as a topping for rice balls. Purple perilla, a mountain herb, is used to give umeboshi a red colour. Sweet versions of umeboshi, sweetened with honey, are also available.

The city of Minabe in Wakayama Prefecture is a major umeboshi production centre, as the fruits - which are more like apricots than plums - grow plentifully there.

Answer: Uranus

In Greek mythology, Uranus (aka Ouranos) was the god of the sky, the son and husband of Gaia (aka Mother Earth) and the father of the Titans, the predecessors to the gods. His Roman counterpart is Caelus. As well as the Titans, Uranus also sired the one-eyed giants known as the Cyclopes, and the Hecatoncheires, three giants with a hundred hands each. Uranus hated his children, and Gaia urged them to take revenge on him; Cronus, the youngest Titan, castrated Uranus with a sickle given to him by Gaia and threw his testicles into the sea. In some myths, giants, the Furies and a group of ash tree nymphs known as Meliae sprang from his blood.

The planet Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781 and has over 20 known moons, named after characters in the works of Alexander Pope and William Shakespeare; the biggest moons are Ariel, Umbriel, Miranda, Titania and Oberon.

Answer: Ukase

This is one for the 'Chalet School' fans on here, as I learned the word through the books (headmistress Miss Annersley would often 'issue a ukase' forbidding the girls to do a certain thing). A ukase or ukaz was a decree issued by the government, a religious leader or the Tsar himself, which had the force of law. One example is the Ukase of 1821, whereby Russia declared sovereignty over northwestern North America (the Pacific Northwest and Alaska), prohibiting foreign vessels from landing on Russian-owned coasts or even being within less than 100 Italian miles of them.

In 1822, a Russian vessel seized an American ship, the Pearl, that was travelling from Boston to Novoarkhangelsk (now Sitka, Alaska), but the Pearl was released following protests from the US government. President James Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 in response.

Answer: Ugli

The ugli, or Jamaican tangelo, is a squat, pear-shaped fruit with yellowish-green skin and got its nickname from its appearance (though it looks perfectly fine to me!) Originally discovered in 1971, it is a natural hybrid of a grapefruit and an orange (thought to be a Seville orange) or tangerine, originating in Jamaica.

It is slightly larger than a grapefruit, with fewer seeds, and the fruit inside is orange in colour; it is said to be sourer than an orange, but sweeter than a grapefruit, and tasting like a combination of a lemon and a tangerine. Like other citrus fruits, it can be used to make marmalade.

Answer: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is bordered by (in clockwise order) Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and is double-landlocked due to all of the above countries also being landlocked. In ancient times, its first recorded settlers were the Scythians, an equestrian nomadic people; it later became famous as a centre of trade, with the city of Samarkand being located on the Silk Road. Samarkand is still home to various crafts, such as gold work, woodcarving and silk weaving, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Uzbekistan is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, due to the Muslim conquest of Persia that spread into Central Asia.

Its main language is Uzbek, a Turkic language, though many Uzbeks also speak Russian.