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It's Earthy - but Not a Lot! Trivia Quiz

When I thought about the word Earth, all kinds of different connections with it popped into my mind. The questions in this quiz are more about the connections than about Earth itself.

A multiple-choice quiz by Jomarion. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
Jomarion

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
332,971

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
490

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. If you were in the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (U.S.A.) and you were admiring something called 'Spaceship Earth', what kind of structure would you be looking at? Hint

a very large sphere

a wide, saucer-shaped object

a tall replica of a rocket ship

A huge statue of Atlas carrying the earth on his back

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Question 2 of 10

2. Which of the world's greatest scientists is supposed to have said, 'Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth'? (He was born in Sicily, in about 287BC.)
Hint

Aeschylus

Archimedes

Epicurus

Plutarch

3. How well do you know Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'? At the request of Oberon (the king of the fairies), Puck flies off to find a certain, magical flower which the king needs. Just before going, he says to Oberon, 'I'll put a girdle round the earth in -------.'

What words have I left out, at the end of that quotation? Hint

a few hours

forty minutes

half a day

the blinking of an eye

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Question 4 of 10

4. In a long and very enthralling historical novel set in a mid-twelfth century English town, the author - Ken Follett - describes the building of a cathedral.
What is the title of this book? Hint

From Earth to Heaven

The Pillars of the Earth

Out of the Earth

From the Earth to God

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Question 5 of 10

5. Do you know what the missing word is from this quotation? (It is from the King James Version of the Bible.)
'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without ___ and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.' Hint

form

structure

shape

order

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Question 6 of 10

6. What is the connection between Dr. Charles F. Richter and earthquakes? Hint

He invented the seismograph which detects earthquakes.

There is no connection between Richter and earthquakes.

The magnitude of earthquakes is expressed by use of the Richter scale.

He predicted the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

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Question 7 of 10

7. The earth can be ours if we follow the advice given in a poem which was written in 1896 by an Englishman. This piece of verse which has the very short, one-word title of 'If', has 32 lines. The following quotation is from the end of the poem.
'If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!'

Do you know who wrote these lines? Hint

Rudyard Kipling

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Henry Newbolt

Walter Savage Landor

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Question 8 of 10

8. In the early days of the English woollen industry, at one stage of the production, you could have seen Fullers' Earth being used.
What was this substance? Hint

a kind of clay-like earth or marl

an earth product to make the cloth more elastic

a brown dye made from earth

ground-up rock for cleaning the spinning machines

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Question 9 of 10

9. One of the many psalms accredited to King David of Israel is Psalm 24. It has the following, opening words - (from the King James Version of the Bible):-
'The earth is the Lord's, and the ___ thereof; the world and they that dwell therein;'
Do you know what the word is that I have left out? Hint

wealth

fulness

wonders

beauty

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Question 10 of 10

10. Do you know what scene William Wordsworth was describing in a poem which he wrote in 1802? The first three lines are:-
'Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty ---'. Hint

daffodils dancing in a breeze

early morning in a city

a waterfall

a storm on Lake Windermere

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. If you were in the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida (U.S.A.) and you were admiring something called 'Spaceship Earth', what kind of structure would you be looking at?

Answer: a very large sphere

This enormous sphere which is sixty feet in diameter, is often referred to as 'The Giant Golf Ball'. Sitting on its supports, it does look very like one, with a surface resembling the the dimples on a golf ball. According to the 'On-Line Guide to Walt Disney World', you would need to be one and one fifth of a mile tall to use this sphere as a golf ball!
Inside 'Spaceship Earth' visitors are taken on a ride through history.

2. Which of the world's greatest scientists is supposed to have said, 'Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth'? (He was born in Sicily, in about 287BC.)

Answer: Archimedes

This great mathematician and scientist of antiquity was referring to a possible use of the lever when he said this.
In his day, Archimedes could not have known the size and weight of the earth. Even if there was a place to stand and another for a fulcrum, nobody would have enough time or space in which to move our planet with a lever.

3. How well do you know Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'? At the request of Oberon (the king of the fairies), Puck flies off to find a certain, magical flower which the king needs. Just before going, he says to Oberon, 'I'll put a girdle round the earth in -------.' What words have I left out, at the end of that quotation?

Answer: forty minutes

In the 16th. century Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, was regarded as a kind of mischievous spirit in popular superstition.
This Shakespearean comedy is about what happens when the juice of the magical plant is used on some of the characters in the play.

4. In a long and very enthralling historical novel set in a mid-twelfth century English town, the author - Ken Follett - describes the building of a cathedral. What is the title of this book?

Answer: The Pillars of the Earth

The story is told through the lives and work of the characters involved in the building of the cathedral. It follows the development of architectural changes from the Romanesque to the Gothic.
Those of you who know Ken Follett's books will probably agree with me that 'The Pillars of the Earth' is one of his masterpieces.

5. Do you know what the missing word is from this quotation? (It is from the King James Version of the Bible.) 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without ___ and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.'

Answer: form

You can read these well-known words if you open the Bible at its very beginning. They are the first words of the Book of Genesis. As all Bible lovers know, they are followed by a description of God's creation of our Earth.

6. What is the connection between Dr. Charles F. Richter and earthquakes?

Answer: The magnitude of earthquakes is expressed by use of the Richter scale.

Richter,a famous seismologist and geologist, was born in 1900 and therefore would not have predicted the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 when he was six years old!
The first, modern seismograph was invented by John Milne, another seismologist and geologist, in 1880 - twenty years before the birth of Richter.

7. The earth can be ours if we follow the advice given in a poem which was written in 1896 by an Englishman. This piece of verse which has the very short, one-word title of 'If', has 32 lines. The following quotation is from the end of the poem. 'If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!' Do you know who wrote these lines?

Answer: Rudyard Kipling

This famous poem, which has been translated into many languages, reminds us of the ideals and attitudes of Victorian life. If any one could have followed the rules laid down in this poem, they would have been a fine upstanding pillar of society. Many Victorians respected the ideas of this piece of poetry so much that they had copies of it hanging on their walls - among them - my own grandparents. Rudyard Kipling is better remembered as the author of 'The Jungle Book'; 'Kim' and the 'Just So Stories'. You might expect that a writer of high standing, such as he was, would have been knighted, perhaps established as Poet Laureate or awarded a special Order. All these were offered to him but he turned them down.

He did, however, accept the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

8. In the early days of the English woollen industry, at one stage of the production, you could have seen Fullers' Earth being used. What was this substance?

Answer: a kind of clay-like earth or marl

Fullers' Earth is a hydrous silicate of alumina which was used in the cleaning and felting of cloth - a process known as 'fulling'.
Among its many other uses nowadays is the clarifying of oils.

9. One of the many psalms accredited to King David of Israel is Psalm 24. It has the following, opening words - (from the King James Version of the Bible):- 'The earth is the Lord's, and the ___ thereof; the world and they that dwell therein;' Do you know what the word is that I have left out?

Answer: fulness

Some of the words which are sung in Handel's oratorio, 'The Messiah', are taken from this same psalm. They are:-
'Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.'

10. Do you know what scene William Wordsworth was describing in a poem which he wrote in 1802? The first three lines are:- 'Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty ---'.

Answer: early morning in a city

The poem which begins with the above-quoted three lines, is entitled 'Upon Westminster Bridge' and describes a London scene of the 19th century as seen in the early-morning light.
Wordsworth's poem on daffodils is so well known and so famous that you could be forgiven if you thought that these opening, three lines would lead to the description of a rural scene.

Source: Author Jomarion

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Nannanut before going online.
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