Black and White and Red All Over Quiz

Answer: A newspaper

The answer, a newspaper, is a pun upon the homophones "red" and "read." Before the days when colored printing became common, most newspaper were printed exclusively in black ink on white paper, and they were, of course, "read all over."

Answer: Strawberry

Pineberries are smaller than most strawberries, and are white with red seeds. They get their name from the fact that many people believe they taste like pineapple. Pineberries are one of the oldest varieties of cultivated strawberries, and originally came from South America. They were nearly extinct when Dutch farmers rediscovered them and began growing them commercially in 2003.

Answer: Black

This is an old nursery rhyme, which goes:

Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

You will read a lot of nonsense about this little rhyme. The most common explanation is that it refers to a tax on wool levied by King Edward I of England. This makes virtually no sense at all. Edward did raise the tax on wool - by 600% - briefly in the late 13th century, but the tax increase was repealed just a few years later, and this nursery rhyme doesn't appear in print until almost 450 years later, in 1731.

An even more ridiculous explanation is that it is somehow connected with the slave trade; some particularly "progressive" schools even went so far as to ban the ditty as "racist" in the early 21st century. There is absolutely nothing that links this poem to slavery, and forcing children to sing "Baa, baa, rainbow sheep" should be considered a form of child abuse.

The truth is that the origins of the rhyme are obscure and probably lost to history. The use of the adjective "black" is probably purely for alliteration. Despite efforts to suppress it, the nursery rhyme remains as popular with children as ever.

Answer: Tuberculosis

In addition to "the White Plague," tuberculosis was known as consumption, phthisis, and by many other names. It is a relatively recent disease, estimated at first having arisen no more than 6,000 years ago. Although the disease was known to the ancients, it didn't really become widespread in Europe until the middle of the 17th century, when, for reasons still not clear, it suddenly started spreading rapidly. By the 19th century, it was the leading cause of death in the United States and Western Europe. It is estimated that up to 80% of the population of the United States was infected with tuberculosis by 1900 (although only a small percentage of these developed symptoms).

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by bacteria, which usually attack the lungs, but can also infect the lymphatic system, the nervous system, and other organs. It was called the White Plague because victims would cough up blood, and become very pale. By the mid-19th century, it was recognized that tuberculosis was a contagious disease, and public health officials would often quarantine victims in tuberculosis asylums to try to stop its spread. Not much progress was made, however, until 1921, when the first vaccine against the disease became available; treatment became much more effective when antibiotics were discovered.

Today, tuberculosis is a fairly rare disease in western nations, but there are concerns that travelers bringing it back from third-world countries may result in a resurgence. At particular risk are those people with HIV or other conditions where the immune system is compromised. In 2013, almost 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis worldwide; in the United States, there were 9,582 new cases of tuberculosis, and over 500 deaths attributed to the disease. Of particular concern are new strains of tuberculosis that are resistant to antibiotics.

Answer: Truffles

Truffles are a type of fungus that grows underground, especially around oak trees. They are found in many parts of the world, but the most famous (and best quality) truffles come from France and Italy. White truffles are usually more valuable than black truffles. How valuable? In 2007, a single truffle weighing a little over three pounds sold for $330,000! Truffles are used in a variety of cuisines, although you are most likely to encounter them in a French restaurant. Truffles have kind of an earthy, smoky flavor, and a very little truffle goes a long way.

Since truffles grow underground, they have to be located by their distinctive smell. Traditionally, pigs were used to sniff out truffles, but today dogs are often used, because pigs will eat the truffles. The truffle gave its name to a type of chocolate with a hard outer coating, and a softer center. The chocolates were thought to resemble the round shape of the truffle.

Answer: Yemen

The flags of several Arab countries, such as Egypt, Sudan, and Syria, consist of red, white, and black stripes, but the other countries' flags all have some additional color as well. Yemen adopted its flag on May 22, 1990. According to official sources, the red represents the bloodshed of martyrs and unity; the white stands for a bright future; and the is black for the dark past.

Answer: Stars

A white dwarf is a small, very dense star near the end of its stellar evolution. Most stars, including our sun, will end their lives as white dwarfs. A red giant is a star also in the final stages of its life; these stars are several hundred times the diameter of our sun.

The sun will become a red giant before it collapses to become a white dwarf. A black hole is formed when a star of many times the mass of our sun collapses; the gravity of a black hole is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape from it. Black holes are thought to exist at the centers of all large galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

Answer: Phosphorus

These different forms of elemental phosphorus have different properties, just like diamonds and graphite are both forms of carbon, but don't really resemble each other. Chemistry calls these different forms of an element "allotropes." White phosphorus is very flammable and unstable; it is also quite toxic. Red phosphorus is less reactive, and is fairly stable at room temperature. Black phosphorus is the most stable of the three forms; physically, it resembles graphite. There are even more allotropes of phosphorus, including yellow, scarlet, and violet phosphorus.

Phosphorus compounds are used widely in fertilizers, detergents, matches, and metallurgy. Phosphorus is one of the elements that are necessary for life, but many of its compounds are highly toxic. Under some conditions, white phosphorus will glow in the dark.

Answer: Roulette

Roulette is a gambling game consisting of a wheel which is spun; there are 36 slots on the wheel numbered 1 to 36. Half of the numbers are red, and half are black. Players wager on which number a small ball, like a marble, will land in. There is also one green slot with the number 0 (some wheels have two green slots, 0 and 00). Players can bet on a specific number, whether the number will be odd or even, or whether it will be red or black.

The green numbers are what gives the house its "edge." Each player at a roulette table will have his or her own color of chips to bet.

The croupier must keep track of the value of the chips, which may not be the same. For example, you may be betting white chips which are worth $1, and the person next to you may be betting pink chips worth $10.

The French scientist, Blaise Pascal, is sometimes given credit for inventing the game.

Answer: Free Parking

On most Monopoly boards, the car on the Free Parking space is red, outlined in black, with white tires and windows. If the board's background is white, you might find all three colors on the "Go" space as well.