Plodd's Common Bond No. 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aztec

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro was born in Spain, 1485. He gave up his studies in law to follow the trail to the New World, which had just been discovered by Christopher Columbus. He was 34 years old when he explored Mexico and two years later saw the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Answer: Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp was born in Kentucky, USA on June 9, 1963. He made his film debut in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984), and has since taken on numerous roles including Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' (2003).

Answer: Truffles

Truffles are a fungal fruiting body that grows underground. They can be located in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America, normally sometime between September and May. Animals with a keen sense of smell, such as the Truffle Hog or Truffle Dog, have the ability to sniff out truffles. Because of their high value, truffles are used sparingly in cooking.

Answer: The Fountain

The film is a story about love, death and immortality, and features Jackman and Weisz in the lead roles. We start the film in the near future where a scientist is trying to reverse brain tumours. His cancer-stricken wife is at home writing a book about the Mayans. We then move to 16th century Spain where Queen Isabella gives orders to her conquistadors to find the 'Tree of Life'. Finally, we see an astronaut of the future traveling in an ecospheric spacecraft, which contains a tree at its centre.

Answer: Eggs

In 1842, Gustav Faberge opened a jewellery shop in Bolshaia Morskaia, St Petersburg. His son, Carl, spent many years training in different goldsmith techniques and took over the Fabergé shop in 1882. He was given the title of Master Goldsmith to the Imperial Crown in the same year. It was from here that Carl was commissioned to make an Easter egg for the wife of Tsar Alexander III.

Answer: Life on Mars

'Life on Mars' was released in 1971 and reached number three in the UK singles chart. The song is taken from the album. 'Hunky Dory', which also features 'Changes', 'Fill Your Heart' and 'Quicksand'. In 2006, 'Time' magazine ranked it as one of the 100 best albums of all time.

Answer: Belgium

Wallonia is the southern, French-speaking half of Belgium. The northern half is Flanders where Flemish is spoken. France is to the south and west of Wallonia, Flanders to the north, Germany and Luxembourg to the east.

Answer: Orange

A former prostitute called Orange Moll hired Nell Gwyn and her sister Rose to be 'orange-girls'. Oranges were sold to theatre goers for sixpence each. A year after she became an orange-girl, Nell became an actress. She was only fourteen years old, illiterate, but able to memorise her lines. Samuel Pepys once called her "pretty, witty Nell".

Answer: Fair Trade

Fair Trade is aimed at building better trading partnerships with producers from third world countries. Workers in developing countries keep their dignity by being paid market rate on exports such as handicrafts, coffee, sugar, tea and bananas. In 2008, it was announced that Fair Trade sales reached approximately US $4.08 billion.

Answer: Chocolate

The common bond is CHOCOLATE. Yummy!

1. The Incas, Aztecs and Mayans were the first ancient tribes to make CHOCOLATE.

2. Johnny Depp starred in the films 'Charlie and the CHOCOLATE Factory' (2005) and 'CHOCOLAT' (2000).

3. CHOCOLATE truffle is a type of confectionery with a soft centre and coated with cocoa powder.

4. CHOCOLATE fountains have become very popular and are best served with strawberries or marshmallow.

5. Eggs made with CHOCOLATE taste a lot better than the jewelled variety made by Faberge.

6. Mars bar is a CHOCOLATE coated bar first manufactured in 1932.

7. Côte-d'Or, Jacques and Guylian are to name a few of the world famous CHOCOLATES made in Belgium.

8. Terry's CHOCOLATE Orange "Don't tap it... Whack it!"

9. One of the exports from third world countries is Fair Trade CHOCOLATE.