X-treme X's Trivia Quiz

Answer: Phloem

The phloem transports nutrients throughout the plants. The word 'phloem' comes from Greek, meaning 'bark', as it is the innermost layer of the tree's bark. 'Xylem' is also Greek, and means 'wood'- it is deeper inside the stem or trunk.

The hippocampus is part of an animal's brain, and the aorta is a major blood vessel in humans. 'Melyx' is not a word- it is simply 'xylem' spelled backwards.

Answer: Xanth

'Xanth' has all the usual fantasy stuff- goblins, demons, centaurs, harpies and fauns in addition to humans with special powers. Anthony has written more than 30 books in the series, many of them becoming best-sellers.

Xique-Xique is a Brazilian city. Xanadu was an ancient Chinese city, described by Coleridge in his 1798 poem 'Kubla Khan'. Xanax is a drug for treating anxiety.

Answer: Cartesian Coordinate System

The Cartesian Coordinate System was invented by Descartes in 1637, and is used in a wide variety of fields. It can display simple lines, shapes, and even complex wave motions, by plotting solutions to various equations.

The Ishikawa diagram is also called a 'cause and effect diagram', and is used identify problems in product-making processes. It came from a Japanese manufacturer in the 1960s. A Pareto Chart is mainly used to analyse quality control, and comprises a combination line and bar graph.

A pie chart is a round chart (pie-shaped), and is a simple way to graphically display comparative totals, usually in nice pretty colours.

Answer: Susan and Greg

The Romano family all have initials that are Roman numerals. I, V, X, L, C, D and M equate to 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000, respectively.

Hopefully the surname gave you a bit of a hint!

Answer: Pearl River

The river system empties via a series of huge deltas, into the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Macau. The river gets its name from the colour of the shells found in it.

Answer: Xu

A xu was the equivalent of 1/100 of a dong when Vietnam was occupied by France.

An ox is a cow, and an ax (or axe) is a tool used to chop wood. Xi is a Greek letter and 'ex' is the spelling of the letter X.

Answer: Xyst

'Xray' is a modern addition, and is only acceptable as a part of the phonetic alphabet, and NOT as the name for Roentgen's discovery; that is hyphenated, therefore not allowed. 'X-Box' is also hyphenated, and is also a proper noun, so loses out on both counts. 'Xoph' and 'xtra' are both products of my imagination.

A 'xyst' was a covered walkway in ancient Greece, and the plural is another strange word- 'xysti'.

Answer: Thermopylae

In one of the ultimate acts of self-sacrifice, a tiny group of roughly 2,000 Greek soldiers held off the massive Persian army at Thermopylae, a narrow pass near the eastern coast of modern-day Greece. Xerxes' troops numbered in the tens of thousands, but they were severely delayed by the 'last-stand' tactics of Greek King Leonadis and his small force.

The dates of the Trojan War are disputed, with some scholars doubting that they ever took place at all, but it is believed that it happened in 1194-1184 BC, over 700 years before Thermopylae.

The Battle of Lize was fought at the same time as Thermopylae, but it was between warring Chinese states.

The Battle of Salamanca was part of the Napoleonic Wars, being fought in Spain in 1812.

Answer: Dry writing

In Greek, 'xeros' means 'dry' and '-graphy' means 'writing'. The Xerox company commenced in 1906 as The Haloid Photographic Company. They sold photographic paper and other similar materials, and later expanded into one of the largest companies in the world.

Answer: Nu and omicron

Zeta and eta are sixth and seventh. Psi and omega are 23rd and 24th. And beta and gamma are third and fourth.