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The Questions…

1. What is the purpose of the German telephone hotline Schimpf-los?

2. According to geologists, the rock beneath your feet is classified as either igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, depending on how it was formed. Explain.

3. What company is the world’s leading manufacturer of tires?

4. The first person to use the emoticons  🙂  and  😦  in emails was computer scientist Scott Fahlman in 1982. He said they helped clarify his intention. The name emoticon evolved later. Originally, what did Fahlman call the new symbols?

5. Why did Calvin Klein name the line of perfumes he introduced in 1988 Eternity?

The Answers…

1. Schimpf-los (“swear away” in German) is a service you call to release pent-up anger and frustration by yelling at the operator. The operators may prod the callers with such comments as, “Is that all you’ve got?” The cost is about $1.50 per minute.

2. Igneous rock forms when magma cools and solidifies (granite, pumice). Sedimentary rock forms when particles settle and get compacted (sandstone, shale). Metamorphic rock forms when existing rock is altered by heat, pressure, or chemistry (marble, slate).

3. Lego, the Danish toy company, which produces about 380 million tires per year — far more than any company that makes tires for vehicles you ride in.

4. Joke markers.

5. Eternity refers to a specific diamond ring. In 1937, when Edward VIII of England gave up his throne to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson, he gave her a ring inscribed with the word Eternity. Klein bought the ring in 1987 and presented it to his wife.