Here are the answers for Round 4 of our True or False Family Quiz, each with a short explanation so the quiz master can settle debates on the spot - and there will be debates, because several of these are classic myths most people still believe. Tally up the team scores and keep a running total across all rounds so far. Right-click the list below to print a copy for scoring.
- True: Honey's very low water content and natural acidity mean it can last almost indefinitely if kept sealed.
- True: The tower was intended as a temporary structure for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
- False: The Mona Lisa has no visible eyebrows - a feature much discussed by art historians.
- False: Venus is the hottest planet, despite being further from the Sun than Mercury.
- False: The Great Wall is not visible from space with the naked eye - this is a long-standing myth.
- False: Goldfish can remember things for months - the three-second myth has been thoroughly debunked.
- False: Dolphins are mammals, not fish.
- True: The Statue of Liberty was designed in France and gifted to the United States in 1886.
- False: Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
- True: Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.
- False: 'Karaoke' is Japanese and roughly translates as 'empty orchestra'.
- True: Newton is widely said to have invented the cat flap, to let his cats in and out of his rooms without interrupting his work.
- True: Australia, from east to west, is wider than the Moon's diameter.
- False: Antarctica is technically the largest desert in the world.
- True: The fire started in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane in the early hours of 2nd September 1666.
- True: Vanilla is derived from the pods of vanilla orchids, most commonly Vanilla planifolia.
- True: Cleopatra lived around 30 BCE, closer to 1969 than to the building of the Great Pyramid around 2,560 BCE.
- True: The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is generally reckoned to have lasted around 38 minutes.
- False: Lightning frequently strikes the same place repeatedly - tall objects in particular.
- False: Bananas actually grow pointing upwards, curving towards the sky.