General Knowledge Questions

Sharjah, the city of United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been designated as the UNESCO World Book Capital 2019 by Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, at the Headquarters of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) at La Haye. The honour is in recognition of the Emirate’s pioneering role in supporting and expanding the local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural practice, as well as embracing inter-cultural, knowledge-based dialogue. Sharjah was the first emirate in UAE to establish a formal school and a library. It was also the first emirate to house many cultural institutions like the Emirates Publishers Association and the Emirates’ writers Union. Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital. It is preceded by Conakry in 2017 and Athens in 2018.

Caverns are openings in the ground. Some famous caverns in the United States are Mammoth Cave, Carlsbad Caverns, Wind Cave, and Luray Caverns.

When rainwater trickles down through the soil, it carries carbon dioxide from the air with it. This turns acidic as it moves through the soil, joining with carbon from decaying plants. This acidic rainwater then eats away at, or erodes, the rock under the ground, forming a cave or cavern. For this process to occur, the rock must be the right type; limestone, dolomite, and gypsum are common.

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important works of Old English literature.