Trivia Quiz

1. Which northwestern county of England contains Liverpool, Birkenhead, St Helens, and Bootle?
a) Derbyshire
b) Merseyside
c) Lancashire
d) Cumbria

2. Which of the following is an outer London borough of northwestern Greater London?
a) Bromley
b) Brentwood
c) Barnet
d) Bexley

3. Which island, once under Norwegian rule but now a dependency of the British crown, hosts the annual TT motorcycle races?
a) Lundy
b) Anglesey
c) Isle of Man
d) Isle of Wight

4. Which river of eastern central France, length 190 km/118 mi, gives its name to a département?
a) Ain
b) Dordogne
c) Loire
d) Seine

5. What is typically 14 9 cm/5 3 in, and because anyone could read it, it was originally sent at a lower postage than normal?
a) Government mail
b) Postcard
c) Air letter
d) Dispatch note

6. During the Thirty Years' War, what Imperial victory over the Swedes took place 20 May 1631?
a) Battle of Lake Balaton
b) Sack of Kunersdorf
c) Battle of Lützen
d) Sack of Magdeburg

7. The world's largest lake has a slightly misleading name, what is it?
a) Lake Superior
b) Lake Small
c) Caspian Sea
d) Black Sea

8. What is the Portuguese name for the Okavango Swamp in Angola, Africa?
a) Beja
b) Cubango
c) Borba
d) Serpa

9. The seven continents are the Arctic, Antarctica, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australia. Which one of these is wrong?
a) Australia
b) South America
c) Arctic
d) Antarctica

10. Which two places, one in Cornwall and one in Scotland, are often the destinations of long-distance sponsored walkers?
a) Penzance and Inverness
b) Land's End and John O'Groats
c) Holyhead and Lowestoft
d) Dover and Stranraer

11. In which Netherlands city does the United Nations International Court of Justice sit?
a) Utrecht
b) Maastricht
c) Amsterdam
d) The Hague

12. Which female West German swimmer won a record ten world championship medals in 1973 and 1975?
a) Dagmar Hase
b) Kornelia Ender
c) Kristina Egerszegi
d) Shirley Babashoff

14. What is the collective name for the eastern region of the Mediterranean, consisting of the coastal regions of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey?
a) Asia Minor
b) The Levant
c) East Indies
d) Near Orient

15. What kind of comic play shows stereotyped characters in complex and improbable situations, often involving extramarital relationships?
a) Slapstick
b) Commedia dell'arte
c) Farce
d) Pantomime

16. Who said `There's something wrong with our bloody ships today, Chatfield.`?
a) Earl Jellicoe
b) Lord Louis Mountbatten
c) Admiral David Beatty
d) Admiral Lord Nelson

17. What civil conflict in British-ruled Malaya officially lasted 1948-60?
a) Malayan Emergency
b) Malayan Civil War
c) Malayan Crisis
d) Malayan War

18. In which field event in athletics do competitors sprint up to and leap from a take-off board into a sandpit measuring 9 metres in length?
a) High jump
b) Long jump
c) Javelin
d) Discus

19. What is the National Curriculum term for the stages of a pupil's progress through school?
a) Semester
b) Pedagogic stage
c) Key stage
d) Trimester

20. Which agreement was reached between the UK and Spain in 1713, whereby British traders were permitted to introduce 144,000 black slaves into the Spanish-American colonies in the course of the following 30 years?
a) Treaty of Madrid
b) Treaty of Breda
c) Treaty of Asiento
d) Treaty of Locarno

21. In which country are Nõ and kabuki traditional types of drama?
a) Korea
b) China
c) Taiwan
d) Japan

23. Who said `An optimist is a guy that has never had much experience.`?
a) Don Marquis
b) Woody Allen
c) George Burns
d) Harry S Truman

24. During World War II, which continuous battle was fought in the Atlantic Ocean by the sea and air forces of the Allies and Germany, to control the supply routes to the UK?
a) Battle of Saratoga
b) Battle of the Atlantic
c) Battle of the Somme
d) Battle of Britain

25. Who wrote the words `Lord, what fools these mortals be!`?
a) Ovid
b) Dante Alighieri
c) W S Gilbert
d) William Shakespeare

26. Which country has state capitals called Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney?
a) South Africa
b) Jamaica
c) Sri Lanka
d) Australia

27. What landlocked country in southern Africa is an enclave within South Africa?
a) Soweto
b) Zimbabwe
c) Lesotho
d) Transvaal

28. What French river rises near Olivet and joins the Loire 8 km/5 mi below Orléans?
a) Charente
b) Rhône
c) Saône
d) Loiret

29. In World War I, which German victory over the British Expeditionary Force took place Aug 1914?
a) Battle of Midway
b) Battle of Mill Springs
c) Battle of Metz
d) Battle of Mons

30. A battle fought near Milan in 1859 is commemorated in the name of which dye?
a) Indigo
b) Burnt Sienna
c) Magenta
d) Sepia

31. What is the capital of Albania?
a) Elbasan
b) Tiranë
c) Shkodër
d) Vlorë

32. What name was given to the group who tried to seize power in China after the death of Mao Zedong?
a) New China Leaders
b) Chinese Five
c) Zedong Successors
d) Gang of Four

33. What is a war between rival groups within the same country called?
a) Limited war
b) War of independence
c) Civil war
d) Religious war

34. Which British company was effectively the ruler of much of India until the India Act of 1858?
a) West India Company
b) East India Company
c) General Trading Company
d) Clive and Sons

35. In which state of the USA is the subtropical region of swamp known as the Everglades?
a) Maine
b) Mississippi
c) Kentucky
d) Florida

36. What is the name of the port of Athens?
a) Piraeus
b) Paramis
c) Aegis
d) Regellus

37. Which island contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic?
a) Catalina
b) Hispaniola
c) Sakhalin
d) Campobello

38. Where are the caves decorated with Palaeolithic wall paintings, the first such to be discovered, in 1879?
a) Olduvai Gorge
b) Lake Mungo
c) Lascaux
d) Altamira

41. What is the English transliteration of the Japanese name for Japan?
a) Iwaki
b) Honjo
c) Nippon
d) Mito

42. What was the nickname of Maureen Connolly, the US tennis player who became the first woman to complete the Grand Slam in 1953?
a) Moco
b) Maurie
c) Queen Mo
d) Little Mo

43. From which region of Europe did Bram Stoker's Count Dracula come?
a) Transylvania
b) Friesland
c) Macedonia
d) Montenegro

44. What is the name of the inlet on the east coast of Australia, South of Sydney, which was chosen as the site for a penal colony in 1787?
a) Gulf of Carpentaria
b) Pearl Harbour
c) Hudson Bay
d) Botany Bay

45. What is the name of the short sword attached to the muzzle of a firearm?
a) Pike
b) Lance
c) Sabre
d) Bayonet

46. Which Greek island is the largest of the Cyclades?
a) Náxos
b) Imroz
c) Ikaria
d) Milos

47. What is the Greek name for Corfu, an island in the Ionian Sea?
a) Cebú
b) Kérkyra
c) Kaválla
d) Canea

48. It is the capital of the North West Province, and a casino resort. By what name is it commonly known?
a) Sun City
b) Summer City
c) Fun City
d) Las Vegas

49. What is the classical, aristocratic Japanese drama which developed between the 14th and 16th centuries but is still performed today?
a) Alba
b) Noh
c) Tanka
d) Haiku

50. Which annual motor race is held at the purpose built circuit at Silverstone?
a) British Grand Prix
b) Le Mans 24 hour Race
c) The Grand National
d) The RAC Rally

51. What is the second vowel, and fifth and most often used letter of the English alphabet?
a) U
b) I
c) E
d) O

52. Who wrote the words `I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.`?
a) Sylvia Plath
b) Stevie Smith
c) Dylan Thomas
d) W H Auden

53. What is the married name of US tennis player Helen Newington Wills?
a) Wills Green
b) Palmer
c) Wills Moody
d) Murphy

54. In which English county is Tolpuddle, famous for the legend of the Tolpuddle Martyrs?
a) Essex
b) Cheshire
c) Somerset
d) Dorset