GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ
1 What is the currency of Israel? A The shekel
B The lek
C The rial
2 What language, created to be easy to learn and politically neutral, has a name which means ‘one who hopes’?
A Volapük
B Esperanto
C Interlingua
3 Which 20th century singer and playwright wrote the song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’?
A Irving Berlin
B Johnny Mercer
C Noël Coward
4 What type of weapon was a medieval trebuchet?
A A cross
B A catapult
C A cannon
5 From what episode of the Trojan War, in Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Odyssey, does the term “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” come?
A Sack of Troy
B The Trojan Horse
C Aegean Sea Battle
6 Which actor is the director of new film The Listener, which stars Tessa Thompson as a helpline volunteer?
A Steve Buscemi
B Woody Harrelson
C Keanu Reeves
7 In the song Scarborough Fair, which 4 herbs are mentioned in the refrain?
A Cilantro, fennel, bay and sorrel B Basil, mint, oregano and dill C Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
8 Which small black birds with iridescent plumage create aerial displays in the UK in autumn and spring as flocks of up to a million birds prepare to roost? A Starlings
B Crows
C Sparrows 9 Which apple-like fruit with the Latin name Mespilus, has to be allowed to over-ripen and turn soft and brown before it can be eaten, and is often made into jam? A Quince
B Medlar
C Pear
10 Who was the subject of the Rednex song, based on a traditional American folk song, which reached no.1 in the UK in January 1995? A Billy Boy
B Cotton Eye Joe
C Johnny Rebel
11 In the Mr Creosote sketch from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life what type of food finally makes the obese restaurant patron explode? A A wafer-thin mint
B A whole lobster
C A large steak
12 What killed more people during the World War I than the war itself? A Spanish Flu
B Cholera
C Tuberculosis
13 To which cartoon boy did Snoopy the dog belong? A Jimmy Neutron
B Bart Simpson
C Charlie Brown
17 According to the humorous song performed by Stanley Holloway in the 1930s, which of King Henry VIII’s wives walks the bloody tower with her head tucked underneath her arm?
A Catherine of Aragon
B Anne Boleyn
C Jane Seymour
18 What is another name for the optical condition myopia? A Astigmatism
B Hypermetropia C Shortsightedness or nearsightedness
19 Which British athlete broke the four-minute mile on 6th May 1964 in Oxford?
A Sebastian Coe
B Roger Bannister
C Steve Cram
20 What type of precious stone is the Koh-i-Noor, which is now part of the Crown Jewels and was once the largest known specimen of its type in the world?
A An emerald
B A diamond
C A ruby