For a number of years at our Christmas gatherings we played games – not such a simple task when there are five generations taking part. It doesn’t happen now my grandmother, who loved playing them, has left us. It fell to me to construct them and so my Christmas Quiz was always a multi-choice affair which gave the youngest child as much chance of getting the right answer as my very clever father. As I devised this one, please feel free to use it at your own gatherings over the festive season, should you so wish. Merry Christmas everyone and a very Happy New Year.
1. What was the name of the girl who wove so beautifully that the jealous goddess Athena turned her into a spider?
a) Eurycleia b) Calypso c) Arachne d) Charybdis
2. To whom is Alvin Stardust married?
a) Lisa Goddard b) Pamela Stevenson c) Joanna Lumley d) Helen Mirren
3. Who was the treacherous knight of the Round Table?
a) Sir Lancelot b) Sir Mordred c) Sir Gawain d) Sir Baldrys
4. In which city would you find Michelangelo’s David?
a) Rome b) Florence c) Genoa d) Venice
5. Where is the tarsal joint?
a) The wrist b) The finger c) The ankle d) The toe
6. What is the “Senior Service”?
a) The cavalry b) The infantry c) The Navy d) The musketeers
7. Which European country has a patron saint of cinemas?
a) France – Jean Bosquet b) Spain – St John Bosco c) Italy – Juliano Bosquelli d) Luxembourg – Jean Bosquet
8. What is the sacred beetle of the ancient Egyptians?
a) The scarab b) The termite c) The Death-watch beetle d) The locust
9. By what name is Abyssinia now known?
a) Niger b) Chad c) Somalia d) Ethiopia
10 What is heraldic black called?
a) jet b) nigrescent c) sable d) inky
11 A Frenchman Adolphe Pegoud was the first pilot to do what in 1913?
a) Cross the Channel b) Loop the loop c) Fire a gun from a plane d) Die in a plane crash
12 Who said, “The executioner is, I believe, very expert and my neck is very slender.”?
a) Charles I b) Lady Jane Gray c) Anne Boylyn d) Catherine Howard
13 In Ancient Egypt the standard length was a cubit. How many palms made a cubit?
a) 3 b) 4 c) 5 d) 7
14 What is scotopic vision?
a) short-sightedness b) long-sightedness c) vision impaired by cataracts d) night vision
15 Which English novelist invented pillar-boxes while working as a civil servant?
a) A.A. Milne b) Antony Trollop c) Hugh Walpole d) R.D. Blackmore
16 What was “Big Willie”?
a) One of the first military tanks b) One of 3 surviving gun carriage horses in WWI c) One of the first bomber planes d) One of the first machines guns
17 Which wedding anniversary is leather?
a) First b) Third c) Fifth d) Seventh
18 What was founded by William and Catherine Booth?
a) The Salvation Army b) Christian Science Church c) The Temperance Society d) The Chartist Movement
19 In which film did James Bond drive a white lotus underwater
a) Thunderball b) The Spy Who Loved Me c) Live and Let Die d) Moonwalker
20 When might you use the western roll technique?
a) Making a roll-up cigarette b) Trampolining c) High Jump d) Pole Vault
ANSWERS
1. What was the name of the girl who wove so beautifully that the jealous goddess Athena turned her into a spider?
a) Eurycleia b) Calypso c) Arachne d) Charybdis
2. To whom is Alvin Stardust married?
a) Lisa Goddard b) Pamela Stevenson c) Joanna Lumley d) Helen Mirren
3. Who was the treacherous knight of the Round Table?
a) Sir Lancelot b) Sir Mordred c) Sir Gawain d) Sir Baldrys
4. In which city would you find Michelangelo’s David?
a) Rome b) Florence c) Genoa d) Venice
5. Where is the tarsal joint?
a) The wrist b) The finger c) The ankle d) The toe
6. What is the “Senior Service”?
a) The cavalry b) The infantry c) The Navy d) The musketeers
7. Which European country has a patron saint of cinemas?
a) France – Jean Bosquet b) Spain – St John Bosco c) Italy – Juliano Bosquelli d) Luxembourg – Jean Bosquet
8. What is the sacred beetle of the ancient Egyptians?
a) The scarab b) The termite c) The Death-watch beetle d) The locust
9. By what name is Abyssinia now known?
a) Niger b) Chad c) Somalia d) Ethiopia
10 What is heraldic black called?
a) jet b) nigrescent c) sable d) inky
11 A Frenchman Adolphe Pegoud was the first pilot to do what in 1913?
a) Cross the Channel b) Loop the loop c) Fire a gun from a plane d) Die in a plane crash
12 Who said, “The executioner is, I believe, very expert and my neck is very slender.”?
a) Charles I b) Lady Jane Gray c) Anne Boylyn d) Catherine Howard
13 In Ancient Egypt the standard length was a cubit. How many palms made a cubit?
a) 3 b) 4 c) 5 d) 7
14 What is scotopic vision?
a) short-sightedness b) long-sightedness c) vision impaired by cataracts d) night vision
15 Which English novelist invented pillar-boxes while working as a civil servant?
a) A.A. Milne b) Antony Trollop c) Hugh Walpole d) R.D. Blackmore
16 What was “Big Willie”?
a) One of the first military tanks b) One of 3 surviving gun carriage horses in WWI c) One of the first bomber planes d) One of the first machines guns
17 Which wedding anniversary is leather?
a) First b) Third c) Fifth d) Seventh
18 What was founded by William and Catherine Booth?
a) The Salvation Army b) Christian Science Church c) The Temperance Society d) The Chartist Movement
19 In which film did James Bond drive a white lotus underwater
a) Thunderball b) The Spy Who Loved Me c) Live and Let Die d) Moonwalker
20 When might you use the western roll technique?
a) Making a roll-up cigarette b) Trampolining c) High Jump d) Pole Vault
