CHRISTMAS TRIVIA QUIZ – 2019

 

 

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. In 12,000 years, the Pole Star will be replaced by another star that will appear not to move. Which star will it be?
a) Deneb   b) Arcturus    c) Vega   d) Acrux

2. Who was known as the ‘Warrior Queen’?
a) Hippolyta    b) Joanna the Mad     c) Boadicea    d) Joan of Arc

3. What is your tarsus?
a) Ankle    b) Big toe    c) Thumb joint    d) Knuckle

4. What was the population of England in 1086, when the Doomday Book was compiled?
a) One million    b) Two million    c) Three million    d) Four million

5. What did the 12th century Japanese emperor use as ink to copy out a Buddhist religious work?
a) The blood of his favourite Pekinese    b) Octopus ink    c) Cochineal, a ground beetle    d) His own blood

6. Strabismus is another name for which affliction of the eyes?
a) Cateracts    b) Lazy eye    c) Short-sightedness   d) Squint

7. What is mordanting?
a) Fixing dye into cloth    b) Composing words on a gravestone
c) Feeling depressed    d) Attending a funeral when you don’t know the deceased

8. What did ‘Unready’ mean when first attributed to Ethelred?
a) Unprepared    b) Deficient in counsel    c) Lacking in wit    d) Unskilled with a sword

9. The derrick crane was named after Dick Derrick. What was his occupation?
a) Fisherman    b) Winchman    c) Hangman    d) Jailor

10 Which is the longest part written by Shakespeare?
a) Lear    b) Hamlet    c) Henry V    d) Othello

11 What is a group of hounds called?
a) A mute of hounds b)    A cry of hounds    c) A hunt of hounds   d) A bay of hounds

12 What are fingerlings?
a) Small cucumbers    b) The next size up from elvers    c) Small salmon    d) Original name of fish fingers

13 Which famous Indian is buried at Gravesend, Kent?
a) Ghandi    b) Pocahontas    c) Chief Sitting Bull    d) V.S. Naipaul

14 If a rabbit’s front teeth were not worn down by eating, how long would they grow?
a) 2 feet    b) 6 feet    c) 8 feet    d) 10 feet

15 What is the average diameter of a bolt of lightning?
a) Just over 20 cm    b) Just over 15 cm    c) Just over 10 cm    d) Just over 5 cm

16 What is a localisation of pus called?
a) Blister    b) Boil    c) Abscess    d) Infection

17 What two brothers are the bright stars in the Gemini named after?
a) Caster & Pollux    b) Romulus & Remus    c) Phobos & Deimus   d) Hypnos & Thanatos

18 How do male moths find female moths at night?
a) They see the patterns on their wings in ultra-violet    b) They can taste them    c) They can hear them    d) They can smell them

19 What did the Ark of the Covenant contain?
a) The Rosetta Stone    b) The tablets of the 10 Commandments
c) The Holy Grail    d) The Dead Sea Scrolls

20 If you suffer from musophobia, what are you afraid of?
a) Music    b) Museums    c) Musicians    d) Mice

 

ANSWERS
1. In 12,000 years the Pole Star will be replaced by another star that will appear not to move. Which star will it be?
a) Deneb   b) Arcturus    c) Vega    d) Acrux

2. Who was known as the ‘Warrior Queen’?
a) Hippolyta    b) Joanna the Mad    c) Boadicea   d) Joan of Arc

3. What is your tarsus?
a) Ankle    b) Big toe    c) Thumb joint    d) Knuckle

4. What was the population of England in 1086, when the Doomday Book was compiled?
a) One million    b) Two million    c) Three million   d) Four million

5. What did the 12th century Japanese emperor use as ink to copy out a Buddhist religious work?
a) The blood of his favourite Pekinese    b) Octopus ink    c) Cochineal, a ground beetle    d) His own blood

6. Strabismus is another name for which affliction of the eyes?
a) Cateracts    b) Lazy eye    c) Short-sightedness   d) Squint

7. What is mordanting?
a) Fixing dye into cloth    b) Composing words on a gravestone
c) Feeling depressed    d) Attending a funeral when you don’t know the deceased

8. What did ‘Unready’ mean when first attributed to Ethelred?
a) Unprepared    b) Deficient in counsel    c) Lacking in wit    d) Unskilled with a sword

9. The derrick crane was named after Dick Derrick. What was his occupation?
a) Fisherman    b) Winchman    c) Hangman    d) Jailor

10 Which is the longest part written by Shakespeare?
a) Lear    b) Hamlet    c) Henry V    d) Othello

11 What is a group of hounds called?
a) A mute of hounds    b) A cry of hounds    c) A hunt of hounds   d) A bay of hounds

12 What are fingerlings?
a) Small cucumbers    b) The next size up from elvers    c) Small salmon    d) Original name of fish fingers

13 Which famous Indian is buried at Gravesend, Kent?
a) Ghandi    b) Pocahontas    c) Chief Sitting Bull    d) V.S. Naipaul

14 If a rabbit’s front teeth were not worn down by eating, how long would they grow?
a) 2 feet    b) 6 feet    c) 8 feet    d) 10 feet

16 What is the average diameter of a bolt of lightning?
a) Just over 20 cm    b) Just over 15 cm    c) Just over 10 cm    d) Just over 5 cm

16 What is a localisation of pus called?
a) Blister    b) Boil    c) Abscess    d) Infection

17 What two brothers are the bright stars in the Gemini named after?
a) Caster & Pollux    b) Romulus & Remus    c) Phobos & Deimus    d) Hypnos & Thanatos

18 How do male moths find female moths at night?
a) They see the patterns on their wings in ultra-violet    b) They can taste them c) They can hear them d) They can smell them

19 What did the Ark of the Covenant contain?
a) The Rosetta Stone    b) The tablets of the 10 Commandments    c) The Holy Grail    d) The Dead Sea Scrolls

20 If you suffer from musophobia, what are you afraid of?
a) Music    b) Museums    c) Musicians    d) Mice