Trivia Questions

Which salt lake, bordering Jordan, is so dense that anyone can float in it with ease?

1. The Red Sea
2. The Dead Sea
3. The Black Sea
4. The Caspian Sea

Which river flows through four national capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade?

1. Rhine
2. Elbe
3. Danube
4. Vistula

The Kalahari Desert covers much of which southern African country?

1. Zimbabwe
2. Zambia
3. Angola
4. Botswana

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a statue of which Greek god?

1. Helios
2. Zeus
3. Poseidon
4. Hermes

Which city is the legislative capital of South Africa and the seat of its Parliament?

1. Pretoria
2. Cape Town
3. Johannesburg
4. Durban

How many lines does a traditional sonnet have?

1. Twelve
2. Ten
3. Fourteen
4. Sixteen

Which mountain range, running north to south through Russia, forms part of the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia?

1. The Carpathians
2. The Alps
3. The Pyrenees
4. The Ural Mountains

What is the rhyme scheme of a five-line limerick?

1. AABBA
2. ABABA
3. AABBC
4. ABBAA

Which figure of speech puts words with opposite meanings side by side, in a phrase that contradicts itself?

1. Simile
2. Oxymoron
3. Hyperbole
4. Metaphor

What creature stands on the national flag of Wales?

1. A lion
2. A unicorn
3. An eagle
4. A red dragon

What do you call the repetition of the same starting consonant sound in nearby words, as in 'busy bees buzzing'?

1. Alliteration
2. Rhyme
3. Assonance
4. Simile

Pad thai is a stir-fried dish made with what kind of noodles?

1. Egg noodles
2. Rice noodles
3. Wheat noodles
4. Buckwheat noodles

The word 'laser' began life as an acronym. What does its first letter, L, stand for?

1. Long
2. Linear
3. Light
4. Luminous

Kimchi, made from salted and fermented vegetables, is a staple of which country's cuisine?

1. Japan
2. China
3. Vietnam
4. Korea

Risotto, the creamy Italian dish cooked slowly in broth, is made from which grain?

1. Rice
2. Wheat
3. Corn
4. Oats

A shuttlecock, also called a birdie, is used in which racket sport?

1. Squash
2. Badminton
3. Table tennis
4. Tennis

Sauerkraut is finely cut raw cabbage that has been what?

1. Boiled
2. Smoked
3. Fermented
4. Dried

Matcha is a fine powder ground from the shade-grown leaves of which plant?

1. Mint
2. Basil
3. Spinach
4. Green tea

The ancient city of Marrakesh is in which North African country?

1. Morocco
2. Algeria
3. Tunisia
4. Egypt

The Wimbledon Championships, held in London, are the oldest tournament in the world in which sport?

1. Badminton
2. Squash
3. Tennis
4. Croquet

The Tour de France is a multi-stage race in which sport?

1. Running
2. Motor racing
3. Sailing
4. Cycling

The Latin phrase 'carpe diem' is usually translated as 'seize the' what?

1. Day
2. Moment
3. Chance
4. Hour

Which team sport is played on horseback, with players hitting a ball using long wooden mallets?

1. Lacrosse
2. Polo
3. Croquet
4. Cricket

The five interlocking Olympic rings are blue, yellow, black, green and red. What color is the field they sit on?

1. Gold
2. Silver
3. White
4. Sky blue

The prime meridian, the line of 0 degrees longitude, passes through the Royal Observatory in which part of London?

1. Westminster
2. Kew
3. Richmond
4. Greenwich

The word 'karaoke' joins the Japanese for 'empty' with a shortened form of which word?

1. Orchestra
2. Microphone
3. Song
4. Voice

Mount Fuji is one of Japan's 'Three Holy Mountains', along with Mount Tate and which other peak?

1. Mount Aso
2. Mount Haku
3. Mount Asama
4. Mount Ontake

The medieval Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava river in which city?

1. Vienna
2. Budapest
3. Prague
4. Kraków

Hurling, played with an ash stick and a small ball called a sliotar, is a field game from which country?

1. Scotland
2. Wales
3. Canada
4. Ireland

In which country were the rules of modern kabaddi formalised in the 1920s?

1. Nepal
2. India
3. Thailand
4. Indonesia

The temple complex of Angkor Wat, which appears on its country's flag, is in which country?

1. Thailand
2. Laos
3. Cambodia
4. Myanmar

The Vikings were a seafaring people who came originally from which part of northern Europe?

1. Ireland
2. Scotland
3. Iceland
4. Scandinavia

The ruins of the ancient city of Babylon lie in which modern country?

1. Iraq
2. Iran
3. Syria
4. Egypt

In which sport might a player jump up and shove the ball down through the rim in a 'slam dunk'?

1. Volleyball
2. Basketball
3. Netball
4. Handball

Bamboo, which can grow to giant sizes, belongs to which plant family?

1. Palm
2. Fern
3. Grass
4. Orchid

Amber, the golden material that sometimes holds trapped insects, is the fossilized form of what?

1. Volcanic glass
2. Coral
3. Seashell
4. Tree resin

The cold Gobi Desert stretches across southern Mongolia and the north of which country?

1. China
2. Kazakhstan
3. Russia
4. India

Bronze is an alloy made mainly of which metal, usually mixed with tin?

1. Iron
2. Copper
3. Zinc
4. Silver

Ruby is a red variety of which mineral, whose other gem varieties are called sapphires?

1. Quartz
2. Beryl
3. Corundum
4. Garnet

Which artificial waterway, about 82 kilometers long, links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?

1. The Panama Canal
2. The Suez Canal
3. The Kiel Canal
4. The Corinth Canal

Most of the cork used in bottle stoppers and boards is harvested from the bark of which tree?

1. The birch
2. The cork oak
3. The cedar
4. The pine

Linen is a textile woven from the fibers of which plant?

1. Cotton
2. Jute
3. Flax
4. Bamboo

Haggis is traditionally served at a January supper honoring which Scottish poet?

1. Walter Scott
2. Robert Louis Stevenson
3. William Wordsworth
4. Robert Burns

Uluru, the huge sandstone monolith also known as Ayers Rock, is in which country?

1. Australia
2. New Zealand
3. South Africa
4. Chile

The active volcano Mount Etna stands on the east coast of which island?

1. Sardinia
2. Sicily
3. Corsica
4. Crete

The spotted Dalmatian dog takes its name from a historical region of which modern country?

1. Italy
2. Greece
3. Croatia
4. Hungary

Which sea lies between the east coast of Italy and the coasts of Croatia and Albania?

1. Tyrrhenian Sea
2. Aegean Sea
3. Ligurian Sea
4. Adriatic Sea

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's capital moved to Tokyo from which city?

1. Kyoto
2. Osaka
3. Nara
4. Kamakura

A lexicographer is a person who compiles what?

1. Maps
2. Dictionaries
3. Almanacs
4. Timetables

Which river flows through Paris and reaches the English Channel at Le Havre?

1. Loire
2. Rhône
3. Rhine
4. Seine