1. <strong>English:</strong> If I was a grammar-loving pedant determined to check assiduously every sentence I read for errors, what would I object to in this sentence?

   1. I would object to the dangling participle

   2. I would object to the missing subjunctive

   3. I would object the incorrect spelling of ‘asiduously’

   4. I would object to being called a pedant

2. 

   Which Dickens novel was Oscar Wilde talking about when he said: "One would have to have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing" ?

   1. Oliver Twist

   2. Great Expectations

   3. The Old Curiosity Shop

   4. A Christmas Carol

3. What is a realis mood?

   1. The mood your children get into when you steal their biscuits, again

   2. One which indicates something is, or is not, actually the case

   3. A hypothetical state

   4. A state of blissful ignorance

4. 

   Which of the following phrases was first dreamed up by Shakespeare?

   1. Never judge a book by its cover

   2. That way madness lies

   3. I think, therefore I am

   4. There are plenty more fish in the sea

5. <strong>Mathematics:</strong> A trapezium is:

   1. A quadrilateral

   2. A polyhedron

   3. A robot gymnast

   4. An equation for working out the angles of a triangle

6. 

   How many zeroes are there in a googol?

   1. 10

   2. 100

   3. 10,000

   4. 100,000

7. If two angles of a triangle are 36 degrees and 72 degrees, what is the third?

   1. 54 degrees

   2. 76 degrees

   3. 72 degrees

   4. 15 degrees

8. 

   What is 1/25 expressed as a decimal?

   1. 0.25

   2. 0.025

   3. 0.4

   4. 0.04

9. <strong>Home economics:</strong> Which of the following is NOT a food hygiene rule

   1. Always wash your hands before you begin cooking and after touching meat or fish

   2. Make sure fish and meat are properly defrosted before you begin cooking them

   3. If you are keeping food that you have cooked, cool it as quickly as possible before storing it in the fridge or freezer

   4. Never wear lipstick while preparing poultry

10. 

    Essential fatty acids are:

    1. Found in lemons and other citrus fruit

    2. Useful for cleaning the limescale off bathroom sinks

    3. Found in oily fish, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds

    4. Found in ironmonger's shops

11. Which of the following is NOT an energy saving tip?

    1. Only boil as much water as you need when using the kettle

    2. Fix your taps so they do not drip

    3. Wash your clothes at 30C

    4. Warm up by taking a long, hot bath

12. 

    <strong>History:</strong> Which British prime minister fought a duel on Putney Heath while in office?

    1. William Pitt the Younger

    2. Gordon Brown

    3. Benjamin Disraeli

    4. Winston Churchill

13. On the geological timescale, which period came after the Jurassic?

    1. Cambrian

    2. Ordovician

    3. Cretaceous

    4. Triassic

14. 

    When did the cold war begin and who ‘fought’ it?

    1. America and the USSR, after the ice age

    2. America and the USSR, after the second world war

    3. America and Russia, after the first world war

    4. Scotland and England, when the hot war had finally ceased

15. In which year and by whom was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

    1. Germany, US, UK, France and Italy, 1919

    2. Japan, Germany, US, UK and France, 1945

    3. Germany, US, UK, Spain, France and Italy, 1923

    4. Japan, Germany, US, UK and France, 1897

16. 

    <strong>Science:</strong> If you held the north-seeking ends of two different magnets together what would happen?

    1. A huge explosion

    2. They would repel each other

    3. They would attract each other

    4. They would be indifferent to each other

17. What kind of energy are you acquiring when you eat a jam tart?

    1. Gravitational potential energy

    2. Magnetic energy

    3. Chemical energy

    4. Radiant energy

18. 

    The inner core of the Earth is made of:

    1. Nickel and iron

    2. Candyfloss and popcorn

    3. Fire and brimstone

    4. Liquid steel

19. If you were travelling from Mars to Uranus in your space shuttle, which planets would you go past on your way?

    1. Mercury and Venus

    2. Jupiter and Saturn

    3. Neptune and Earth

    4. Mercury and Earth

20. 

    Where would you find your pons and your medulla oblongata?

    1. In the vegetable patch

    2. In the leaves of a green plant

    3. In your head

    4. In your feet

21. <strong>Religious education:</strong> Which major religion has been practised for the longest time?

    1. Christianity

    2. Judaism

    3. Hinduism

    4. Islam

22. 

    According to Christian tradition, what is the fourth commandment?

    1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me

    2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

    3. Thou shalt not commit adultery

    4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

23. <strong>Classics:</strong> What was the name of Achilles’s best friend?

    1. Agamemnon

    2. Patroclus

    3. Brian

    4. Odysseus

24. 

    What is 17 expressed in Roman numerals?

    1. VII

    2. XIV

    3. XVII

    4. XXVII

25. Who is the Roman god of fire?

    1. Jupiter

    2. Vulcan

    3. Bacchus

    4. Neptune

26. 

    <strong>Physical education:</strong> In cricket, what is ‘a golden duck’?

    1. A run that is scored after the ball hits the body of the batsman rather than the bat

    2. That which lays the golden egg

    3. A batsman is out first ball

    4. A player who excels in two of the three core cricketing skills aside from fielding

27. Where does the game of squash have its origins?

    1. Marshalsea debtors' prison

    2. King’s Bench and Fleet debtors' prison

    3. Poultry Comptor debtors' prison

    4. Coldbath Fields debtors' prison

    5. Eton school

28. 

    <strong>Art:</strong> The Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna is a famous example of which painterly technique?

    1. Extreme melancholy

    2. Foreshortening

    3. Three-point perspective

    4. 'Sfumato'

29. The father of the artist JMW Turner was:

    1. A professional gambler

    2. A barber

    3. Landed aristocracy

    4. A miner

30. 

    The colour wheel is based on which scientist’s colour circle?

    1. Dmitri Mendeleev

    2. Isaac Newton

    3. Benjamin Franklin

    4. Alexander Fleming

Solutions

1:B, 2:C, 3:B, 4:B, 5:A, 6:B, 7:C, 8:D, 9:D, 10:C, 11:D, 12:A, 13:C, 14:B, 15:A, 16:B, 17:C, 18:A, 19:B, 20:C, 21:C, 22:D, 23:B, 24:C, 25:B, 26:C, 27:B, 28:B, 29:B, 30:B

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   Your Christmas present is: a lump of coal. This will help your brain function better

2. 5 and above.

   Your Christmas present is: a visit from your headteacher on Christmas Day, telling you to do your homework while everybody downstairs has fun playing charades

3. 10 and above.

   You have received: a satsuma. Doesn't everybody love a satsuma for Christmas? No?

4. 15 and above.

   You have received: a goat. Trouble is, they've accidentally sent it to Africa by mistake

5. 20 and above.

   You have received: a gift voucher for Woolworths. Don't wait too long to spend this one, please

6. 25 and above.

   You have received: something cute and cuddly that barks but doesn't need feeding. Or exercising. Or following with a plastic bag

7. 30 and above.

   You have received: Exactly what you wanted for Christmas - lots of telly, exemption from washing up and the admiration of your nearest and dearest