Testing Times: Volume One
100 favourite questions from The Saturday Paper’s weekly Quiz. By Cindy MacDonald.
1. Sanna Marin is the prime minister of which Scandinavian nation?
2. What is Shakespeare’s shortest play?
3. How many days are in a leap year?
4. What is the longest muscle in the human body?
5. Who created the fictional character Felix Leiter?
6. How many legs does a prawn have?
7. A fawn is the young of which animal?
8. What is the capital of the US state Alabama?
9. Which actress links the films Midnight in Paris, Revolutionary Road and Titanic?
10. What word beginning with ‘p’ is used to answer a phone in Italy?
11. Which amendment to the United States constitution protects freedom of press?
12. Palpebral relates to what part of the human face?
13. What is the chemical symbol for sodium?
14. Complete this 1972 song lyric from Steely Dan: “I’m a fool to…”
15. Which Australian flightless bird develops a casque on the top of its head?
16. Which city is further north: New York, London or Moscow?
17. Where in the human body would you find the hammer and the anvil?
18. In the fairytale Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother transforms what into horses to pull Cinderella’s carriage?
19. What is the English of the French word vin?
20. What is the principal monetary unit of Denmark and Norway?
21. The jacaranda is a subtropical tree native to which continent?
22. What is the square root of 121?
23. What is the name of Dora the Explorer’s monkey companion?
24. Folate is which B vitamin?
25. What beginning with ‘c’ is the first form of milk produced by mammals, which contains antibodies to protect the offspring against disease?
26. What do plants extract from the air to use in photosynthesis?
27. World War I ended in what year?
28. In navigation, GPS is an abbreviation of what?
29. In Moby-Dick, what is the name of Captain Ahab’s whaling ship?
30. In order of distance, what planet is seventh from the sun?
31. What is -80 divided by -2?
32. Which Australian rock band’s name is an anagram of “old clichés”?
33. What is the meaning of the Greek root word bio?
34. The West End of London is best known for which field of the arts?
35. When looking towards the bow of a ship, is the port side on the left or the right?
36. Name the nosy neighbour on the TV series Bewitched.
37. Alphabetically, what are the first and last US state names?
38. Jaune is the French word for which colour?
39. Which World Heritage-listed island is located in the Tasman Sea, about 700 kilometres north-east of Sydney?
40. The Norse goddess Freyja travelled in a chariot pulled by what?
41. What word means both a degree of inclination and to toss or throw?
42. What is the International Air Transport Association airline code for Qantas?
43. Does the aorta transport blood to or away from the heart?
44. True or false: Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson both have received one Academy Award nomination.
45. On which part of the body would you wear epaulets?
46. In Roman mythology, who is god of the underworld?
47. Which Australian poet wrote the lines: “Life is mostly froth and bubble/ Two things stand like stone/ Kindness in another’s trouble/ Courage in your own”?
48. Belvedere, Stolichnaya and Absolut are all types of what?
49. What does the musical direction da capo mean?
50. In medicine, what is an autoclave used for?
51. Yucatán, Tabasco and Chihuahua are all states of which country?
52. The Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands is in which ocean?
53. Which actress links the characters Sandy Edwards, Sheryl Hoover and Tara Gregson?
54. In which United States national park is the Old Faithful geyser located?
55. Who topped the list of Australia’s highest-paid chief executives for 2018?
56. Which composer wrote the operas La bohème, Tosca and Turandot?
57. What five-letter word beginning with ‘s’ is given to a flock of geese or similar birds in flight formation?
58. People with the eye condition strabismus are commonly referred to as what?
59. True or false: killer whales (orcas) are actually dolphins.
60. Name the actor who played villainous Hans Gruber in Die Hard.
61. According to the saying, sarcasm is the lowest form of what?
62. Is Victoria’s longest river the: (a) Murray; (b) Yarra; or (c) Goulburn?
63. True or false: Malawi is landlocked.
64. Name the solar system’s four terrestrial planets.
65. Zucchero is the Italian word for which common pantry item?
66. What is the currency of South Africa?
67. “The quality of mercy” is a monologue from which Shakespeare play?
68. What 11-letter word beginning with ‘b’ is the name for a short musket with an expanded muzzle?
69. In Greek mythology, who is Eros’s wife?
70. Dian Fossey is best known for her study of what animals?
71. What is the largest of the Cook Islands?
72. Is the board on which an artist mixes colours: (a) a palette; (b) a palate; or (c) a pallet?
73. Who delivered the famous film line, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”?
74. What colour is the number 1 on a roulette wheel?
75. Who shared Time magazine’s 1972 Person of the Year honour with Henry Kissinger?
76. Which Australian state or territory is home to the Glass House Mountains?
77. Which of these countries’ flags is not red, white and blue: (a) Russia; (b) Norway; (c) Chile; (d) Ukraine?
78. Who, in 1927, became the first person to fly a plane solo nonstop across the Atlantic, from New York to Paris?
79. What direction is 270° on a compass?
80. Which actor links the characters Malcolm Crowe, David Addison and John McClane?
81. Name the six countries bordering Libya.
82. Which is closest to one furlong: (a) 50 metres; (b) 100 metres; or (c) 200 metres?
83. What is the name of the tube or cavity that connects the mouth with the oesophagus?
84. Zaha Hadid is famous in which field?
85. Name the American brig found adrift and intact but deserted in the mid-Atlantic in 1872?
86. Tugela Falls is the world’s second-highest waterfall. Which country is it in?
87. According to Roman mythology, who is Jupiter’s father?
88. Four national capital cities lie on the Danube River. Name them.
89. Which Oscar-nominated American actress born on April 1, 1939 has the given names Elizabeth Alice?
90. Liberica, robusta and arabica are all types of what?
91. Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
92. Which of these is not a cat breed: Japanese bobtail, French lop, Egyptian mau or Russian blue?
93. Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod was a Dutch exotic dancer and convicted spy better known by the stage name…
94. Which member of the Rolling Stones released the albums Talk Is Cheap, Main Offender and Crosseyed Heart?
95. Thimphu is the capital of which Asian nation?
96. The phrase “To err is human; to forgive, divine” appears in “An Essay on Criticism” by Alexander …
97. Travelling retirees are known as what colour nomads?
98. Who did the Greek god Epimetheus marry?
99. The endemic New Zealand plant Cyathea dealbata is more commonly known by what name?
100. Which seven-letter word starting with ‘c’ means slander or defamation?
