1. Who were the first inhabitants of the British Isles?

a) Iberians b) Celts c) Gaels

2. Which king reigned for less than eleven months in 1936? He gave up his throne to his brother George VI because he wanted to marry an American woman who had been divorced twice before.

a) King Edward VIII b) King Alfred VIII c) King Archibald VIII

3. Which queen reigned for 64 years? She was so upset when her husband, Albert, died of typhoid in 1861 that for many years she did not appear in public and asked her servants to lay out his clothes every day as if he was still alive.

a) Queen Beatrice b) Queen Victoria c) Queen Adelaide

4.Which was the last king to rule over the American Colonies before they won the War of Independence in 1783? During his reign there were also many battles against the French. At sea Admiral Nelson won the battle of Trafalgar and on land the Duke of Wellington beat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This King also bought Buckingham Palace from the Duke of Buckingham and it has been the official royal residence in London ever since.

a) King George III b) King Fredrick III c) King Arthur III

5. Which king believed that he had the right to rule without consulting Parliament? When he tried to arrest 5 Members of Parliament it led to civil war. When the Royalists (who supported the King) were finally defeated by the Parliamentarians, he was tried for waging war against the kingdom and against Parliament and was executed in 1649. Britain was for a few years a republic led by Oliver Cromwell. a) King Charles I b) King Ernest I c) King Francis I

6. Who had been king of Scotland for 36 years before he also became king of England in 1603? Two years later some Roman Catholics, who were not happy with his rule, planned to blow him up when he opened Parliament. A man called Guy Fawkes was caught with the gunpowder in the House of Lords. Guy Fawkes was tortured and all the conspirators were hanged. We still remember this day on 5th November each year when we light fireworks and sometimes burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

a) King Angus I b) King James I c) King Robert I

7. Which queen ruled for 45 years until 1603 but never married? She was strong willed and much admired. She loved the theatre and even watched William Shakespeare perform with his group of actors, The Lord Chamberlain's Men.

a) Queen Elizabeth I b) Queen Matilda I c) Queen Jane I

8. Which king in the 16th century was notorious because he had six wives? He divorced two of them and ordered the execution of two others. a) King Edward VIII b) King Lionel VIII c) King Henry VIII

9. Which king loved to stay at Corfe Castle in Dorset and hunt in the Purbeck Hills? He was very unpopular with the barons. In 1215 they forced him to sign a document called the Magna Carta which gave the Church and the citizens of England certain rights. For example, it said that no free Englishman could be put in prison without a trial. You can see one of the original copies of the Magna Carta in Salisbury.

a) King John b) King Edmund c) King Thomas

10. Who became King after defeating King Harold in 1066? He made French the language of the ruling classes in England. He also built lots of castles, including the White Tower in the Tower of London. a) Edward the Confessor b) Richard the Lionheart c) William the Conqueror

11. Anne Hathaway's Cottage is the old house near ... in which Shakespeare's wife was born.

a) London b) Oxford c) Cardiff d) Stratford-upon-Avon

12. Who was the first king responsible for torture and execution in the Tower? a) Henry VIII b) Edward the Confessor c) Egbert

13. The Act of Union was passed in ..... and declared the union of England and Scotland.

a) 1666 b) 1707 c) 1588 d) 1599

14. The Battle of Trafalgar was a decisive naval battle that took place off Cape Trafalgar on ...

a) 06/06/1944 b) 21/10/1805 c) 11/11/1918 d) 05/11/1605

15. The wars in ..... between the house of York and the house of Lancaster are called the Wars of the Roses.

a) the first half of 15th century b) the second half of 15th century c) the first half of 14th century d) the second half of 14th century

16. Hadrian's Wall is an ancient wall built by order of the Roman emperor Hadrian in the ..... century AD to defend the northern border of England against attacks by Celtic tribes. a) 1st b) 4th c) 2nd d) 3rd

17. The last time that Britain was successfully invaded by another country was in 1066. The invaders were a) the Romans b) the Normans c )the Saxons d)the Danes

18. How many days did the Great Fire of London last in 1666?

a) five b) four c) seven

19. What disaster did the whole England suffer from in the 14 th century?

a) the plague b)the earthquake c) the flood

20. Who ordered to build the Westminster Abbey? a) Edward the Confessor b) Henry VIII c) Elizabeth I

21. How old is the Tower of London?

a) 900 years b) 760 years c) 1000 years ?

22. What do they call the guards of the Tower of London?

a) Beefeaters b) Castle Guards c) Tower Guards

23. What is the official religion in the UK?

a) Catholicism b) Orthodoxy c) Protestantism

24. How many monarchs have there been in Great Britain? a) 40 b) 50 c) 25

25. Where are the Crown Jewels kept?

a) In Buckingham Palace b) In the Tower of London c) In Big Ben d) In Windsor Castle

26. What is there inside the oak coronation chair in Westminster Abbey? a) the Stone of Destiny b) the Soverign’s Seal c) the Golden Crown

27. What was the Queen Elizabeth called as a child?

a)Lizzie b) Lilibet c) Pumpkin

28. How many grandchildren does the Queen Elizabeth have?

a) 2 b)8 c) 11

29. Of the four separate nations, which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which two share the legal system?

a) Wales and Northern Ireland b) England and Wales c) England and Scotland

30. What is a unique feature of the British parliamentary system?

a) its hereditary element b) its bicameral system c) its elected element

31. What does the word “parliament” mean?

a) speak b) think c) discuss

32. In what century was the first Parliament in Britain held?

a)XII b)XIII c)XIV

33. What does the Lord Chancellor sit on in the House of Lords?

a) a front bench b) a woolsack c) a red cushion

34. Who was the founder of the police force in Britain?

a) Sir Benjamin Hall b) Sir Robert Peel c) Sir Christopher Wren

35. In the center of England is a range of hills called the Pennines, also known as the … a) ‘back of England’ b) ‘backboard of England’ c) ‘backbone of England’

36. The highest mountain in Wales is called ...

a) Snowdon b) Ben Nevis c) Skiddaw d) High Willhays

37. What is a county in the south east, called the Garden of England because it produces a lot of fruit and vegetables?

a) Surrey b) Essex c) Kent

38. The second largest city of the UK is … a) Birmingham b) Edinburgh c) Liverpool d) Manchester

39. What’s the largest county in the UK? a) North Yorkshire b) Hampshire c) Devon d) Essex

40. Who introduced the custom of drinking tea in England? a) Mary Lipton b) Catarina de Bragança c) Phillipa of Lancaster d) Elisabeth Tetley

41. What is the so-called “high tea” in England? a) a substantial meal at about 6 p.m. when all members of the family gather together b) a tea party at about 5 p.m.

c) a cup of tea you take in the morning, before going to work

42. London buses – double-deckers – have seats for 65 people and only … people are allowed to stand when the seats are busy.

a) 4 b) 5 c) 7

43. When British first-year university students first arrive at a college, they are called… a) ‘greenies’ b) ‘newcomers’ c) ‘freshers’

44. The name of a famous Scottish microbiologist, who is known as the “father of antibiotics” because he discovered penicillin in 1929, is … a) John Sheehan b) Alexander Fleming c) Andrew J Moyer

45. In England a man who walks about the streets, carrying advertisements on two boards, one hanging over his chest and the other on his back, is called … a) a sandwich-man b) a hamburger c) an advertiser

46. What was the first name of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple?

a) Agatha b) Jane c) Marge d) Mary

47. What nationality was Robert Louis Stevenson, writer of 'Treasure Island'? a) Scottish b) Welsh c)English d) Irish

48. Who wrote the crime novel "Ten Little Niggers"?

a) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle b) Irvine Welsh c) Agatha Christie d) Emile Zola

49. Which is the first Harry Potter book?

a) HP and the Goblet of Fire b) HP and the Philosopher’s Stone c) HP and the Chamber of Secrets d) HP and Half-Blood Prince

50. Name the book which opens with the line 'All children, except one grew up'?

a) The Railway Children b) Winnie the Pooh c) Jungle Book d)Peter Pan