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General Knowledge Quiz Grades 11 and 12

Total questions: 71

Worksheet time: 34mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which of the following is NOT the capital city of the African country mentioned?

a)

Abuja - Nigeria

b)

Accra - Ghana

c)

Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

d)

Arusha - Tanzania

2.

Which of these captains is obsessed with killing a huge, white sea creature?

a)

Captain Ahab

b)

Captain Bligh

c)

Captain Kirk

d)

Captain Nemo

3.

Study of the origins of words:

a)

egyptology

b)

entomology

c)

etiology

d)

etymology

4.

The verb inspissate means to:

a)

do immediately

b)

release

c)

render incontinent

d)

thicken

5.

The oldest, continuously functioning, European university is the University of …

a)

Bologna in Italy

b)

Oxford in England

c)

Paris in France

d)

Salamanca in Spain

6.

Which language is NOT an official, indigenous language of the African country/countries named?

a)

Amharic (Ethiopia)

b)

Berber (Morocco & Algeria)

c)

Malagasy (Madagascar)

d)

Shona (Zambia)

7.

The island, off the coast of Tanzania. famous for its production of cloves.

a)

Mafia

b)

Pemba

c)

Unguja

d)

Zanzibar

8.

With which country does France share its longest international boundary?

a)

Brazil

b)

Germany

c)

Italy

d)

Spain

9.

Which country had the world’s largest, proven oil reserves in 2019?

a)

Russia

b)

Saudi Arabia

c)

United Arab Emirates

d)

Venezuela

10.

These countries are all among the world’s Top 10 coffee producers.

Which list is in the correct, descending order for the four coffee producers mentioned?

a)

Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, Indonesia

b)

Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Indonesia

c)

Indonesia, India, Uganda, Ethiopia

d)

Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia

11.

The first country to win the Soccer World Cup TWICE.

a)

Argentina

b)

Brazil

c)

Italy

d)

Uruguay

12.

In World Cup Rugby, the Springboks have never lost to this nation’s team:

a)

Australia

b)

England

c)

Japan

d)

Wales

13.

Who were the first Rugby World Cup winners and when was the event first held?

a)

Australia in 1991

b)

England in 1991

c)

France in 1987

d)

New Zealand in 1987

14.

Which list contains the cities whose airports are the world’s top 5 air cargo hubs?

a)

Anchorage, Memphis, Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo

b)

Hong Kong, Dubai, Beijing, Los Angeles, Shanghai

c)

Incheon, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Memphis, Dubai

d)

Memphis, Incheon, Shanghai, Anchorage, Hong

15.

A city which has NEVER hosted the modern Olympic Games.

a)

Antwerp

b)

Helsinki

c)

New York

d)

Tokyo

16.

The sport based upon a set of rules known as “The Queensberry Rules”.

a)

boxing

b)

Greco-Roman wrestling

c)

rowing

d)

skateboarding

17.

Which of the following nicknames of a popular sports star is NOT QUITE correct?

a)

Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls superstar, was “Air Jordan”

b)

Tendai Mtawarira, the Springbok prop forward, was “The Beast”

c)

Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian cricketer, was “The Little Maestro”

d)

Michael Phelps, the American swimmer, was “The Baltimore Bullet”

18.

Neither game in the following pairs were either invented or first played in their modern forms in England.

Which pair is it?

a)

badminton and soccer

b)

cricket and rugby

c)

real tennis and basketball

d)

squash rackets and pelota

19.

Which of the following South African long distance athletes was NOT a New York City Marathon winner?

a)

Bruce Fordyce

b)

Ernst van Dyk

c)

Hendrick Ramaala

d)

Willie Mtolo

20.

After hearing Allegri's Miserere sung in the Sistine Chapel at Easter in 1770, a 14 year old boy transcribed its complex music perfectly, from memory.

Who was he?

a)

Christoph Willibald Gluck

b)

Franz Joseph Haydn

c)

Ludwig van Beethoven

d)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

21.

Of which song are the five opening words: “Is this the real life?”

a)

Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

b)

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

c)

DNA by BTS

d)

It’s Time by Imagine Dragons

22.

Experts are fond of compiling lists e.g. of best-selling novels etc.

Which of the following “young adult” books has sold the most copies?

a)

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

b)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

c)

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

d)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

23.

The best-selling novel of all time.

a)

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

b)

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

c)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

d)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

24.

Which of the following authors has been published only in the 21st century?

a)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

b)

Isabel Allende

c)

Margaret Attwood

d)

Naomi Woolf

25.

In Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the Ultimate Question to Life, the Universe, and Everything is …

a)

13

b)

42

c)

87

d)

144

26.

The travel writer and author who wrote A Journal of the plague year; A Tour through the whole island of Great Britain; and Robinson Crusoe was:          

a)

R.M. Ballantyne

b)

 Henry Fielding

c)

Daniel Defoe

d)

Anthony Trollope

27.

Arthur Miller’s play about the 1692-3 Salem, Massachusetts witch trials was an allegory about this era in American or World politics:

a)

the Cold War

b)

Senator Eugene McCarthy’s persecution of the actual and perceived political left

c)

the aftermath of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy

d)

the Vietnam War

28.

Which of the following works is incorrectly linked to the stated creed or ideology?

a)

Bhagavad Gita – Hinduism

b)

Das Kapital by Karl Marx – Capitalism

c)

The Talmud – Judaism

d)

The Book of Mormon - Mormonism

29.

William Shakespeare invented many new words now commonly used in the English language.


Which of the following triplets ALL came from The Bard’s pen?

a)

addiction assassination awfulize

b)

barefaced barnacle bloodstained

c)

dauntless dishearten dwindle

d)

gloomy green-eyed grill

30.

An expression, derived from the sport of boxing, that describes when someone has given up and cannot go on any longer is:

a)

fail to come up to scratch

b)

down and out

c)

out for the count

d)

throw in the towel

31.

A drupe is a:

a)

fleshy fruit enclosing a nut with a kernel

b)

freely hanging object

c)

jeweller’s eye glass

d)

loss of spirit

32.

He was the architect of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in Rome.

a)

Donato dei Niccolo di Betto Bardi (Donatello)

b)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

c)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

d)

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)

33.

He painted the fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican.

a)

Donato dei Niccolo di Betto Bardi (Donatello)

b)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

c)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

d)

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)

34.

He sculpted the Pieta which adorns St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City.

a)

Donato dei Niccolo di Betto Bardi (Donatello)

b)

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

c)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

d)

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael)

35.

Which one of these works is displayed at the Museo Reina Sofia art museum in Madrid, Spain?

a)

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

b)

The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci

c)

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

d)

Michelangelo’s sculpture of David

36.

Which actor or actress did NOT win an Oscar for their portrayal of the main character in the film?

a)

Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray (2004)

b)

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (2011)

c)

Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth l in Elizabeth (1998)

d)

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012)

37.

Who said: “If my films don't show a profit, I know I'm doing something right.”?

a)

Anant Singh

b)

Leon Schuster

c)

Steven Spielberg

d)

Woody Allen

38.

The highest number of extras ever used in a single scene of a movie was 300 000 in …

a)

The Ten Commandments directed by Cecil B. DeMille (1956)

b)

Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough (1982)

c)

The Last Emperor directed by Bernardo Bertolucci (1987)

d)

The Lord of the Rings directed by Peter Jackson (2001)

39.

The three who played the Lannister siblings in Game of Thrones were Lena Headey (Cercei), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime).

Their countries of birth, respectively, are:

a)

England, Norway and USA

b)

Ireland, England and Denmark

c)

England, USA and Denmark

d)

USA, Ireland and Norway

40.

The five platonic solids are …

a)

cube, sphere, prism, octahedron, dodecahedron

b)

tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron

c)

tetrahedron, cube, diamond, dodecahedron, icosahedron

d)

cube, sphere, diamond, dodecahedron, icosahedron

41.

“Every even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers” is known as (the):

a)

Fermat’s Last Theorem

b)

Goldbach Conjecture

c)

Poincaré Conjecture

d)

Reimann Hypothesis

42.

Which of the following sets of names (of famous scientists) contains a name that is NOT celebrated in the periodic table of chemical elements?

a)

Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Dmitri Mendeleev

b)

Enrico Fermi, Ernest Rutherford, Ernest Orlando Lawrence

c)

Marie Curie, Nicolaus Copernicus, Wilhelm Roentgen

d)

Niels Bohr, Glen Seaborg, Yuri Oganessian

43.

The only far eastern country to have been honoured in the naming of an element in the periodic table is …

a)

Cambodia

b)

China

c)

Japan

d)

Korea

44.

Which bone of the body is the highest (off the ground) when a human being is standing?

a)

maxilla

b)

patella

c)

scapula

d)

ulna

45.

Which of the following planets in our solar system has the shortest day?

a)

Venus

b)

Mars

c)

Jupiter

d)

Neptune

46.

The smallest sub-atomic particle mentioned here is the:

a)

electron

b)

neutron

c)

proton

d)

quark

47.

At present the closest star to the Sun is:

a)

Alpha Centauri A (in the constellation Centaurus)

b)

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation Orionis

c)

Proxima Centauri (also in the constellation Centaurus)

d)

Sirius (the Dog Star in the constellation Canis Majoris)

48.

Which of these four people did NOT win both of the Nobel Prizes listed after their name?

a)

Marie Sklodowska Curie (Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911)

b)

Albert Einstein (Physics 1921 and Peace 1948)

c)

Linus Pauling (Chemistry 1954 and Peace 1962)

d)

John Bardeen (Physics 1956 and Physics 1972)

49.

Which triplet of names contains THREE South African science Nobel Prize winners?

a)

Aaron Klug, Michael Levitt; Max Theiler

b)

Sydney Brenner, Alan Cormack, Denis Gabor

c)

John Bardeen, William Shockley, Walter Brattain

d)

John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, John Schrieffer

50.

Which of the following inventions was NOT made by a woman?

a)

Dishwasher

b)

Marine life raft

c)

Kevlar, a super-strong polymer fibre

d)

“Dolosse” (concrete tetrahedra) used to stabilise beaches against wave erosion

51.

Which of the following American Presidents was NOT successfully assassinated?

a)

Abraham Lincoln

b)

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

c)

James Abram Garfield

d)

Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt

52.

Oil is sold by the standard barrel, the volume of which is …

a)

42 US gallons

b)

44 imperial gallons

c)

160 litres

d)

200 litres

53.

Reputedly, in the 19th century only one place in the world could not be covered against marine accidents by Lloyd’s of London.


What is that place?

a)

East London harbour on the Buffalo River, Eastern Cape

b)

Knysna Heads and lagoon, Western Cape

c)

Saldanha Bay lagoon, Western Cape

d)

Witsand harbour at the mouth of the Breede River, Western Cape

54.

A tree indigenous to Southern Africa.

a)

Blue Gum or Eucalyptus

b)

Jacaranda or Mimosifolia

c)

Oak or Quercus

d)

Rhus or Searsia Lancia

55.

How does this advertising slogan end?

Do you love anyone enough to give them your last …?

a)

… slice of Albany

b)

… square of Cadbury’s

c)

… NikNak

d)

… Polo

56.

Which of the following is NOT an old musical instrument?

a)

cannelini

b)

dulcimer

c)

flageolet

d)

harpsichord

57.

... social reformer, mathematician, Crimean War nurse who effectively invented modern nursing

and best known as


“the lady with the lamp” ...

a)

Dame Edith Sitwell

b)

Emmeline Pankhurst

c)

Emily Hobhouse

d)

Florence Nightingale

58.

If investigators suspect murder by strangulation, they will check if this bone is broken.

a)

cervicle vertebra C1

b)

clavicle

c)

hyoid

d)

mandible

59.

Spices are prepared by grinding, or using whole, the seeds, seed pods, outer bark, fruit or roots of plants.


Which is the ODD ONE OUT among the following spices?

a)

cinnamon (cinnamomum verum)

b)

cumin (cuminum cyminum)

c)

coriander (coriandrum sativum)

d)

caraway (carum carvi)

60.

Which of the following spices is the most valuable, by weight?

a)

allspice (pimento dioica)

b)

asafoetida (ferula assa-foetida)

c)

black pepper (piper nigrum)

d)

saffron (crocus sativus)

61.

1953 was an annus mirabilis for the British Commonwealth thanks to several extraordinary events. Which of the following events did NOT occur in 1953?

a)

DISCOVERY OF THE STRUCTURE OF DNA

by Cambridge University and University of London scientists on 25 April.

b)

THE FIRST SUB-4 MINUTE MILE

by Roger Bannister on 6 May at the Iffley Road track in Oxford.

c)

THE FIRST RECOGNISED, SUCCESSFUL ASCENT OF EVEREST

by Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) on 29 May.

d)

THE CORONATION OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II

on 2 June in Westminster Abbey in London.

62.

How many states in the USA have names that begin and end with the same letter e.g. the “A” in “Alabama”?

a)

2

b)

3

c)

4

d)

5

63.

One of the following statements about an American state is FALSE. Which is it?

a)

Hawaii: The British Union Jack appears in its flag.

b)

Louisiana: Was named in honour of a French king.

c)

Texas: Has the largest population of German-Americans and is the birthplace of the American antislavery movement.

d)

Wisconsin: name is taken from a Native American word “wishkonsing” - “place of the beaver”.

64.

What is a common name for the bird also known as the “lammergeier”?

a)

African goshawk

b)

Bearded vulture

c)

Crowned eagle

d)

Peregrine falcon

65.

The number of time zones observed in Russia is:

a)

5

b)

7

c)

9

d)

11

66.

In 1957 Russia (then the USSR) placed the world’s first artificial satellite in Earth orbit. The event started the “space race” between Russia and the USA.


The satellite in question was:

a)

Laika

b)

Soyuz

c)

Sputnik

d)

Vostok

67.

Which of the following South African tourist attractions is NOT a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

a)

Cape Point, the Cape of Storms

b)

Cradle of Mankind

c)

Kingdom of Mapungubwe

d)

Robben Island

68.

Which coastal town lies at the mouth of the Orange River?

a)

Alexander Bay

b)

Kleinzee

c)

Luderitz

d)

Port Nolloth

69.

What animal is associated with the uniquely South African dish (usually stew in a bread) also known as kota, scambane and spatlo?

a)

bushpig

b)

honey badger

c)

rabbit

d)

springbok

70.

UNESCO has named about 880 World Heritage Sites in various categories, including “areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance”.


Which of the following in NOT one of them?

a)

Cape Floral Regions Protected Areas

b)

Great Zimbabwe National Monument

c)

Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls)

d)

Skeleton Coast of Namibia

71.

I AM IN ...

a)

CONNEMARA

b)

LIPIZZANER

c)

PALOMINO

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