Practice and questions
Chapter 4 questions: a modern, thriving society
A calendar, a sports page, a bookshelf and a list of inventions. This chapter is wide rather than deep, so it is learned by theme.
1.On which date is St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, celebrated?
- · 1 March
- · 17 March
- · 23 April
- ✓ 30 November
St Andrew's Day, 30 November, celebrates the patron saint of Scotland and is an official bank holiday there. The other patron saints' days are St David on 1 March, St Patrick on 17 March and St George on 23 April.
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2.Which day marks the end of the First World War and is kept as Remembrance Day?
- ✓ 11 November
- · 5 November
- · 8 May
- · 1 July
The armistice that ended the First World War took effect at 11 am on 11 November 1918. Every year on Remembrance Day people remember those who died in wars, and a two-minute silence is kept at 11 am.
Where to check: A modern, thriving society
3.On which date is Christmas Day celebrated in the UK?
- · 6 January
- · 24 December
- ✓ 25 December
- · 26 December
Christmas Day, 25 December, celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ and is a public holiday across the UK. Families often exchange presents and share a special meal, traditionally including roast turkey and Christmas pudding.
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4.What is the day after Christmas Day, also a public holiday, called?
- ✓ Boxing Day
- · Twelfth Night
- · Hogmanay
- · Shrove Tuesday
Boxing Day, 26 December, is a public holiday in the UK. Its name is thought to come from the custom of giving boxes or gifts to servants and tradespeople, and today it is known for sporting fixtures and family visits.
Where to check: A modern, thriving society
5.What event is remembered with fireworks on Bonfire Night, 5 November?
- · The end of the Second World War
- ✓ The failure of a plot to blow up Parliament in 1605
- · The Great Fire of London
- · The coronation of Elizabeth I
On 5 November 1605 a group of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, failed in their Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and the king. People still mark the night with bonfires and fireworks.
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6.What is Hogmanay?
- · A Welsh poetry festival
- · An Irish harvest festival
- ✓ The Scottish name for New Year's Eve celebrations
- · An English Easter custom
Hogmanay is the Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve, 31 December. It is marked with parties, street events and fireworks, and in Scotland 2 January is also a bank holiday in addition to New Year's Day.
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7.What is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, popularly called?
- · Mothering Sunday
- · Plough Monday
- · Ash Thursday
- ✓ Pancake Day
Shrove Tuesday falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. It is popularly called Pancake Day because people traditionally used up rich foods such as eggs and butter by making pancakes before the Lenten fast.
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8.On which date is Valentine's Day celebrated?
- · 1 February
- · 1 May
- ✓ 14 February
- · 14 March
Valentine's Day, 14 February, is when couples exchange cards, flowers and gifts. Some people send cards anonymously to someone they admire. It is a popular custom rather than a public holiday.
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9.What is the custom on 1 April, April Fool's Day?
- ✓ People play jokes on each other until midday
- · People plant trees
- · Children receive chocolate eggs
- · Shops close for the afternoon
On 1 April people in the UK play tricks and jokes on each other, traditionally only until midday. Newspapers and broadcasters sometimes join in with invented stories, so readers need to be careful what they believe that day.
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10.When is Mothering Sunday celebrated in the UK?
- · The first Sunday in May
- ✓ Three weeks before Easter
- · The last Sunday in June
- · The Sunday after Christmas
Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, three weeks before Easter Sunday. Children give cards or gifts to their mothers. Its date in the UK is different from Mother's Day in many other countries.
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11.On which date is Halloween celebrated?
- · 1 November
- · 5 November
- ✓ 31 October
- · 31 December
Halloween, 31 October, has ancient roots in a pagan festival marking the start of winter. Today children often dress up in costumes and go 'trick or treating' to neighbours' houses, and pumpkins are carved into lanterns.
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12.Which saint's day is celebrated on 1 March?
- · St George, patron saint of England
- · St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland
- ✓ St David, patron saint of Wales
- · St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland
St David's Day, 1 March, honours the patron saint of Wales, a sixth-century bishop. Many people wear daffodils or leeks, and schoolchildren in Wales often take part in concerts and wear traditional Welsh dress.
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13.Wimbledon, held every summer in London, is the oldest tournament in the world in which sport?
- · Golf
- · Cricket
- · Badminton
- ✓ Tennis
The Wimbledon Championships, first held in 1877, are the oldest tennis tournament in the world. They are played on grass courts at the All England Club in south-west London and are one of the four Grand Slam events.
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14.'The Ashes' is a famous series of matches between England and Australia in which sport?
- ✓ Cricket
- · Rugby union
- · Football
- · Tennis
The Ashes is a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia. The name comes from a mock obituary of English cricket printed after an Australian victory in 1882, and a small urn is the symbolic trophy.
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15.St Andrews in Scotland is known around the world as the home of which sport?
- · Curling
- ✓ Golf
- · Tennis
- · Rowing
The modern game of golf developed in Scotland, and St Andrews is known as the home of golf. Its Old Course is one of the oldest in the world and regularly hosts The Open Championship.
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16.Where does the sport of rugby take its name from?
- · A village in Wales
- · A river in Scotland
- ✓ Rugby School, a school in Warwickshire
- · A rugby player called Rugby
Rugby takes its name from Rugby School in Warwickshire, England, where the game developed in the early nineteenth century. The two main forms today are rugby union and rugby league, both played across the UK.
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17.The Grand National, one of the best-known horse races in the UK, is held at which course?
- · Ascot, near Windsor
- · Epsom, in Surrey
- · Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire
- ✓ Aintree, near Liverpool
The Grand National is a steeplechase race over high fences held each spring at Aintree, near Liverpool. Millions of people who rarely follow racing watch it or place a small bet, making it a national event.
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18.In 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to do what?
- ✓ Run a mile in under four minutes
- · Swim the English Channel
- · Climb Mount Everest
- · Win five Olympic gold medals
On 6 May 1954 at Oxford, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. Many had thought it impossible, and his achievement remains one of the most famous moments in British sport.
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19.How many times has London hosted the Summer Olympic Games?
- · Five times
- · Once
- ✓ Three times
- · Twice
London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012, more than any other city at the time of the 2012 Games. The 2012 Games also included the Paralympics, whose roots lie in the Stoke Mandeville games in England.
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20.What are the Proms?
- · A national cookery competition
- ✓ An eight-week summer season of classical concerts organised by the BBC
- · A series of horse races in Ascot
- · Formal dances held only in schools
The Proms are an eight-week summer season of orchestral and classical music concerts organised by the BBC. Most take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Last Night of the Proms is a famous celebration.
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21.Which city hosts the Festival Fringe, a huge arts festival held every August?
- · Cardiff
- · Manchester
- ✓ Edinburgh
- · Belfast
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place every August alongside the Edinburgh International Festival. It is one of the largest arts festivals in the world, with thousands of comedy, theatre and music shows across the city.
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22.What is an Eisteddfod?
- · A Scottish sports gathering
- · An Irish dance
- · An English harvest fair
- ✓ A Welsh festival of music, poetry and literature
An Eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of music, poetry and literature. The National Eisteddfod of Wales is held every year in a different location and includes competitions and performances, many of them in the Welsh language.
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23.The Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of Caribbean culture, takes place in which city?
- ✓ London
- · Birmingham
- · Glasgow
- · Bristol
The Notting Hill Carnival takes place in west London every August bank holiday weekend. Started by Caribbean communities, it is one of the largest street festivals in Europe, with costumes, steel bands and food.
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24.Who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice?
- · Charlotte Brontë
- ✓ Jane Austen
- · Mary Shelley
- · Virginia Woolf
Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813. Her novels, which also include Sense and Sensibility and Emma, describe family life and marriage among the English gentry with sharp wit and are still widely read.
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25.Which Scottish poet wrote 'Auld Lang Syne', often sung at New Year?
- · Walter Scott
- · Lord Byron
- ✓ Robert Burns
- · Dylan Thomas
Robert Burns, the eighteenth-century poet, wrote 'Auld Lang Syne', which is sung around the world at New Year. Scots celebrate his life each year on Burns Night, 25 January, with a supper of haggis and readings of his poems.
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26.Which Victorian writer created the characters Oliver Twist and Ebenezer Scrooge?
- · Thomas Hardy
- · Rudyard Kipling
- · Jonathan Swift
- ✓ Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge appears. His novels described poverty and injustice in nineteenth-century England and remain among the most popular in English literature.
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27.Which author created the detective Sherlock Holmes?
- ✓ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- · Agatha Christie
- · Ian Fleming
- · Lewis Carroll
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scottish doctor and writer, created Sherlock Holmes, who first appeared in 1887. The detective, who lived at 221B Baker Street in London, became one of the most famous characters in fiction.
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28.What is the Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner?
- · A prize for the best novel
- ✓ An annual award for contemporary art
- · A sailing race
- · A medal for bravery
The Turner Prize is awarded each year to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition of contemporary art. It is named after J. M. W. Turner, the painter of dramatic landscapes and seascapes, and it often sparks debate.
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29.Haggis, made from sheep's offal, oatmeal and spices, is a traditional dish of which country?
- · Wales
- · England
- ✓ Scotland
- · Northern Ireland
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish of sheep's offal mixed with oatmeal, onion and spices. It is famously eaten on Burns Night with mashed turnips and potatoes, often called 'neeps and tatties'.
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30.What is the established church in England?
- · The Church of Scotland
- · The Roman Catholic Church
- · The Methodist Church
- ✓ The Church of England
The Church of England is the established, or state, church in England. It is a Protestant church whose spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, while the monarch holds the title of Supreme Governor.
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31.What kind of church is the Church of Scotland?
- ✓ A Presbyterian church
- · A Roman Catholic church
- · An Orthodox church
- · A church led by the Pope
The Church of Scotland is a Presbyterian church, which means it is governed by ministers and elders rather than bishops. It is the national church of Scotland, and its annual meeting is led by a Moderator elected each year.
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32.What is a pantomime?
- · A silent religious play at Easter
- ✓ A comic family theatre show, usually staged around Christmas
- · A horse-riding contest
- · A summer music festival
Pantomimes are comic theatre shows, often based on fairy tales, performed mainly around Christmas and New Year. They include songs, slapstick and audience participation, and traditionally a man plays the role of the 'dame'.
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33.Which play by Agatha Christie is the longest-running play in the world?
- · Hamlet
- · The Importance of Being Earnest
- ✓ The Mousetrap
- · Death of a Salesman
The Mousetrap, a murder mystery by Agatha Christie, opened in London's West End in 1952 and has been performed tens of thousands of times since. It is the longest-running play in the world.
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34.Which British author created the spy character James Bond?
- · John le Carré
- · Graham Greene
- · Arthur Conan Doyle
- ✓ Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming created James Bond, the British secret agent known as 007, in the novel Casino Royale in 1953. The books led to one of the most successful film series ever made.
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35.What is the National Trust?
- ✓ A charity that preserves historic buildings, coastline and countryside
- · A government bank
- · A political party
- · A national lottery operator
The National Trust is a charity founded in 1895 that looks after historic houses, gardens, coastline and countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own similar body, the National Trust for Scotland.
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36.What do many people wear in the weeks before Remembrance Day as a sign of remembrance?
- · A white rose
- ✓ A red poppy
- · A green ribbon
- · A yellow daffodil
Many people wear red paper poppies in the run-up to Remembrance Day. Poppies grew on the battlefields of northern France and Belgium after the First World War, and the money raised supports former members of the armed forces.
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37.Which organisation runs the Chelsea Flower Show, held each May in London?
- · The National Trust
- · The Royal Society
- ✓ The Royal Horticultural Society
- · The Forestry Commission
The Chelsea Flower Show is organised every May by the Royal Horticultural Society in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Gardening is a popular pastime in the UK, and the show displays new garden designs and plants.
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38.Which Scottish inventor gave the first public demonstration of television in the 1920s?
- · Alexander Graham Bell
- · Tim Berners-Lee
- · Frank Whittle
- ✓ John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird, born in Helensburgh in Scotland, demonstrated television publicly in London in 1926. His early mechanical system was later replaced by electronic television, but he is remembered as a pioneer of the medium.
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39.Which British engineer developed the jet engine?
- ✓ Sir Frank Whittle
- · George Stephenson
- · Charles Babbage
- · Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Sir Frank Whittle, an RAF officer and engineer, patented the jet engine in 1930. His work, developed in the 1930s and 1940s, transformed aviation and made modern passenger jet travel possible.
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40.What was Dolly, born in Scotland in 1996, famous for?
- · She was the oldest horse ever recorded
- ✓ She was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell
- · She was the first animal sent into space
- · She was a champion racing dog
Dolly the sheep was born in 1996 at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh. She was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, a landmark achievement in the science of genetics.
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41.On which date is St Patrick's Day, the day of the patron saint of Northern Ireland?
- · 1 March
- · 23 April
- · 30 November
- ✓ 17 March
St Patrick's Day is on 17 March. It is a public holiday in Northern Ireland. St David's Day is 1 March, St George's Day 23 April and St Andrew's Day 30 November.
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42.On which date is St George's Day, the day of the patron saint of England?
- ✓ 23 April
- · 17 March
- · 1 March
- · 30 November
St George's Day is on 23 April. Unlike St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland and St Andrew's Day in Scotland, it is not a public holiday in England.
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43.Which festival of lights is celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs, often in October or November?
- · Hanukkah
- ✓ Diwali
- · Vaisakhi
- · Eid al-Fitr
Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs. Leicester is known for one of the largest Diwali celebrations outside India.
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44.Which Jewish festival lasts eight days and is marked by lighting candles?
- · Passover
- · Yom Kippur
- ✓ Hanukkah
- · Purim
Hanukkah lasts for eight days, usually in November or December. Families light a candle on each night on a candlestick called a menorah, remembering the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
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45.Which British athlete won gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games in rowing?
- · Sir Chris Hoy
- · Dame Kelly Holmes
- · Sir Bradley Wiggins
- ✓ Sir Steve Redgrave
Sir Steve Redgrave won rowing gold at five Olympic Games in a row, from 1984 to 2000, one of the greatest records in Olympic history.
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46.In which town did the games that led to the Paralympics begin, at a hospital for injured soldiers?
- ✓ Stoke Mandeville
- · St Andrews
- · Wimbledon
- · Ascot
Dr Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised sports competitions for injured servicemen at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire after the Second World War. They grew into the Paralympic Games.
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47.Which composer wrote the 'Water Music' for King George I?
- · Edward Elgar
- ✓ George Frederick Handel
- · Henry Purcell
- · Benjamin Britten
George Frederick Handel, born in Germany, spent many years in England and wrote the Water Music for King George I, as well as the oratorio Messiah.
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48.Which composer wrote the 'Pomp and Circumstance' marches?
- · Ralph Vaughan Williams
- · Gustav Holst
- ✓ Edward Elgar
- · Henry Purcell
Sir Edward Elgar wrote the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. The first is sung as 'Land of Hope and Glory', a favourite on the Last Night of the Proms.
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49.Which music festival is held on a farm in Somerset most summers?
- · The Proms
- · The Eisteddfod
- · The Fringe
- ✓ Glastonbury
Glastonbury is one of the UK's best-known music festivals, held on a farm in Somerset. Festivals such as Glastonbury draw large crowds every summer.
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50.Which of these painters is famous for landscapes such as 'The Hay Wain'?
- ✓ John Constable
- · David Hockney
- · Henry Moore
- · Francis Bacon
John Constable painted English landscapes, and The Hay Wain, showing a farm cart crossing a river in Suffolk, is one of his best-known works.
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51.Which composer, with lyricist Tim Rice, wrote musicals such as 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and 'Evita'?
- · Gilbert and Sullivan
- ✓ Andrew Lloyd Webber
- · Benjamin Britten
- · Noël Coward
Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita with Tim Rice, and later musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera.
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52.Which annual prize is awarded to a novel written in English, often with great media attention?
- · The Turner Prize
- · The Mercury Prize
- ✓ The Booker Prize
- · The Laurence Olivier Award
The Booker Prize is awarded each year to a novel written in English. The Turner Prize is for visual art, the Mercury Prize for music and the Olivier Awards for theatre.
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53.Which poet wrote about daffodils in a famous poem inspired by the Lake District?
- · Robert Burns
- · Dylan Thomas
- · Lord Byron
- ✓ William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth lived in the Lake District, and his poem about daffodils, which begins 'I wandered lonely as a cloud', is one of the best known in English.
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54.Which Welsh poet wrote 'Under Milk Wood'?
- ✓ Dylan Thomas
- · R. S. Thomas
- · Robert Burns
- · Thomas Hardy
Dylan Thomas, born in Swansea in 1914, wrote Under Milk Wood, a play for voices about a small Welsh fishing town, as well as many poems.
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55.What do you need in order to watch live television broadcasts in the UK?
- · A passport
- ✓ A TV licence
- · A national insurance number
- · A library card
Anyone who watches or records television as it is broadcast must have a TV licence. The licence fee helps fund the BBC, and watching without one is an offence.
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56.What is the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London?
- · The Prime Minister's office
- · A royal palace
- ✓ A memorial to people killed in war
- · A theatre
The Cenotaph in Whitehall is the national memorial to those who died in war. A service is held there on Remembrance Sunday, with a two-minute silence at 11am.
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57.Which film director, born in London, made thrillers such as 'Psycho' and 'The Birds'?
- · Charlie Chaplin
- · Ridley Scott
- · David Lean
- ✓ Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Hitchcock began his career in Britain before moving to Hollywood, where he made famous thrillers such as Psycho and The Birds.
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58.Which British designer created the Mini car?
- ✓ Sir Alec Issigonis
- · Sir Frank Whittle
- · Sir Christopher Cockerell
- · James Dyson
Sir Alec Issigonis designed the Mini, launched in 1959. Small but roomy, it became one of the best-loved British cars.
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59.Who invented the hovercraft in the 1950s?
- · Sir Frank Whittle
- ✓ Sir Christopher Cockerell
- · John Logie Baird
- · Alexander Graham Bell
Sir Christopher Cockerell, a British engineer, invented the hovercraft, a vehicle that travels over water and land on a cushion of air.
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60.In which month does the Wimbledon tennis championship usually take place?
- · January
- · September
- ✓ June and July
- · December
Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, is played on grass at the All England Club in London every year in late June and early July.
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A modern, thriving society
60
questions in this chapter, 300 in the whole bank
Open a question to see the four options, the right answer and the fact behind it.
Chapter 4 of the handbook, A modern, thriving society, describes everyday Britain: religion and the established churches, the calendar of festivals and saints' days, sport, music, theatre, art, literature, food, leisure and a long list of British inventions. Our bank holds 60 questions on it, 20% of our 300, which means about 5 questions in each 24-question mock drawn by our engine. The difficulty is breadth. One question asks which date is St Patrick's Day, the next who wrote Pride and Prejudice, the next where the Grand National is run. None is hard on its own, but there are many separate facts with little logic linking them, so they are best learned in themed batches: the calendar, sport, words (books and poems), sound and stage (music and theatre), pictures, and inventions. Each batch is small enough to master in one sitting, and the wrong options in a question nearly always come from the same batch.
How much of a mock comes from one chapter?
Questions in this chapter
60
| Share of our bank | 20% |
| Expected in a 24-question mock | about 5 |
| Whole bank | 300 |
Our mocks draw from each chapter in proportion to our bank. The official spread by chapter is not published.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Six themes, one sitting each
| Theme | Examples from our bank | Usual trap |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar | Hogmanay, Pancake Day, Bonfire Night on 5 November, Mothering Sunday, Remembrance Day, Diwali, Hanukkah | swapping saints’ days, or which ones are public holidays |
| Sport | Wimbledon since 1877, the Ashes, golf at St Andrews, rugby named after a school, the Grand National at Aintree, Bannister’s mile in 1954, Redgrave’s five golds | mixing up the venue and the sport |
| Words | Austen, Dickens, Conan Doyle, Fleming’s James Bond, Burns, Wordsworth, Dylan Thomas, the Booker Prize | matching a book to the wrong author |
| Sound and stage | the Proms, Handel’s Water Music, Elgar, Lloyd Webber, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Eisteddfod, pantomime, The Mousetrap | Booker against Turner, festival against city |
| Pictures and places | Constable’s The Hay Wain, the Turner Prize, the National Trust, the Chelsea Flower Show | which body runs which event |
| Inventions | Baird’s television, Whittle’s jet engine, the Mini, the hovercraft, Dolly the sheep | swapping inventors within the list |
Work through one theme per sitting in the bank above: read its questions with answers open, then close the answers and go again. Six sittings of twenty minutes cover the chapter.
How the questions are built
Chapter 4 questions are almost always pairings. A festival is paired with its date ("What is Hogmanay?"), a person with a work, a sport with a venue, an organisation with an event. The four options are four items of the same kind, so someone who knows only that Wimbledon is "a sport event in London" cannot separate tennis from the other three. You need the exact pairing.
A smaller group asks about customs and their meaning: why poppies are worn before Remembrance Day, what people do on April Fool's Day (jokes until midday), what a pantomime is, or that watching live television needs a TV licence. These reward reading the explanation once rather than memorising.
Calendar facts in order
The calendar is the theme with the most questions, so it is worth a fixed list. Going through the year as our bank does: 14 February Valentine's Day, 1 March St David, 17 March St Patrick, Mothering Sunday three weeks before Easter, 1 April April Fool's Day, 23 April St George, 31 October Halloween, 5 November Bonfire Night (the failed plot of 1605), 11 November Remembrance Day, 30 November St Andrew, 25 and 26 December Christmas and Boxing Day, 31 December Hogmanay. Recite it once a day for a week and the calendar questions are settled.
Traps specific to this chapter
Two prizes, two arts. The Turner Prize rewards contemporary visual art; the Booker Prize rewards a novel in English.
London's three Olympics. 1908, 1948 and 2012: a question asks how many times, and "twice" is a tempting wrong answer.
The church question. The Church of England is the established church in England; the Church of Scotland is Presbyterian. Both questions appear in our bank and they are easily crossed.
Fitting it into your revision
Because the facts are independent, this chapter suits small daily doses better than one long session: a theme a day, plus one mixed practice set. The tool below shows how many questions our mocks draw from chapter 4. After it, the chapter on government and law switches to a very different style of question, based on institutions and rules.
Every question here checks a fact the handbook states, written in our own words by Radif Partners. The gov.uk Life in the UK Test page states that the test is based only on that handbook.