BBC Radio 4 Brain of Britain Ultimate Quiz Book. Russell Davies

      14. ‘Rehearsal for Disaster’ is the title of the first chapter of which novel by Paul Gallico, filmed in 1972 with a cast including Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and Ernest Borgnine?

      15. Which Arabic term is used as a title of respect, for one who knows the Koran by heart?

      16. What is the collective term for the four largest moons orbiting Jupiter?

      17. Given a licence in 1962, the oral vaccine widely used against poliomyelitis takes its name from which Polish-born American microbiologist who developed it in 1955?

      18. Of which larger family of animals is the badger a member?

      19. Derived from the Old French for a coin, what word is used to denote the fineness of material such as silk?

      20. How many years separated London’s 19th century Great Exhibition, and the 20th century’s Festival of Britain?

      21. ‘Urchin’ is a Middle-English word for which common insectivorous mammal native to mainland Britain?

      22. Which English king instituted the Order of the Garter in 1348?

      23. What name is given to the protecting and nourishing fluid in which a baby develops in the womb?

      24. Paralysis agitans is a medical term for a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, now more usually referred to by the name of which English doctor, who published the first detailed description of the condition in 1817?

      25. The Hindu god Ganesh or Ganesa is depicted as having the head of which animal?

      26. Dead Cert, published in 1962, was the first novel by which crime writer?

      27. Batavia, a Roman name for the Netherlands, was the capital of the Dutch East Indies; post-independence, how is the city known today?

      28. The Stevie Wonder hit song ‘Happy Birthday’ was written as a tribute to which public figure?

      29. Depending on their activities, which scatologically-named insect is grouped into either ‘rollers’, ‘tunnelers’ or ‘dwellers’?

      30. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ and ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ are among the stories collected under the title Tales of Mystery and Imagination, the best known work of which American writer?

      31. Which actress, in a film entitled Klondike Annie, utters the quip that when choosing between two evils ‘I always pick the one I’ve never tried before’?

      32. In the human body, which membranous sac surrounds the heart?

      33. Which US physicist gave his name to zones of highly energised charged particles, trapped at high altitude in the Earth’s magnetic field?

      34. The characters Buttons and Baron Hardup traditionally appear in which pantomime?

      35. Jewish people of ‘Sephardic’ descent have ancestors that were resident in which part of Europe, from the Middle Ages until their persecution and mass expulsion from those countries in the last decades of the 15th century?

      36. Jody Scheckter, Jacques Lafitte and Jochen Rindt were prominent competitors in the 1970s in which international sport?

      37. By what name do we now know the element produced in the 18th century by Henry Cavendish and described by him as ‘inflammable air’?

      38. Which silent film star became known as ‘The Great Stone Face’, because of his deadpan demeanour?

      39. What name is given to the unsuccessful attempt by Mao Zedong between 1958 and 1961 to hasten the process of industrialization and the improvement of agricultural production in China?

      40. Arrangement in grey and black was the original title, when it was first exhibited in 1872, of an American painting now much better known by what name?

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      The next 35 quizzes are closer to what you’d expect in a broadcast edition of Brain of Britain: a real mixture of difficulty level. See how you get on.

Quiz 11

      1. Which month, known as the windy month, was the sixth month of the French Revolutionary calendar, and lasted from around 20th February to 21st March?

      2. Alberto Juantorena, Quincy Watts and Michael Johnson are among those who have won Olympic gold in which athletics event?

      3. Which children’s story by Roald Dahl was first adapted for the London stage in 2011 with songs by the musician and comedian Tim Minchin?

      4. One of the four kings in a standard English pack of cards is depicted without a moustache – supposedly, originally, it was missed off because of poor copying. Which king is it?

      5. Which artist became the first President of the Royal Academy in 1768?

      6. Of which British Prime Minister is the Labour politician Douglas Jay quoted as saying that ‘he never used one syllable where none would do’?

      7. In a chemistry laboratory, what is the purpose of a Kipp’s apparatus?

      8. Which two provinces in the North East of France, annexed by Bismarck in 1871, were returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War?

      9. Which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World whose exact location remains unconfirmed by archaeology?

      10. The adjective pelagic, often used to describe certain types of bird, comes from a Greek word meaning what?

      11. Which powerful Italian organised crime ring, whose name is possibly derived from a local word for ‘thief’, is based in Calabria but has links and operatives all over the world?

      12. In the children’s television drama series Grange Hill, what was the name of the long-serving head teacher played by Gwyneth Powell?

      13. Although it’s used in casual speech to mean the dim and distant past, in law the phrase ‘time immemorial’ relates very precisely to a particular calendar year. Which one?

      14. Which Dutch sprinter, who won the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 1948 London Olympics, was nicknamed ‘The Flying Housewife’?

      15. The medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry was superseded in September 1940 by the introduction of which other honour?

      16. In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, what’s Gulliver’s first name?

      17. What name, also meaning a particular time of day, is sometimes given to the hot and dry southern states of Italy, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia?