Sport, arts and culture

Twenty questions on British sport, the arts and culture — the part of the syllabus that is mostly a matter of attaching the right name to the right thing, and where the wrong options are almost always another real British institution.

The sporting events, sorted by sport

Five of the most famous British sporting names come up constantly, and the whole difficulty is remembering which sport each belongs to. Wimbledon is tennis, and the oldest tournament in the world. The Ashes is Test cricket, England against Australia. The Grand National is the horse race at Aintree. The Open Championship is golf — a sport that began in Scotland, which is where the oldest courses are. The Six Nations is rugby union, between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy, with Ireland playing as one team drawn from both sides of the border.

Get those five sorted and the sport questions stop being a memory problem.

The four prizes, sorted by art form

Exactly the same shape, and asked about just as often. The Booker is for fiction. The Turner is for contemporary art — named after a painter, which is the clue. The Mercury is for an album. The BAFTAs are for film and television.

The rest

The Proms, the BBC's summer season of classical concerts ending with the Last Night; the Edinburgh Festival every August, and the Fringe that grew up alongside it; Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564; Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet of the twentieth century; Sir Christopher Wren, who rebuilt St Paul's after the Great Fire; and the Beatles, out of Liverpool.

Two things worth knowing beyond the test itself: the permanent collections of Britain's national museums are free to enter, for anyone — and London is the only city in the world to have hosted the summer Olympics three times, in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

The questions and explanations here are Zestly's own, written from publicly known facts. No text is reproduced from the official handbook, which is a separate copyrighted publication and the only real syllabus.

• Attach Wimbledon, the Ashes, the Grand National, the Open and the Six Nations to the right sports
• Say which art form each of the Booker, Turner, Mercury and BAFTA prizes belongs to
• Identify the Proms and the Edinburgh Festival, and what happens at each
• Name Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Wren and the Beatles by what they are known for
• Know that national museums are free to enter and open to everyone
• Recognise a UK World Heritage Site and say how many times London has hosted the Olympics

Written from publicly known facts about British sport and culture, covering the ground the official syllabus sets out: the origins of golf in Scotland and the Open Championship; Wimbledon; the Ashes; the Grand National at Aintree; the Six Nations; the London Olympic Games of 1908, 1948 and 2012; the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival; the Booker, Turner and Mercury Prizes and the BAFTAs; Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Sir Christopher Wren and the Beatles; the national museums and their free admission; the BBC and the licence fee; and UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the UK. No wording is taken from the official handbook, which is a commercial copyrighted publication.