Life in the UK Practice Test 28
Free Life in the UK practice test 28 of 52: 24 questions in the real exam format, drawn from all five chapters of the official handbook. The real test has 24 questions, a 45-minute limit and a pass mark of 18 out of 24 (75%). Tap an answer to check it instantly and read the explanation.
Question 1 · Chapter 3: History
Which TWO of these statements about the Crystal Palace are true?
Choose TWO answers — select both to see the result
The Crystal Palace was designed by Joseph Paxton and put up in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, the great showcase of industry and technology. It was not a Brunel design, and the Festival of Britain took place a hundred years later, in 1951.
Question 2 · Chapter 3: History
Brunel's SS Great Britain, launched in 1843, broke new ground in ship design in which way?
The SS Great Britain was the first ocean-going ship to combine an iron hull with screw propulsion, and she was the largest passenger ship of her day.
Question 3 · Chapter 3: History
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, setting out his theory of evolution by natural selection, in 1858.
Darwin's On the Origin of Species was published in November 1859, presenting the evidence for evolution through natural selection that he had gathered over many years.
Question 4 · Chapter 3: History
In 1876 Queen Victoria took an additional title reflecting Britain's rule in Asia. What was it?
In 1876 Victoria took the title Empress of India, underlining the importance of India, the most valuable part of the British Empire.
Question 5 · Chapter 3: History
The remarkably preserved village of Skara Brae in Orkney dates from which period of prehistory?
Skara Brae is a Stone Age (Neolithic) village on Orkney, off Scotland's north coast. It is the best-preserved prehistoric village in northern Europe and shows how people lived towards the end of the Stone Age.
Question 6 · Chapter 3: History
The Battle of Jutland in 1916, the largest naval battle of the First World War, saw the British Grand Fleet clash with the navy of which country?
Jutland, fought in the North Sea in 1916, was the great clash between the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet.
Question 7 · Chapter 3: History
Who was the first woman MP actually to take her seat in the House of Commons, in 1919?
Nancy Astor won a by-election in Plymouth in 1919 and became the first woman to sit as an MP. Constance Markievicz had been elected in 1918 but, as a Sinn Fein member, did not take her seat.
Question 8 · Chapter 3: History
D-Day, the Allied landings in Normandy, took place on 6 June 1944.
The D-Day landings in Normandy, the largest seaborne invasion in history, took place on 6 June 1944.
Question 9 · Chapter 3: History
VE Day, celebrating the end of the war in Europe, was marked on 8 May 1946.
Victory in Europe Day was celebrated on 8 May 1945, marking the formal end of the war in Europe following Germany's surrender.
Question 10 · Chapter 3: History
The Second World War finally ended with the surrender of Japan. VJ Day is commemorated in the UK on which date?
VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day) is marked on 15 August, the day in 1945 when Japan's surrender was announced, bringing the Second World War to an end.
Question 11 · Chapter 3: History
The United Nations was founded in 1919, after the First World War.
The United Nations was founded in 1945, after the Second World War, to promote international peace and co-operation, with the United Kingdom among its founding members.
Question 12 · Chapter 3: History
The National Health Service was set up in 1948 under the leadership of which government minister?
Aneurin ('Nye') Bevan, the Minister of Health in Attlee's Labour government, was the driving force behind the creation of the NHS in 1948.
Question 13 · Chapter 3: History
The Festival of Britain, a national exhibition intended to lift the country's spirits and showcase recovery after the war, was held in which year?
The Festival of Britain took place in 1951, a century after the Great Exhibition, with its main site on the South Bank of the Thames in London.
Question 14 · Chapter 3: History
In which year was Queen Elizabeth II crowned at Westminster Abbey, in the first coronation to be televised?
Elizabeth II's coronation took place on 2 June 1953. She had become queen on her father's death in 1952, and the ceremony was televised to a huge audience.
Question 15 · Chapter 3: History
Which of these best describes the outcome of the Civil War that began in 1642?
Parliament's forces won decisive victories at Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645). Charles I was captured, tried and executed in 1649 — the first English king put to death after a public trial — and England became a republic, the Commonwealth, with Oliver Cromwell later ruling as Lord Protector.
Question 16 · Chapter 3: History
On 'Decimal Day' Britain replaced pounds, shillings and old pence with a decimal currency of 100 pence to the pound. In which year did this happen?
Decimal Day was 15 February 1971, when the old system of 20 shillings and 240 old pennies to the pound was replaced by 100 new pence.
Question 17 · Chapter 3: History
Following the 1997 referendum in favour of devolution, in which year did the Scottish Parliament meet for the first time?
The new Scottish Parliament met for the first time on 12 May 1999, almost 300 years after the old Parliament of Scotland had last sat before the Union of 1707.
Question 18 · Chapter 3: History
Louise Brown, born in Oldham in 1978, made medical history as the world's first what?
Louise Brown, born at Oldham in July 1978, was the first baby in the world to be born after conception by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Question 19 · Chapter 3: History
At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British fleet defeated the French and Spanish fleets. Who commanded the British fleet and was killed during the battle?
Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet at Trafalgar in 1805, defeating the combined French and Spanish fleets, but he was fatally wounded during the fighting.
Question 20 · Chapter 3: History
Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, by forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington.
Napoleon was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 by forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington, working with Prussian allies.
Question 21 · Chapter 3: History
Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed queen in 1553 after the death of Edward VI. For roughly how long did she hold the throne before Mary I took power?
Lady Jane Grey is known as the 'Nine Days' Queen' — she was proclaimed queen in July 1553 but was deposed after only nine days when support swung to Mary I.
Question 22 · Chapter 3: History
Which TWO lands' coasts did Captain James Cook chart on his first great voyage of exploration?
Choose TWO answers — select both to see the result
On his first voyage Cook charted the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, greatly improving European maps of the Pacific. He did not chart India or Canada on that voyage.
Question 23 · Chapter 3: History
What was the name of the Stephensons' locomotive that won the Rainhill Trials of 1829, held to choose engines for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway?
The Rocket, built by George and Robert Stephenson, won the Rainhill Trials in 1829 and became the model for later steam locomotives on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Question 24 · Chapter 3: History
Mary, Queen of Scots was held as Elizabeth I's prisoner in England for many years. In which year was she finally executed?
Mary was executed in 1587, after many years as Elizabeth I's prisoner in England and after becoming implicated in plots against Elizabeth. She was not executed in 1588 — that was the year of the Spanish Armada.
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