Hey Whyvillians!
May I just remark that you all did FANTASTICALLY last week with the UK Quiz (Article ID = 10085)! Some of the questions were real toughies but many of you Y-mailed me with correct or almost-correct answer sheets. Here are the answers
Politics
What is a Prime Minister and who is the PM of the United Kingdom?
In England, the main governing body is called the parliament (or Westminster). 646 MPs are elected from constituencies (groups of people in regions across the UK). Most of these MPs represent different parties. The two main parties are Labour and Conservative (like Democrat and Republican) with Labour being in power at the moment. The leader of the party with the most seats in government (Labour) is the Prime Minister. The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown who was handed the role after Tony Blair stepped down.
What does the NHS stand for?
In the United Kingdom, health care is free (it goes into the tax). The NHS stands for the National Health Service which looks after all free health care in the UK..
Who is third in line to the throne?
The third in line to the throne is Prince Henry (also known as Prince Harry - nickname). He's after his dad Prince Charles and his older brother Prince William.
Who or what is a whip?
Now this was a toughie!!! Many people told me what a whip was in relation to the weapon. However, a POLITICAL whip is an MP chosen to keep the political party in tow. They'll often harangue MPs into voting the way the political party wants them to vote.
Language
You call it a THEATER, we call it WHAT?
Many people got a bit confused on this one. The answer I was looking for was THEATRE. However, it is true that what you call a movie theater, we call a cinema.
You call them COLORS we call them WHAT?
Colours! This is the same for humor/humour.
You call it JELLY we call it WHAT?
We call it jam! I wonder if you can work out what we call Jelly from this rhyme.
Jelly on a plate,
Jelly on a plate,
Wibble Wobble Wibble Wobble
Jelly on a plate
(It's Jell-O)
Food
Name a popular dish you can buy from a "Chippie" (there are two parts).
A Chippie is a shop where you can generally buy fish and chips. Chips in England aren't crisps and are like big, fat fries.
Bangers and WHAT?
Mash! Bangers are sausages.
What popular foodstuff might you buy from the company "Walkers"?
Generally, you'd buy crisps (what you'd call chips) from Walkers.
Geography
What is the capital of Wales?
Cardiff!
What is, roughly, the population of the United Kingdom?
The population is roughly 60 million.
What P is the name of a London Underground station AND a popular cartoon bear (who loves marmalade!)?
Paddington Tube Station in London shares it's name with an old popular children's show called "Paddingtion Bear".
Media and Celebrity
What are the FIVE terrestrial channels in the UK?
Terrestrial channels are the channels which every Briton can get (if they pay the 139.50 television license!). The channels are BBC1, BBC2 (funded by the TV License with no adverts!) ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 (funded by advertising).
Piers Morgan is a current judge on "America's got Talent" . . . but what was his previous job?
Piers Morgan used to be the Editor for two tabloid newspapers (The Mirror and the News of the World) but has now left and makes his living appearing on various television shows (such as Britain's got Talent) In England, he's always satirized as being a bit slimy.
What city are The Beatles from?
The Beatles were an immensely popular band in the 1960s who shaped modern popular music. They come from Liveropool.
Miscellaneous
In England, what date (in words) was 9/11/2001?
Some of you got a bit confused on this one! We use the dd/mm/yyyy format of dates instead of your one which is mm/dd/yyyy. So 9/11/2001 to an English person is actually the ninth of November 2001.
Two of the most successful football clubs are based in Manchester. What are they called?
Football (what you call soccer!) is a very popular sport in England. The two clubs from Manchester (both in the top league) are Manchester United and Manchester City.
London are hosting the 2012 Olympics but who and of which losing country said of London hosting the Olympics - "We can't trust people [the British] who have such bad food."?
Jacques Chirac, the then President of France.
All clam prizes will be awarded this week. I am very sorry for the delay!
Cobd
