Life in the UK Practice Test 3
24 questions, just like the real test. You need 18 correct to pass. Every answer is explained — and you do not need an account to take it.
The Life in the UK test consists of 20 questions.
All 24 questions, answers and explanations
1. The Life in the UK test consists of 20 questions.
- • True
- ✓ False
Why: False. The Life in the UK test consists of 24 questions, not 20. The questions are based on all parts of the handbook and are different for each person taking the test at that session.
2. Which statement is correct about religion in the UK?
- • The UK has an established church and everyone must follow it
- ✓ The UK has freedom of religion and people can practice any religion or none
Why: The UK has freedom of religion. While there are established churches (Church of England and Church of Scotland), people are free to practice any religion or no religion at all.
3. About how long ago did Britain become permanently separated from the continent of Europe by the Channel?
- • About 2,000 years ago
- • About 6,000 years ago
- • About 4,000 years ago
- ✓ About 10,000 years ago
Why: For much of the Stone Age, Britain was connected to the continent by a land bridge, and people came and went following the herds they hunted. Britain only became permanently separated by the Channel about 10,000 years ago; the first farmers arrived about 6,000 years ago and the Bronze Age began about 4,000 years ago.
4. In which English county does the Stone Age monument Stonehenge stand?
- • Cheshire
- • Dorset
- • Suffolk
- ✓ Wiltshire
Why: Stonehenge, built by Britain's first farmers, stands in the English county of Wiltshire and was probably a special gathering place for seasonal ceremonies. The Iron Age hill fort of Maiden Castle is in Dorset and the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo is in Suffolk.
5. Boudicca, who fought against the Roman occupation, was the queen of which tribe?
- • The Saxons
- • The Angles
- ✓ The Iceni
- • The Jutes
Why: Boudicca was queen of the Iceni, in what is now eastern England, and was one of the tribal leaders who fought against the Romans. She is still remembered today and there is a statue of her on Westminster Bridge in London, near the Houses of Parliament. The Angles, Jutes and Saxons only arrived after the Roman army left.
6. In which year did the Emperor Claudius lead a successful Roman invasion of Britain?
- • 55 BC
- • AD 410
- ✓ AD 43
- • AD 789
Why: Julius Caesar's invasion of 55 BC failed and Britain stayed outside the Roman Empire for nearly 100 years. In AD 43 the Emperor Claudius led a new invasion and the Romans occupied almost all of Britain. The Roman army left in AD 410 and the Vikings first raided in AD 789.
7. The Emperor Hadrian built a wall in the north of England to keep out which people?
- ✓ The Picts
- • The Iceni
- • The Vikings
- • The Normans
Why: Areas of what is now Scotland were never conquered by the Romans, so Hadrian built a wall in the north of England to keep out the Picts, the ancestors of the Scottish people. Parts of Hadrian's Wall, including the forts of Housesteads and Vindolanda, can still be seen and the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
8. Which king united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and defeated the Vikings?
- • Cnut (Canute)
- • Harold
- • Kenneth MacAlpin
- ✓ Alfred the Great
Why: The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England united under King Alfred the Great, who defeated the Vikings, although many Viking invaders stayed in the east and north of England. Cnut was the first of the Danish kings of England, Kenneth MacAlpin united the people in the north, and Harold was the Saxon king defeated in 1066.
9. Which statement is correct about the Domesday Book?
- ✓ William the Conqueror sent people all over England to list the towns, villages, people, landowners and animals, and the record was called the Domesday Book.
- • The Domesday Book was a record of the Viking settlements in the Danelaw drawn up by Alfred the Great.
- • The Domesday Book was a charter of rights which stated that even the king was subject to the law.
- • The Domesday Book is a great piece of embroidery which tells the story of the Norman Conquest.
Why: After the Norman Conquest, William sent people all over England to list the towns and villages, the people who lived there, who owned the land and what animals they owned. This record, the Domesday Book, still exists and shows what society was like just after 1066. The embroidery is the Bayeux Tapestry and the charter of rights is the Magna Carta.
10. In which year did the Battle of Hastings take place?
- • 1215
- ✓ 1066
- • 1707
- • 1588
Why: The Battle of Hastings took place in 1066 when William of Normandy conquered England. The story is told in the Bayeux Tapestry.
11. Who led the Scottish to victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314?
- • Henry V
- • Edward I
- ✓ Robert the Bruce
- • Kenneth MacAlpin
Why: In Scotland the English kings were much less successful than in Wales: in 1314 the Scottish, led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn and Scotland remained unconquered. The Scottish poet John Barbour later wrote The Bruce about this battle.
12. The Hundred Years War between England and France actually lasted how many years?
- • 150 years
- • 100 years
- • 96 years
- ✓ 116 years
Why: English kings fought a long war with France called the Hundred Years War, even though it actually lasted 116 years. The English finally left France in the 1450s, and during the same period many English knights also took part in the Crusades in the Holy Land.
13. In which year did King Henry V's vastly outnumbered English army defeat the French at the Battle of Agincourt?
- • 1348
- ✓ 1415
- • 1314
- • 1485
Why: The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years War, when King Henry V's vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French. Bannockburn was in 1314, the Black Death came in 1348 and the Wars of the Roses ended in 1485.
14. Roughly what proportion of the population of England died in the Black Death?
- • One tenth
- • One quarter
- ✓ One third
- • One half
Why: The Black Death, probably a form of plague, killed one third of the population of England and a similar proportion in Scotland and Wales, making it one of the worst disasters ever to strike Britain. The smaller population meant labour shortages, so peasants began to demand higher wages and new social classes appeared.
15. The Wars of the Roses ended in 1485 with which battle?
- • The Battle of Agincourt
- ✓ The Battle of Bosworth Field
- • The Battle of Hastings
- • The Battle of Bannockburn
Why: The Wars of the Roses, fought from 1455 between the House of Lancaster (red rose) and the House of York (white rose), ended at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. King Richard III of York was killed and Henry Tudor of Lancaster became King Henry VII, the first king of the House of Tudor.
16. The Magna Carta established the idea that even the king was subject to the law.
- ✓ True
- • False
Why: True. There were few formal limits to the king's power until King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to the Magna Carta, or Great Charter. It established that even the king was subject to the law, protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king's power to collect taxes or to make and change laws.
17. Which TWO of these poets wrote during the Middle Ages, one producing The Canterbury Tales and the other The Bruce?
- ✓ John Barbour
- • Robert Burns
- • William Shakespeare
- • Geoffrey Chaucer
Why: In the years leading up to 1400 Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a series of poems in English about pilgrims travelling to Canterbury; it was one of the first books printed by William Caxton, the first person in England to print books using a printing press. In Scotland, John Barbour wrote The Bruce, about the Battle of Bannockburn, in the Scots language. Shakespeare wrote in the Elizabethan period and Robert Burns in the 18th century.
18. Which of Henry VIII's six wives was the mother of his son, the future Edward VI?
- • Catherine Parr
- ✓ Jane Seymour
- • Anne Boleyn
- • Catherine of Aragon
Why: Henry VIII married Jane Seymour after the execution of Anne Boleyn; she gave him the son he wanted, Edward, but died shortly after the birth. Catherine of Aragon was the mother of Mary, Anne Boleyn the mother of Elizabeth, and Catherine Parr was a widow who married Henry late in his life and survived him.
19. Which monarch was a devout Catholic who persecuted Protestants and became known as 'Bloody Mary'?
- • Mary II, who ruled jointly with William III
- ✓ Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
- • Elizabeth I, the daughter of Anne Boleyn
- • Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
Why: When Edward VI died, his half-sister Mary, the surviving child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, became queen. She was a devout Catholic who persecuted Protestants, which is why she became known as 'Bloody Mary'. She also died after a short reign and was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth.
20. After the execution of Charles I, which general was recognised as leader of the new republic and given the title Lord Protector?
- • Richard Cromwell
- ✓ Oliver Cromwell
- • Charles II
- • William of Orange
Why: England declared itself a republic called the Commonwealth, and the army general Oliver Cromwell was recognised as its leader with the title Lord Protector, ruling until his death in 1658. His son Richard then became Lord Protector but could not control the army or the government.
21. In which year did civil war between Charles I and Parliament begin?
- • 1649
- ✓ 1642
- • 1660
- • 1640
Why: Charles I recalled Parliament in 1640 to ask for funds, but it refused and then demanded control of the army; after he tried to arrest five parliamentary leaders in the House of Commons, civil war could not be avoided and began in 1642. Charles I was executed in 1649 and the monarchy was restored in 1660.
22. The Book of Common Prayer was written during the reign of Edward VI to be used in the Church of England.
- ✓ True
- • False
Why: True. Henry VIII was succeeded by his son Edward VI, who was strongly Protestant, and during his reign the Book of Common Prayer was written for use in the Church of England; a version of it is still used in some churches today. Edward died at the age of 15 after ruling for just over six years.
23. Which statement is correct about the Restoration of the monarchy?
- • When Charles II was crowned, the Roman Catholic Church became the established official Church.
- • In May 1660 Parliament invited Charles II to return from exile in France on condition that he ruled without Parliament.
- • Charles II was given the title Lord Protector when Oliver Cromwell died in 1658.
- ✓ In May 1660 Parliament invited Charles II to return from exile in the Netherlands and he was crowned king of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Why: In May 1660 Parliament invited Charles II back from exile in the Netherlands and he was crowned king of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He understood that he could not always do as he wished and would sometimes need to reach agreement with Parliament. The Church of England again became the established official Church, and both Roman Catholics and Puritans were kept out of power.
24. Which TWO names were given to the opposing sides in the civil war that began in 1642?
- • The Puritans
- • The Jacobites
- ✓ The Cavaliers
- • The Roundheads
Why: When civil war began in 1642 the country split into those who supported the king, called the Cavaliers, and those who supported Parliament, called the Roundheads. The Puritans were a group of Protestants who advocated strict and simple worship, and the Jacobites were later supporters of James II after the Glorious Revolution.