Question 1: Valérie Benguigui (1961 - 2013) was a naturalised French citizen of Algerian origin. For what is she best known?

• The first recognised black singer/dancer. She distinguished herself in the Resistance during the Second World War
• A French poet and writer.
• A singer known for numerous popular successes including "Bambino", "Il venait d’avoir 18 ans" and Laissez-moi danser" ("just turned 18" and "let me dance")
• An actress in numerous films including "Le prénom" and TV series such as "Avocats et associés"

Question 2: When was the death penalty banned in France?

• 1981
• 1991
• 2001
• 1971

Question 3: Name a famous French painter:

• Marcel Proust
• Albert Camus
• Simone de Beauvoir
• Auguste Renoir

Question 4: How many French Regions are there?

• 18
• 12
• 13
• 5

Question 5: Which document banned the wearing of religious symbols in schools and by state workers?

• Declaration of the rights of man (1789)
• The Constitution of the 5th Republic 1958
• The Treaty of Rome 1957
• The law of 15 March 2004

Question 6: Léon Gambetta (1838 - 1882) was the son of an Italian merchant. For what is he best known?

• Famous French poet, notably writing "Alcools et Calligrammes"
• Painter responsible for the painting of the ceiling of the Paris Opera
• Nobel Prize winning physicist, pioneer of biomedical imaging and the detection of particles.
• Fervent republican who helped France to recover after the defeat of The Franco-Prussian War in 1870. He was one of the fathers of the Third Republic

Question 7: Which text defines the organisation of the French state?

• The Constitution of the 4th Republic adopted 27th October 1946
• The 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen establishing France as a secular and democratic country, deriving its sovereignty from the people (government of the people, by the people and for the people)
• The Constitution of the 21st July 2008 championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy
• The Constitution of the 5th Republic adopted 4th October 1958

Question 8: When was the first flight of the Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger airliner?

• 2012
• 2000
• 2018
• 2005

Question 9: What do the colours of the French flag symbolise?

• The three principles of the French Republic - freedom, equality and fraternity
• The three estates of France prior to the revolution comprising the clergy (the First Estate), nobles (the Second Estate), and peasants and bourgeoisie (the Third Estate)
• The uniform colours of the Bourgeois Militia of Paris (later to become Revolutionary France's National Guard)
• The red and blue cockade of Paris and the white cockade of the king

Question 10: Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985) was a naturalised French citizen of Russian origin. For what is he best known?

• Famous French poet, notably writing "Alcools et Calligrammes"
• Painter responsible for the painting of the ceiling of the Paris Opera
• Nobel Prize winning physicist, pioneer of biomedical imaging and the detection of particles.
• Grandson of an Italian merchant and fervent republican who helped France to recover after the defeat of The Franco-Prussian War. He was one of the fathers of the Third Republic

Question 11: Georges Charpak (1924 - 2010) was a naturalised French citizen of Polish origin. For what is he best known?

• Famous French poet, notably writing "Alcools et Calligrammes"
• Painter responsible for the painting of the ceiling of the Paris Opera
• Physicist, pioneer of biomedical imaging and the detection of particles and winner of the Nobel prize for physics in 1992.
• Grandson of an Italian merchant and fervent republican who helped France to recover after the defeat of The Franco-Prussian War. He was one of the fathers of the Third Republic

Question 12: What religious symbols can be worn by students in French schools?

• The Hijab (a veil worn by some Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family)
• The Christian cross
• The Kirpan (a sword or small dagger carried by Sikhs)
• None of the above

Question 13: Correctly identify the 5 overseas departments and regions of France (with exactly the same status as France's mainland regions)?

• Martinique (972), Guyane (973), La Réunion (974), Mayotte (975) and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (976)
• Saint-Barthélemy (977), Saint-Martin (978), Wallis-et-Futuna (986), Polynésie française (987) and Nouvelle-Calédonie (988)
• Guadeloupe (971), Martinique (972), Guyane (973), La Réunion (974) and Mayotte (975)
• La Réunion (974), Mayotte (975), Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (976), Saint-Barthélemy (977) and Saint-Martin (978)

Question 14: Who was François Mitterand?

• A high-ranking French civil servant and resistance fighter who died in 1943
• A French politician, guillotined in 1794, and one of the main figures of the French Revolution
• A military general, resistance fighter, first president of the 5th Republic and French writer, died 1970
• President of the Republic 1981 - 1995 (voted to abolish the death penalty), died 1996

Question 15: What does the date of the 8th of May represent?

• The start of the First World War in 1914
• The end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945
• The opening of the Estates General in 1789 marking the start of the French Revolution
• The annual Labour Day celebration (la Fête du Travail)

Question 16: Which of the following is NOT a right/responsibility of a French citizen according to the Civil Code?

• All citizens must contribute, as much as is possible, to public finances via income tax and social contributions (cotisations) taken at source from salaries
• All citizens have equal access to positions of public employment according to their competencies
• All citizens are required to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections. To not do so is a civil offence.
• If called upon, in the event of war, all citizens must participate in the defence of France

Question 17: What does the date of the 1st of May represent?

• The start of the First World War in 1914
• The end of the Second World War in Europe in 1945
• The opening of the Estates General in 1789 marking the start of the French Revolution
• The annual Labour Day celebration (la Fête du Travail)

Question 18: Which of the following relates to the time period 50 BC?

• The Lascaux Cave paintings (prehistoric period)
• The arrival of the Romans and Latin culture (period of antiquity)
• Joanne of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) - the young peasant who liberated a part of the French territory occupied by the English during the 100 years war
• Clovis: the King who unified the kingdoms of France and adopted Christianity

Question 19: France has 43 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Which is the most visited such site in Normandy?

• Mont-Saint-Michel
• Le Havre, the City Rebuilt by Auguste Perret
• The Allied landing beaches
• Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe

Question 20: Who initiated the civil unrest and French general strikes of May 1968 which affected French society for decades afterwards?

• The National Student Union
• Workers at the South Aviation plant near the city of Nantes
• Students at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris
• Workers at the Renault manufacturing complexes in the Seine Valley

Question 21: Identify the correct, chronological list of French presidents of the Fifth Republic:

• Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron
• Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin, François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron
• Charles de Gaulle, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Georges Pompidou, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron
• Charles de Gaulle, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Alain Poher, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron

Question 22: When did the Second World War begin and end in Europe?

• 1st September 1939 to the 2nd of September 1945
• 1st September 1939 to the 8th May 1945
• 1st September 1939 to the 1st May 1945
• 1st September 1939 to the 5th May 1945

Question 23: Name a famous French novelist:

• Victor Hugo
• Paul Cézanne
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
• Edgar Degas

Question 24: Name a famous French sculptor:

• Édith Piaf
• Albert Camus
• Auguste Rodin
• Simone de Beauvoir

Question 25: Who led the French resistance against the German army in World War II?

• Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970)
• Marshal Pétain (1856 – 1951)
• Henri Giraud (1879 - 1949)
• Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902 – 1947)

Question 26: When did the French also become European citizens?

• In 1992 via the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on European Union)
• In 1957 via the Treaty of Rome
• 1 January 2002 after the introduction of the Euro currency
• 1 December 2009 when the Lisbon Treaty, signed 13 December 2007, came into force

Question 27: Françoise Giroud (1916 - 2003) was a naturalised French citizen of Swiss origin. What is she best known for?

• Discovered the atom at the start of the 20th century. Entombed at the Panthéon in Paris
• Engaged in the struggle against apartheid and the first South African singer (Pata, Pata) to win a Grammy Award
• A journalist, screenwriter, writer and politician, co-founder of the Express, and two times Secretary of State
• A French poet and writer

Question 28: Which of the following relates to the 17th Century AD?

• Henri IV who gave protestants leave to practice their religion via the Edict of Nantes
• Molière the most famous French playwright who lived at the time of Louis XIV (author of the Miser, l’Avare) (the modern epoch)
• The philosophers of the Enlightenment: Rousseau, Voltaire and Diderot whose works promoted tolerance and the freedom of thought
• The French Revolution

Question 29: Name a famous French poet:

• Paul Verlaine
• Albert Camus
• Marcel Proust
• Jean-Paul Sartre

Question 30: Name a famous French sculptor:

• Édith Piaf
• Edgar Degas
• Simone de Beauvoir
• Auguste Renoir

Question 31: Haroun Tazieff (1914 - 1998) was a naturalised French citizen of Polish origin. What is he best known for?

• A singer in the 1960's. A French great
• The father of volcanology who made his discipline known to the general public
• A journalist famous and TV presenter famous for programs such as Intervilles and his commentaries on the Tour de France, Olympics and Eurovision Song Contest
• A painter - one of the founders of abstract art

Question 32: Guillaume Apollinaire (1880 - 1918) was a naturalised French citizen born to a Russian mother and Swiss father. For what is he best known?

• Famous French poet, notably writing "Alcools et Calligrammes"
• Painter of Russian origin responsible for the painting of the ceiling of the Paris Opera
• Nobel Prize winning physicist, pioneer of biomedical imaging and the detection of particles.
• Grandson of an Italian merchant and fervent republican who helped France to recover after the defeat of The Franco-Prussian War. He was one of the fathers of the Third Republic

Question 33: When did France give up the French Franc for the Euro?

• In 1992 via the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on European Union)
• In 1957 via the Treaty of Rome
• 1 January 2002
• 1 December 2009 when the Lisbon Treaty, signed 13 December 2007, came into force

Question 34: What does the date of the 14th July represent?

• The annual French National Holiday (la Fête Nationale Française)
• The taking of the Bastille on the 14th July 1789
• The Holiday of the Federation (la Fête de la Fédération) of the 14th July 1790, celebrating the Constitution of 1789
• All of the above

Question 35: When did the European Union's bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, become legally binding in France?

• In 1992 via the Maastricht Treaty (the Treaty on European Union)
• In 1957 via the Treaty of Rome
• 1 January 2002
• 1 December 2009 when the Lisbon Treaty, signed 13 December 2007, came into force.

Question 36: When was the French age of majority fixed at 18 years?

• 1984
• 1964
• 1994
• 1974

Question 37: Vassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944) was a naturalised French citizen of Russian origin. What is he best known for?

• The only writer to receive the Goncourt prize twice: the first time in 1956 under his real name for The Roots of Heaven, the second in 1975 under the pseudonym Emile Ajar for Life Ahead.
• Reporter and novelist, elected a member of the Académie Française in 1962.
• A painter - one of the founders of abstract art
• Athlete and veteran of World War II, won the marathon at the 1956 Olympic Games

Question 38: When was the social security system, financed by French businesses and workers, established?

• 1958
• 1875
• 1789
• 1945

Question 39: What did the taking of the Bastille symbolise?

• The true start of the French Revolution
• The end of "absolute" monarchy and the acceleration of the revolutionary popular process
• The reconstitution of the "Third Estate" (with its representatives drawn from the commoners), into the National Assembly
• The end of the financial problems caused by Louis XVI's intervention in the American Revolution

Question 40: Georges Moustaki (1934 - 2013) was a naturalised French citizen of Italian/Greek origin. What is he best known for?

• A singer in the 1960's. A French great
• The father of volcanology who made his discipline known to the general public
• A journalist famous and TV presenter famous for programs such as Intervilles and his commentaries on the Tour de France, Olympics and Eurovision Song Contest
• A painter - one of the founders of abstract art