A French Quiz !

A few questions about France and the French.Try to answer these questions and click on each of them to get the right answer (all the answers, and many others, are on that site...) !

1. Who is the employer of professors in public schools and universities ?

  • School boards ?
  • The State
  • Cities and Regions ?

2. The % of Textile, Food, Wine, Water, Alcoholic Beverages, Perfumes and Beauty in the French exports to the USA is :

  • 18%
  • 38%
  • 68%

3. What does it mean when someone asks : do you take the "pont" (bridge) ?

  • Are you going over a river ?
  • Are you making a four-day week end with one day off ?
  • Did you get a raise ?

4. What is the name of the final exam in high schools ?

  • No exam
  • Baccalauréat
  • Abitur

5. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ("Quasimodo") is a character from

  • Victor Hugo
  • Collodi
  • Walt Disney

6. The Public sector in France employs

  • less than 2 million
  • between 2 and 6 million
  • more than 6 million

7. What is the cost of tuition at Sorbonne for a year?

  • $400
  • $4,000
  • $40,000

8. For the French the "exception culturelle française" (the French cultural exception) means :

  • French culture is more sophisticated than other cultures
  • Cultural goods should not be treated like the other goods
  • The French have something that no other people has

 9. Georges Brassens was :

  • A politician
  • A singer
  • A sculptor

10. How many four-year-old French children attend school ?

  • 32%
  • 48%
  • 98%

11. What is the temperature of boiling water in ° Centigrade ?

  • 100 ° Centigrade
  • 0 ° Centigrade
  • 232 ° Centigrade

12. What is "la Francophonie" ?

  • A computer software to learn French
  • A group of countries where French is an official language
  • The French accent in a foreign language

13. What is a "Grande Ecole" ?

  • A good high school
  • A sort of university
  • A school for very tall people

14. Frequently used acronyms : what is ?

  • SNCF : ..............
  • SMIC : .............
  • RTT : .............

15. Who was Vercingetorix ?

  • A XIXth Century singer ?
  • The leader of the Gauls against Caesar ?
  • A character in a popular comic strip?

16. The " Hundred Year War " against England took place

  • between 1066 and 1166
  • between 1337 to 1453
  • between 1722 and 1812

17. Who invented the smart card ?

  • Steve Jobs (American)
  • Roland Moreno (French)
  • Vladislav Tomasewicz (Polish)

18. Productivity per hour in France, compared to USA=100 is (in 2004) :

  • 103
  • 97
  • 92

 19. The economic ranking of France is :

  • among the first five world economic powers
  • between sixth and 10th
  • between 11th and 15th

20. The national bird of France is :

  • the rooster
  • the sparrow
  • the pigeon

21. In politics, a " liberal " is

  • left wing
  • right wing

and a " radical " is

  • left wing
  • right wing

22. The "pieds-noirs" (black feet) are :

  • Homeless people
  • Former European residents in Algeria
  • Members of the Anarchist movement

23. To read about sports, the French read :

  • L'Express
  • L'Equipe
  • Sports Illustrated

24. Johnny Hallyday was

  • A French rock star
  • An English writer
  • A Belgian soccer star

25. " La rentrée " is :

  • The day kids go back to school
  • The access door to a theater
  • The period of sales

26. A " Comité d'Entreprise " is :

  • The board of directors
  • A worker's association
  • A partnership of companies

27. Who said : "Our armies will bring to the world Liberty and the Rights of Man " ?

  • George W.Bush
  • Napoleon
  • Stalin

28. What was the main cause of the suburban riots in Nov.2005 ?

  • The place of Islam in France
  • Un-employment for unskilled workers
  • Racism in France

29. In WW2, French military losseswere :

  • around 10% of US military losses
  • about the same
  • twice bigger

30. Are there volcanoes in France ?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Are you kidding?

31. Rosé wine is made of

  • 100% red grapes
  • 2/3 red 1/3 white
  • 1/3 red 2/3 white
  • 100% white grapes

32. In the French health system

  • You must choose your doctor on a list of 12
  • You are assigned a doctor
  • You can choose freely your doctor

33. The French national motto is" Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Which one is considered the most important?

  • Liberty
  • Equality
  • Fraternity

34. Your are retired and your former employer collapses. Your pension is :

  • Paid by the State
  • Unchanged
  • It depends

35. What's a "Trou Normand" :

  • A bomb hole on the Normandy beaches
  • A glass of alcohol during a meal
  • A musical comedy

36. In 2012, what was the maximum % of their income French taxpayers could pay ?

  • less than 50%
  • between 50% and 100%
  • more than 100%

37. Do you know the movie Les Tontons Flingueurs ?

  • Yes
  • No

38. Can you ask for a doggy bag in a restaurant?

  • Yes
  • Never
  • It depends what kind of restaurant

39. In which style armchairs have no straight lines?

  • Louis XV
  • Louis XVI
  • Empire

40. The red conic sign above tobacco shops represents :

  • the Ministry of Finance
  • a carot
  • a bottle of wine

41. The Yellow Vests demonstrations in 2018-2019 were organized by

  • the Communist party
  • the Extreme Right party
  • no party at all

42. What is a "cahier de vacances" (vacation notebook) : a notebook

  • to record what you did
  • a list of all the vacation you're entitled to
  • a notebook for schoolwork during vacation

43. What was the nationality of John Calvin :

  • English
  • French
  • Other
   
  • You score : less than 15 = do some homework and read a few books, more than 35 = visit France, you might enjoy it a lot
  • More to come.... (and more questions in US Government's documents) 
  • Read the page "geographical facts about France" 
  • See some of the questions asked to people applying for French citizenship

.
To related pages : more (#1),more (#2) and more (#3) questions, an insularity test and some French specificities, etc..

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For more on intercultural differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's books :

  • "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012
  • "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
  • "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001

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