Easy
Sports
The Rules of the Game
Scoring, team sizes and the basic laws of ten different sports.
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In basketball, a shot made from beyond the arc is worth how many points?
Records, Rings & Legends
The scoring quirks, the record books and the moments that outlived the match. Ten questions on sport, each with the reason behind the fact.
About this topic
Sport keeps better records than almost anything else people do, which makes it unusually satisfying to know things about. This quiz covers the shared ground across the sports the world follows: how the scoring works, which teams and athletes hold the records, and where some of the stranger terminology came from. The questions do not assume you play anything or follow a particular league. The explanations fill in where each rule or record came from, which is usually more interesting than the number itself and much easier to remember.
Questions & answers
Records, Rings & Legends: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1How often are the modern Summer Olympic Games normally held?
- A Every five years
- B Every three years
- C Every four years Correct
- D Every two years
Answer: C. Every four years
Why: The four-year gap is called an Olympiad and follows the ancient Greek cycle. The 2020 Tokyo Games were postponed to 2021, but kept the 2020 name.
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2How many players from each team are on the pitch in a football match?
- A Nine
- B Ten
- C Eleven Correct
- D Twelve
Answer: C. Eleven
Why: Each side fields eleven including the goalkeeper. A team reduced below seven by red cards or injury cannot continue, and the match is abandoned.
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3In tennis, which word is used for a score of zero?
- A Duck
- B Love Correct
- C Nil
- D Blank
Answer: B. Love
Why: The most common explanation traces it to the French l'oeuf, meaning egg, for the zero's shape. English cricket uses "duck" for a similar reason.
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4The Olympic flag shows how many interlocking rings?
- A Six
- B Five Correct
- C Seven
- D Four
Answer: B. Five
Why: The five rings represent the inhabited continents as grouped when the flag was designed in 1913. Their six colours, including the white background, were chosen to cover every national flag of the time.
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5Which country has won the most FIFA World Cup titles?
- A Brazil Correct
- B Germany
- C Italy
- D Argentina
Answer: A. Brazil
Why: Brazil has won five, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. They are also the only nation to have played in every tournament.
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6A "hat-trick" refers to achieving something how many times?
- A Five
- B Four
- C Two
- D Three Correct
Answer: D. Three
Why: The term began in cricket, where a bowler taking three wickets in consecutive deliveries was rewarded with a hat. It later spread to football and other sports.
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7Which sport uses the terms "birdie", "eagle" and "bogey"?
- A Fencing
- B Golf Correct
- C Cricket
- D Archery
Answer: B. Golf
Why: They all describe a score relative to par on a hole. "Bogey" came first and originally meant a good score, before par was standardised and pushed it a stroke worse.
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8The Tour de France is a competition in which sport?
- A Cycling Correct
- B Rowing
- C Long-distance running
- D Motor racing
Answer: A. Cycling
Why: It is a multi-stage road race held over roughly three weeks each July. The overall leader wears the yellow jersey, coloured to match the newspaper that founded the race.
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9A standard marathon covers approximately what distance?
- A 42 kilometres Correct
- B 50 kilometres
- C 30 kilometres
- D 60 kilometres
Answer: A. 42 kilometres
Why: The exact distance is 42.195 km, or 26 miles 385 yards. It was fixed at the 1908 London Olympics, reportedly to suit the route from Windsor Castle to the stadium.
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10Which country hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896?
- A France
- B Britain
- C Greece Correct
- D Italy
Answer: C. Greece
Why: Athens hosted the first modern Games in 1896, chosen for the link to the ancient festival. Fourteen nations took part, a fraction of today's field.
Frequently Asked Questions
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