Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A word that changed its meaning

The Greek word apokalypsis literally means an uncovering or disclosure, which is why the final book of the New Testament is called the Apocalypse: it is a revelation, not a destruction. Over centuries, the dramatic imagery in that text - plagues, beasts, cosmic upheaval - pulled the word toward its modern sense of catastrophe. The original meaning still survives in the phrase "apocalyptic literature", used by scholars for texts that claim to reveal hidden divine truths.

Two metals, two very different reputations

Strontium, symbol Sr, was named after Strontian, a village in Scotland where its mineral was first identified in the late eighteenth century. It is perhaps best known today for giving fireworks their brilliant red colour. Platinum, symbol Pt, sits in the same group of the periodic table and has long been valued for its rarity and resistance to corrosion - so much so that it once cost more than gold, and it still appears in jewellery, catalytic converters and laboratory equipment.

The mountain that guards a border

Aconcagua, at roughly 6,960 metres, is not only the highest peak in South America but the highest outside Asia. It rises in the Argentine Andes close to the Chilean border, and its name is often traced to the Quechua words for "stone sentinel". Unlike many giants of the Himalayas, it requires no oxygen on a standard ascent, which makes it a popular - though still serious - objective for high-altitude climbers.

Paris before it was Paris

Before the Romans arrived, the settlement on the banks of the Seine was home to a Gallic tribe known as the Parisii. The Romans called the town Lutetia, rendered in French as Lutèce, and it served as a modest provincial centre rather than a grand capital. The name Paris only took hold later, derived from the tribe that had lived there all along.