Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

Five rings, one global idea

The Olympic rings were designed by Pierre de Coubertin, the French educator who championed the modern Games. The five interlocking rings stand for the five inhabited continents, and the six colours - blue, yellow, black, green, red, plus the white background - were chosen because at least one of them appeared on every national flag in use when the symbol was created. The rings remain one of the most recognised logos on earth.

A play that ends with an axe

Anton Chekhov wrote "The Cherry Orchard" as his final play, and it premiered in 1904, the year he died. Chekhov called it a comedy, though directors have often staged it as a tragedy about a fading aristocratic family losing its estate. The famous sound of an axe striking wood offstage signals the orchard's destruction - a quiet, devastating ending rather than a dramatic one.

Two mountain ranges, one country

The Rocky Mountains stretch roughly 4,800 kilometres from northern British Columbia down to New Mexico, while the Appalachians run along the eastern side of North America. In the United States, the two ranges frame the continent's interior from west and east. The Appalachians are far older, formed hundreds of millions of years ago, which is why they are lower and more rounded than the jagged Rockies.

Venice and its Adriatic crown

Venice earned the nickname "Queen of the Adriatic" through centuries as a maritime republic whose ships dominated trade between Europe and the East. Built across a lagoon of more than 100 islands, the city linked the Adriatic Sea to the wider Mediterranean world. The title reflects both its wealth and its architectural beauty, which still draws millions of visitors each year.

Vienna and the Danube

Vienna sits on the Danube, the second-longest river in Europe after the Volga. The Danube flows through ten countries, more than any other river in the world, passing through capitals including Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Belgrade. For centuries it served as a major trade route linking central Europe to the Black Sea, and it remains central to the identity of the cities along its banks.