Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The metal that breaks the rules

Most of us picture metals as hard, solid and unyielding, yet mercury is a liquid at ordinary room temperature. Its chemical symbol, Hg, comes from hydrargyrum, the Latinised form of a Greek phrase meaning "water-silver", a nod to its shiny, flowing appearance. Because it is dense and expands evenly with heat, mercury was once a standard filling for thermometers and barometers, though its toxicity has largely pushed it out of everyday use.

An island at the crossroads of three continents

Cyprus sits in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon. Its position has made it a meeting point for Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman influences over the centuries, and today it is a member of the European Union. The island's name is also linked to copper: the metal's Latin name, cuprum, is thought to derive from the Greek word for Cyprus, since the island was a major source of copper in antiquity.

From page to screen: Pretty Woman

Julia Roberts took the lead role in Pretty Woman, the 1990 film that turned her into a major star and earned her an Academy Award nomination. The part is often remembered as a career-defining moment, but the film's path to the screen was far from smooth, with a much darker original script that was reshaped into the romantic comedy audiences came to know. It remains one of the most quoted films of its era.

Quasimodo and the cathedral that inspired him

Quasimodo is the tragic bell-ringer of Notre-Dame de Paris in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel. The book was a huge success and helped fuel public interest in the cathedral's crumbling state, contributing to major restoration work in the nineteenth century. Hugo's story has since been adapted countless times for film, stage and animation, cementing the character as one of literature's most recognisable outsiders.

One ceiling, four years of work

Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512, a commission he initially resisted because he considered himself a sculptor rather than a painter. Working on scaffolding high above the floor, he covered the vault with scenes from Genesis, including the famous Creation of Adam. The ceiling has drawn visitors to the Vatican for centuries and is still regarded as a landmark of Renaissance art.