New Year Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Just after midnight in Scotland, a household pays special attention to the first person who enters its home. Which custom is this?
Maypole dancing
Wassailing
First-footing
Pancake racing
2. At a Greek New Year gathering, you find a coin baked inside a vasilopita. What does tradition associate with the person who receives that piece?
Good fortune for the coming year
Responsibility for hosting every gathering that year
A duty to return the coin to a church bell tower
The role of cutting the next loaf at Easter
3. A September invitation mentions Enkutatash, flowers, and the beginning of a new calendar year. Which country’s celebration does it describe?
Spain
Japan
Ethiopia
Brazil
4. A traveler crosses the International Date Line westward. How is the calendar date normally adjusted?
The traveler repeats the current date
The traveler moves the date back by one week
The traveler advances the date by one day
The date stays fixed until the next midnight
5. At a Rosh Hashanah meal, which pairing is commonly served to express hope for a sweet new year?
Olives and salt
Apples and honey
Bread and vinegar
Rice and pepper
6. Lunar New Year begins on different Gregorian dates from one year to the next. What best explains this variation?
The celebration is always moved to the nearest weekend
Its timing follows a lunisolar calendar rather than a fixed Gregorian date
Different time zones add an extra week in some years
It alternates between the first days of January and March by custom
7. The illuminated New Year’s Eve Ball in Times Square first descended from its flagpole in which year?
1899
1907
1918
1929
8. Children receive red envelopes containing money during a family celebration. Which occasion is most strongly associated with this custom?
Nowruz
Hogmanay
Rosh Hashanah
Lunar New Year
9. The month of January takes its name from which Roman figure associated with transitions and doorways?
Saturn
Mars
Mercury
Janus
10. Which song is traditionally sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve in many English-speaking places?
Greensleeves
Auld Lang Syne
For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
Rule, Britannia!
11. In Spain, which challenge traditionally accompanies the twelve strokes of midnight on New Year’s Eve?
Naming the twelve months backward
Lighting twelve candles in sequence
Eating twelve grapes, one with each stroke
Taking twelve bites of ring-shaped bread
12. A celebration in Edinburgh is advertised as part of “Hogmanay.” What occasion does that term identify?
The Scottish New Year celebration
The opening of the Scottish Parliament
A traditional spring harvest festival
The birthday of poet Robert Burns
13. At a Japanese Buddhist temple, bells are rung 108 times around the turn of the year. What tradition are you witnessing?
Joya no Kane
Obon
Hanami
Tanabata
14. An archive is scheduling an event for February 29, 2100. Under Gregorian calendar rules, what problem will it encounter?
The date will not exist because 2100 is not a leap year
The date will occur, but it will be the first day of spring
The date will be moved automatically to March 2
The entire year will begin one day later than usual
15. You see arrangements of pine and bamboo standing beside doorways during the Japanese New Year season. What are these decorations called?
Koinobori
Torii
Furin
Kadomatsu
16. If you want to experience Nowruz at its traditional seasonal turning point, when should you plan for it?
Near the summer solstice
At the start of the Gregorian calendar year
Near the autumnal equinox
At the vernal equinox, around the beginning of spring