1. What is the line of verse inscribed along a wall at the entrance to the athletes' village?

   1. "Play up! play up! and play the game!" by Henry Newbolt

   2. "To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield” by Tennyson

   3. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds' worth of distance run” by Kipling

   4. “We are the champions” by Queen

2. Who is the author of Private Games, in which a high-ranking member of the 2012 Olympics committee has been ruthlessly murdered and a criminal genius is determined to restore the Games to their ancient glory?

   1. Ian Rankin

   2. John Connolly

   3. James Patterson

   4. Ruth Rendell

3. Where does Rupert Campbell Black win his Olympic gold medal – despite having a broken arm – in Jilly Cooper's Riders?

   1. Los Angeles

   2. Rome

   3. Tokyo

   4. London

4. What is the Olympic sport at the heart of Chris Cleave's new novel, Gold?

   1. Sprinting

   2. Horse-riding

   3. Table tennis

   4. Cycling

5. Asterix and Obelix befriend a Roman sports champion in Asterix at the Olympic Games, in which the pair of Gauls compete in the Olympics but without their magic potion, which is banned by officials. Is the Roman athlete:

   1. Habeas Corpus

   2. Gluteus Maximus

   3. Biceps Gigantus

   4. Celeritas Magnus

6. Whose thriller sees eco-terrorists attempt to infect Olympic athletes with a deadly virus via the air-conditioning system at the Sydney Olympics?

   1. Tom Clancy

   2. Frederick Forsyth

   3. Alexander McCall Smith

   4. Margaret Atwood

7. So, when Persia was dust, all cried, "To Acropolis! / Run, Pheidippides, one race more! the meed is thy due! / Athens is saved, thank Pan, go shout!" Whose poem about Pheidippides, runner of the first marathon, inspired the organisers of the revival of the Olympic games in 1896 to include the long distance race?

   1. Henry VIII

   2. Oscar Wilde

   3. John Keats

   4. Robert Browning

8. What is the plot of Daisy Meadows' latest children's book, Olympia the Games Fairy?

   1. A spell has been cast on the games by a naughty sprite, making all the athletes run backwards

   2. Kirsty and Rachel are called on to compete for their country in a triathlon after a magic spell traps the real competitors underground

   3. Sparkles and glitter fall from the sky on the day of the Olympic Games, thanks to Olympia the Games Fairy

   4. Three magical items have been stolen by Jack Frost, dooming both the fairyland and human games to chaos

9. Which poet is famous for the odes written in celebration of the victories of athletes in the Olympic games?

   1. Ovid

   2. Pindar

   3. TS Eliot

   4. Homer

10. Which lines come from John Betjeman’s poem The Olympian Girl?

    1. They fuck you up, your mum and dad / They may not mean to, but they do

    2. On the floor of her bedroom lie blazer and shorts, /And the cream-coloured walls are be-trophied with sports

    3. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? /I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach

    4. Fair tigress of the tennis courts, / So short in sleeve and strong in shorts

Solutions

1:B, 2:C, 3:A, 4:D, 5:B, 6:A, 7:D, 8:D, 9:B, 10:D

Scores

1. 3 and above.

   Unplaced. You're Eng Lit's very own Eddie the Eagle. Perhaps you'd stand a better chance as a ski jumper?

2. 8 and above.

   Bronze. It's a tough competition at this level, and there's no shame at your result. Well, not that much anyway

3. 9 and above.

   Silver. You're a thorough reader, but slightly too slow I fear. Still, you can't be ruled out for 2016

4. 10 and above.

   Gold medal. You could play books quizzes for England, or indeed a country that stood a decent chance of winning