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First Lines: an IPA quiz

Each of the questions below tests both your recognition of the IPA and your knowledge of famous first lines from novels, plays and poems...


1. ɪt ɪz ə tɹu:θ junɪvɜsəli: əknɒlɪdʒd ðæt ə sɪŋgl mæn ɪn pəzeʃn əv ə lɑ:dʒ fɔtʃjun mʌsd bi: ɪn wɒnt əv ə waɪf - this is the first line of a novel by which author?
  • George Eliot
  • Jane Austen
  • Charlotte Bronte
  • Fanny Burney
2. ɪf aɪ ʃʊd daɪ θɪŋk əʊnli: ðɪs əv mi: ðæt ðeəz sʌm kɔnə əv ə fɒɹən fi:ld ðət ɪz fəɹevə ɪŋglənd - which poet wrote this famous first line?
  • Isaac Rosenberg
  • Wilfred Owen
  • Siegfried Sassoon
  • Rupert Brooke
3. lɑ:st naɪt aɪ dɹemt aɪ went tə mændəli: əgeɪn - this is the first line of which twentieth-century novel?
  • Rebecca
  • The Children of Men
  • Mrs. Dalloway
  • A Testament of Youth
4. maɪ hɑ:t eɪkz ænd ə dɹaʊzi: nʌmnəs peɪnz maɪ sens - which Romantic poem has this as its first line?
  • Kubla Khan
  • Ode to a Nightingale
  • The Prelude
  • Don Juan
5. æz gɹegɔ sæmzə əwəʊk wʌn mɔnɪŋ fɹəm ʌni:zi: dɹi:mz hi: faʊnd hɪmself tɹænsfɔmd ɪn hɪz bed ɪntu: ə dʒaɪgæntɪk ɪnsekt - this is the first line (in English translation) of a novel by which author?
  • Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  • Franz Kafka
  • Karel Capek
6. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This is the first line of which of the following novels, whose titles are written in IPA?
1. ə teɪl əv tu: sɪti:z
2. ɑlɪvə twɪst
3. gɹeɪt ekspekteɪʃənz
4. nɪkələs nɪklbi:
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7. "It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York." Which twentieth-century novel?
1. feɪsɪz ɪn ðə wɔtə
2. ðə bel dʒɑ:
3. ðə bʊk əv dænjəl
4. ðə hændmeɪdz teɪl
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8. "To begin at the beginning: It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black." The beginning of which work?
1. weɪtɪŋ fə gɒdəʊ
2. saɪdə wɪð ɹəʊzi:
3. ðə wʊdlændəz
4. ʌndə mɪlk wʊd,
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9. "When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventyfirst birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton." Which of Tolkien's novels begins with this line?
1. ðə hɒbɪt
2. ðə feləʊʃɪp əv ðə ɹɪŋ
3. ðə tu: taʊəz
4. ðə ɹɪtɜn əv ðə kɪŋ
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10. "Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." The opening line of which of the Harry Potter series?
1. hæɹi: pɒtə ənd ðə pɹɪzənəɹ əv æzkəbæn
2. hæɹi: pɒtə ənd ði: ɔdəɹ əv ðə fi:nɪkz
3. hæɹi: pɒtə ənd ðə fɪlɒsəfəz stəʊn
4. hæɹi: pɒtə ənd ðə gɒblət əv faɪə
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11. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Famous first words written by which author?
1. ɔldəs hʌkzli:
2. mɑ:gɹət ætwʊd
3. dʒɔdʒ ɔwel
4. ɹeɪ bɹædbəɹi:
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12. "I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills." Which poet wrote these opening lines?
1. dʒɒn ki:tz
2. lɔd baɪɹən
3. pɜsi: ʃeli:
4. wɪljəm wɔdzwɔθ
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13. "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him." Who is the author?
1. dʒəʊsəf helə
2. dʒeɪ di: sælɪndʒə
3. ken ki:zi:
4. dʒæk keɹu:æk
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14. "The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended." Which author wrote this famous sci-fi novel?
1. fɹæŋk hɜbɜɹt
2. ɑ:θə si: klɑ:k
3. aɪzək æzɪmɒf
4. dʌglʌs ædəmz
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15. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy." An opening line by which children's author?
1. dʒeɪ keɪ ɹaʊlɪŋ
2. su:zən ku:pə
3. si: es lu:ɪs
4. dʒeɪ ɑ: ɑ: təʊlki:n
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