Q 01/05

How many voyages of exploration to the Pacific did James Cook lead?

A) Five

B) One

C) Three

D) Two

Answer · why

C) Three

They ran from 1768 to 1779; he never lost a ship on any of them.

Q 02/05

In which county was James Cook born in 1728?

A) Kent

B) Yorkshire

C) Devon

D) Northumberland

Answer · why

B) Yorkshire

His father was a Scottish farm labourer; the village of Marton lay about eight miles from the sea.

Q 03/05

To what trade was 16-year-old Cook first apprenticed, unsuccessfully, in Staithes?

A) Grocer and haberdasher

B) Fisherman and net-mender

C) Sailmaker and rigger

D) Blacksmith and farrier

Answer · why

A) Grocer and haberdasher

After 18 months he moved to Whitby and joined the Walker brothers' coal ships.

Q 04/05

What was the name of the collier on which Cook served his first assignment as a merchant navy apprentice?

A) Earl of Pembroke

B) Marquis of Granby

C) Freelove

D) Friendship

Answer · why

C) Freelove

He carried coal between the Tyne and London and studied navigation and astronomy on the side.

Q 05/05

What did Cook decline in 1755 in order to join the Royal Navy as an able seaman?

A) Command of the collier Friendship

B) A partnership in the Walkers' firm

C) Marriage to a shipowner's daughter

D) A place at Trinity House

Answer · why

A) Command of the collier Friendship

He enlisted at Wapping on 17 June 1755 as Britain armed for the Seven Years' War.