Q 01/05

Besides his clothes, what does Crusoe famously make out of goatskins?

A) A small tent

B) An umbrella

C) A boat sail

D) A hammock

Answer · why

B) An umbrella

An umbrella: he spoils two or three before he gets one that will fold, then calls the clumsy, ugly thing the most necessary item he owns after his gun...

Q 02/05

What did many early readers believe Robinson Crusoe to be?

A) Satire

B) Translation

C) Children's tale

D) True story

Answer · why

D) True story

A true story: the title page named no author but the hero, saying it was 'Written by Himself', and many early readers took Crusoe for a real man.

Q 03/05

According to its full title, how many years does Crusoe live on his island?

A) 7

B) 14

C) 28

D) 56

Answer · why

C) 28

28: the title page promises 'Eight and Twenty Years, all alone', and Crusoe gives the same count as he leaves, though his own dates, September 1659 to...

Q 04/05

Which Scottish castaway is most often cited as the inspiration for Crusoe?

A) Henry Pitman

B) Robert Knox

C) William Dampier

D) Alexander Selkirk

Answer · why

D) Alexander Selkirk

Alexander Selkirk spent four years and four months alone on a Pacific island. Two ships did put in, but both were Spanish, so the British privateer ha...

Q 05/05

The Pacific island renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966 belongs to which South American country?

A) Peru

B) Ecuador

C) Chile

D) Colombia

Answer · why

C) Chile

Chile renamed it in a bid for tourists and, at the same stroke, named a neighbouring island after the Scottish sailor who once lived here alone, thoug...