Christmas 'higher or lower' quiz

A Christmas themed quiz featuring festively inspired subjects such as kebabs, fireworks and council parking fees.

It's only a few days until Christmas, so to help get in the festive mood I've prepared a short Christmas themed quiz made up of 'higher or lower' conundrums. For each 'higher or lower' question I've listed two or more choices, so see if you can guess which option is the biggest, best, highest or heaviest. You can find the answers at the bottom of the page.

1) Weight gain due to excess eating and drinking over Christmas.

A kebab, pictured yesterday.

First up is a higher or lower conundrum I would guess that most people can identify with. A lot of people (not myself obviously but some people), may find that over-indulgence over the Christmas period leaves them carrying a few extra pounds once the New Year arrives.

But what weighs the most; the average weight gain each person puts on over the Christmas period, or two kebabs?

1) What weighs the most?

A) Average weight each person puts on over the Christmas period.
B) Weight of two kebabs.

Two Christmas trees, partially obscured
by Santa getting in the way

2) Danger! Beware of the Christmas tree!

As you'd expect there are a lot of injuries every year around the time of Bonfire Night caused by fireworks, but surprisingly, Christmas trees also account for their fair share of accidents.

So of the two, which is the biggest cause of injuries in the UK; injuries caused by Christmas trees or injuries caused by fireworks?

2) What causes the most injuries?

A) People injured by Christmas trees in the UK each year.
B) People injured by fireworks in the UK in 2005.

Unfortunately I was unable to find a photo of an unwanted
Christmas present, so instead I had to feature this lovely
jumper which I'm sure was a greatly appreciated gift.

3) Unwanted gifts and unpopular fees.

This next conundrum is based on two factors of life which are unpopular for different reasons; unwanted Christmas presents and council parking fees.

We spend a lot of money every year in the UK on unwanted Christmas presents, but how does this figure compare with the amount of money councils make from parking fees?

Which of the two stacks up to the greater sum of money?

3) Which is the highest sum of money?

A) Total spent in the UK on unwanted Christmas presents.
B) Total sum councils made from parking fines in the 2011/12 financial year.

4) Christmas Recycling

Christmas recycling.

With so much money spent on unappreciated Christmas presents it makes you wonder what happens to all those unwanted gifts. Thankfully, in many cases the recipients think of the environment and rather than spend money on presents for their friends they simply 'recycle' their own unwanted gifts and sneakily give them to someone else.

But what percentage of people resort to such 'environmentally friendly' methods of gift giving? Is it more than the percentage of people who leave their Christmas shopping to the last minute and buy all their presents on Christmas Eve?

4) Which is the highest percentage of gift givers?

A) Percentage of people who have 'recycled' an unwanted Christmas gift.
B) Percentage of people who do their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve.

5) Christmas Music

Will we get a white Christmas this year?

Over the years, the battle for the Christmas number one has been won by some big names in music, with the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Queen and Pink Floyd all achieving the coveted Christmas number one spot in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Moving into the 90s and the domination by musical legends continued, with the likes of Mr Blobby and Bob The Builder making the Christmas number one spot their own.

But what has been the biggest selling single of all time? This final question is a bit trickier as I've included four options to choose from, but according to the Guinness Book Of Records which of the following Christmas singles has sold the most copies of all time?

5) Biggest selling single?

A) White Christmas by Bing Crosby
B) Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid
C) Mr Blobby by Mr Blobby
D) Can We Fix It? by Bob The Builder

- - - - - - - - - -

Scroll down the page for the answers to this Christmas themed 'Higher or Lower' quiz...















Answers:

1) Weight gain due to excess eating and drinking over Christmas.

Chocolate cake.
One of the causes of seasonal weight gain.

Average weight each person puts on over the Christmas period = 360 grams
Weight of two kebabs = 430 grams - Heaviest

I was expecting the average Christmas weight gain figure to be considerably higher than this, but apparently the average person only puts on an extra 360 grams (0.8 pounds) over the Christmas period. A study by UK councils published in 2009 calculated the weight of the average kebab at around 210 grams so therefore two kebabs comes in as the heaviest. It also means that the average weight we each put on over Christmas is only equivalent to 1.7 kebabs, which isn't too bad.

On a side note, with the current cuts and austerity measures being introduced by the govenment, it's nice to know that what little money is available is being spent wisely and targeted at essential services ... such as calculating the weight of the average kebab around the UK!

2) Danger!  Beware of the Christmas tree!

It looks harmless enough, but in actual
fact Christmas trees cause more
accidents than you might imagine.

People injured by Christmas trees each year* = 1000 - Most injuries
People injured by fireworks in the UK in 2005** = 991

* Average UK figures as reported by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
** 2005 was the last year that firework injury statistics were recorded.

This might surprise a few people, but based on the most recent figures available, more people are injured by Christmas trees than by fireworks.

Apparently most Christmas tree injuries are caused when people try to put baubles or fairy lights on higher branches, so the RoSPA recommend that you be especially careful when putting decorations on the top branches of your tree.

If you want an even safer suggestion though, then perhaps buy a smaller tree.

3) Unwanted presents and unpopular fees.

Total spent in the UK on unwanted Christmas presents = £594 million
Total made by councils made from parking fees in 2011/12 = £595 million - Highest

The best way to avoid unwanted Christmas
presents is to write a letter to Santa.

It was close, but parking fees just edge it as the larger of the two sums of money. And to make things clear, these figures don't include parking fines. They only relate to fees for legitimate parking in council car parks or car parking areas.

To be fair, after building costs for new car parks and improving existing car parks were taken into account, councils 'only' made £412 million.

It's still a tidy sum though, whichever way you look at it.

4) Christmas Recycling

Percentage of people who have 'recycled' an unwanted Christmas gift = 28% - Highest
Percentage of people who do their Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve = 20%

I wasn't surprised that so many people left their Christmas shopping until the last minute, but I was very surprised at how many people have passed on their unwanted gifts to other people. At first I thought, '28%!? Surely there can't be that many tight people in the world!' but I suppose the figures just refer to at one time or another ... not with every single present.

A white Christmas, very similar
to ones we used to know.

5) Christmas Music

White Christmas by Bing Crosby = Over 50 million - Best Selling
Do They Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid = Over 3.5 million
Mr Blobby by Mr Blobby = Over 600,000
Can We Fix It? by Bob The Builder = Over one million

Band Aid sold an impressive 3.5 million copies raising millions for the Band Aid charity, but according to the Guinness Book of Records, White Christmas is the best selling single of all time with estimated worldwide sales of over 50 million. Possibly even more, if downloads had been taken into account.

Update: This Christmas themed 'higher or lower' quiz was so popular that I've now written a follow up quiz, which you can find at the link below:
Christmas 'higher or lower' quiz (part 2)