From What percentage of the population in Sardinia live to see their 100th birthday?
Click here for the answer.
See more about Island of the Ancients in Encounters.
Word Puzzles
These language-related puzzles come from Reader’s Digest’s Giant Puzzle Book, a bumper edition chock-a-block with crosswords, trivia and number know-howThink laterally to find the missing number
PORTUGAL = 51
EGYPT = 31
CANADA = 39
ETHIOPIA = 53
AMERICA = 46
ENGLAND = ?
Find the odd word out.
Dotterel
Pomfret
Phalarope
Guacharo
Lorikeet
Can you solve this riddle?
I live above a star, but I’m useful here on earth.
I have eleven neighbours, each one of different worth.
I am visited in sequence, first, last or in between.
PQRS are my initials–now tell me what I mean.
Click here for the answers.
Take our word for it
Yule is now just another word that signifies Christmas, but what is its origin?Reader’s Digest’s Origins of Words and Phrases, our book that tells the intriguing tales behind many colourful catchphrases, reveals that the word Yule comes from the Old Norse word jól, signifying a pagan festival at the winter solstice that lasted for twelve days and was celebrated in late December or early January. When the Germanic and Scandinavian pagans adopted Christianity, they simply changed the nature of the festival.
‘The original yule log was a large log traditionally burnt on the hearth on Christmas Eve, nowadays replaced by a log-shaped chocolate cake.’
This month’s giveaway
When real life and fiction intersect.Here at Reader’s Digest we compile a Canadian version of our real-life reading series, Encounters. This month our Canadian edition features the extraordinary story, Bayou of Pigs, by Stewart Bell, about a group of Canadian and American mercenaries who band together to stage a coup on the tiny island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Funnily enough, the coup was partially inspired by Frederick Forsyth’s novel, The Dogs of War. This in turn was based on Forsyth’s real-life experiences as a journalist covering the Biafran War between Biafra and Nigeria in 1967.
What is your all-time favourite thriller and why?
Tell us in 300 words or less to be in the running to win a copy of In the Line of Fire, four Frederick Forsyth titles in one volume. Contest Closes January 30
Answers
About 1 in 3,500 people live to see their 100th birthday in Sardinia. This is about twice the average of the rest of the world
Answer to find the missing number:
Each consonant has a value of 6 and each vowel has a value of 7, so England = 44.
Answer to find the odd word out:
Pomfret, which is a fish. The remainder are birds.
Answer to can you solve this riddle?
Number 7 on a telephone keypad.