Dear Readers, we’ve been making a few changes to the e-mails that you receive from us in order to make it easier for you to comment on the articles. These changes were implemented on Monday at around the time that this quiz was originally published, and it’s possible that some of you may have missed it, so I’ve decided to republish it today … just in case.

Last month’s quiz drew an incredible response and helped us immensely in identifying a few areas that needed clarification via new articles. Our previous quizzes have been rather sporadic, but following some of the enthusiastic comments that we’ve received from you we’re going to aim to publish a quiz a month.

September’s quiz is based on the theme of animals. Let’s find out how much you know about the animal kingdom in Italian shall we?

Heard of cows?

Fit the following collective names into the unfinished sentences below:

uno sciame
un gregge
uno stormo
una mandria
un branco
un banco

un gruppo di mucche si chiama _______ (a group of cows is called a herd)
un gruppo di pesci si chiama _______ (a group of fish is called a school)
un gruppo di pecore si chiama _______ (a group of sheep is called a flock)
un gruppo di lupi si chiama _______ (a group of wolves is called a pack)
un gruppo di uccelli si chiama _______ (a group of birds is called a flock)
un gruppo di api si chiama _______ (a group of bees is called a swarm)

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Fit the sounds verbs below to the correct animals:

miagolare
cinguettare
abbaiare
ruggire
nitrire
ragliare

cavallo = _______
cane = _______
uccello = _______
gatto = _______
asino = _______
leone = _______

Now conjugate the infinitives of each sound to complete the sentences below:

il cavallo _______ (the horse whinnies)
i cani _______ (the dogs bark)
l’uccello _______ tutto il giorno (the bird twittered all day)
il gatto _______ due volte (the cat mewed twice)
l’asino _______ (the donkey brays)
i leoni _______ (the lions roar)

Pavlov’s Dog

Annibale Carracci and Domenichino: Perseus in a tinfoil hat and the Fat Cat. For more wonderful Fat Cat art click on the photo.

Which animals are associated with the following people?:

La Dama dell’ _______ di Leonardo da Vinci (my personal favourite painting by da Vinci!)
Gli _______ di Annibale
Poppea, la moglie di Nerone, faceva il bagno nel latte di _______
Ilaria del Carretto ha ai suoi piedi un fedele _______
Un famosa opera di Rossini si chiama La _______ Ladra
Romolo e Remo furono allevati da una _______

Proverbs

Complete the following proverbs and common sayings by inserting the correct animals (and don’t let that pesky elephant distract you!)

elefante
piccioni
ghiro
talpa
buoi
maiale

mettere il carro davanti ai _______  (English version: put the horse before the cart)
muoversi come un _______ in una cristalleria (English version: to move like a bull in a china shop)
cieco come una _______ (English version: as blind as a bat)
prendere due _______ con una fava (English version: kill two birds with one stone)
sudare come un _______ (English version: to sweat like a pig)
dormire come un _______ (English version: to sleep like a log)

The correct answers will be published on Friday … in bocca al lupo!