1980s Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- Which Steven Spielberg cult film, released in 1982, tells the story of an alien stranded on Earth who befriends a young boy?
- A. Back to the Future
- B. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- C. The Goonies
- D. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Which American city hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics, marked by a boycott from several Soviet Bloc countries?
- A. Moscow
- B. Seoul
- C. Los Angeles
- D. Atlanta
- Which 1980s American TV series, centered on a wealthy Texan oil family, is famous for its cliffhanger 'Who Shot J.R.?'
- A. Dallas
- B. Dynasty
- C. The Bold and the Beautiful
- D. Falcon Crest
- Which type of hairstyle, very voluminous and held up with hairspray, was emblematic of 1980s fashion?
- A. The bowl cut
- B. The undercut
- C. Big permed hair
- D. The bob cut
- Which handheld console, launched by Nintendo in 1989, allowed people to play video games like Tetris on the go?
- A. The Game Boy
- B. The Atari Lynx
- C. The Game Gear
- D. The NES
- Which British Prime Minister led the United Kingdom for most of the 1980s?
- A. Margaret Thatcher
- B. John Major
- C. Harold Wilson
- D. Tony Blair
- Which Japanese animated series featuring shape-shifting warriors arrived in France in the late 1980s and became a cult favorite on children's TV?
- A. Naruto
- B. Pokémon
- C. Dragon Ball
- D. One Piece
- Which small repositionable adhesive note, commercialized by 3M starting in 1980, became an office essential?
- A. The Post-it
- B. Scotch tape
- C. The paperclip
- D. The stapler
- Which American space shuttle exploded in flight in January 1986, seconds after launch?
- A. Columbia
- B. Challenger
- C. Discovery
- D. Atlantis
- In which 1984 film does a teenager learn karate from an old master to stand up to his bullies?
- A. Rocky
- B. The Karate Kid
- C. Rambo
- D. Over the Top
- Which plush characters, each with a symbol on its tummy, appeared on greeting cards in the early 1980s before becoming a cartoon?
- A. The Smurfs
- B. The Littles
- C. The Care Bears
- D. The Popples
- Which 1980 film launched Sophie Marceau, aged 13?
- A. L'Étudiante
- B. La Boum
- C. Fort Saganne
- D. Police
- Which TV game show, launched on TF1 in 1987, used a giant spinning wheel to guess words letter by letter?
- A. The Price Is Right
- B. Wheel of Fortune (La Roue de la fortune)
- C. Pyramid
- D. Countdown (Des chiffres et des lettres)
- Which 1984 toys, backed by a cartoon, were robots that could turn into cars, lorries or planes?
- A. Power Rangers
- B. Masters of the Universe
- C. Transformers
- D. Care Bears
- Which virus was identified in 1983 by a team at the Institut Pasteur, including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier?
- A. HIV, which causes AIDS
- B. The Ebola virus
- C. The H1N1 flu virus
- D. The hepatitis C virus
- Which Soviet leader launched "perestroika" (restructuring) and "glasnost" (openness) from 1985?
- A. Leonid Brezhnev
- B. Mikhail Gorbachev
- C. Boris Yeltsin
- D. Yuri Andropov
- Which French-Japanese cartoon, shown in France from 1983, follows Esteban, Zia and Tao in search of legendary cities?
- A. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
- B. Ulysses 31
- C. Once Upon a Time… Man
- D. Time Masters
- Which French band sang the 1986 hit "Les Démons de minuit"?
- A. Images
- B. Indochine
- C. Gold
- D. Début de Soirée
- Which singer released the song "Week-end à Rome" in 1984?
- A. Daniel Balavoine
- B. Alain Bashung
- C. Jean-Louis Aubert
- D. Étienne Daho
- Which French service, rolled out in the 1980s, let people look up the phone directory or book a train on a small terminal connected to the phone line?
- A. Tatoo
- B. Bi-Bop
- C. Minitel
- D. Tam-Tam
Answer key — 1980s Quiz
- B. E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialE.T.
- C. Los AngelesThe 1984 Olympics were held in Los Angeles and were boycotted by the USSR and several allied countries, in retaliation for the US boycott of 1980.
- A. DallasDallas, aired from 1978 and hugely popular in the 1980s, left its mark with the cliffhanger 'Who Shot J.R.?'
- C. Big permed hairVery voluminous hairstyles, often permed and held in place with heavy amounts of hairspray, were emblematic of 1980s hair fashion.
- A. The Game BoyThe Game Boy, released in 1989, popularized handheld gaming and became a huge worldwide success, notably thanks to Tetris.
- A. Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher, nicknamed the 'Iron Lady', was UK Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, profoundly shaping the decade.
- C. Dragon BallDragon Ball, aired in France in the late 1980s on children's TV programming, left a lasting mark on an entire generation.
- A. The Post-itThe Post-it note, commercialized by 3M starting in 1980 after years of development, became an essential office item throughout the 1980s.
- B. ChallengerThe space shuttle Challenger exploded on 28 January 1986, 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members and leaving a lasting mark on public opinion.
- B. The Karate KidThe Karate Kid, released in 1984 starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita, follows a teenager's training under a karate master and became a genre classic.
- C. The Care BearsCreated for the greeting card company American Greetings, each represents an emotion or quality.
- B. La BoumThe slow dance to 'Reality', headphones on, became one of the most famous scenes in French cinema.
- B. Wheel of Fortune (La Roue de la fortune)Adapted from the American 'Wheel of Fortune', it made host Christian Morin famous.
- C. TransformersAutobots versus Decepticons: the range, born from Japanese toys, conquered the planet, then Hollywood in the 2000s.
- A. HIV, which causes AIDSThis discovery earned them the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
- B. Mikhail GorbachevHis reforms hastened the end of the Cold War. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
- A. The Mysterious Cities of GoldThe adventurers travel to 16th-century South America. Each episode ended with a short documentary.
- A. ImagesThe song remains a dance-party staple in France. The band Images came from Toulouse.
- D. Étienne DahoA leading figure of French pop, Étienne Daho also wrote "Tombé pour la France" and "Le Premier Jour (du reste de ta vie)".
- C. MinitelHanded out free to telephone subscribers, it was in millions of French homes long before the Internet.