Which of the following pairs of a country and its legislature is incorrect ?

The correct answer is A, Israel. The Knesset is the single house legislature of Israel and has a fixed strength of 120 members elected by proportional representation; it sits at Jerusalem and its name comes from the assembly of the same size in ancient Jewish tradition. Option B is wrong because the legislature of Iran is the Islamic Consultative Assembly, commonly called the Majlis. Option C is wrong because Turkey has the Grand National Assembly, which first met in 1920 during the national struggle. Option D is wrong because Egypt has the House of Representatives. The group of names from western Asia is a favourite in matching questions, so keep Knesset, Majlis and Grand National Assembly together and attach each to its country. The Knesset is also asked for its strength, so remember the figure 120, fixed by the basic law of Israel.

The correct answer is B, Japan. The Japanese legislature is the Diet, called Kokkai in Japanese, and it is bicameral: the House of Representatives is the lower house and the House of Councillors the upper. The Prime Minister is chosen by the Diet, and the lower house prevails on a money matter. Option A is wrong because South Korea has the National Assembly, a single house. Option C is wrong because Mongolia has the State Great Khural, a name that comes from the old assemblies of the steppe. Option D is wrong because Vietnam has the National Assembly. Japan is asked often because the word Diet was once used for several European assemblies, which makes it a tempting option for Germany or Hungary. Hold the pair in memory: Diet for Japan, National Assembly for South Korea, and the Khural for Mongolia.

The correct answer is A, the Althing of Iceland. The Althing was founded in 930 at Thingvellir, where free men gathered in the open to settle disputes and declare law, and it still functions as the legislature of Iceland, which makes it the oldest surviving parliament in the world. Option B is wrong because the British Parliament, though called the mother of parliaments and the model for the Westminster system, grew from the thirteenth century councils and is younger. Option C is wrong because the Storting of Norway was set up in 1814 with the Norwegian constitution. Option D is wrong because the Riksdag of Sweden, although it has medieval roots, took its modern form much later. Oldest means Iceland, mother of parliaments means Britain.

The correct answer is B, the National People’s Congress of China. It is a single house body with close to three thousand members, chosen indirectly by the provincial congresses and the armed forces, and no other legislature comes near that size. Option A is wrong because the Indian Parliament, with 543 elected members in the Lok Sabha and a Rajya Sabha whose maximum strength under Article 80 is 250, is far smaller, though it is among the largest democratic legislatures. Option C is wrong because the United States Congress has 100 Senators and 435 Representatives. Option D is wrong because the European Parliament, which represents the member states of the European Union, has a few hundred members and is not a national legislature at all.

The correct answer is B, Russia. The Russian legislature is the Federal Assembly, and it has two houses: the State Duma, the lower house, whose members are elected, and the Federation Council, the upper house, which represents the regions of the federation. The name Duma goes back to the assembly created after the revolution of 1905. Option A is wrong because the Polish parliament is made of the Sejm and the Senate. Option C is wrong because the Ukrainian legislature is the Verkhovna Rada, a single house. Option D is wrong because Hungary has the National Assembly, which also works with one house. Keep Duma with Russia and Sejm with Poland; the two are often exchanged in options. Note also that the Federation Council is the upper house, so a question asking for the lower house of Russia is answered by the State Duma.