evaluation/knowledge/knowledge_dev.json

[
  {
    "id": "K001",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "One member of the Swiss Federal Council serves as President of the Swiss Confederation for one year at a time. That President chairs the meetings of the Federal Council and represents the federal government externally. How does the presidency affect that member's decision-making power?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The President carries considerably more decision-making power, because the President chairs the meetings and can act for the Council alone.",
      "B": "The President gains extra decision-making power in foreign affairs only, as the Confederation's external representative.",
      "C": "The President has hardly any more decision-making power than the other members of the Federal Council.",
      "D": "The President gains a casting vote, which breaks any deadlock in the Council in the President's favour."
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S001",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/government/",
    "source_quote": "In contrast to other countries, the President of the Confederation in Switzerland has hardly any more decision-making power than the other members of the Federal Council.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Swiss-specific: the rotating presidency is a chairmanship, not a head-of-state office. Traps the German Bundeskanzler and US presidential models."
  },
  {
    "id": "K002",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "The Federal Chancellor is sometimes referred to in Swiss media as the 'eighth Federal Councillor'. What is the Federal Chancellor's actual role?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A supporting and advisory role for the Federal Council, rather than a seat in it.",
      "B": "A voting member of the Federal Council, counted among the seven when decisions are taken.",
      "C": "The head of state, who represents Switzerland towards foreign governments.",
      "D": "The head of the Federal Administration, supervising its seven departments."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S001",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/government/",
    "source_quote": "There is often talk of an 'eighth Federal Councillor', the Federal Chancellor, who has a supporting and advisory role for the Federal Council.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The Chancellor is neither head of state (the rotating President) nor head of government (the Federal Council as a collegial body). Common model failure: importing the German Bundeskanzler."
  },
  {
    "id": "K004",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "The National Council and the Council of States of the Swiss Parliament take most of their decisions separately. When is a decision of the Federal Assembly final?",
    "options": {
      "A": "As soon as the National Council has approved it, because it is the larger of the two chambers.",
      "B": "Only when both chambers reach the same conclusion; otherwise the 'resolution of differences procedure' follows.",
      "C": "When a simple majority of the members of both chambers added together votes for it.",
      "D": "When the Federal Council endorses it, since the Federal Council sits between the two chambers."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S002",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/swiss-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "Parliament's decisions are only final if the National Council and the Council of States reach the same conclusion. Otherwise, the two chambers must follow the 'resolution of differences procedure' in an attempt to reach an agreement.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Neither chamber is dominant — a bicameral equal-footing design with no overrider, unlike most second chambers."
  },
  {
    "id": "K005",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How many seats does the Council of States, the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament, have?",
    "options": {
      "A": "46 seats",
      "B": "52 seats",
      "C": "26 seats",
      "D": "40 seats"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S003",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "The Swiss Parliament has 200 seats in the National Council and 46 seats in the Council of States.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "46 = 20 cantons x 2 seats + 6 former half-cantons x 1 seat. 52 is the intuitive-but-wrong 26 x 2. Sourced from S003 (S026 holds the same content)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K006",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which cantons are entitled to only one seat in the Council of States?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Ticino, Jura and Geneva",
      "B": "Glarus, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Obwalden",
      "C": "Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel Stadt and Basel Landschaft",
      "D": "Valais, Uri and Zug"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S003",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "The former half-cantons of Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Basel Stadt and Basel Landschaft are only entitled to one.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The six are all former half-cantons; the historical reason is a leftover of the old Confederation's status. Source spells the Basel cantons without hyphens."
  },
  {
    "id": "K009",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "The voting age in Switzerland is 18 at federal level, and each canton is free to set its own age for cantonal and communal votes. Where may 16- and 17-year-olds vote?",
    "options": {
      "A": "In Glarus, at cantonal and communal level — they may vote but not stand for election.",
      "B": "Nowhere, because no canton may set the voting age below 18.",
      "C": "In Glarus, Bern and Basel-Stadt, but only in cantonal and not in communal votes.",
      "D": "In any canton that chooses to allow it, since cantons are entirely free to set the age."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S005",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/right-to-vote/",
    "source_quote": "Currently Glarus is the only canton to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote at cantonal and communal level, but not to stand for election.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE and time-specific: Glarus is named as the sole canton on the page as accessed 2026-10-12. Canton is named explicitly in the stem."
  },
  {
    "id": "K010",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "In Switzerland the separation of powers applies at federal, cantonal and communal level. May one person hold office in more than one of the three branches of the Swiss state at the same time?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Yes, but only where the second office is at communal level and is unpaid.",
      "B": "Yes, provided the two offices are held in two different cantons.",
      "C": "Yes, because judges are treated as belonging to the executive rather than to the judiciary.",
      "D": "No — a person may belong to only one of the three branches of the state at any one time."
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S006",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/separation-of-powers/",
    "source_quote": "A person may belong to only one of the three branches of the state (at federal, cantonal or communal level) at any one time.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Branch incompatibility. It is why a Federal Councillor cannot sit in Parliament or on the Federal Supreme Court."
  },
  {
    "id": "K012",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How many members must the committee of a federal popular initiative have, and what must each of them satisfy?",
    "options": {
      "A": "At least three members, all of whom must be Swiss citizens resident in Switzerland.",
      "B": "At least seven members, with no upper limit on the size of the committee.",
      "C": "At least seven and at most twenty-seven members, each of whom is eligible to vote in Switzerland.",
      "D": "Between seven and twenty-seven members, at least half of whom must come from different language regions."
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S007",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/initiatives/what-is-a-federal-popular-initiative/",
    "source_quote": "The initiative committee must have at least 7 and no more than 27 members, who each must be eligible to vote in Switzerland.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "There is both a floor (7) and a ceiling (27) — models frequently recall only the lower bound or invent a minimum of 3."
  },
  {
    "id": "K014",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How does the size of a cantonal parliament vary in Switzerland? Give the two figures cited on the federal ch.ch portal.",
    "options": {
      "A": "Appenzell Innerrhoden has 50 members and Zurich has 180.",
      "B": "Appenzell Innerrhoden has 28 members and Zurich has 180.",
      "C": "Appenzell Innerrhoden has 50 members and Zurich has 200.",
      "D": "Every canton has 100 members, with seats assigned in proportion to population."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S008b",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-parliament-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "The number of members of parliament varies from canton to canton. It is usually proportional to the population of the canton. The parliament of Appenzell Innerrhoden currently has 50 members while the Zurich parliament has 180 members.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE and time-specific ('currently' as of the 2026-10-12 page). Both cantons are named explicitly, per the cantonal-variation rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K015",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "In Swiss popular votes, which proposals require a so-called 'double majority' rather than a simple majority of the voters?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Federal laws and most international treaties.",
      "B": "Amendments to the Constitution and decisions to join a supranational community.",
      "C": "Amendments to the Constitution only — joining a supranational community requires a popular majority alone.",
      "D": "Any proposal on which more than one canton votes."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S009",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/votes-and-elections/votes/popular-majority-and-majority-of-the-cantons/",
    "source_quote": "But the decision to amend the constitution or join a supranational community requires a so-called double majority. Such a proposal is accepted only if both the majority of voters (popular majority) as well as the majority of cantons say yes.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The supranational-community limb is the non-obvious half — it is what would apply to any EU accession question, which Switzerland is not part of."
  },
  {
    "id": "K017",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Switzerland is running e-voting trials. What numerical limits apply to how many voters may use them?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Up to 30% of eligible voters in any one canton, with a national cap of 10%.",
      "B": "Up to 10% of eligible voters in any one canton, with a national cap of 30%.",
      "C": "Up to 30% of eligible voters nationwide, with no separate cantonal cap.",
      "D": "No numerical cap at all — each canton decides freely how many of its voters may vote online."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S010",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/e-voting/",
    "source_quote": "The scope of the trials is limited: a maximum of 30% of eligible voters are permitted to use e-voting in any particular canton, with the national cap set at 10%.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The per-canton 30% / national 10% split is inverted from the intuitive reading. As accessed 2026-10-12; actual participation falls well below these quotas."
  },
  {
    "id": "K018",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Apart from the Federal Supreme Court, how many further courts exercise judicial functions at the federal level in Switzerland, and which are they?",
    "options": {
      "A": "One — the Federal Constitutional Court.",
      "B": "Three — the Federal Criminal Court, the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Patent Court.",
      "C": "Three — the Federal Criminal Court, the Federal Constitutional Court and the Federal Supreme Administrative Court.",
      "D": "Two — the Federal Criminal Court and the Federal Administrative Court."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S011",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/courts/",
    "source_quote": "The Federal Criminal Court, the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Patent Court are the three other courts at federal level.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "There is no separate Federal Constitutional Court — a common import from Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht) or Austria. The Federal Patent Court is the genuinely non-obvious fourth federal court."
  },
  {
    "id": "K019",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "About how many items of business does the Swiss Federal Council deal with in a year?",
    "options": {
      "A": "around 250",
      "B": "around 25,000",
      "C": "around 2,500",
      "D": "around 250,000"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S012",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/federal-council-affairs",
    "source_quote": "Each year the Federal Council deals with around 2,500 items of business.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Replaces an earlier K019 (duration of the weekly meeting), which was rejected at manual review: three of its four options were implausible. This item tests the small size of the Swiss consensus executive - seven councillors handling ~2,500 items, against the tens of thousands a large national cabinet would process. Distractors span three orders of magnitude so each is a real candidate."
  },
  {
    "id": "K020",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "The Federal Chancellery supports the Federal Council but is neither the head of state nor the head of government. Which of the following is one of its actual duties in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Chairing the Federal Council meetings and representing it abroad.",
      "B": "Supervising the seven federal departments and their heads.",
      "C": "Adjudicating appeals against decisions of the federal authorities.",
      "D": "Organising federal elections and referendums, as guardian of the people's rights."
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S012b",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en",
    "source_quote": "As guardian of the people's rights, the Federal Chancellery organises federal elections and referendums.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Precise delimitation: the Chancellery is the Federal Council's staff office, not a head of state/government. Referendum and initiative committees submit their signatures to it."
  },
  {
    "id": "K022",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A tenant in Switzerland posts their notice of termination on 31 March, and the landlord receives it on 1 April. From when does the notice period run, and when does the termination take effect?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It runs from 31 March, the date the notice was posted, so the termination takes effect at the end of June",
      "B": "It runs from 1 April, the date the notice is delivered to the landlord, so the termination takes effect at the end of July",
      "C": "It runs from 1 April, the date of delivery, so the termination takes effect at the end of June",
      "D": "It runs from the first day of the calendar month after delivery, so the termination takes effect at the end of August"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S044",
    "source_url": "https://www.zsg.justice.be.ch/de/start/themen/zivilrecht/mietrecht/beendigung-mietvertrag/beenden-mieter-in.html",
    "source_quote": "Die Kündigungsfrist läuft erst ab Zustellung der Kündigung an die Vermieterin oder den Vermieter. Wenn Sie also beispielsweise am 31. März die Kündigung verschicken und die Vermieterin oder der Vermieter diese am 1. April erhält, gilt die Kündigung erst auf Ende Juli statt Ende Juni.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "German source; English rendering: the notice period only begins on delivery of the notice to the landlord — sent 31 March and received 1 April, it takes effect at the end of July rather than the end of June. Posting date is not decisive."
  },
  {
    "id": "K023",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A married couple lives in a Swiss flat, but only one of the spouses is named as the tenant on the rental agreement. Who must sign the letter terminating the tenancy?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Both spouses must sign the termination, even though only one of them is named as the tenant on the rental agreement",
      "B": "Only the spouse named as tenant must sign, because only that person is a contracting party",
      "C": "Only the named tenant signs, but only after obtaining the written consent of the other spouse",
      "D": "Either spouse may sign alone, and the landlord must accept either signature"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S044",
    "source_url": "https://www.zsg.justice.be.ch/de/start/themen/zivilrecht/mietrecht/beendigung-mietvertrag/beenden-mieter-in.html",
    "source_quote": "Wenn Sie als Ehepaar oder eingetragene Partner/innen in der Wohnung wohnen, müssen beide die Kündigung unterschreiben. Dies gilt auch dann, wenn nur eine/r von Ihnen auf dem Mietvertrag als Mieter/in aufgeführt ist.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "German source; English rendering: couples who live in the flat as spouses or registered partners must both sign the termination, and this applies even if only one of them is listed as tenant on the rental agreement. Covers registered partners as well as married couples."
  },
  {
    "id": "K024",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "An EU/EFTA citizen takes a job in Switzerland on an employment contract of unlimited duration. Which Swiss residence permit are they issued, and for how long is it valid?",
    "options": {
      "A": "An L short-term residence permit, valid for the term of the employment contract",
      "B": "A C settlement permit, valid for five years",
      "C": "A G cross-border commuter permit, valid for five years",
      "D": "A B residence permit, valid for five years"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S045",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/eu_efta.html",
    "source_quote": "The residence permit for EU/EFTA nationals is valid for five years. This permit is issued to EU/EFTA citizens holding a contract of employment of at least twelve months or of unlimited duration.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Switzerland applies its own permit categories to EU/EFTA nationals under the free movement agreement; it is in Schengen but not in the EU, so the EU directive-style permit nomenclature does not apply."
  },
  {
    "id": "K025",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "For which duration of employment contract is an EU/EFTA national entitled to the Swiss short-term residence permit (category L)?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A contract of one to three months",
      "B": "A contract of three to twelve months",
      "C": "A contract of twelve to twenty-four months",
      "D": "A contract of twelve months or unlimited duration"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S045",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/eu_efta.html",
    "source_quote": "EU/EFTA nationals are entitled to this permit provided they are in possession of an employment contract valid from three up to twelve months.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The Swiss L permit is defined by the employment-contract term, not by a 90-day short-stay rule as in EU free-movement law. Contracts of under three months within a calendar year need no permit at all, only the online notification procedure (separate fact, not tested here)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K026",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "After five years of regular and uninterrupted residence in Switzerland, which nationals are granted settlement permits pursuant to settlement treaties or reciprocal agreements?",
    "options": {
      "A": "All nationals of all EU and EFTA member states, once they have completed five years' residence",
      "B": "Only EFTA nationals — Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway",
      "C": "Nationals of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, as well as EFTA nationals (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway)",
      "D": "Only nationals of the EU member states that acceded to the EU most recently"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S045",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/eu_efta.html",
    "source_quote": "If they meet the required conditions, nationals of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden as well as EFTA nationals (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) are granted settlement permits pursuant to settlement treaties or reciprocal agreements after five years' regular and uninterrupted residence in Switzerland.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Switzerland holds bilateral settlement agreements with 15 EU states plus the three EFTA states; the source states expressly that no such treaties exist for the nationals of the other EU member states. SEM sets the earliest date from which settlement permits may be granted."
  },
  {
    "id": "K027",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A holder of a Swiss EU/EFTA cross-border commuter permit (category G) lives in a neighbouring EU state and works in Switzerland. How often must they return to their main place of residence abroad?",
    "options": {
      "A": "As a rule every day, or at least once a week",
      "B": "At least once a month",
      "C": "At least once every six months",
      "D": "Only when the permit is renewed or its validity is extended"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S045",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/eu_efta.html",
    "source_quote": "Cross-border commuters must return to their main place of residence abroad as a rule every day, or at least once a week.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Category G has no direct EU equivalent; it is the Swiss instrument for EU/EFTA nationals who live abroad and work in Switzerland, whether employed or self-employed."
  },
  {
    "id": "K029",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "For ordinary naturalisation in Switzerland, how is time spent in Switzerland between the ages of 8 and 18 treated, and when can the applicant first apply?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It counts once, and no application is possible until at least ten years of total residence",
      "B": "It counts double, but no application is possible until at least six years of total residence in the country",
      "C": "It counts double, but no application is possible until at least twelve years of total residence",
      "D": "It counts double, but no application is possible before the applicant reaches the age of 18"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S015",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/foreign-nationals-in-switzerland/naturalisation/",
    "source_quote": "The time spent in Switzerland between the ages of 8 and 18 counts double, but you cannot apply for naturalisation until you have lived in the country for at least six years.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The six-year floor is the earliest any application may be made and is a separate condition from the ten-year federal requirement tested in K028."
  },
  {
    "id": "K031",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "How long is a Swiss provisional (learner) driving licence valid for category B (cars), compared with category A (motorcycles)?",
    "options": {
      "A": "12 months for cars and 6 months for motorcycles",
      "B": "24 months for cars and for motorcycles alike",
      "C": "36 months for cars and 12 months for motorcycles",
      "D": "24 months for cars and 4 months for motorcycles"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S016",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/vehicles-and-traffic/driving-licence/learning-to-drive/",
    "source_quote": "The provisional licence is valid for 24 months for cars (category B) and for 4 months for motorcycles (category A).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The motorcycle figure is strikingly short compared with the car figure; the provisional licence is also valid only in Switzerland."
  },
  {
    "id": "K032",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, what conditions must a person meet in order to accompany a learner driver on a drive?",
    "options": {
      "A": "They must be at least 23 years old, have passed their driving test at least three years previously, and no longer hold a probationary driving licence",
      "B": "They must be at least 21 years old and have held a full driving licence for at least one year",
      "C": "They must be at least 25 years old and have held a full category B licence for at least five years",
      "D": "They must be at least 18 years old, provided they have not been disqualified from driving in the previous two years"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S016",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/vehicles-and-traffic/driving-licence/learning-to-drive/",
    "source_quote": "The accompanying person must be at least 23 years old, have passed their driving test at least three years previously and must no longer have a probationary driving licence.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Three cumulative conditions: age, three years since passing the driving test, and no longer being on a probationary licence. Learner drivers may not have drunk alcohol before driving; the legal limit is a blood alcohol level of over 0.01%."
  },
  {
    "id": "K034",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, on which tax bases do the three taxing levels — the Confederation, the cantons and the communes — levy taxes on private individuals?",
    "options": {
      "A": "All three levels levy taxes on both income and assets",
      "B": "The Confederation taxes income only, the cantons tax assets only, and the communes tax both income and assets",
      "C": "The Confederation taxes assets only, while the cantons and communes tax income only",
      "D": "The Confederation levies direct federal tax on income, while the cantons and communes levy taxes on both income and assets"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S018",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/taxes-and-finances/paying-taxes/",
    "source_quote": "The cantons and the communes levy their taxes on both the income and the assets of private individuals.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The page deliberately carries no CHF figures, rates or brackets; the Confederation taxes income only, whereas the two sub-national levels tax income and wealth. No rate may be presented as a nationwide figure."
  },
  {
    "id": "K036",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "What is the minimum annual holiday entitlement for a worker in Switzerland who is under 20 years old?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Four weeks",
      "B": "Three weeks",
      "C": "Five weeks",
      "D": "Six weeks"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S013",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "Up to the age of 20, you are entitled to at least five weeks' vacation.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The general statutory minimum for all workers is four weeks regardless of full- or part-time; the entitlement rises to at least five weeks up to the age of 20, and more may be agreed. Distinct from the public-holiday facts carried by S031."
  },
  {
    "id": "K037",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, may an employee decide unilaterally when to take their statutory annual leave?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Yes — the statutory entitlement is unconditional, so the employee alone fixes the dates",
      "B": "No — the employer must approve the time off, and may require the employee to change dates that are not compatible with the needs or interests of the company",
      "C": "No — leave may only be taken in the calendar year in which it was earned",
      "D": "Yes, provided one month's notice is given to the employer in advance"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S013",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "You need your employer's approval to take time off. If your holidays are not compatible with the needs or interests of the company, your boss can ask you to change them.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "This is the fact that appears on S013 but not on the shared S031 page; keeping it here avoids duplicating the public-holiday facts."
  },
  {
    "id": "K039",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "What biometric data does the microchip in a Swiss biometric residence permit for foreign nationals store, and for how long?",
    "options": {
      "A": "One digital fingerprint and a facial image, stored for five years",
      "B": "Two digital fingerprints and a facial image, stored for ten years",
      "C": "A facial image and the holder's passport number, stored for three years",
      "D": "Two digital fingerprints and a facial image, stored for five years"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S017",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/biometr_auslaenderausweis.html",
    "source_quote": "an embedded microchip with biometric data: two digital fingerprints and a facial image. The data are stored for five years and may only be used for the purpose of issuing a new biometric residence permit without the need for additional data processing.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The stored data may be used only to issue a new biometric residence permit. The chip does not allow a person to be located or monitored. CANTONAL-VARIABLE: application and issuance are decided by the canton of residence."
  },
  {
    "id": "K040",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "When did Switzerland sign the Schengen Agreement, and when was a microchip for storing biometric data added to the new credit-card-format residence permit?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Switzerland signed the Schengen Agreement on 12 December 2008, and the microchip was added in early 2011",
      "B": "Switzerland signed the Schengen Agreement on 12 December 2008, and the microchip was added in 2009",
      "C": "Switzerland acceded to the Schengen acquis in 2004, and the microchip was added in early 2011",
      "D": "Switzerland signed the Schengen Agreement on 15 March 2008, and the microchip was added in early 2013"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S017",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/biometr_auslaenderausweis.html",
    "source_quote": "When it signed the Schengen Agreement on 12 December 2008, Switzerland began issuing a new residence permit in credit-card format to foreign nationals. In a subsequent development in early 2011, a microchip was added to these residence permits for the purpose of storing biometric data.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Switzerland joined Schengen in 2008 while remaining outside the EU and the EEA. Presented with a valid national passport, the biometric residence permit entitles the holder to travel throughout the Schengen area without a visa."
  },
  {
    "id": "K041",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Switzerland's old-age insurance system is built on a three-pillar structure. Which combination correctly names the three pillars?",
    "options": {
      "A": "State provision (OASI) and occupational provision (pension funds) only",
      "B": "State provision, occupational provision, private provision, and a fourth universal pillar for low-income households",
      "C": "State provision (OASI), occupational provision (pension funds) and private provision",
      "D": "State provision (OASI), mandatory employer pensions and mandatory private savings for every employee"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "The Swiss old-age insurance system is based on three pillars: state provision (OASI),\noccupational provision (pension funds) and private provision.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Swiss-specific: the AHV / BVG / Pillar-3a triad has no direct EU equivalent. Germany has state plus occupational pensions only and no third pillar."
  },
  {
    "id": "K042",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "A person who has just moved to Switzerland and is not yet enrolled with a Swiss health insurer must arrange compulsory basic health insurance cover within what period?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Within one month of arriving",
      "B": "Within two months of arriving",
      "C": "Within six months of arriving",
      "D": "Within three months of arriving"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "If you have just moved to Switzerland, you have three months in which to arrange",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The same three-month deadline applies to new-borns, and the person or baby is already insured during that period. This is a Swiss KVG rule, not an EU social-security coordination rule (do not import the EU three-month rule or the EU residence-condition logic)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K047",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under Swiss compulsory basic health insurance, a policyholder wants to raise their deductible to CHF 1,500. Which statement correctly describes the insurer's legal obligation here?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The insurer must offer the CHF 1,500 level, because it is one of the standard adult deductible levels",
      "B": "The insurer is not required to offer the full range of deductible levels and may offer only some of them",
      "C": "The insurer must offer it, but only if the policyholder is under 25 years old",
      "D": "The insurer must offer it, but may charge an additional administration fee"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S046",
    "source_url": "https://www.bag.admin.ch/en/health-insurance-premiums-and-co-payment",
    "source_quote": "The health insurer does not have to offer the full range of deductibles.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Insurers MAY also differentiate for young adults aged 19-25. Corrects the widespread misconception that Swiss deductible levels are assigned by rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K048",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "A Swiss compulsory health insurance policyholder opts for a deductible higher than the standard CHF 300, which reduces his premium. The premium reduction is capped by law at what share of the additional risk the policyholder assumes?",
    "options": {
      "A": "70 per cent",
      "B": "50 per cent",
      "C": "90 per cent",
      "D": "100 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S046",
    "source_url": "https://www.bag.admin.ch/en/health-insurance-premiums-and-co-payment",
    "source_quote": "A maximum of 70 percent reduction on the additional risk assumed by the policyholder may be granted.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Statutory ceiling on the additional-risk discount. It is a separate rule from the statutory minimum-premium floor and must not be conflated with it."
  },
  {
    "id": "K049",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Swiss law requires every compulsory health insurer to charge a floor below which the premium may not fall. What is that statutory minimum premium set at, relative to the premium the insurer would ordinarily charge?",
    "options": {
      "A": "30 per cent of the ordinary premium with accident cover for the relevant age group and premium region",
      "B": "70 per cent of the ordinary premium with accident cover for the relevant age group and premium region",
      "C": "80 per cent of the ordinary premium with accident cover for the relevant age group and premium region",
      "D": "50 per cent of the ordinary premium with accident cover for the relevant age group and premium region"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S046",
    "source_url": "https://www.bag.admin.ch/en/health-insurance-premiums-and-co-payment",
    "source_quote": "The health insurer is required to charge a minimum premium equivalent to 50 per cent of the ordinary premium with accident cover for the age group and premium region of the person concerned.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The floor cannot be undercut even by policies excluding accident cover or restricting the choice of service provider. Prevents insurers competing on restricted-benefit products."
  },
  {
    "id": "K051",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "A holder of the CHF 300 deductible under a 'regular' insurance model in Switzerland wants to leave their current compulsory basic health insurer outside the ordinary year-end round. When can the cancellation take effect, and on what notice?",
    "options": {
      "A": "End of March, on one month's notice",
      "B": "End of July, on three months' notice",
      "C": "End of June, on three months' notice",
      "D": "End of September, on six months' notice"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "cancel your basic insurance with effect from the end of June. A three-month notice period",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "This mid-year cancellation window is tied specifically to holding the CHF 300 standard deductible; it is an exception to the ordinary 30 November deadline. No foreign analogue exists."
  },
  {
    "id": "K052",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, a daily contribution towards the cost of a hospital stay is payable by the patient. Which groups are exempt from that contribution?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Children, young adults in education and training, and pregnant women",
      "B": "Children and pensioners",
      "C": "Everyone under the age of 25",
      "D": "Only women receiving maternity-related services"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S020",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-costs/",
    "source_quote": "Children, young adults in education and training\nand pregnant women do not pay any contribution to hospital costs.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The contribution itself is CHF 15 per day. Distractor C over-extends the 'young adults in education and training' exemption (which is not simply 'under 25')."
  },
  {
    "id": "K053",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, an employee is unable to work because of an accident. From when, and at what level, is an accident daily allowance payable?",
    "options": {
      "A": "From the first day after the accident, at 100 per cent of salary",
      "B": "From the third day after the accident, at 80 per cent of salary",
      "C": "From the eighth day after the accident, at 90 per cent of salary",
      "D": "From the fifteenth day after the accident, at 80 per cent of salary"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "as of the third day following your\naccident you are entitled to a daily allowance corresponding to 80% of your salary.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Swiss UVG accident insurance. If the insurer's allowance is below 80%, the employer must make up the difference. German sickness-benefit schedules (e.g. the 6-week Lohnfortzahlung) are not the relevant frame."
  },
  {
    "id": "K054",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, a person works 5 hours a week for an employer and is covered by the compulsory accident insurance scheme. What does that accident cover include?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Occupational accidents and occupational illnesses only; accidents during leisure time are not covered",
      "B": "Occupational accidents and occupational illnesses as well as non-occupational accidents occurring in leisure time",
      "C": "No accident cover at all, because anyone working under eight hours a week must insure privately",
      "D": "All accidents, including those during private leisure activities"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "If you work for less than eight hours a week for your employer, your accident insurance",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The 8-hours-per-week threshold is the UVG dividing line: at or above it, leisure-time accidents are also covered. Accidents on the way to and from work count as occupational. This is a Swiss statutory test, not an EU social-security coordination rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K055",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under Swiss compulsory accident insurance, what minimum degree of disability must be assessed before an injured person can qualify for an accident disability pension?",
    "options": {
      "A": "At least 5 per cent",
      "B": "At least 20 per cent",
      "C": "At least 10 per cent",
      "D": "At least 70 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "You must be classified as at least\n10% disabled to qualify.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The accident disability pension may be awarded in addition to a pension under the state IV/AI disability scheme. Distractor D (70%) is the separate BVG exclusion threshold for compulsory occupational pension cover."
  },
  {
    "id": "K056",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "According to the Federal Social Insurance Office, what was the maximum annual tax-deductible Pillar 3a contribution in 2025 for a self-employed person who has compulsory occupational pension (BVG) cover?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 36,288",
      "B": "CHF 22,680",
      "C": "CHF 21,510",
      "D": "CHF 7,258"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "- CHF 7,258 for employees/self-employed persons with occupational pension cover;",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "TIME-SENSITIVE: figure explicitly labelled 2025, so the year is stated in the stem. For a person WITHOUT occupational cover the 2025 limit is 20% of earnings up to CHF 36,288. Distractors B and C are BVG entry-threshold figures from other years, not Pillar 3a limits."
  },
  {
    "id": "K057",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under the AVS/AHV 21 reform in force in Switzerland since 1 January 2024, the ordinary retirement age for women is being raised in three-month steps by birth cohort. What reference age applies to a woman born in 1962?",
    "options": {
      "A": "64 years and 6 months",
      "B": "64 years and 3 months",
      "C": "64 years and 9 months",
      "D": "65 years"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S023",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-provision-occupational-benefits-plan",
    "source_quote": "- women born in 1962: 64 years and 6 months;",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "TIME-SENSITIVE and cohort-locked: born 1961 = 64y3m, 1962 = 64y6m, 1963 = 64y9m, born 1964 or later = 65. The reference age is 65 for men and for women born 1964 or later; the former general women's age of 64 is superseded and must never be presented as the current rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K058",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under the Swiss compulsory occupational pension (2nd pillar), a member's accumulated old-age assets are converted into an annual old-age pension using a conversion factor that applies identically to men and women. What is that conversion factor?",
    "options": {
      "A": "4,80%",
      "B": "6,80%",
      "C": "8,80%",
      "D": "3,80%"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S023",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-provision-occupational-benefits-plan",
    "source_quote": "basis of a conversion factor of 6,80% for men and women.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Swiss decimal-comma notation. A single gender-neutral conversion factor is a distinctive feature of the reformed BVG and has no direct EU analogue."
  },
  {
    "id": "K060",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "How does Swiss second-parent (co-parental) leave differ from maternity leave in the way it may be taken?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It must be taken as one uninterrupted block within three months of the child's birth",
      "B": "It is flexible: it may be taken all at once or as individual days, but must be taken within two years of the child's birth",
      "C": "It must be taken in full before the mother returns to work",
      "D": "It is flexible: it may be taken all at once or as individual days, but must be taken within six months of the child's birth"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S024",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/family-and-partnership/maternity-and-paternity/maternity-leave/",
    "source_quote": "Unlike maternity leave, paternity/co-parental leave is flexible. You can take\nit all at once, or as individual days as long as it is taken within the",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Co-parental leave runs for two weeks: 14 daily allowances and ten days off work, paid at 80% of earnings capped at CHF 220/day. It must be used within six months of the birth."
  },
  {
    "id": "K061",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many national languages does Switzerland have, and what are they?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Three — German, French and Italian",
      "B": "Four — German, French, Italian and Romansh",
      "C": "Four — German, French, Italian and English",
      "D": "Five — German, French, Italian, Romansh and English"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S047",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/romansh",
    "source_quote": "Since 1938 Romansh has been recognised in the Swiss Constitution as a national language along with German, French and Italian.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The 'four national languages' count must not be confused with the three official languages of the Confederation; the Romansh semi-official status is tested separately at K075."
  },
  {
    "id": "K062",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Which four cantons of Switzerland are French-speaking?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel and Vaud",
      "B": "Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel and Valais",
      "C": "Geneva, Ticino, Neuchâtel and Vaud",
      "D": "Vaud, Valais, Fribourg and Geneva"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S028",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/language-distribution/",
    "source_quote": "Four cantons are French-speaking: Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel and Vaud.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Named-canton item. Valais and Fribourg are bilingual (not monoliguously French); Ticino is Italian-speaking."
  },
  {
    "id": "K065",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Which is the newest canton of Switzerland, and how did it come into being?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Jura — admitted to the Confederation by a national vote in 1979 after splitting off from Bern",
      "B": "Ticino — admitted to the Confederation by a national vote in 1803 after splitting off from Lombardy",
      "C": "Graubünden — admitted to the Confederation by a national vote in 1803 after splitting off from Tyrol",
      "D": "Jura — admitted to the Confederation by a national vote in 1848 after splitting off from Bern"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "The newest canton, Jura, was admitted to the Confederation by a national vote in 1979. It split off from Bern",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Jura is both the newest canton and one of the four French-speaking cantons (see K062). The distractor D confuses 1979 with 1848, the year Switzerland became a federal state."
  },
  {
    "id": "K066",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Switzerland shares a land border with five countries. Which of them accounts for the longest stretch of Swiss border?",
    "options": {
      "A": "France — 573 km",
      "B": "Italy — 740 km",
      "C": "Germany — 334 km",
      "D": "Austria — 164 km"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S027",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/geography",
    "source_quote": "Borders: altogether: 1852 km/Austria 164 km/France 573 km/Germany 334 km/Italy 740 km/Liechtenstein 41 km",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Total border length 1,852 km; Liechtenstein is the shortest at 41 km. Per-country border lengths vary by measurement/border-survey basis (registry note)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K069",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Under Switzerland's National Fiscal Equalisation system, how many cantons are net contributors, and how many receive equalisation payments?",
    "options": {
      "A": "9 cantons are net contributors; the remaining 17 cantons receive equalisation payments",
      "B": "17 cantons are net contributors; the remaining 9 cantons receive equalisation payments",
      "C": "13 cantons are net contributors; the remaining 13 cantons receive equalisation payments",
      "D": "9 cantons are net contributors; the remaining 16 cantons receive equalisation payments"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S029",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/foederalismus",
    "source_quote": "The federal government and nine of the cantons are net contributors: ZH, SZ, OW, NW, ZG, BS, SH, AI, GE. The remaining 17 cantons receive equalisation payments (net beneficiaries).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "REGIONAL VARIABLE: the source file flags this fact as year-dependent. The nine net-contributor cantons are Zürich, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Zug, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Geneva. The federal government is also a net contributor, so the question asks about cantons only."
  },
  {
    "id": "K070",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to SWI swissinfo.ch, how many municipalities (communes) did Switzerland have as of 1 January 2025, and what trend explains the change?",
    "options": {
      "A": "2,121 municipalities; the number is rising because new communes are being created",
      "B": "2,121 municipalities; the number is falling because communes are being merged to improve administrative efficiency",
      "C": "2,100 municipalities; the number has remained more or less constant for over two centuries",
      "D": "2,121 municipalities; the number is falling because communes are being dissolved into their cantons"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "As of January 1, 2025, there are 2,121 municipalities.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Trap 1 — the figure is date-specific. ch.ch (S025) rounds to 'around 2,100' and CH Info (S029) gives 2,110; all describe the same declining total at different reference dates. The merger trend is in the preceding sentence of the same file."
  },
  {
    "id": "K071",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many members does a cantonal government in Switzerland have, and how is it chosen?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Three to five members, appointed by the federal parliament",
      "B": "Five to seven members, appointed by the cantonal parliament",
      "C": "Nine members, elected by the people",
      "D": "Five to seven members, elected by the people"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "Cantonal governments have five to seven members and are elected by the people.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Cantonal variation is the point: the size of a cantonal executive is not fixed, which is why no single federal figure exists. The same source notes cantonal parliaments are unicameral and named differently in each canton."
  },
  {
    "id": "K073",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Communes are the smallest political units in Switzerland. Which of the following is an example of a power that communes exercise as delegated by the federal and cantonal governments?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Adjudicating criminal cases at first instance",
      "B": "Fixing the rates of federal income taxes approved by the Federal Assembly",
      "C": "Maintaining a register of the resident population and ensuring civil protection",
      "D": "Issuing cantonal constitutions, which must be approved by the federal parliament"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "They exercise the powers delegated to them by the federal and cantonal governments, such as maintaining a register of the resident population and ensuring civil protection.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractors are all level-confusion errors (a cantonal, a federal, and a cantonal-constitutional task presented as communal powers)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K075",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "What is the constitutional status of Romansh at the level of the Confederation?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Romansh is one of the three fully official languages of the Confederation",
      "B": "Romansh is a cantonal language only, recognised by the cantons that use it but not by the Federal Constitution",
      "C": "Romansh is a national language and a semi-official language of the Confederation",
      "D": "Romansh is an official language of the Confederation, but only where a canton grants it cantonal official status"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S047",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/romansh",
    "source_quote": "Romansh is a national language and a semi-official language of the Confederation.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Highest-value item in the set: the four-national / three-official split. The same file adds that Romansh IS official 'when communicating with persons who speak Romansh', which is why option D's cantonal-conditional framing is wrong — the condition is linguistic, not cantonal."
  },
  {
    "id": "K076",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "In which Swiss cantons are people's assemblies, known as Landsgemeinde, still held?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen",
      "B": "Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus",
      "C": "Glarus and Obwalden",
      "D": "Appenzell Innerrhoden, Glarus and Nidwalden"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S029",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/foederalismus",
    "source_quote": "People's assemblies (Landsgemeinde) are still held in the cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "A Swiss institution with no foreign analogue; models routinely name Appenzell Ausserrhoden (the other Appenzell) and the two half-cantons Obwalden and Nidwalden."
  },
  {
    "id": "K078",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Under Swiss federalism, which level of government is responsible for any task that does not fall within the remit of the federal government?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The communes, as the smallest political units",
      "B": "The Federal Assembly, through its Federal Chancellery",
      "C": "The cantons",
      "D": "An association of municipalities, in consultation with the cantons"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "Any tasks that do not fall under the remit of the federal government are the responsibility of the cantons.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Trap 4: residuary competence sits with the cantons, not with an EU-style supranational layer and not with the communes. In the EU the equivalent residue belongs to the member states; in Switzerland the member units are the cantons."
  },
  {
    "id": "K079",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "The Alps make up a large part of Switzerland's territory. Approximately what share of the country's total population lives in the Alps?",
    "options": {
      "A": "About 30 per cent",
      "B": "About 55 per cent",
      "C": "About 10 per cent",
      "D": "About 45 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S027",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/geography",
    "source_quote": "The Alps, which make up a large part of the country in terms of area, are home to only 10% of the total population.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Counter-intuitive inversion of area-versus-population; the same page gives a national density of 215 inhabitants per square kilometre. Population figure is date-dependent."
  },
  {
    "id": "K081",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "How many public holidays are observed nationwide across Switzerland, and which one is it?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Exactly one — 1 August, Swiss National Day",
      "B": "Two — 1 January (New Year's Day) and 1 August (Swiss National Day)",
      "C": "Three — 1 January, 1 May (Labour Day) and 1 August (Swiss National Day)",
      "D": "None — Switzerland has no nationwide public holidays at all; each canton sets its own calendar entirely"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S031",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "The first of August – Swiss national day – is Switzerland's only national public holiday.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Distinctive because 1 January, Easter Monday, Ascension Day and 1 May are statutory holidays in neighbouring EU states but carry no nationwide status in Switzerland. The cantonal layer is covered separately in K082."
  },
  {
    "id": "K082",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Beyond Switzerland's single nationwide public holiday, what is the maximum number of additional public holidays a canton may declare on its own territory?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Up to two",
      "B": "Up to four",
      "C": "Up to eight",
      "D": "Unlimited"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S031",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "The cantons can each have up to eight additional public holidays on their territory. Public holidays can thus vary from canton to canton.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE — the holiday calendar differs by canton and within a canton by commune. Framed as a cantonal power, not a federal rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K083",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In Switzerland, a public holiday falls during an employee's annual leave. How is that day treated?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It counts against the employee's vacation entitlement, so the employee effectively loses one day of leave",
      "B": "It must be added to the following year's leave entitlement",
      "C": "It is compensated with a wage supplement of at least 25%",
      "D": "It does not count as a day of vacation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S031",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "If a public holiday falls during your vacation, that day does not count as a day of vacation.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractor A is the German rule, where public holidays falling inside the leave period reduce the annual leave entitlement. Deliberate German/Austrian-import trap."
  },
  {
    "id": "K084",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "What is the general rule under Swiss law on working on a Sunday?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Sunday work is freely permitted for any employee who has consented to it",
      "B": "Sunday work is generally prohibited, and is possible only subject to a special authorisation and the employee's consent",
      "C": "Sunday work is generally prohibited, but a simple notification to the employer is sufficient to make it lawful",
      "D": "Sunday work is generally prohibited and can never be authorised, in any sector"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "Working on Sundays is generally prohibited in Switzerland. However, working on Sundays is possible, subject to special authorisation and the employee's consent.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "D is false: the health sector, hospitality, newsstands and bakeries, theatres, cinemas and the media may work Sundays without authorisation."
  },
  {
    "id": "K085",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Between which hours of the day is work prohibited by the Swiss night-work ban?",
    "options": {
      "A": "23:00 to 06:00",
      "B": "22:00 to 05:00",
      "C": "21:00 to 06:00",
      "D": "00:00 to 07:00"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "In Switzerland, the law prohibits work between 11pm and 6am.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Note the source spells the window as 11pm to 6am. No national maximum weekly working time is stated on the source pages and none is asserted here."
  },
  {
    "id": "K086",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under Swiss law, what is the maximum number of hours a night worker may work in any 10-hour period, counting breaks?",
    "options": {
      "A": "8 hours",
      "B": "10 hours",
      "C": "9 hours",
      "D": "11 hours"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "Night workers may not work for more than 9 hours in any 10-hour period, including breaks.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Unusual as a rule: the maximum is expressed as a ceiling inside a rolling window rather than as a daily hour total."
  },
  {
    "id": "K089",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under Swiss law, which authority must an employer approach to obtain authorisation to employ workers for occasional night work?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The competent cantonal authority",
      "B": "The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)",
      "C": "The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS)",
      "D": "The commune in which the workplace is situated"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "To employ workers for occasional night work, employers must contact the competent cantonal authority to apply for authorisation.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Distractor B is correct only for authorisations for regular Sunday work, which go to SECO — the cantonal/federal competence split is the point being tested."
  },
  {
    "id": "K091",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "How many years of compulsory schooling do children in most Swiss cantons have to attend, and how is that total made up?",
    "options": {
      "A": "9 years in total: 7 years of primary school followed by 2 years of secondary school",
      "B": "11 years in total, including the two years of kindergarten",
      "C": "11 years in total: 9 years of primary school followed by 2 years of secondary school",
      "D": "13 years in total: 11 years of primary school followed by 2 years of secondary school"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S033",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/school-and-kindergarten/",
    "source_quote": "In most cantons, children are required to attend school for 11 years, including the two years they attend kindergarten.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE in the details. Distractor C keeps the total but wrongly moves the two kindergarten years out of primary school."
  },
  {
    "id": "K092",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "How is compulsory schooling normally split between primary and secondary level in Switzerland, and which canton departs from that pattern?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Eight years of primary school including kindergarten and three years of secondary; Ticino instead has seven years of primary and four years of secondary",
      "B": "Six years of primary and five years of secondary; Ticino instead has five years of primary and six years of secondary",
      "C": "Nine years of primary and two years of secondary; Ticino instead has eight years of primary and three years of secondary",
      "D": "Eight years of primary and three years of secondary; Ticino follows the same 8+3 split as the other cantons"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S033",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/school-and-kindergarten/",
    "source_quote": "Primary school, including kindergarten, usually comprises eight years. Secondary education usually comprises three years. In Ticino, primary school lasts seven years and secondary school four years.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE — 8+3 is the usual structure and is NOT a federal rule; naming Ticino is required to keep the question unambiguous."
  },
  {
    "id": "K093",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Kindergarten in Switzerland generally starts at age four, with an enrolment deadline that is usually 31 July. What does the official guidance say about that deadline?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The deadline of 31 July applies in every canton without exception",
      "B": "The deadline is set nationally at 15 September",
      "C": "The deadline is set by each individual school, so it varies from school to school within every canton",
      "D": "Some cantons in eastern and central Switzerland have a different cut-off date"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S033",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/school-and-kindergarten/",
    "source_quote": "Some cantons in eastern and central Switzerland have a different cut-off date.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "CANTONAL-VARIABLE — 'most children' start at four, but the entry cut-off is not uniform. A model asserting a single national school-start rule has imported a foreign assumption."
  },
  {
    "id": "K094",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Which three parties share responsibility for maintaining standards in the Swiss vocational education and training (VET) system and for ensuring an adequate number of apprenticeship places?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Confederation, the cantons and the trade unions",
      "B": "The Confederation, the Cantons and professional organisations",
      "C": "The Confederation, the cantons and the chambers of commerce and industry",
      "D": "The cantons, the communes and the professional organisations"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "The Confederation, the Cantons and professional organisations all contribute to maintaining the high standard of vocational education and training and strive to ensure that there is an adequate number of apprenticeship positions available.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Distractor C is the German model (IHK/HWK chambers); there is no chamber tier in Swiss VET. Distractor D drops the Confederation, a deliberate scope-confusion."
  },
  {
    "id": "K095",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In the Swiss VET system, which qualification follows from which programme length?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A two-year programme leads to a Federal VET Diploma; three- and four-year programmes lead to a Federal VET Certificate",
      "B": "A two-year programme leads to a specialised school certificate; three- and four-year programmes lead to a specialised baccalaureate",
      "C": "A two-year programme leads to a Federal VET Certificate; three- and four-year programmes lead to a Federal VET Diploma",
      "D": "Two-, three- and four-year VET programmes all lead to the same Federal VET Diploma"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "Two-year VET programmes lead to the award of a Federal VET Certificate; three-year and four-year VET programmes lead to the award of a Federal VET Diploma.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractor B belongs to the separate specialised-school route (three-year certificate, then a one-year specialised baccalaureate), which is easy to conflate with VET."
  },
  {
    "id": "K096",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Roughly what share of young people in Switzerland takes the dual vocational education and training route rather than an academic upper-secondary school?",
    "options": {
      "A": "About one in four",
      "B": "About one in two",
      "C": "About three in four",
      "D": "About two in three"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "Two-thirds of young people in Switzerland benefit from the solid foundation provided by vocational education and training.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractor B mirrors the German apprenticeship uptake of roughly one in two. The Swiss dual-route share is markedly higher."
  },
  {
    "id": "K098",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "According to the Federal Office for the Environment, which of these four materials had the highest recycling rate in Switzerland in 2020?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Aluminium",
      "B": "PET",
      "C": "Glass",
      "D": "Paper"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S035",
    "source_url": "https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/state-wastemanagement",
    "source_quote": "Recycling focuses on established materials such as glass (recycling rate in 2020: 99%), PET (recycling rate in 2020: 82%), aluminium (recycling rate in 2020: 97%), paper (recycling rate in 2020: 82%).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The published rates are glass 99%, aluminium 97%, PET 82% and paper 82%. The top two are only two points apart, so intuition about 'metal vs glass' is not sufficient — the exact figures are required."
  },
  {
    "id": "K101",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The Waldstatte Alliance concluded in 1291 between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden was sealed by which document?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the Peace of Westphalia of 1648",
      "B": "the Federal Charter of 1291",
      "C": "the Federal Treaty of 1815",
      "D": "the Federal Constitution of 1848"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S037",
    "source_url": "https://www.bar.admin.ch/en/the-confederation-before-1798",
    "source_quote": "In 1291, the three cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden concluded the regional Waldstätte Alliance, which was sealed by the Federal Charter of 1291.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractors C and D are real Swiss foundational documents, which is what makes the 1291 charter easy to confuse. Source URL is bar.admin.ch, a federal archive substitution for the blocked eda.admin.ch history page."
  },
  {
    "id": "K103",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Switzerland's neutrality is recognised worldwide. What is Switzerland therefore often asked to do?",
    "options": {
      "A": "contribute troops to United Nations peacekeeping forces",
      "B": "host the headquarters of a NATO body",
      "C": "mediate in conflicts or exercise protective power mandates",
      "D": "take part in the collective defence commitments of an alliance"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S038",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland's neutrality is recognised worldwide, which is why it is often asked to mediate in conflicts or exercise protective power mandates.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Mediation and protective power mandates are classic Swiss neutrality roles; the options that assume alliance or UN membership are the standard EU/NATO import error."
  },
  {
    "id": "K104",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Switzerland is not a member of NATO. Within which two frameworks does it nevertheless cooperate with NATO?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the Partnership for Peace and the Western European Union",
      "B": "the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy and the Western European Union",
      "C": "the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe",
      "D": "the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S038",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland is not a member of NATO, but cooperates with it within the framework of the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Shared page with S041; NATO non-membership plus PfP/EAPC cooperation is a specifically Swiss arrangement."
  },
  {
    "id": "K105",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Under which constitutional instrument did the Swiss Federal Supreme Court become a permanent court?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the 1874 Constitution, which came into force in 1875",
      "B": "the Federal Constitution of 1848",
      "C": "the total revision approved by voters in 1999",
      "D": "the partial revision of 1866"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S039",
    "source_url": "https://www.bger.ch/files/live/sites/tfl/files/pdf/Divers/Flyer_150_Years_SFSC.pdf",
    "source_quote": "It was only with the 1874 Constitution, which came into force in 1875, that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court became a permanent court",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Caveat: the 1848 federal state already had a supreme court, but it had no fixed seat and only convened as and when required."
  },
  {
    "id": "K108",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled that women from which canton must be granted the right to vote at the cantonal assembly?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Appenzell Ausserrhoden",
      "B": "Glarus",
      "C": "Appenzell Innerrhoden",
      "D": "Obwalden"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S039",
    "source_url": "https://www.bger.ch/files/live/sites/tfl/files/pdf/Divers/Flyer_150_Years_SFSC.pdf",
    "source_quote": "The Swiss Federal Supreme Court rules that women from the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden be granted the right to vote at the cantonal assembly. On 28 April 1991, women in Appenzell Innerrhoden were also able to vote in cantonal elections for the first time. BGE 116 Ia 359",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Appenzell Innerrhoden is one of the six half-cantons and the last to hold out. The brochure does not date the ruling itself, only the cantonal election of 28 April 1991, so no year is asserted here. Appenzell Innerrhoden is deliberately not used in the S040 questions to avoid duplicate facts."
  },
  {
    "id": "K110",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Switzerland's first federal vote on women's suffrage failed by a large margin. What share of those who cast their ballots voted against it?",
    "options": {
      "A": "33%",
      "B": "67%",
      "C": "55%",
      "D": "79%"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S040",
    "source_url": "https://www.bar.admin.ch/en/womens-suffrage-in-switzerland",
    "source_quote": "The first vote at federal level in 1959 failed by a large margin, with 67% of those who cast their ballots against.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "33% is the share of men still voting no in 1971; 55% recurs in S041/S049 as the 2002 UN and 2005 Bilaterals II yes shares."
  },
  {
    "id": "K111",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The petition presented in Bern in 1929 by the Swiss Association for Women's Suffrage carried how many signatures?",
    "options": {
      "A": "170,400, all of them from women",
      "B": "78,800, all of them from men",
      "C": "249,200 in total — 170,400 from women and 78,800 from men",
      "D": "249,200 in total — 78,800 from women and 170,400 from men"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S040",
    "source_url": "https://www.bar.admin.ch/en/womens-suffrage-in-switzerland",
    "source_quote": "In 1929, the Swiss Association for Women's Suffrage presented a petition in Bern signed by 170,400 women and 78,800 men. Parliament backed the petition, but the Federal Council chose not to pursue it.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Note the men-to-women inversion distractor D. Parliament supported the petition but the Federal Council declined to pursue it."
  },
  {
    "id": "K112",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "In which year did Swiss voters reject membership of the European Economic Area (EEA)?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1986",
      "B": "1990",
      "C": "2000",
      "D": "1992"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S041",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Swiss voters rejected membership of the EEA in 1992.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "1986 is the rejected UN initiative year (S049); 2000 is the Bilaterals I year. Switzerland is in EFTA and Schengen but not in the EEA or the EU."
  },
  {
    "id": "K113",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The Schengen and Dublin agreements were part of which series of Swiss bilateral agreements with the EU, and in which year was that series approved by voters?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the second series, approved in 2005",
      "B": "the first series, approved in 2000",
      "C": "the second series, approved in 2002",
      "D": "the first series, approved in 2005"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S041",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "There are 9 agreements, including the Schengen-Dublin agreement, which was approved by 55 % of voters in 2005.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The first series (2000) comprised 7 mainly economic agreements; the second series (2005) comprises 9 and was approved by 55 %. Note the source's spacing in '55 %'."
  },
  {
    "id": "K116",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "ETH Zurich was established in 1855. Under which name was it founded?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Swiss Federal Institute of Technology",
      "B": "Federal University of Technology",
      "C": "Federal Polytechnic School",
      "D": "Swiss Federal School of Engineering"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S043",
    "source_url": "https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/portrait/history/overview.html",
    "source_quote": "Established in 1855 as the Federal Polytechnic School, ETH Zurich has, from the outset, been a national centre for education with international appeal, attracting talent from all over the world.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractor A is the name it has held since 1911. S043 has only four verified facts, so this file supplies just one question."
  },
  {
    "id": "K118",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Before the 1999 total revision of the Federal Constitution, where were Swiss fundamental rights to be found in law?",
    "options": {
      "A": "In a single article of the Federal Constitution of 1848",
      "B": "In decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and in legal commentaries",
      "C": "In the Federal Treaty of 1815",
      "D": "In the constitutions of the cantons only"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S048",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "among other new provisions contained articles on fundamental rights that had previously only been set out in decisions of the Federal Supreme Court and legal commentaries",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Unwritten constitutional law codified in 1999 — a specifically Swiss feature with no German or Austrian equivalent in this form. Quote again from the parlament.ch page embedded in the S048 file."
  },
  {
    "id": "K120",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Which international treaty first set out in writing the rights and duties of neutral states?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Geneva Convention of 1864",
      "B": "The Treaty of Versailles of 1919",
      "C": "The United Nations Charter of 1945",
      "D": "The Hague Conventions of 1907"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S050",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "In 1907, the Hague Conventions set out in writing the rights and duties of neutral states for the first time.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Replaces an earlier K120 (1815 / Congress of Vienna), which the drafting agent and the reviewer both flagged as well-known general knowledge rather than Swiss-specific knowledge. This item anchors Swiss neutrality in international law - which is the verified position, since neutrality was never codified in a Swiss statute. Distractors A and D are both real treaties that a model may reach for."
  },
  {
    "id": "K122",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Where a guest does leave a tip in a Swiss restaurant, what does the national tourism organisation describe as the customary amount?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A flat five francs per person, regardless of the size of the bill.",
      "B": "Approximately ten percent of the bill, or a round-up to a round figure.",
      "C": "Exactly fifteen percent, which is the rate used throughout the EU for hospitality services.",
      "D": "Whatever the guest decides, with no commonly recognised convention at all."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "This amounts to approximately 10 percent or it is rounded up to a round amount.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Picks the convention up from the same sentence. C imports an EU-style rate; D denies the stated convention."
  },
  {
    "id": "K123",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Why is tipping optional in the Swiss hospitality sector, according to the report's account of the industry?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Because service is already included in the price in that sector, so a tip is a bonus rather than payment for the service itself.",
      "B": "Because Swiss law forbids employers from paying staff out of a tip pool.",
      "C": "Because tipping was abolished in Switzerland by the federal government in 1974.",
      "D": "Because restaurants in Switzerland are required to include a service charge instead of accepting tips."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "The catering industry is one of those sectors in which service is actually included in the price. Nevertheless, some customers add a tip when paying for good service.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The causal link models miss: optional because service is priced in. C misreads 'since 1974' as an abolition date."
  },
  {
    "id": "K124",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under the rules in force when the report was published, how were voluntary tips treated for tax and social security purposes?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Voluntary tips were always fully taxable as ordinary salary income, with no exceptions.",
      "B": "Voluntary tips were generally exempt from tax and contributions, but a tip forming an integral part of an employee's salary was treated as income and became subject to tax and social security deductions.",
      "C": "Voluntary tips were exempt from income tax but always subject to social security contributions.",
      "D": "Voluntary tips fell outside the scope of Swiss tax and social security law altogether, in every circumstance."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "Under current rules, voluntary tips are generally exempt from tax and contributions. However, if a tip forms an integral part of an employee's salary, it is treated as income and is therefore subject to tax and social security deductions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Conditional structure matters: exemption is the general rule, not absolute. D is the over-generalised version."
  },
  {
    "id": "K125",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "A lawyer asks how the phrase 'a substantial part of salary' is defined in Swiss law for the purpose of taxing tips. What does the reporting identify?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It is defined numerically as any amount above CHF 20 per month.",
      "B": "It is defined in the Federal Act on old-age and Survivors' Insurance.",
      "C": "The law does not clearly define it, which the report characterises as a source of legal uncertainty.",
      "D": "Each canton defines it individually, so the threshold differs canton by canton."
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "The law does not clearly define what constitutes a \"substantial part\" of salary.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Tests resistance to inventing a precise threshold for an undefined statutory term. B is a plausible-looking but wrong statute."
  },
  {
    "id": "K126",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In a Swiss restaurant that shares tips among staff, how is the sharing governed, according to the hospitality trade association's own statement?",
    "options": {
      "A": "By a federal collective agreement that sets one fixed percentage for all staff.",
      "B": "By the canton, which issues a binding allocation formula for tip pools.",
      "C": "By the collective agreement, which requires tips to be paid out in proportion to hours worked.",
      "D": "There are no generally applicable rules; operational practice differs from establishment to establishment."
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "In manchen Restaurants werden die Trinkgelder unter den Mitarbeitenden aufgeteilt. Allgemein gültige Regelungen gibt es nicht, die betriebliche Praxis ist unterschiedlich.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Evidence quote is the association's German original; question is the harvester's translation. A/C/D each posit a binding mechanism the source denies."
  },
  {
    "id": "K128",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "As of the report's publication in March 2026, who was expected to decide whether tips become fully subject to social security contributions?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The cantonal governments, which vary the rule by canton.",
      "B": "The Federal Council, acting alone, as it does for all tax questions.",
      "C": "Parliament, following a proposal intended mainly to close social security coverage gaps.",
      "D": "The cantonal tax authorities, which already have discretion to set the threshold."
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S055",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/opinions-divided-on-taxing-tips/90990050",
    "source_quote": "Whether tips should remain tax-free or become fully subject to contributions will now be decided by parliament.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distinguishes proposing from deciding. C is the common error: assuming the executive settles tax treatment unilaterally."
  },
  {
    "id": "K129",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "A traveller returning to Switzerland carries goods intended for personal use with a total value of CHF 140. What does the Swiss VAT tax-free limit imply for these goods?",
    "options": {
      "A": "They may be imported VAT-free.",
      "B": "VAT at the standard rate of 8.1% is due on the whole value.",
      "C": "VAT at the reduced rate of 2.6% is due on the whole value.",
      "D": "Customs duties must be paid on them in addition to VAT."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S036",
    "source_url": "https://www.bazg.admin.ch/en/value-added-tax-vat-chf-150-tax-free-limit",
    "source_quote": "When you return from abroad or enter Switzerland, goods up to a total value of CHF 150 may be imported VAT-free (tax-free limit), provided they are intended for your personal use or as gifts.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The threshold is CHF 150, not the CHF 100 used by a number of other jurisdictions, and it is a VAT threshold rather than a duty-free allowance - so the duty distractor is wrong at this value."
  },
  {
    "id": "K130",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "How often may the CHF 150 tax-free limit be claimed by a traveller entering Switzerland on the same day?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Once per family per day, with a child's own claim only from age six",
      "B": "Once per person per day, children included",
      "C": "Once per person per week, so a second crossing on the same day adds nothing",
      "D": "Once per day for each adult, with a separate claim for each accompanying child"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S036",
    "source_url": "https://www.bazg.admin.ch/en/value-added-tax-vat-chf-150-tax-free-limit",
    "source_quote": "The tax-free limit can be claimed only once per person and per day. It applies also for children.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the assumption that the allowance is per group or per week, and the assumption that a child's own goods consume a separate claim - the children's allowance is part of the same per-person, per-day claim."
  },
  {
    "id": "K132",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Which of the following is not counted when a traveller works out whether the CHF 150 tax-free limit is exceeded?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Duty-free foodstuffs bought in the aircraft's duty-free shop",
      "B": "Tobacco products and alcoholic beverages carried in from abroad",
      "C": "Repairs or maintenance work carried out abroad on the traveller's own private vehicle",
      "D": "The traveller's personal effects and the fuel put into their vehicle"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S036",
    "source_url": "https://www.bazg.admin.ch/en/value-added-tax-vat-chf-150-tax-free-limit",
    "source_quote": "The value of personal effects, travelling provisions and fuel for your vehicle is not included.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Personal effects, travelling provisions and fuel are excluded, whereas duty-free foodstuffs, tobacco, alcohol, household pets and work done abroad on the private vehicle all count towards the limit. The trap is transferring the duty-free-shop exemption from customs duty to the VAT threshold."
  },
  {
    "id": "K136",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Which activity generates the largest share of Switzerland's total waste volume?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Households, offices and small businesses through municipal solid waste collection",
      "B": "Demolition of buildings, roads and railway lines",
      "C": "Special treatment of hazardous waste",
      "D": "Excavated and quarried materials from construction activity"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S035",
    "source_url": "https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/state-wastemanagement",
    "source_quote": "The largest share of waste in Switzerland is generated by construction activity: excavated and quarried materials comprise just under two thirds of all waste (57 million tonnes), and a fifth of the waste stems from the demolition of buildings, roads and railway lines (17 million tonnes).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Municipal solid waste is only about 7% of the total, so the intuition imported from EU or US waste debates - that household waste dominates - inverts the Swiss picture. Demolition is large but smaller than excavation."
  },
  {
    "id": "K137",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under the Swiss Waste Ordinance, from when must phosphorus be recovered from sewage sludge, animal and bone meal and reused?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1 January 2026",
      "B": "1 January 2016, the year the Waste Ordinance was enacted",
      "C": "1 January 2036, once the transition period granted by the Federal Council has run",
      "D": "1 January 2021, five years after the Ordinance was enacted"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S035",
    "source_url": "https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/state-wastemanagement",
    "source_quote": "In that year, Switzerland became the first country in the world to make it obligatory to recover the nutrient phosphorus: from 1 January 2026, phosphorus has been recovered from sewage sludge, animal and bone meal and reused in agriculture or the chemical industry. The Federal Council has granted the cantons and the business community a 10-year period of grace.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Three dates are in play and are easy to interleave: the Ordinance and first-country claim date from 2016, the obligation bites from 1 January 2026, and a 10-year grace period runs for the cantons and industry."
  },
  {
    "id": "K139",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In 2020, approximately how much hazardous waste underwent special treatment in Switzerland or was exported for environmentally sustainable disposal?",
    "options": {
      "A": "About 1.85 million tonnes, all of it exported for disposal abroad",
      "B": "About 0.5 million tonnes",
      "C": "About 1.85 million tonnes",
      "D": "About 7 million tonnes"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S035",
    "source_url": "https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/state-wastemanagement",
    "source_quote": "In 2020, approximately 1.85 million tonnes of hazardous waste underwent special treatment in Switzerland or was exported for environmentally sustainable disposal under strictly monitored conditions (0.5 million tonnes).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The 0.5 million tonnes is the export subset inside the 1.85 million tonne total, so the two figures are routinely swapped. The distractor at 7 million tonnes reflects confusing hazardous waste with the hazardous fraction of municipal waste."
  },
  {
    "id": "K140",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Roughly how many professions can a young person in Switzerland choose from when looking for an apprenticeship?",
    "options": {
      "A": "About 24",
      "B": "About 140",
      "C": "About 2,400",
      "D": "Over 240"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "How do I find an apprenticeship? In a first step, you can choose from over 240 professions. Then look for a company with an opening for an apprenticeship.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The two nearest confusions are the order-of-magnitude errors 24 and 2,400; the distractors are chosen so that a model guessing a plausible Swiss-sounding number still lands wrong."
  },
  {
    "id": "K141",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In the Swiss dual apprenticeship, where does an apprentice normally acquire the practical part of the training and the theoretical basics of the profession?",
    "options": {
      "A": "In the host company and at the vocational school respectively",
      "B": "At the vocational school for both, with the host company supplying only workspace and materials",
      "C": "In the host company for both, with the vocational school offering only optional exam preparation",
      "D": "Split between the host company and a branch training centre run by the professional organisation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "In most cases, your host company will provide you with practical training and you will learn the theoretical basics of your profession at the vocational school. In some cases, you can also complete your apprenticeship full-time in a school.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The dual model with company practice and school theory; the page also notes the minority full-time school-based route. Distractor B is the German-style reading where the vocational school is the main provider, and D imports a third mandatory venue."
  },
  {
    "id": "K142",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "What does the Swiss academic baccalaureate qualify its holder to study, and how long does the programme normally take?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Study at a university or a federal institute of technology, on a four-year programme",
      "B": "Study at a university of applied sciences, on a three-year programme",
      "C": "Study at a university or a federal institute of technology, on a two-year programme",
      "D": "Study at a teacher training college only, on a six-year programme"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S034",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/what-comes-after-compulsory-education/",
    "source_quote": "You usually start baccalaureate school after the second or third year of upper-secondary level school. The study programme lasts four years in most cantons and aims to provide a good general education. Students do not learn a profession, however the completion of an academic baccalaureate gives them access to study at a university or a federal institute of technology (ETH Zurich or EPFL).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Separates the academic baccalaureate (general education, access to university and the ETH/EPFL) from the vocational baccalaureate (access to a university of applied sciences) and from the specialised school route, which is three years plus one."
  },
  {
    "id": "K144",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "In which month does the Swiss school year generally begin?",
    "options": {
      "A": "September",
      "B": "July",
      "C": "January",
      "D": "August"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S033",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/school-and-kindergarten/",
    "source_quote": "The school year starts in August.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Anchors the point that the school calendar is set cantonally and communally rather than by federal law - the exact holiday dates come from the commune or the school itself. September is the default imported from neighbouring systems."
  },
  {
    "id": "K146",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Which authority in Switzerland sets the rules and conditions for homeschooling a child of compulsory-school age?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Confederation, which sets a single national home-education ordinance",
      "B": "The canton, which sets its own rules and conditions",
      "C": "The commune, which must first approve the arrangement in writing",
      "D": "The school itself, which may refuse the arrangement only on academic grounds"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S033",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/school-and-education/compulsory-education/school-and-kindergarten/",
    "source_quote": "Children can be sent to a public school or they can be homeschooled. Contact your canton for the specific rules and conditions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Homeschooling is possible in Switzerland but the conditions are cantonal - there is no federal home-education ordinance. The federal-ordinance reading is imported from Germany, where a Bundesland ordinance framework exists."
  },
  {
    "id": "K147",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under Swiss law, how much time off may an employee take for a special event such as a marriage or the birth of a child?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A fixed entitlement of one day per event is guaranteed throughout Switzerland",
      "B": "A fixed entitlement of three days per event applies in every canton",
      "C": "The employer sets the rules",
      "D": "A statutory half-day per event applies in cantons that adopted the model rules"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S031",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "The law does not clearly define how many hours or days you can take off. Ask your employer about the rules that apply in your company.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The duration of these special absences is not fixed by law, unlike the minimum vacation entitlement, which is. The trap is confusing the two and assuming a uniform statutory day count for special absences."
  },
  {
    "id": "K148",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "A cantonal public holiday falls on a Saturday, which is a non-working day for the employee. How is that holiday treated?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It is added to the employee's vacation entitlement for that year",
      "B": "It is compensated with one day of time off during the same week",
      "C": "It is compensated with a day of time off in the following week",
      "D": "It cannot be redeemed"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S031",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "If a public holiday falls on a non-working day, such as a Saturday or Sunday, you cannot redeem the holiday time during the week.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "No time in lieu for a holiday landing on a non-working day - a real gap in Swiss employment law compared with systems that credit the day. Must not be conflated with the separate rule that a holiday falling during annual leave does not consume a vacation day."
  },
  {
    "id": "K149",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "Under Swiss rules, how often may an employer shorten the daily rest period below the eleven-hour minimum, and on what condition?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Once a week, if the two-week average daily rest is 11 hours",
      "B": "Once a week, at the employer's discretion and without any further condition",
      "C": "Up to three times a week, provided the two-week average daily rest is 11 hours",
      "D": "Never for employees aged 18 or over, whatever the two-week average"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "Once a week, your employer has the right to reduce the rest period to 8 hours but only if you have been given an average daily rest period of 11 hours over two weeks.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The eleven-hour daily rest is the baseline; the statutory exception is a single weekly reduction to eight hours, conditional on an eleven-hour average across the two weeks. Traps are unconditional weekly discretion, a higher frequency, and reading the exception as a flat ban."
  },
  {
    "id": "K150",
    "category": "services",
    "question": "An employer has an employee work between 11pm and 6am on 30 nights in a calendar year. What must the employer provide?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A wage supplement of at least 25% on top of the hourly wage",
      "B": "Time off equal to 10% of the night hours worked",
      "C": "Time off equal to 25% of the night hours worked, or cash in its place",
      "D": "One rest day of 24 consecutive hours for every ten nights worked"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S032",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/working-on-sundays-and-at-night/",
    "source_quote": "Time off equal to 10% of the hours of night work performed must be provided for night work carried out on 25 or more nights per calendar year.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "25 nights per calendar year is the dividing line: below it a supplement of at least 25% is payable, at or above it the employer owes compensatory time off of 10% of the night hours, and paying cash in lieu of that rest is against the law. Distractor D borrows the Sunday-work 24-hour rest figure."
  },
  {
    "id": "K151",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which languages does the Federal Chancellery ensure are used correctly and understandably in laws and official texts?",
    "options": {
      "A": "German, French, Italian, and sometimes Romansh or English",
      "B": "German and French only",
      "C": "German, French, Italian, Romansh and English in every case",
      "D": "The two or three languages most widely used in the canton concerned"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S012b",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en",
    "source_quote": "German, French, Italian, and sometimes Romansh or English: the Federal Chancellery ensures that laws and official texts are understandable and correct.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the assumption that a language-monitoring office would either cover only the two federal court languages or all five national languages on a mandatory basis."
  },
  {
    "id": "K153",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "In addition to coordinating the digital transformation of the federal administration, what does the Federal Chancellery do to support Federal Council policy decisions?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It audits the federal administration on behalf of the Federal Assembly",
      "B": "It keeps abreast of international trends and develops scenarios for the future",
      "C": "It negotiates Switzerland's international treaties on behalf of the Federal Council",
      "D": "It verifies the constitutional compatibility of acts adopted by the Federal Assembly"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S012b",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en",
    "source_quote": "The Federal Chancellery keeps abreast of international trends and develops scenarios for the future. This helps the Federal Council make policy decisions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The Chancellery is a staff office, not a political negotiator, a constitutional reviewer or an audit body; each distractor assigns it a function belonging to another federal body."
  },
  {
    "id": "K154",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "As Switzerland's highest court, the Federal Supreme Court acts as the final instance on appeals against which decisions?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Decisions of any cantonal court, at first and second instance",
      "B": "Decisions of the cantonal governments and of cantonal administrative authorities",
      "C": "Only decisions of the Federal Criminal Court and the Federal Administrative Court",
      "D": "Decisions of the highest cantonal courts and of the three other federal courts"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S011",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/courts/",
    "source_quote": "It rules as the final instance on all appeals against decisions of the highest cantonal courts, the Federal Criminal Court, the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Patent Court.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Tests the appellate ceiling: not every cantonal decision, only the top cantonal tier, and not only the federal criminal and administrative courts. D is a near-miss subset."
  },
  {
    "id": "K155",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Where are most criminal cases in Switzerland decided in the first instance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "By cantonal courts",
      "B": "By the Federal Criminal Court",
      "C": "By the Federal Supreme Court",
      "D": "By the Federal Administrative Court"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S011",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/courts/",
    "source_quote": "Most criminal cases are decided in the first instance by cantonal courts.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Counterintuitive for anyone importing a model where a national criminal court is the ordinary first-instance criminal body; the Federal Criminal Court is a specialist exception."
  },
  {
    "id": "K157",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which of the following kinds of case falls within the jurisdiction of the Federal Administrative Court?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A challenge to the legal validity of a patent for a technical innovation",
      "B": "A criminal case involving offences against federal interests",
      "C": "An appeal against a federal decision of principle in an asylum case",
      "D": "An appeal against a cantonal court's ruling in a civil dispute"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S011",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/courts/",
    "source_quote": "The Federal Administrative Court rules on appeals against decisions made by authorities of the Federal Administration. Some of the issues may be controversial from both a social and political standpoint. Examples include decisions of principle in asylum-related cases or on major transport and infrastructure projects.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Each distractor is a real Swiss jurisdiction routed to the wrong court: civil appeals to the Supreme Court, patents to the Patent Court, federal criminal offences to the Federal Criminal Court."
  },
  {
    "id": "K158",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which body decides whether e-voting trials take place in a canton and which voters are eligible to take part in them?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Federal Chancellery",
      "B": "The Federal Assembly",
      "C": "The Federal Supreme Court",
      "D": "Each canton, on its own"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S010",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/e-voting/",
    "source_quote": "Every canton decides for itself whether to conduct e-voting trials. The cantons also decide which voters would be eligible to participate in the trials.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Proves cantonal autonomy inside a federally regulated area. B and D exploit the Chancellery's role in organising votes and the Supreme Court's constitutional role."
  },
  {
    "id": "K159",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "A voter casts a ballot electronically in an e-voting trial and afterwards sends a postal ballot using the same voter identification card. What is the result?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The postal ballot replaces the electronic vote",
      "B": "The postal ballot is not counted",
      "C": "Both the electronic vote and the postal ballot are counted",
      "D": "Both the electronic vote and the postal ballot are cancelled"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S010",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/e-voting/",
    "source_quote": "Once you have cast your vote electronically, your voter identification card will be recorded and blocked for other forms of voting (by post or at a polling station). You cannot vote again at a polling station using a voter identification card that has already been used for e-voting. Votes sent by post with a voter identification card that has already been used will not be counted.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The card-blocking mechanism is the anti-double-vote control; B and C are the natural guesses from models trained on jurisdictions that reconcile rather than discard."
  },
  {
    "id": "K160",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which of the following is a task of a cantonal parliament in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Appointing the members of the cantonal government each year",
      "B": "Ruling on appeals against decisions of cantonal administrative authorities",
      "C": "Supervising the activity of the cantonal government",
      "D": "Managing cantonal affairs and planning cantonal projects"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S008b",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-parliament-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "Last but not least, the cantonal parliament supervises the activity of the cantonal government.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "B is the cantonal government's own core task and C is a plausible overreach; D confuses parliamentary oversight with judicial review."
  },
  {
    "id": "K161",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Who chairs the meetings of a cantonal parliament?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A member of that parliament, elected to the presidency each year",
      "B": "The president of the cantonal government for that year",
      "C": "The president of the Confederation",
      "D": "The longest-serving member of the cantonal parliament"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S008b",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-parliament-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "Parliament annually elects one of its members to be president. The president's duties include chairing the meetings of parliament.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the assumption that the executive heads the legislature too, or that the federal president presides over cantonal business. Rotating annual presidency parallels the federal arrangement."
  },
  {
    "id": "K162",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Which statement correctly describes how a cantonal parliament meets?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It meets roughly once a month, behind closed doors",
      "B": "It meets weekly, in public, as the Federal Assembly does",
      "C": "It meets behind closed doors, and its minutes are not public",
      "D": "It meets roughly once a month, in public"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S008b",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-parliament-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "Council members holds regular, scheduled meetings, usually once a month. These meetings and their minutes are generally public.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Contrasts the legislature's public monthly rhythm with the cantonal government's behind-closed-doors meetings; C borrows the federal weekly cadence."
  },
  {
    "id": "K163",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How many members does a cantonal government in Switzerland have?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Between nine and twelve",
      "B": "Between five and seven",
      "C": "Between three and five",
      "D": "Between seven and nine"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S008",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-government-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "There are between five and seven members in each cantonal government.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Establishes the cantonal counterpart to the seven-member Federal Council, which a model tends to over-generalise to cantonal level."
  },
  {
    "id": "K165",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How do the meetings of a cantonal government usually take place?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Behind closed doors",
      "B": "In public, with the minutes published",
      "C": "Behind closed doors, but minuted and published",
      "D": "In public, but only after the agenda has been published"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S008",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/cantons/cantonal-government-role-and-composition/",
    "source_quote": "The members of the cantonal government hold regular scheduled meetings, usually behind closed doors.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Pairs with K162: the same canton legislates in public but executes behind closed doors. C is the tempting half-right compromise."
  },
  {
    "id": "K166",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "What does the Federal Administration consist of?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The seven federal departments, the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Supreme Court",
      "B": "The seven federal departments alone",
      "C": "The Federal Chancellery and the seven Federal Council members",
      "D": "The seven federal departments together with the Federal Chancellery"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S006",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/separation-of-powers/",
    "source_quote": "Each of the seven members of the Federal Council is head of one of the seven federal departments, which together with the Federal Chancellery make up the Federal Administration.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "B wrongly folds a court into the executive, C drops the Chancellery, D confuses the people who lead the administration with the administration's parts."
  },
  {
    "id": "K167",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "What is the task of the Federal Supreme Court as Switzerland's highest court?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Binding courts in other states on the interpretation of treaties",
      "B": "Ensuring the uniform application of the law",
      "C": "Supervising the cantonal courts for the Federal Assembly",
      "D": "Approving federal legislation before it enters into force"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S006",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/separation-of-powers/",
    "source_quote": "The Federal supreme Court is Switzerland's highest court. Its task is to ensure the uniform application of the law and to uphold the rights of ordinary people.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "D is the key trap: uniform application is an internal Swiss function, not a supranational preliminary-reference power as in the EU."
  },
  {
    "id": "K168",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "As highest court of appeal, the Federal Supreme Court also rules on which further kinds of dispute?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Preliminary references from cantonal courts on the interpretation of federal law, as in the European Union",
      "B": "Complaints by foreign states against federal measures taken in Switzerland",
      "C": "Disputes between individuals and the state, and between the Confederation and the cantons",
      "D": "References from cantonal courts on the interpretation of federal law"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S006",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/separation-of-powers/",
    "source_quote": "As the highest court of appeal, it also rules on disputes between individuals and the state or between the Confederation and the cantons.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Switzerland resolves federal-cantonal and state-citizen disputes domestically in its own apex court. C is the strongest distractor because it imports the CJEU's preliminary-reference role."
  },
  {
    "id": "K169",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "When was the separation of powers introduced in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "In 1848, on the founding of the federal state",
      "B": "In 1874, when the optional referendum was introduced",
      "C": "In 1891, when the federal popular initiative was introduced",
      "D": "In 1948, after a total revision of the federal Constitution"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S006",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/separation-of-powers/",
    "source_quote": "In Switzerland, the powers of the state are divided among the three branches of the state: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. This separation was introduced in 1848 on the founding of the federal state, with the aim of preventing a concentration of power in individual persons or institutions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Dates the principle to the founding of the federal state, not to 1874 or 1891 (the direct-democracy instruments) or to a post-war revision."
  },
  {
    "id": "K172",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "A Swiss citizen living abroad can vote at federal level. How many cantons also extend cantonal voting rights to Swiss citizens abroad?",
    "options": {
      "A": "None of them",
      "B": "Only the French-speaking cantons",
      "C": "Half of them",
      "D": "All of them"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S005",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/right-to-vote/",
    "source_quote": "Half of the cantons grant the right to vote at cantonal level to Swiss citizens abroad.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Federal voting rights abroad are universal, but the cantonal layer is split roughly down the middle; the page frames the result as a fraction, not a list."
  },
  {
    "id": "K173",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Who elects the judges of the Federal Supreme Court in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Federal Council",
      "B": "The cantonal governments",
      "C": "The Federal Chancellery",
      "D": "The Federal Assembly"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S002",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/swiss-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "elect federal authorities, including the seven members of the Federal Council, the President of the Confederation, the Federal Chancellor and the judges of the Federal Supreme Court",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Parliament elects the government, the Chancellor AND the apex judges, so judicial appointments are a legislative act. B and D wrongly put appointments with the executive's staff office."
  },
  {
    "id": "K174",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "How many regular sessions does the Federal Assembly hold each year, and how long does each session last?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Four sessions of three weeks",
      "B": "Four sessions of two months",
      "C": "Two sessions of three weeks",
      "D": "Six sessions of one week"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S002",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/swiss-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "The members of the two chambers meet during parliamentary sessions, which take place four times a year. Each session lasts three weeks.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "A calendar fact a model rarely has; distractors vary each component independently so a half-remembered figure is punished."
  },
  {
    "id": "K175",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Beyond the Federal Council, the Federal Administration and the Federal Supreme Court, which other bodies does the Federal Assembly monitor?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Foreign states in their dealings with the Confederation",
      "B": "Bodies that perform federal tasks, such as Swiss Post",
      "C": "Cantonal governments, cantonal courts and communes",
      "D": "The Federal Chancellery and the federal administrative offices"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S002",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/swiss-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "monitor the activities of the Federal Council, the Federal Administration, the Federal Supreme Court and other bodies that perform federal tasks, e.g. the Swiss Post or the Swiss Federal Railways.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Federal oversight reaches beyond the classic branches into autonomous bodies with federal tasks; B is the canton-level confusion the whole source set is trying to prevent."
  },
  {
    "id": "K178",
    "category": "politics",
    "question": "Since the federal popular initiative was introduced in 1891, roughly what share of the initiatives put to the vote has been adopted?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Around 25 per cent",
      "B": "Around 50 per cent",
      "C": "Around 90 per cent",
      "D": "Around 10 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S007",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/political-rights/initiatives/what-is-a-federal-popular-initiative/",
    "source_quote": "More than 200 initiatives have been voted on since then, and around 10 per cent have been adopted.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Corrects the intuition that a successful signature-gathering initiative is usually a successful outcome; the low adoption rate is the point."
  },
  {
    "id": "K182",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), whose processing of personal data is regulated?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Federal authorities only, with private companies left entirely to cantonal law",
      "B": "Private companies only, since the Confederation has no supervisory role",
      "C": "Both federal authorities and private individuals or legal entities, including associations and commercial enterprises",
      "D": "Only cantonal and communal authorities, since data protection is a cantonal matter"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S053",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/faq-data-protection",
    "source_quote": "It contains legal norms that serve the protection of personality and informational self-determination and regulate the processing of personal data carried out by federal authorities or private individuals or legal entities (e.g. associations or commercial enterprises).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The FADP reaches private companies as well as federal bodies. The distractor A imports the idea that data protection is a purely public-sector or cantonal matter."
  },
  {
    "id": "K184",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Where the Swiss State processes personal data, how do the citizen's data protection rights stand?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The citizen may waive them in an individual case once the authority holds their written consent",
      "B": "They apply only to data processed by private companies, not to federal bodies",
      "C": "There is in principle no voluntary waiver, and the purpose, scope and extent of state processing are fixed by statute",
      "D": "They may be waived by a cantonal court at the authority's request"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S053",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/faq-data-protection",
    "source_quote": "The protection of privacy is a constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right (Art. 13 of the Federal Constitution). In principle, there is no voluntary waiver of data protection rights with regard to the processing of personal data by the State.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Distractor A transplants the private-sector consent logic into the public-law sphere, where the FDPIC says no waiver is possible."
  },
  {
    "id": "K185",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A Swiss company gathers personal data about an employee from a third party rather than from the employee. What does the FADP require of the company?",
    "options": {
      "A": "To inform the data subject in advance and in an adequate manner that their data are to be gathered",
      "B": "Nothing, because the data were not obtained from the data subject",
      "C": "Prior notification to the cantonal data protection authority",
      "D": "Notice within one month of the processing, at the latest"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S053",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/faq-data-protection",
    "source_quote": "Whenever personal data is gathered, the data controller must inform the data subject in advance and in an adequate manner that their data is to be gathered, even if the data are not gathered directly from the data subject concerned.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The duty to inform bites on indirect collection too, and it bites in advance rather than after processing. Distractor D weakens advance notice to a post-hoc deadline."
  },
  {
    "id": "K187",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "How does the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) differ from its EU counterparts?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It can impose administrative fines of up to 5 per cent of annual turnover",
      "B": "It can suspend a company's data processing for up to twelve months",
      "C": "It may order the deletion of any unlawfully processed data without any court involvement",
      "D": "It has no power to impose sanctions under the FADP, so fines of up to CHF 250,000 fall on the natural person responsible for the offence"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S053",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/faq-data-protection",
    "source_quote": "Fines of up to CHF250,000 may be imposed on the natural person responsible for the offence. Legal persons can be fined up to CHF50,000, only as a subsidiary measure.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Distractors A and C are GDPR-style supervisory powers the FDPIC does not have under the FADP; enforcement runs through binding orders and the FADP's criminal provisions."
  },
  {
    "id": "K188",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "May a private individual in Switzerland operate CCTV systems covering public property?",
    "options": {
      "A": "No, such systems are normally regarded as an excessive and unlawful measure and their installation is prohibited",
      "B": "Yes, provided the monitored area is clearly signposted",
      "C": "Yes, if the cameras operate only at night",
      "D": "Only with a cantonal permit, which is routinely granted for crime prevention"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S054",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/video-surveillance-of-public-places-by-private-individuals",
    "source_quote": "As a result, private CCTV systems in public areas are normally regarded as an excessive and unlawful measure and their installation is prohibited.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Public-space video surveillance is handled under cantonal and communal law with private systems generally barred; signage alone does not make a private public-space camera lawful."
  },
  {
    "id": "K189",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A shopkeeper installs cameras covering the pavement outside the shop to deter burglars. Why does this fail under Swiss data protection guidance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Because a private camera may never record any area beyond the owner's own property",
      "B": "Because preserving security and order in public areas is a task for the police, not for private individuals",
      "C": "Because only a cantonal authority may install cameras under a communal ordinance",
      "D": "Because shopkeepers must first exhaust every less intrusive security measure"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S054",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/video-surveillance-of-public-places-by-private-individuals",
    "source_quote": "Interest in crime prevention: the preservation of security and order in public areas is not the responsibility of private individuals, but a task for the police. For this reason, protecting his or her own security is not a legitimate reason for a private individual to monitor a public area.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Self-protection is expressly not a legitimate reason for a private person to monitor a public area, because that task belongs to the police."
  },
  {
    "id": "K190",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "When is private surveillance that incidentally records a public area normally tolerated in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Whenever it protects the person's own property, however much of the public area is captured",
      "B": "Whenever the footage is deleted within 24 hours",
      "C": "Whenever a neighbouring resident gives written consent",
      "D": "When the intrusion on the public area is negligible and surveillance of the private property would otherwise be impossible"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S054",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/video-surveillance-of-public-places-by-private-individuals",
    "source_quote": "There are possible exceptions to this rule: When legitimate video surveillance of private property is conducted, images of public areas are also recorded. If the extent of this intrusion is negligible and the surveillance of the private property would otherwise be impossible, common sense dictates that surveillance will normally be allowed.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Two cumulative conditions: negligible intrusion plus impossibility of surveillance otherwise. Distractor B lifts the retention figure and mistakes a storage rule for a permission rule."
  },
  {
    "id": "K191",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "A private individual wants to install a camera that would also cover a public area. With whose authority must the question of permission be settled in advance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The commune, with which it must be clarified in advance whether permission is required",
      "B": "The FDPIC, which grants or refuses the permit",
      "C": "The cantonal police, which approve the installation as a crime-prevention measure",
      "D": "The cantonal building authority, under cantonal building law"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S054",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/video-surveillance-of-public-places-by-private-individuals",
    "source_quote": "If public places are involved, it must be clarified in advance with the commune whether permission is required. Monitored areas must be clearly signposted.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "This is the cantonally anchored level: the commune decides, not a federal permit office. Distractors B and D transplant federal or building-law approval routes."
  },
  {
    "id": "K192",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "For how long should footage from video surveillance be retained in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Indefinitely, provided the footage is stored on an access-protected drive",
      "B": "For up to six months, so that incidents can still be traced",
      "C": "As a general rule it should be deleted within 24 to 72 hours, the period depending on the purpose of the monitoring",
      "D": "For exactly 24 hours in every case, with no variation permitted"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S054",
    "source_url": "https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/en/video-surveillance-of-public-places-by-private-individuals",
    "source_quote": "Recordings should only be retained for a limited period. The length of time the data is kept depends on the purpose of the monitoring. As a general rule, recordings should be deleted within 24 to 72 hours.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The window is a 24-72 hour range, not a fixed deadline; distractor D hard-codes the lower bound and distractor B imports a German-style retention period."
  },
  {
    "id": "K195",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "What happens to a first-generation Swiss residence permit for foreign nationals that carries no biometric data?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It becomes invalid as soon as the holder applies for a biometric permit",
      "B": "It is automatically upgraded to a settlement permit after five years",
      "C": "It remains valid until its expiry date, a biometric permit being issued only once it has expired or if personal data change",
      "D": "It must be surrendered within six months of the holder's first entry into Switzerland"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S017",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/biometr_auslaenderausweis.html",
    "source_quote": "First-generation residence permits for foreign nationals (i.e. no biometric data stored) shall remain valid until the expiry date. The new biometric residence permit shall only be issued after the previous residence permit has expired or if changes in personal data require issuance of a new residence permit.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Transition rule, not a revocation rule; distractor B invents an automatic five-year upgrade that the page does not support."
  },
  {
    "id": "K196",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Who must sign the letter terminating a Swiss rental agreement, and how should it be sent to the landlord?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Only the first-named tenant, sent by ordinary post",
      "B": "All parties who signed the rental agreement, with the letter sent to the landlord by registered mail",
      "C": "Every adult occupant of the flat, sent by registered mail, whether or not they signed the agreement",
      "D": "Any one of the tenants, since one signature binds all signatories"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S014",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/housing/rent/rental-and-leasing-agreements/",
    "source_quote": "All parties who signed the rental agreement must sign the letter of termination. Tenants who are renting with a spouse or registered partner must have the approval of the other person to terminate the agreement, even if only one party has signed the agreement as the tenant. Tenants are not required to provide a reason for terminating the agreement. The letter of termination should be sent to the landlord by registered mail.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Two traps: signature is required from all signatories (not all occupants), and proof of dispatch matters, so registered mail is the safe route. The tenant need give no reason."
  },
  {
    "id": "K197",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "How long does a tenant in Switzerland have to contact the commune's conciliation authority in order to contest a termination?",
    "options": {
      "A": "14 days, running from the date the letter of termination is posted",
      "B": "3 months, matching the statutory notice period for residential premises",
      "C": "There is no fixed deadline, because each cantonal conciliation authority sets its own",
      "D": "30 days"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S014",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/housing/rent/rental-and-leasing-agreements/",
    "source_quote": "Tenants have 30 days to contact their commune's conciliation authority to contest the termination.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The 30-day contestation window is distinct from the notice period itself, which distractor B conflates with it."
  },
  {
    "id": "K198",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Under Swiss tenancy rules, when may a tenant sublet a furnished apartment and add a surcharge to the monthly rent?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A surcharge of up to 20% of the monthly rent may be added, to compensate for wear and tear on furnishings",
      "B": "A surcharge of up to 50% of the monthly rent may be added, once the landlord has been informed",
      "C": "No surcharge at all may be added; the subletting tenant may charge only what they themselves pay",
      "D": "A surcharge of up to 10% of the monthly rent may be added, but only for a fixed-term lease"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S014",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/housing/rent/rental-and-leasing-agreements/",
    "source_quote": "A maximum surcharge of 20% may be added to the monthly rent on a furnished apartment, to compensate for wear and tear on furnishings. In all other cases, tenants may only charge what they themselves pay for the apartment (incl. additional charges).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The 20% allowance is confined to furnished apartments; distractor C states the rule for all other cases and drops the furnished exception."
  },
  {
    "id": "K199",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, on what grounds is a landlord generally permitted to terminate a rental agreement?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Only for reasons listed in the tenancy act, such as non-payment of rent",
      "B": "For any reason in principle, with no requirement to observe any notice period",
      "C": "For any reason in principle, but the statutory or contractual notice period must be observed and an official form must be used",
      "D": "Only with the prior authorisation of the cantonal conciliation authority"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S014",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/housing/rent/rental-and-leasing-agreements/",
    "source_quote": "In Switzerland, landlords are generally allowed to terminate a rental agreement for any reason. They are nevertheless required to observe the notice periods stated in law or in the agreement, and to use an official form to terminate the agreement.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Swiss law is cause-free for landlords but procedural: notice period plus official form. Distractor A imports the German cause requirement, distractor B drops the formalities."
  },
  {
    "id": "K200",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "An EU/EFTA national who is not in gainful employment wishes to obtain a Swiss B residence permit. What must such a person show?",
    "options": {
      "A": "That they have been resident in Switzerland for at least five years",
      "B": "That they have sufficient financial means and adequate health and accident insurance",
      "C": "That they hold a job offer of at least twelve months' duration",
      "D": "That a Swiss employer guarantees their residence for the full five-year period"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S045",
    "source_url": "https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/aufenthalt/eu_efta.html",
    "source_quote": "Nationals from all EU/EFTA member states without gainful employment are entitled to a B permit if they can prove they have sufficient financial means and adequate health and accident insurance.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractors A and C apply residence-duration or employment-contract thresholds that belong to other permit categories; the non-employed B route is insurance and means, not job history."
  },
  {
    "id": "K203",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, which authority assesses the taxes and collects the direct federal tax as well as cantonal and communal taxes?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Federal Tax Administration, for all three taxing levels",
      "B": "Each commune, which collects the federal share and passes it on to the canton",
      "C": "The cantons, which calculate the taxes and collect the federal taxes as well as cantonal and communal taxes",
      "D": "The FDPIC, which supervises the assessment of tax"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S018",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/taxes-and-finances/paying-taxes/",
    "source_quote": "The cantonal tax authorities calculate your taxes on the basis of the figures you provide in your tax return. The cantons collect both the federal taxes and the cantonal and communal taxes.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Counterintuitive: the cantons are the collecting and assessing authority for the federal tax as well, which distractor A assigns to the Federal Tax Administration."
  },
  {
    "id": "K204",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "On what basis are Swiss taxes calculated?",
    "options": {
      "A": "On total gross income, with no deductions permitted before assessment",
      "B": "On 'taxable income', a lower amount from which social insurance contributions and other permissible deductions have been subtracted",
      "C": "On gross income less social insurance contributions only, with no other deductions allowed",
      "D": "On taxable wealth, with income taxed only by the Confederation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S018",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/taxes-and-finances/paying-taxes/",
    "source_quote": "Taxes are not calculated on the basis of your total income, but on the basis of what is known as your 'taxable income'. This is a lower amount. You can deduct social insurance contributions from your income and make various other deductions in your tax return.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Distractor D reverts to the federal/communal split of tax bases (income for the Confederation, income and wealth for cantons and communes), which is not the rule for computing the bill."
  },
  {
    "id": "K205",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Which single day is Switzerland's only national public holiday?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1 August",
      "B": "1 January",
      "C": "1 August and 25 December",
      "D": "Ascension Day"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S013",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/work/working-hours/vacation--public-holidays-and-absences-from-work/",
    "source_quote": "The first of August - Swiss national day - is Switzerland's only national public holiday.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Everything else is cantonal; 25 December and 1 January are cantonal holidays, not national ones."
  },
  {
    "id": "K207",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "Under Swiss tenancy law, how may a tenant end the tenancy before the notice period or the contractual termination date has expired?",
    "options": {
      "A": "By paying a penalty equal to three months' rent",
      "B": "By giving three months' notice and paying the rent until the next customary termination date",
      "C": "By cumulatively proposing a suitable replacement tenant who will take over on the same conditions and returning the rented property",
      "D": "By obtaining a release from the cantonal conciliation authority"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S044",
    "source_url": "https://www.zsg.justice.be.ch/de/start/themen/zivilrecht/mietrecht/beendigung-mietvertrag/beenden-mieter-in.html",
    "source_quote": "Sie können das Mietverhältnis vor Ablauf einer festen Vertragsdauer, der Kündigungsfrist oder einem Kündigungstermin beenden, wenn Sie der Vermieterin oder dem Vermieter kumulativ - eine Nachmieterin oder einen Nachmieter vorschlagen, der/die den Mietvertrag zu den gleichen Bedingungen übernehmen will und zumutbar ist, und - das Mietobjekt zurückgeben.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Source quote is German (Canton Bern conciliation authority). English: the tenancy may be ended early only if the tenant cumulatively proposes a suitable replacement tenant taking over on the same conditions and returns the rented property. Both limbs are required."
  },
  {
    "id": "K209",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "How long is the probationary period on a newly acquired Swiss category B driving licence, and what follows a serious traffic violation?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Two years, extended by six months after a serious violation",
      "B": "Three years, extended by one year where a serious traffic violation leads to disqualification from driving",
      "C": "Three years, during which any serious violation ends the licence permanently",
      "D": "Five years, extended by one year for each serious traffic violation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S016",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/vehicles-and-traffic/driving-licence/learning-to-drive/",
    "source_quote": "The probationary period lasts three years. If you commit a serious traffic violation during this period and are disqualified from driving, the probationary period will be extended by one year.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Extension by one year, and only where disqualification from driving follows; distractor C confuses extension with revocation."
  },
  {
    "id": "K210",
    "category": "law",
    "question": "In Switzerland, what is the fee for simplified naturalisation of an adult, and what happens to it if the application is refused?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 900, and the full amount must be paid in advance and is not refunded if the application is refused",
      "B": "CHF 650, refundable if the application is refused",
      "C": "CHF 250, the same rate as for minors under the age of 12",
      "D": "Up to CHF 2,000, set by the canton and refunded on refusal"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S015",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/foreign-nationals-in-switzerland/naturalisation/",
    "source_quote": "The cost of simplified naturalisation in Switzerland varies according to age:\n- 250 francs for minors under the age of 12\n- 650 francs for minors aged 12 and over\n- 900 francs for adults.\nFor spouses of Swiss citizens residing abroad, simplified naturalisation costs 600 francs.\nThe full amount must be paid in advance and is not refunded if the application is refused.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "CHF 900 is the adult rate, distinct from the 12-and-over minor rate of 650 and the under-12 rate of 250; CHF 2,000 is the cantonal fee for ordinary naturalisation, not this one."
  },
  {
    "id": "K211",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under the conditions listed on ch.ch, how many months must a mother have been insured under the OASI/DI scheme before the birth to be entitled to maternity allowance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Nine months prior to the birth",
      "B": "Three months prior to the birth",
      "C": "Twelve months prior to the birth",
      "D": "Twenty-four months prior to the birth"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S024",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/family-and-partnership/maternity-and-paternity/maternity-leave/",
    "source_quote": "You were insured under the OASI/DI scheme for the nine months prior to the birth.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the OASI/AHV lettering variant (the page says OASI/DI here, OASI/AHV on the paternity side) and the 3/6/12/24-month alternatives a non-expert would guess."
  },
  {
    "id": "K213",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under which circumstance is a Swiss mother's period of claimable maternity benefits extended, and by how much at most?",
    "options": {
      "A": "If the newborn must stay in hospital for more than 21 days directly after the birth, extended by a maximum of 56 days",
      "B": "If the newborn must stay in hospital for more than 14 days directly after the birth, extended by a maximum of 28 days",
      "C": "If the newborn must stay in hospital for more than 14 days directly after the birth, extended by a maximum of 56 days",
      "D": "If the newborn must stay in hospital for more than 28 days directly after the birth, extended by a maximum of 84 days"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S024",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/family-and-partnership/maternity-and-paternity/maternity-leave/",
    "source_quote": "If your newborn has to stay in hospital for more than 14 days directly after the birth, the period for which you can claim maternity benefits is extended by a maximum of 56 days, provided that you return to work when your maternity leave ends.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Two-figure item (trigger threshold + extension). Distractors shift either the 14-day hospital trigger or the 56-day extension while keeping the other number right, and the last one shifts both. Also traps the unpaid two-week extension as a distractor-shaped confusion."
  },
  {
    "id": "K215",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, if the mother dies within 14 weeks of the child's birth, how much further leave is the surviving spouse entitled to?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A further 14 weeks",
      "B": "A further two weeks",
      "C": "A further four weeks",
      "D": "A further eight weeks"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S024",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/family-and-partnership/maternity-and-paternity/maternity-leave/",
    "source_quote": "If the mother dies within 14 weeks of the child's birth, the surviving spouse is entitled to a further 14 weeks' leave.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Traps the mirror-image rule on the same page: if the father or spouse of the mother dies within six months, the mother gets only two additional weeks. 'two weeks' is the confident wrong pick."
  },
  {
    "id": "K220",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under the LPP/BVG, early retirement is possible from the age of 63, but an occupational benefits institution may set a lower qualifying age. How low may that age go?",
    "options": {
      "A": "55",
      "B": "58",
      "C": "60",
      "D": "57"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S023",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-provision-occupational-benefits-plan",
    "source_quote": "Early retirement is possible from the age of 63. Occupational benefits institutions may stipulate a lower age at which benefits can be received (but no earlier than 58).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Traps the same page's maximum deferral age of 70 and the reference age of 65; 55/57/60 are plausible floors a non-expert would propose."
  },
  {
    "id": "K221",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Who is covered by the mandatory Swiss old-age and survivors' insurance (OASI) scheme?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Only Swiss citizens who reside in Switzerland",
      "B": "Only persons in paid employment in Switzerland",
      "C": "Anyone who lives or works in Switzerland, regardless of nationality, including people not in paid work",
      "D": "Only Swiss citizens and cross-border commuters who are in paid employment"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "As a general rule, anyone who lives or works in Switzerland, regardless of their nationality, is covered by the mandatory old-age and survivors' insurance scheme. You are also covered if you are not in paid work, e.g. stay-at-home spouses and students.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the citizenship test and the paid-employment test - the two most common non-Swiss assumptions about a national insurance scheme."
  },
  {
    "id": "K223",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "According to the Federal Social Insurance Office, what is the range of the full OASI old-age pension for a person with a complete contribution record?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 1,260 to CHF 2,520",
      "B": "CHF 1,140 to CHF 2,280",
      "C": "CHF 1,260 to CHF 3,780",
      "D": "CHF 880 to CHF 2,520"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "- minimum old-age pension: CHF 1,260\n- maximum old-age pension: CHF 2,520",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps moving one endpoint only - a CHF 880 minimum is the plausible older figure and CHF 3,780 is 1.5x the maximum."
  },
  {
    "id": "K224",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "How are OASI contributions shared between an employee and the employee's employer in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The employee pays two thirds and the employer pays one third",
      "B": "The employee pays half and the employer pays the other half",
      "C": "The employer pays the whole contribution",
      "D": "The employee pays one quarter and the employer pays three quarters"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "- As an employee, you pay half of the contributions. Your employer pays the other half.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Traps an employer-heavy split borrowed from BVG reasoning (where the employer must at least match the employees' total), which is the natural wrong assumption here."
  },
  {
    "id": "K225",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Up to what annual income does the mandatory Swiss occupational pension scheme (BVG) provide cover?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 45,360",
      "B": "CHF 80,000",
      "C": "CHF 90,720",
      "D": "CHF 100,000"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S022",
    "source_url": "https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/old-age-insurance-system",
    "source_quote": "You are subject to mandatory occupational pension contributions if you annually earn more than CHF 22,680 (as of 2025) from one employer and are older than 17 (insurance cover against the risks of invalidity and death from the age of 17; old-age insurance cover from the age 25). The mandatory insurance scheme covers annual incomes up to CHF 90,720.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Tests the upper coordination ceiling, not the CHF 22,680 entry threshold; CHF 45,360 is 2x the threshold and a plausible confusion."
  },
  {
    "id": "K226",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "What is the range of deductibles available to adults in Swiss compulsory basic health insurance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 100 to CHF 2,000",
      "B": "CHF 300 to CHF 4,000",
      "C": "CHF 0 to CHF 2,500",
      "D": "CHF 300 to CHF 2,500"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S020",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-costs/",
    "source_quote": "The lowest deductible for adults is CHF 300, the highest CHF 2,500.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Traps shifting either endpoint; the CHF 0 lower bound is the child rule on the adjacent sentence."
  },
  {
    "id": "K227",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Which deductibles apply to children in Swiss compulsory basic health insurance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Between CHF 0 and CHF 600",
      "B": "Between CHF 100 and CHF 500",
      "C": "Between CHF 300 and CHF 1,000",
      "D": "Between CHF 0 and CHF 300"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S020",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-costs/",
    "source_quote": "The lowest deductible for adults is CHF 300, the highest CHF 2,500. Deductibles of between CHF 0 and CHF 600 apply for children.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps transferring the adult band onto children and halving the child ceiling (S046 states children pay no deductible at all under the standard option, so CHF 0-300 is a confident wrong pick)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K229",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "How much does a hospitalised patient in Switzerland contribute per day towards the cost of a hospital stay?",
    "options": {
      "A": "CHF 5 per day",
      "B": "CHF 25 per day",
      "C": "CHF 15 per day",
      "D": "CHF 50 per day"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S020",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-costs/",
    "source_quote": "You must pay the contribution to hospital costs if you are hospitalised. It is CHF 15 per day.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Traps treating the hospital daily contribution as a German-style flat daily fee; the page gives it as a fixed CHF, not a percentage."
  },
  {
    "id": "K231",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, which group must take out personal accident insurance itself?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The self-employed",
      "B": "Salaried employees who work from home",
      "C": "Registered unemployed people who receive unemployment benefits",
      "D": "Trainees"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "It you are self-employed you must take out personal accident insurance.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The quote reproduces the page's grammatical slip ('It you') verbatim. Distractors are the three groups the same page says are automatically covered by an employer, Suva or the trainee scheme."
  },
  {
    "id": "K232",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "A registered unemployed person in Switzerland who receives unemployment benefits is automatically insured against accident by which body, and how is the premium paid?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The person's health insurer, with the premium added to the monthly health insurance premium",
      "B": "The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva), with the premium deducted from the unemployment benefits",
      "C": "The Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva), with the premium paid by the person's employer",
      "D": "The cantonal authority, with no premium charged to the person"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "If you are registered unemployed, providing you receive unemployment benefits you are automatically insured via the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva) in case of accident. The premium is deducted from your benefits.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps Suva for health insurance (B) and the employer-pays pattern that the same page gives for employees (C)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K233",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Under Swiss compulsory accident insurance, what does an insured person pay towards accident-related medical expenses?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The annual deductible only, with no retention fee",
      "B": "A retention fee only, with no deductible",
      "C": "Nothing - no deductible and no retention fee",
      "D": "Both the annual deductible and the retention fee, as under basic health insurance"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "Your accident insurance will reimburse accident-related medical expenses. You do not have to pay a deductible or retention fee yourself.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps transplanting the KVG franchise/retention structure into accident cover; the page's following sentence makes clear that paying the deductible and retention fee applies only when insured against accident via the health insurer."
  },
  {
    "id": "K234",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "An accident insurer pays a daily allowance of less than 80 per cent of an employee's salary. What must the employer do under Swiss accident insurance rules?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Pay nothing further, because the insurer's allowance replaces the salary",
      "B": "Make up the difference and continue paying full salary in any case",
      "C": "Make up the difference, but for a maximum of three days only",
      "D": "Make up the difference, and if the allowance already reaches 80 per cent or more, stop paying salary"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S021",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/insurance/accident-insurance/",
    "source_quote": "If the allowance paid by your accident insurance is lower than this figure, your employer must make up the difference. If your insurance benefits correspond to 80% of your salary or more, your employer does not have to continue paying your salary.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The quote's 'this figure' resolves to 80 per cent in the preceding sentence. Traps the assumption that the employer tops up on top of a continuing salary, and the three-day figure from the daily allowance's waiting period."
  },
  {
    "id": "K235",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, is a resident free to take compulsory basic health insurance with any authorised insurer operating in the region where they live?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Yes - any authorised insurer operating in the region, because insurers must offer basic insurance to everyone",
      "B": "No - the canton assigns each municipality a single designated insurer",
      "C": "No - only insurers operating in the person's canton of residence may be chosen",
      "D": "Yes, but only while the insurer still has spare capacity to accept new basic-policy holders"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "You can choose any company that operates in the region where you live. Simply register, because they are required to offer everyone basic insurance.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the canton-assigns-the-insurer model common in neighbouring systems, and the underwriting-capacity model used for supplementary cover on the same page."
  },
  {
    "id": "K236",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Which authority decides whether a foreign retiree, student or diplomat living in Switzerland has to take out compulsory health insurance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Federal Social Insurance Office alone, without any canton involved",
      "B": "The relevant agency in the person's canton or municipality, which approves any exemptions",
      "C": "The person's employer or scholarship body",
      "D": "The municipality in which the person was born"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "Foreign retirees, students and diplomats do not necessarily need to take out health insurance. The relevant agency in your canton or municipality approves any exemptions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Tests where the decision sits in Swiss federalism: canton/municipality, not the federal office and not an employer. Traps a purely federal or purely contractual decision."
  },
  {
    "id": "K237",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "In Switzerland, may compulsory basic insurance and voluntary supplementary insurance be held with different health insurers?",
    "options": {
      "A": "No - both must be held with the same insurer",
      "B": "Yes, but only if both insurers operate in the same canton",
      "C": "Yes",
      "D": "Yes, but supplementary cover may not be kept once basic cover is switched"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "You can take out compulsory basic insurance and voluntary supplementary insurance from different health insurers.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Traps the bundled-policy intuition common in other systems; the page adds that switching basic cover lets you keep supplementary cover where it is."
  },
  {
    "id": "K238",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "What must an applicant normally complete before a Swiss insurer will approve voluntary supplementary health insurance?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A medical examination at the insurer's expense",
      "B": "A declaration of their assets and income",
      "C": "Approval from a cantonal health authority",
      "D": "A questionnaire on their health"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S019",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/health/health-insurance/health-insurance-taking-out--changing--cancelling/",
    "source_quote": "As a rule you will have to complete a questionnaire on your health before an insurer will approve supplementary health insurance for you.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps the open-enrolment rule for BASIC insurance: insurers must accept everyone for basic cover but may underwrite supplementary cover."
  },
  {
    "id": "K239",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "Must a Swiss compulsory health insurer offer the whole range of optional deductible levels?",
    "options": {
      "A": "No - it does not have to offer the full range",
      "B": "Yes - offering every optional deductible level is a legal requirement",
      "C": "Yes for adults, but not for children",
      "D": "Yes, but only in cantons where at least two insurers operate"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S046",
    "source_url": "https://www.bag.admin.ch/en/health-insurance-premiums-and-co-payment",
    "source_quote": "The health insurer does not have to offer the full range of deductibles.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Traps reading the published list of available deductible levels (500/1000/1500/2000/2500) as a guarantee that every insurer offers all of them."
  },
  {
    "id": "K240",
    "category": "health",
    "question": "For which age group may a Swiss compulsory health insurer offer deductibles that differ from those it offers to adults?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Children below the age of 18",
      "B": "Young adults between the ages of 19 and 25",
      "C": "Adults over the age of 65",
      "D": "Persons in education or training of any age"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S046",
    "source_url": "https://www.bag.admin.ch/en/health-insurance-premiums-and-co-payment",
    "source_quote": "It may offer different deductibles for adults and young adults (between the ages of 19 and 25).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Tests the 19-25 young-adult band specifically; children are a separate deductible range on the same page and education/training is the hospital-contribution exemption on S020, so both are confident wrong picks."
  },
  {
    "id": "K241",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many seats does the National Council of the Swiss Parliament have?",
    "options": {
      "A": "200 seats",
      "B": "46 seats",
      "C": "246 seats",
      "D": "100 seats"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S026",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "The Swiss Parliament has 200 seats in the National Council and 46 seats in the Council of States.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Only the National Council figure is asked. 46 is the Council of States total and is already owned by the politics category (K005 via S003); 246 is the trap for readers who add the two chambers. The population-proportional logic behind the 200 is a separate item."
  },
  {
    "id": "K244",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "By what criterion are seats in the National Council allocated to the cantons?",
    "options": {
      "A": "In proportion to each canton's land area",
      "B": "Equally, with the same number of seats for every canton",
      "C": "In proportion to the number of communes in each canton",
      "D": "In proportion to the resident population of each canton"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S026",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "In the National Council, seats are allocated in proportion to the resident population of a canton.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Contrast with the Council of States, where every canton has one or two seats regardless of size. Land area is the intuitive wrong answer for a mountainous federal state."
  },
  {
    "id": "K245",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "What is the smallest number of National Council seats a canton is guaranteed?",
    "options": {
      "A": "One seat",
      "B": "Two seats",
      "C": "Three seats",
      "D": "No seats, if the canton is too small to warrant representation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S026",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "Each canton always has at least one seat in the National Council.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The floor of one seat is what makes the 26-canton arithmetic work against a purely proportional formula; two is the Council of States minimum-plus pattern and is the classic wrong answer."
  },
  {
    "id": "K246",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "For the National Council elections on 24 October 2027, which cantons will each have one seat fewer to fill?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Lucerne and Fribourg",
      "B": "Bern and Graubünden",
      "C": "Zurich and Vaud",
      "D": "Ticino and Uri"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S026",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/parliament/number-of-seats-in-parliament/",
    "source_quote": "The cantons of Bern and Graubünden will each have one seat fewer to fill (down to 23 and 4).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Direction trap: Lucerne and Fribourg are the two cantons that GAIN a seat in the same sentence, so option A is the confident wrong pick. Bern and Graubünden lose one (to 23 and 4). REGIONAL VARIABLE — seat totals are election-cycle dependent."
  },
  {
    "id": "K247",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many of Switzerland's 26 cantons are predominantly (Swiss) German-speaking?",
    "options": {
      "A": "13 cantons",
      "B": "16 cantons",
      "C": "19 cantons",
      "D": "26 cantons"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S028",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/language-distribution/",
    "source_quote": "German (62.6 %) German is by far the most widely spoken language in Switzerland: 19 of the country's 26 cantons are predominantly (Swiss) German-speaking.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Models typically guess 18, 20 or 'about two thirds of the cantons'. Note this is the count of predominantly German-speaking cantons, not the count of cantons with German as an official language, which the page does not state."
  },
  {
    "id": "K248",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Which cantons are bilingual, with both French and German spoken in them?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel",
      "B": "Bern, Valais and Ticino",
      "C": "Graubünden, Valais and Fribourg",
      "D": "Bern, Fribourg and Valais"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S028",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/language-distribution/",
    "source_quote": "Three cantons are bilingual: in Bern, Fribourg and Valais both French and German are spoken.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distinct from K062, which asks for the French-speaking cantons. Distractor A is the French-speaking set, and C mixes in Graubünden, which is trilingual rather than bilingual."
  },
  {
    "id": "K250",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to Switzerland Tourism's language-distribution figures, what share of the population speaks French?",
    "options": {
      "A": "8.2 per cent",
      "B": "62.6 per cent",
      "C": "22.9 per cent",
      "D": "5.8 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S028",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/language-distribution/",
    "source_quote": "French (22.9 %)",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractors are the other shares printed in the same page's headings (German 62.6 %, Italian 8.2 %, other languages 5.8 %). REGIONAL VARIABLE — language shares are population-statistics dependent; ch-info rounds the same figure to 23 per cent, which is the distractor used at K068."
  },
  {
    "id": "K251",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to Switzerland Tourism, what share of people in Switzerland have a mother tongue that is not one of the four 'Swiss languages'?",
    "options": {
      "A": "0.5 per cent",
      "B": "5.8 per cent",
      "C": "22.9 per cent",
      "D": "8.2 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S028",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/language-distribution/",
    "source_quote": "Other languages (5.8 %)",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The page attributes this group to foreign residents and notes that the number keeps growing. Traps are the four national-language shares printed in the same heading block; ch-info gives a much higher 23 per cent for the same underlying concept, so the figure is explicitly source-attributed."
  },
  {
    "id": "K252",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many levels of political structure does Switzerland have, and what are they?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Three: communes, cantons and the Confederation",
      "B": "Two: cantons and communes",
      "C": "Three: districts, cantons and the Confederation",
      "D": "Four: communes, districts, cantons and the Confederation"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "There are three levels of political structure in Switzerland: - communes (currently around 2,100) - cantons (26) - the Confederation (federal government).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The 'district' (Bezirk) layer exists in practice but is not a level of political structure, which is what options C and D exploit. The page also gives the counts: around 2,100 communes and 26 cantons."
  },
  {
    "id": "K253",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Which is the smallest political unit in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The district (Bezirk) within a canton",
      "B": "The commune",
      "C": "The canton",
      "D": "The quarter within a city canton"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "Communes are the smallest political units in Switzerland.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Distractors are administrative subdivisions below the commune. The delegated powers the page names for communes are tested separately at K073; the three-level structure is at K252."
  },
  {
    "id": "K255",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "What does the Federal Constitution guarantee to every canton?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A resident population large enough to fill its National Council seats",
      "B": "The right to maintain its own armed force",
      "C": "Equal treatment, and the right to create its own cantonal constitution",
      "D": "A minimum of two seats in the Council of States"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "Cantons enjoy significant autonomy. The Federal Constitution ensures that all cantons are treated equally, and they all have the right to create their own cantonal constitutions.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Option D is the mirror-image error: cantonal equality does not mean equal upper-chamber weight — the former half-cantons have one seat, not two. Cantonal sovereignty here is constitutional, not military (option B)."
  },
  {
    "id": "K256",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "In practice, what does it mean that Switzerland is a federal state?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Political power is vested in the Confederation, which may delegate powers downwards",
      "B": "Political power is shared by the Confederation, the cantons and the communes, each with its own role in governing",
      "C": "Political power alternates between the cantons and the communes in each region",
      "D": "Political power is shared between the Confederation and the cantons only"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S025",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch.ch/en/political-system/operation-and-organisation-of-switzerland/federalism/",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland is a federal state. In practice this means that political power is shared by the Confederation, the cantons and the communes. Each level has its own special role to play in governing.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Option A is the unitary/devolution model used by the UK, and D drops the communes from the three-level structure. Complements K078, which tests which level holds residual competence."
  },
  {
    "id": "K258",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Under what condition is Romansh an official language of the Confederation?",
    "options": {
      "A": "When communicating with persons who speak Romansh",
      "B": "Only in dealings with the canton of Graubünden",
      "C": "Whenever a canton has declared Romansh an official cantonal language",
      "D": "In all federal legislation and in all official correspondence"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S047",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/romansh",
    "source_quote": "Romansh is also an official language of the Confederation when communicating with persons who speak Romansh.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "The condition is linguistic, not territorial — this is precisely why K075's cantonal-conditional framing is wrong. Pairs with the semi-official status at K075 and the national-language status at K061."
  },
  {
    "id": "K259",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Which two Swiss cities are officially bilingual?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Basel and Zurich",
      "B": "Geneva and Lausanne",
      "C": "Biel/Bienne and Fribourg",
      "D": "Lucerne and Zug"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S047",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/romansh",
    "source_quote": "Three cantons (Bern, Fribourg and Valais) and two cities (Biel/Bienne and Fribourg) are officially bilingual.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The bilingual city layer is unclaimed territory; the bilingual canton layer is asked at K248 (S028) and K262 (S029). The double-name form Biel/Bienne is itself the signal of the French-German pairing."
  },
  {
    "id": "K260",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to the Swiss federal information portal quoted in the source file, what share of the population primarily speaks Romansh?",
    "options": {
      "A": "8 per cent",
      "B": "0.5 per cent",
      "C": "23 per cent",
      "D": "62 per cent"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S047",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/en/romansh",
    "source_quote": "62 per cent of the population primarily speak (Swiss-)German, 23 per cent French, 8 per cent Italian and 0.5 per cent Romansh.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Same sentence as K068, which asks for the German share with these values as distractors; this item tests Romansh's own figure, which is the smallest by an order of magnitude and the one models inflate. Switzerland Tourism (S028) prints the same 0.5 %."
  },
  {
    "id": "K261",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "What is the most populous commune in Switzerland?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The city of Basel",
      "B": "The city of Geneva",
      "C": "The city of Lausanne",
      "D": "The city of Zurich, where around 437,000 people live"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S029",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/foederalismus",
    "source_quote": "The most populous commune is the city of Zurich, where around 437,000 people live.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Mirror image of K077 (least populous commune, Kammersrohr in Solothurn). A city can be a commune: Zurich's 437,000 residents are counted in the communal tier, which is where non-experts get the Swiss structure wrong. Population figure is year-dependent."
  },
  {
    "id": "K262",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many cantons are officially multilingual, and how many official languages does Graubünden have?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Four cantons are officially multilingual; Graubünden has three",
      "B": "Three cantons are officially multilingual; Graubünden has three",
      "C": "Four cantons are officially multilingual; Graubünden has two",
      "D": "Six cantons are officially multilingual; Graubünden has three"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S029",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/foederalismus",
    "source_quote": "4 cantons are officially multilingual: Bern, Fribourg and Valais have two official languages, Graubünden even has three.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Two-part item: the count of officially multilingual cantons and Graubünden's three official languages. Option B forgets Graubünden in the count, C collapses the trilingual canton to bilingual, D double-counts the half-cantons. The bilingual-canton set alone is asked at K248 via S028."
  },
  {
    "id": "K263",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Since when has Switzerland been a federal state?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1499",
      "B": "1914",
      "C": "1979",
      "D": "1848"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S029",
    "source_url": "https://www.ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/foederalismus",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland, which is also referred to as the Swiss Confederation, has been a federal state since 1848.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "1499 is the founding date of the Old Swiss Confederacy, 1979 the admission of Jura. S030 states the same date; this item is attributed to CH Info to keep one item per source fact."
  },
  {
    "id": "K265",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "How many chambers does a cantonal parliament have, and is it called the same thing in every canton?",
    "options": {
      "A": "One chamber, and it is known by different names in different cantons",
      "B": "Two chambers, and it is called the cantonal council everywhere",
      "C": "One chamber, always called the cantonal parliament",
      "D": "Two chambers in the larger cantons and one in the smaller"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "Cantonal parliaments have one chamber and are known by different names in different cantons.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Unicamerality plus varying nomenclature is the unclaimed half of the source sentence; the government-size-and-election half is asked at K071. The federal bicameralism (National Council / Council of States) is a different structure entirely."
  },
  {
    "id": "K266",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "Who approves a canton's own constitution?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The Federal Council, after consulting the Federal Supreme Court",
      "B": "The canton's communes, at a cantonal assembly",
      "C": "The federal parliament",
      "D": "The cantonal people, in a popular vote"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "Each canton of Switzerland, including Zürich, Basel, and Nidwalden, has its own constitution approved by the federal parliament.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Creation is cantonal (K255), approval is federal parliamentary. Option A confuses parliament with the Federal Council, and D imports the referendum logic of constitutional change at federal level. SWI is a broadcaster, not a ministerial source; treat the statement as reported, not as settled law."
  },
  {
    "id": "K267",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "SWI swissinfo.ch describes the 26 Swiss cantons and half-cantons as what in its account of how authority is shared?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Cantons of the Confederation, subordinate to the federal government",
      "B": "Provinces of the Swiss Confederation",
      "C": "Autonomous municipalities grouped into cantons",
      "D": "Federal states"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S030",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/cantons-and-municipalities/29289028",
    "source_quote": "Authority is shared between the Confederation (central state), the 26 Swiss cantons and half-cantons (federal states) and the 2,121 smaller local communes, or municipalities.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "'Federal states' is the source's own parenthetical describing the cantons, and it is the concept models miss by defaulting to 'cantons are administrative regions of a unitary state' (options A and C). It is a description of Swiss constitutional status, not EU membership. Complements K256, which asks what the three-way sharing means."
  },
  {
    "id": "K269",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to Switzerland Tourism, what is Switzerland's population density?",
    "options": {
      "A": "215 inhabitants per square kilometre",
      "B": "8.9 inhabitants per square kilometre",
      "C": "76 inhabitants per square kilometre",
      "D": "437 inhabitants per square kilometre"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S027",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/geography",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland has a population of 8.9 million. The population density is high at 215 inhabitants per square kilometre.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Option B is the population in millions misread as a density, D is Zurich's population in thousands, C is the result of dividing by total area twice. Density is national-average only — the Alps hold just 10 per cent of the population (K079). Figures are date-dependent."
  },
  {
    "id": "K270",
    "category": "geography",
    "question": "According to Switzerland Tourism, what area counts as Switzerland's productive area — the land without lakes, rivers or vegetation?",
    "options": {
      "A": "41,285 km²",
      "B": "10,532 km²",
      "C": "30 753 km²",
      "D": "8,900 km²"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S027",
    "source_url": "https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/planning/about-switzerland/general-facts/facts-about-switzerland/geography",
    "source_quote": "The productive area - i.e. the area without lakes, rivers, unproductive vegetation and without any vegetation - covers 30 753 km².",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Option A is the total national area (41,285 km²) and is the confident wrong pick, because 'productive area' sounds like it should be the whole country. Option D transposes the population figure of 8.9 million. The source's own definition is partly circular ('unproductive vegetation and without any vegetation'), reproduced in the stem so the definition is not misstated."
  },
  {
    "id": "K271",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "According to the Federal Chancellery, what did the Federal Treaty of 1815 do to the various federal alliances that had grown up in Switzerland over the centuries?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It dissolved them and replaced them with a Helvetian Republic administered from Paris.",
      "B": "It brought them together into a single confederation of states.",
      "C": "It turned them into 22 sovereign cantons with full legislative independence.",
      "D": "It placed them under the joint administration of the Allied powers."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S050",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "The Federal Treaty of 1815 brought together the various federal alliances into a single confederation of states.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Distractor A imports the 1798 Helvetian Republic and is the standard European-generalities error; C assumes a unitary cantonal state that did not exist; D is the 'Switzerland was a puppet' reflex. The 1815 instrument consolidated alliances, it did not dissolve them."
  },
  {
    "id": "K273",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "How did the architects of the Swiss constitution of 1848 understand Swiss neutrality?",
    "options": {
      "A": "As a tool for maintaining the country's independence.",
      "B": "As a legal obligation imposed from abroad by the Congress of Vienna.",
      "C": "As a temporary arrangement to be renounced once the territory was secure.",
      "D": "As an inherited privilege of the Swiss Confederation's three founding cantons."
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S050",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "For the architects of the Swiss constitution of 1848, neutrality was a tool for maintaining the country's independence.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "B and C are the two textbook misreadings - that neutrality was externally imposed, or that it was a wartime expedient. The quote is from the swissinfo.ch neutrality page recorded verbatim inside the S050 file, so it is the broadcaster's reading of 1848, not settled constitutional scholarship. A neutral state operates a legal status; it is not the recipient of a favour."
  },
  {
    "id": "K275",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Why did the Swiss government rule out membership when the United Nations was founded in 1945?",
    "options": {
      "A": "It saw the organisation as dominated by the former Axis powers.",
      "B": "It saw the organisation as incompatible with neutrality.",
      "C": "It saw the organisation as incompatible with Switzerland's membership of the European Free Trade Association.",
      "D": "It saw the organisation as incompatible with Switzerland's federal structure."
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S049",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/moving-towards-the-un-in-slow-motion/291972",
    "source_quote": "When the UN was founded in 1945, the Swiss government ruled out membership. It saw the organisation as incompatible with neutrality.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "C and D are invented but sound like constitutional reasoning, which is what makes them dangerous. A is the generic bloc-politics default. swissinfo.ch is the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, not a federal page, so the item is framed as what the source states; no date for a later policy reversal is asserted."
  },
  {
    "id": "K276",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "According to swissinfo.ch, from what date has Switzerland held observer status in the main organs of the United Nations?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1945",
      "B": "1992",
      "C": "2002",
      "D": "1948"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S049",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/moving-towards-the-un-in-slow-motion/291972",
    "source_quote": "Switzerland has enjoyed observer status in the main organs of the UN since 1948.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "1945 (UN founding) and 2002 (accession) are the two dates a model reaches for by default; 1992 is the EEA rejection year borrowed from S041. Observer status from 1948 sits in the gap between them and is the least guessable of the four."
  },
  {
    "id": "K277",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "When the UN General Assembly accepted Switzerland as its 190th member state in 2002, which state did that leave as the only one outside the United Nations?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the Vatican",
      "B": "Liechtenstein",
      "C": "the Sovereign Order of Malta",
      "D": "Monaco"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S049",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/moving-towards-the-un-in-slow-motion/291972",
    "source_quote": "On September 10, 2002, the UN General Assembly in New York accepted Switzerland as the 190th member state. This left the Vatican as the only state outside the United Nations.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Liechtenstein is the classic wrong answer - a microstate wedged between Switzerland and Austria that is also outside the UN. C and D are real non-member states but were never the last one out. Note the two-step reasoning: accession as the 190th member is what produced the claim about the Vatican."
  },
  {
    "id": "K278",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "On what date did Swiss voters first reject a national initiative on joining the United Nations, before the successful 2002 vote?",
    "options": {
      "A": "16 March 1975",
      "B": "1 February 1959",
      "C": "3 March 1992",
      "D": "16 March 1986"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S049",
    "source_url": "https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/moving-towards-the-un-in-slow-motion/291972",
    "source_quote": "At the ballot box on March 16, 1986 they clearly rejected the initiative.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "C borrows the day-and-month pattern of the successful 2002 vote and pairs it with the wrong year (1992 is the EEA rejection); A shifts the year by a decade; B is the rejected 1959 federal women's suffrage vote from S040, a cross-domain confusion a non-expert would make confidently."
  },
  {
    "id": "K279",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Which previous Federal Constitution did the total revision approved in 1999 replace?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the Federal Constitution of 12 September 1848",
      "B": "the partial revision of 1866",
      "C": "the Federal Constitution of 29 May 1874",
      "D": "the Federal Treaty of 1815"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S048",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "It replaced the previous Federal Constitution of 29 May 1874",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "A is the near-universal wrong answer because 1848 is the constitution that established the federal state, but that text had already been overtaken by the 1874 total revision. B is a partial revision, not a superseded constitution. The quote is from the parlament.ch Federal Constitution page recorded verbatim inside the S048 file."
  },
  {
    "id": "K280",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "On what date did the third Federal Constitution, approved by voters in 1999, come into force?",
    "options": {
      "A": "29 May 1875",
      "B": "18 April 1999",
      "C": "1 January 1999",
      "D": "1 January 2000"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S048",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "It came into force on 1 January 2000.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "The approval date (18 April 1999) is distractor B and is already used as the answer in K117 - the gap between approval and entry into force is the whole trap. D pairs the 1874 constitution with the wrong effective year."
  },
  {
    "id": "K281",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Which federal democratic instrument was introduced by the first total revision of the Federal Constitution, which came into force in 1874?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the popular initiative",
      "B": "the referendum at federal level",
      "C": "the election of the Federal Council by popular vote",
      "D": "the cantonal right to legislate on foreign affairs"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S048",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "The first total revision came into force in 1874. It introduced wider powers for the federal government and gave more democratic rights to the electorate. This total revision also introduced the referendum at federal level.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Distractor A is the single most-swapped fact in Swiss direct democracy: the popular initiative came in 1891, seventeen years after the referendum. C and D are inventions that sound federal. ch-info.swiss gives both years in the same passage."
  },
  {
    "id": "K282",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "By what majorities did the people and the cantons approve the 1999 total revision of the Federal Constitution?",
    "options": {
      "A": "59.2% of the people and 20 out of 26 cantons",
      "B": "50.5% of the people and 13 out of 26 cantons",
      "C": "59.2% of the people and 14 out of 26 cantons",
      "D": "59.2% of the people and 14 out of 22 cantons"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S048",
    "source_url": "https://ch-info.swiss/en/die-schweiz/geschichte",
    "source_quote": "This total revision was approved by the People and the cantons on 18 April 1999 by majorities of 59.2% and 14 out of 26 cantons respectively.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "14 of 26 cantons is a cantonal majority but a much thinner one than the 59.2% popular majority, and models overstate it as a landslide. Distractors A and D each inflate the cantonal or dilute the denominator. Quote is from the parlament.ch page embedded in the S048 file; K117 already used this passage for the date."
  },
  {
    "id": "K283",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Henry Dunant, one of the five members who met in Geneva in February 1863, had published a book the year before. What was it called?",
    "options": {
      "A": "A Souvenir of Solferino",
      "B": "Un Souvenir de Solferino",
      "C": "A Memory of Solferino",
      "D": "The Battle of Solferino"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S042",
    "source_url": "https://www.icrc.org/en/document/history-icrc",
    "source_quote": "Among its five members was a local man named Henry Dunant who, the year before, had published a book (A Souvenir of Solferino) calling for improved care for wounded soldiers in wartime.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "B is the original French title and C a plausible anglicisation, so both are confidently reachable; D is the battle itself rather than the account of it. The source gives the English form. Note the ICRC page deliberately does not describe the emblem as an inverse of the Swiss flag, so that claim is not asserted here either."
  },
  {
    "id": "K284",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Where and when was the first national Red Cross society established?",
    "options": {
      "A": "in the German State of Württemberg in November 1863",
      "B": "in the German State of Württemberg in November 1864",
      "C": "in the Kingdom of Saxony in November 1863",
      "D": "in the Austrian Empire in November 1863"
    },
    "correct_answer": "A",
    "source_id": "S042",
    "source_url": "https://www.icrc.org/en/document/history-icrc",
    "source_quote": "Over the following 50 years, the ICRC expanded its work while national societies were established (the first in the German State of Württemberg in November 1863) and the Geneva Convention was adapted to include warfare at sea.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "The date is the trap: the ICRC's own first meeting (February 1863) and the first Geneva Convention (August 1864) bracket the true November 1863. Württemberg, Saxony and the Austrian Empire are all plausible German-speaking states of the period; only Württemberg is named by the source."
  },
  {
    "id": "K285",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The fourth Geneva Convention, agreed in 1949 at the ICRC's initiative, covered which category of person?",
    "options": {
      "A": "wounded and sick on the battlefield",
      "B": "prisoners of war",
      "C": "victims of war at sea",
      "D": "civilians living under enemy control"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S042",
    "source_url": "https://www.icrc.org/en/document/history-icrc",
    "source_quote": "In 1949, at the ICRC's initiative, states agreed on the revision of the existing three Geneva Conventions (covering wounded and sick on the battlefield, victims of war at sea, prisoners of war) and the addition of a fourth: to protect civilians living under enemy control.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "Every distractor is the subject of one of the three existing conventions revised at the same moment, which is the standard conflation - the 1949 package was revision plus addition, not four new treaties. The ICRC's initiative, not a state's, is what makes this a specifically Swiss-driven step."
  },
  {
    "id": "K288",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Which states, together with the EU countries, form the European Economic Area?",
    "options": {
      "A": "The EFTA countries, Switzerland included",
      "B": "The EFTA countries, Switzerland excluded",
      "C": "All EFTA countries plus Switzerland and Liechtenstein",
      "D": "The EFTA countries together with the United Kingdom"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S041",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Together with the EU countries, the EFTA countries – excluding Switzerland – form the European Economic Area (EEA).",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Switzerland is an EFTA member and a Schengen member but sits outside the EEA as a direct consequence of the 1992 rejection, and models fold it in because of the EFTA membership. C double-counts Switzerland; D assumes the UK found a home in EFTA after leaving the EU. Source: Federal Chancellery brief guide 2024."
  },
  {
    "id": "K289",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "According to the Federal Chancellery's brief guide, where is the United Nations headquartered?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Main headquarters in Geneva, with European offices in New York and Vienna",
      "B": "Main headquarters in New York, with European headquarters in Geneva and Vienna",
      "C": "Main headquarters in New York, with European headquarters in Geneva only",
      "D": "Main headquarters in Vienna, with European offices in Geneva and New York"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S041",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Main headquarters in New York, European headquarters in Geneva and Vienna",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "A is the single most common UN error, produced by Geneva's weight as a diplomatic and humanitarian hub. C drops Vienna, which is easy to do because Vienna is usually attached to the IAEA rather than to the UN. The same source line also gives 194 member states and a 1945 founding, neither of which is asked here."
  },
  {
    "id": "K290",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "The Council of Europe was founded in 1949. In which year did Switzerland join it?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1955",
      "B": "1992",
      "C": "2002",
      "D": "1963"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S038",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "Council of Europe … Founded in 1949, Switzerland a member since 1963",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "C and D are the confident wrong answers, borrowed from the EEA rejection and the UN accession. A is a plausible mid-century guess. The Council of Europe is a Strasbourg-based treaty organisation and is not the EU's Council - the conflation that produces most of the noise here."
  },
  {
    "id": "K291",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "According to the Federal Chancellery's brief guide 2024, which four states are the members of the European Free Trade Association?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Finland",
      "B": "Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway",
      "C": "Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the United Kingdom",
      "D": "Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and Norway"
    },
    "correct_answer": "B",
    "source_id": "S038",
    "source_url": "https://www.bk.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/9OAKySUiPAfR/buku2024.pdf",
    "source_quote": "The European Free Trade Association promotes free trade between its members Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "Finland (B) is the trap - EFTA is Nordic-Baltic but not the Nordic Council, and a model that reasons 'Nordic countries' will reach for it. C assumes the UK found a home in EFTA after leaving the EU; D substitutes Austria on geographic proximity. Every member listed here is also a micro or small state, which the distractors break."
  },
  {
    "id": "K293",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "Which former special court was integrated into the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in 2007?",
    "options": {
      "A": "the Federal Criminal Court",
      "B": "the Federal Administrative Court",
      "C": "the Federal Banking Commission",
      "D": "the Federal Insurance Court (EVG)"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S039",
    "source_url": "https://www.bger.ch/files/live/sites/tfl/files/pdf/Divers/Flyer_150_Years_SFSC.pdf",
    "source_quote": "In 2007, the former Swiss Federal Insurance Court (EVG) was integrated into the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "A and B are still separate federal bodies, which is what makes them attractive; both also sound like plausible absorptions because they are real Swiss courts. The insurance appeals court is the one that was taken in, and its name is unlikely to be recalled unprompted. The same sentence attributes the strengthening of the Court's independence to the 1999 Constitution."
  },
  {
    "id": "K294",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "At the beginning of its existence, the nine federal judges working in the Casino de Derrière-Bourg were supported by how many court clerks?",
    "options": {
      "A": "forty",
      "B": "nine",
      "C": "two",
      "D": "twenty"
    },
    "correct_answer": "C",
    "source_id": "S039",
    "source_url": "https://www.bger.ch/files/live/sites/tfl/files/pdf/Divers/Flyer_150_Years_SFSC.pdf",
    "source_quote": "At the beginning of its existence, a total of nine federal judges worked in a room of the former casino, the 'Casino de Derrière-Bourg'. These regular judges were prohibited from engaging in any other activity. They were supported by two court clerks.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "medium",
    "notes": "D is the modern number of federal judges and about 175 is the present-day clerk count, so the confusable figures are both in the source; nine is the judge count and B is the copy-across trap. The 1863 two-clerk detail is the kind of concrete number a model will never have."
  },
  {
    "id": "K297",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "At the 1971 federal vote on women's suffrage, roughly what share of men still voted no?",
    "options": {
      "A": "one tenth",
      "B": "one quarter",
      "C": "one half",
      "D": "one third"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S040",
    "source_url": "https://www.bar.admin.ch/en/womens-suffrage-in-switzerland",
    "source_quote": "Women’s dogged persistence, social liberalisation and pressure from abroad helped turn the tide, and in 1971 most men voted yes, with one third still in the 'no' camp.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "Deliberately paired with K110, which uses 33% as the distractor for the 1959 vote against; a model that swaps them has learned nothing about the sequence. The distinctive detail is that Switzerland passed only after most of Europe had already done so."
  },
  {
    "id": "K298",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "What made Switzerland an outlier when its first federal women's suffrage vote was held in 1959?",
    "options": {
      "A": "Women already had the vote in all six of the cantons that had piloted women's suffrage.",
      "B": "Women had not yet been given the vote anywhere in continental Europe.",
      "C": "Women already had the vote in all 26 of the Swiss cantons.",
      "D": "Women already had the vote across almost all of Europe."
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S040",
    "source_url": "https://www.bar.admin.ch/en/womens-suffrage-in-switzerland",
    "source_quote": "The first vote at federal level in 1959 failed by a large margin, with 67% of those who cast their ballots against. By that time, women had been given the vote across almost all of Europe.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "hard",
    "notes": "B and D are contradicted by the same page: the 1971 federal vote is what extended the right beyond the cantons, and Appenzell Innerrhoden lagged until 1991 (see S039). The real fact is the counterintuitive one - Switzerland trailed most of Europe on a question Europe had largely settled."
  },
  {
    "id": "K299",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "In which year was ETH Zurich given its present name, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1961",
      "B": "1855",
      "C": "1891",
      "D": "1911"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S043",
    "source_url": "https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/portrait/history/overview.html",
    "source_quote": "ETH Zurich was given its present name, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule), in 1911.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "1855 is the founding year and already the answer context in K116; 1891 is the year the Swiss popular initiative was introduced (S048); 1961 is the Hönggerberg item, K300. The page gives only four verified facts, so this source supplies just two items."
  },
  {
    "id": "K300",
    "category": "history",
    "question": "In which year did ETH Zurich begin the first stage of constructing its second site, on the Hönggerberg?",
    "options": {
      "A": "1911",
      "B": "1855",
      "C": "1969",
      "D": "1961"
    },
    "correct_answer": "D",
    "source_id": "S043",
    "source_url": "https://ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich/portrait/history/overview.html",
    "source_quote": "The university grew steadily and in 1961 it embarked on the first stage of constructing its second site on the Hönggerberg, on the outskirts of Zurich.",
    "language": "en",
    "difficulty": "easy",
    "notes": "B and C are the two other dates the same page supplies, and D is a plausible end-of-the-decades guess. The Hönggerberg detail matters because ETH is commonly assumed to have been a single downtown campus from 1855, which is the Swiss-education version of the European-generalities default."
  }
]