6th January 2009

Specialist Questions

 

Set by the NewCastle.

Vetted by Waters Green Phoenix

& Sutton Church House

 

 

Rounds

 

1 The Hair Bear Bunch

2 Women in Sport

3 Geography

4 Science

5 Picture Round

6 What a Carry On

7 Credit Crunch Blues

8 Horrible History

 

 

1 The Hair Bear Bunch

 Just identify the person or persons from the follicle related clues.

 1. Tousle haired politician’s wife who on 3rd May 1997 redefined the ‘morning after look’ for decades to come.

            Cherie Blair

2. Wild haired physicist who in later years, after emigrating to the US, got particularly shaggy.

            Albert Einstein

3. Celebrated, goggled eyed, Italian referee, who in his black strip was easily mistaken for a coot.

            Pierluigi Collina

4. Dyslexic British Olympian slaphead, whose alopecia universalis gave him an advantage in the swimming pool.

            Duncan Goodhew

5. Black Columbian footy star who delighted audiences everywhere with his bleached blonde afro, if not his football. The original Hair Bear!

            Carlos Valderama

6. Diamond Lights Tottenham pretty boys, rolled up sleeves on their sparkly jackets, all topped off with eye watering mullets.

            Either Chris Waddle or Glen Hoddle

7. Wishing (I had a photograph of you), I ran all the way to the barbers to ensure my new haircut would obscure all vision from one eye just like this 80s electronic band.

            Mike Score was the hair cut, but accept also the band ‘A Flock of Seagulls’.

8. Marvellously moustachioed 80s US rock trio with burgeoning beards to match. All apart from the incongruously named drummer, Frank Beard, who was clean shaven.

                        Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill had the facial hair, but accept also the band ‘ZZ Top’.

            Supplementaries:        

 

S1 British Triple jumper whose ever changing, multi-coloured coifure is as variable as his form.

                        Phillips Idowu

S2 So called style guru, but with his pudding basin barnet it’s a wonder anybody would trust him to make them look good at all, never mind naked!

                        Gok Wan

 

2 Women in Sport

 1. In 1977, Charlotte Brew became the first women to do what?     

Ride in the Grand National

2. In 1983 Jenny Pitman became the first female trainer of a Grand National winner.  What was the name of the winning horse?

Corbiere

3. Which football team won the Women’s FA Cup Final in May 2008?       

Arsenal

4. Who won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1977?

                        Virginia Wade

5. In which sport did the British team of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics?

            Sailing or yachting (Yngling class)

 

6 Which British Paralympian won the London Marathon six times between 1992 and 2002?

            Tanni Grey-Thompson

7. Who won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1987, partnering Jeremy Bates?        

Jo Durie

8. Name either of the mother and daughter pair who have both won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year?                 

Princess Anne or  Zara Phillips

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 In which sport did the British team of Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington win a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics?

                        Rowing (Women’s double sculls)

S2 Who is the English professional pool player and former professional snooker player known as “The Duchess of Doom”?Allison Fisher

 

 

3 Geography

 

 

 

1. Where would one find terminal moraine?

            At the end of a Glacier (it is glacial debris deposited at the snout of a glacier)

 

2. In 1996 which Indian city took the Tamil name Chennai?

Madras

3. Which is the only country that straddles both the equator, and the tropic of capricorn?

            Brazil

4. Two countries in the world have cities that are called London and are bisected

by a River Thames. England is one, which is the other?

            Canada (South West Ontario)

 

5. In which ocean would you be if you were at the geographical position 0 degrees

latitude and 0 degrees longitude?

            South Atlantic (Accept Atlantic)

6 What is the largest country in the world that for political reasons, occupies a single time zone, although its size would warrant more?

            China (Before 1949 it used had 5 zones)

7. Excluding islands, which English county has 2 unconnected separate coastlines?

            Devon

8. In 1991 the USSR dissolved into 15 republics of which Russia is the largest by land

area, which is the second largest?      

Khazakhstan

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 Ajaccio is the main town of which Meditterrenean island?

                        Corsica/Corse

S2 Which country takes its name from the latin for silver?

                        Argentina

 

 

4 Science

 

The answers in this round are all well-known winners of the Nobel Prize in one of the branches of science.  You will be given a year, the prize they won and the citation for their award. Please supply the name.

 

1. Already a winner for Physics, winner of The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911: "In recognition of … services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element"

            Marie Curie

2. 1903, Physics. Jointly with the Curies : “"in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity"

            Antoine Henri Becquerel

3. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908: "For his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances"

            Ernest Rutherford

 4. 1901, The Nobel Prize in Physics:

"In recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him"

            Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen

5. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962

"For their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material" Name any of the 3 joint winners?  Francis Harry Compton Crick, James Dewey Watson, or  Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins

 6 The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922, Danish Physicist -

"For his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them"

            Niels Bohr

 7. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1918,

"In recognition of the services he rendered to the advancement of Physics by his discovery of energy quanta"

            Max Planck

8. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921

“For his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect"   

Albert Einstein

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945, together with Ernst Boris Chain and Sir Howard Walter Florey:

"for the discovery of penecillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases"          Alexander Fleming

S2 The Nobel Prize in Physics 1975, the son of a previous winner of the Physics prize, won jointly with Ben Roy Mottelson and Leo James Rainwater

"for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection"                      

Aage Niels Bohr (son of Niels Bohr)

 

 

5 Picture Round 

 

You will be given a picture which graphically represents the title of a pop song. Simply name the song from the clues provided……

(the pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/NickPeck/Jan6thPictureRound#)

 

 

1.         Sweet dreams (are made of this)

2.         Should I stay or should I go?

 3.         My way

4.         When doves cry

5.         I don’t want to talk about it

6          He ain’t heavy he’s my brother

7.         Don’t cry for me Argentina

8.         All you need is love

 

            Supplementaries:

S1        I would do anything for love (but I won’t do that)

S2        I’m too sexy

S3        Ironic

 

 

6 What a Carry On

 

To celebrate over 50 years of high brow entertainment, this round is based round the Carry On films. Each answer is the name of a Carry on film.

 

1. "Infamy Infamy, they've all got it in for me" is a classic line from which film?

            Carry on Cleo

2. Which Carry on film took it name from a soft porn series of films, and starred Suzanne

Danielle?

            Carry on Emmannuelle

3. The story of a Wundatours trip to the Spanish resort of Elsbels, where they find an unfinished hotel?   Carry on Abroad

 

4. Two plumbers Sid Boggle & Bernie Lugg, take their girlfriends to Paradise run by money grabbing farmer Fiddler?

            Carry on Camping

5. Set in the province of Khalabar, Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond is the Governor, and the province is defended by the 3rd foot and Mouth regiment?

            Carry on up the Kyber (Actually filmed in Snowdonia)

 

6 District Councillor Sid Fiddler proposes a beauty contest to boost tourism to the seaside resort of Fircombe, whereupon they run into problems with women's libbers?

             Carry on Girls

7. There were 4 Carry on films bearing the names of medical staff, Carry on Nurse, Carry on Doctor and Carry on Doctor Again were three, which was the fourth?

            Carry on Matron (Starring Sid as Sid Carter)

8. A spoof horror film released in 1966 with the gothic atmosphere of a Hammer Horror production, famous for the line "Frying Tonight". Which film?                 Carry on Screaming

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 Known as "Carry on Round the Bend" outside the UK, this film involved union troubles  at a lavatory factory W.C. Boggs & Son?

                        Carry on at your Convenience

S2 A send up of the Tarzan genre involving an expedition to darkest Africa. They search for the rare Oozlum Bird which is said to fly in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up it own rear end.

            Carry on up the Jungle

           

7 Credit Crunch Blues

 

1. The failure of Landsbanki is causing uncertainty for which premier league club?

            West Ham United (Club & bank are owned by the same person)

2. The Government overruled the Office of Fair Trading to allow the purchase of HBOS by whom?

            Lloyds TSB

3. Who is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve?

            Ben Bernanke

4. Who is the Governor of the Bank of England?

            Mervyn King

5. The permitted failure and subsequent closure of which US Investment Bank was one on the early sparks of the crisis?

            Lehman Brothers

6. How would either the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or the Federal National Mortgage Association be better known?

            Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae respectively. (Either answer will do)

7. Which once respected investor was placed under house arrest in December 2008, following the disclosure that his investment company was a massive fraud to the tune of 50 billion dollars?

            Bernard Madoff

8. Which US Insurance company got an $85bn loan in return for 80% of its shares?

            AIG

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 Who is the US Treasury Secretary?

            Henry ‘Hank’ Paulson

S2 In order to save it, US investment bank Bear Sterns was merged with which other US bank?

            JP Morgan

 

 

                                                8 Horrible History

           

With thanks to The Horrible History books of Terry Deary…

  

1. The Angry Aztecs were eventually defeated and their Empire destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 under which leader?

            Hernan Cortes

2. What did Terrible Tudor Edward VI finally die of added 16?

            TB or Tuberculosis

3. Which Terrible Tudor gave their name to a popular cocktail after a 5 year Reign of Terror?

            Mary Tudor / Mary I (The cocktail was the Bloody Mary) 

4. The Angry Aztecs were symbolically united in marriage by joining the cloak of the groom to the blouse of the bride. To what expression, still used today, die this give rise?

            Tying the Knot

5. According to legend, The Groovy Greek playwright, Aeschylus reportedly died after having what dropped on his head by a passing eagle?

            A tortoise

6. The Rotten Roman Emperor Caligula appointed his dear friend Incitatus as Consul. What was unusual about the appointment? 

Incitatus was a horse!

7. Which Terrible Tudor uttered the dying words “All my Possessions for a Moment of Time”

            Elizabeth I

8. Which Groovy Greek helped draw up the 1st Athenian law book under which criminals could be executed for stealing an apple or being found guilty of idleness?

            Draco (Draconian law)

 

            Supplementaries:      

 

S1 Which Groovy Greek invented the “Camera Obscura” in approximately 330BC?

            Aristotle

S2 What is the name of the passageway beneath the seats of an amphitheatre that allowed Rotten Romans to spew out at the end of a performance?                    

Vomitorium

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Knowledge Questions

 

6th January 2009

 

 

Set by the NewCastle.

Vetted by Waters Green Phoenix

& Sutton Church House

 

 

 

Q1       Which American store chain is named after a character in Moby Dick?

            Starbucks

Q2       Which prophet at the time of King Ahab ascended to heaven on a fiery chariot?

            Elijah (NOT Elisha!).

Q3       Complete this quotation from Voltaire: 'If god did not exist...'?   

    '...it would be necessary to invent him.'

Q4       Which is the most southerly state of India?

            Tamil Nadu

Q5       Abu Dhabi is the major one of the seven Emirates in the UAE, name any of the other six? Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah or Umm al Qaiwain

Q6       How many books are there in the Bible (Old and New Testament)?

            66 (no leeway)

Q7       From which famous book is this the first line: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.?

            Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Q8       The Grasmere car dealership at Lyme Green, Macclesfield deals in Vauxhalls and what other make of car?

            Skoda

Q9       Which operating system from Microsoft is being lined up as the successor to Vista?

            Windows 7

Q10     How did Lee McQueen become famous in 2008?     

He won BBC1's The Apprentice 3

Q11     The Playstation3, the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360 consoles all have different microprocessors designed and manufactured by the same company. Which company?

            IBM

Q12     What title named after a region, was given to the eldest son of the king of France?

            Dauphin

Q13     Which Greek hero cut off the head of Medusa the Gorgon?

            Perseus

Q14     Who was the last French winner of the Tour De France?     

Bernard Hinault (1985).

Q15     Who is the MP for Normanton in West Yorkshire?

            Ed Balls

Q16     Moore's Law describes how the number of transistors that can be placed on a computer chip doubles roughly every two years. Of which major computing company was Gordon Moore co-founder and chairman?

            Intel

Q17     As well as the Ashes series against Austrailia, which other cricker team will tour England this year?

            West Indies

Q18     Which Tory MP had his parliamentary office searched in November 2008 by police officers, to massive uproar?

            Damian Green

Q19     There are only two elements that are liquids at standard temperature and pressure (0 degrees C and one atmosphere), name either?

            Mercury or Bromine

Q20     Who will be replacing Terry Wogan as the BBC's commentator for the Eurovision Song contest in 2009?

            Graham Norton

Q21     Which actress, who died last month, played Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine?

            Kathy Staff

Q22     A department store has been confirmed as part of the Macclesfield town centre redevelopment, which is the store?

            Debenhams

Q23     C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre - it is magnificent, but it is not war is a  quotation from Marshal Pierre Bosquet commenting on what?

            The charge of the Light Brigade

Q24     Which Club did Michael Owen play for prior to Newcastle?

            Real Madrid

Q25     Which Russian submarine sank in the Barents sea in August 2000, with the loss of 118 lives?

            Kursk

Q26     On which Greek Island can the Gorge of Samaria be found?

            Crete

Q27     What did Andrew Strauss achieve on 14th December 2008 that only 9 other Englishmen have achieved?            Scored a second hundred in the same Test Match (a hundred in each innings).

Q28     Who wrote the novel Love for Lydia?

            H E Bates

Q29     Which playwright wrote 'Glengarry Glen Ross' as well as screenplays for 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', 'The Verdict', 'The Untouchables' and 'House of Games' (which he also directed)?

            David Mamet.

Q30     A sequence of numbers in which each number is the sum of the previous two numbers in the sequence is known as what?

            Fibonnaci (sequence)

Q31     Who was the Australian environmentalist known as The Crocodile Hunter who was killed by a stingray in 2006?

            Steve Irwin

Q32     Name one of the two main Swiss assisted suicide organisations that controversially help large numbers of people with incurable illnesses to die?

            Dignitas or EXIT

Q33     In The Archers how is Felicity Finch better known?

            Ruth Archer

Q34     Which is the most northerly Scottish Whisky distillery?

            Highland Park

Q35     Which WW2 tank was sometimes called a 'Ronson' (after the cigarette lighter) by its crews or 'Tommy cooker' by the Germans due to its unpleasant tendency to burst into flames when hit; a result of its petrol rather than a safer diesel engine?

            Sherman

Q36     Which celebrity mother has children called Harvey, Junior and Princess Tiaamii?

            Jordan/Katie Price

Q37     Which celebrity father has children called Little Pixie, Fifi Trixiebelle and Peaches Honeyblossom?

            Bob Geldof

Q38     What South American country is named after an Italian city?           Venezuela (Little Venice)

Q39     Siddartha Gautama is better known to us as who?

            The Buddha

Q40     How did Jane and Simon Hughes become famous in 2008? 

They featured in the Channel 4 programme The Family

Q41     In which country would you find both the rivers Oder and Vistula, which flow into the Baltic Sea?

            Poland

Q42     To which flower family does garlic belong?

            Lily

Q43     Which Mancunian Indie band produced albums entitled Gold Mother, Laid and Whiplash?

            James

Q44     What is the name of the new local radio station, broadcast from Clarence Mill in Bollington?

            Canalside Community Radio

Q45     In which country was the December 2008 UN Climate Summit held?

            Poland (Poznan)

Q46     What was the main US battle tank in the second Gulf War?

            M1 Abrams

Q47     Which course will stage this year's Open Golf (British Open to the Americans)?

            Turnberry.

Q48     Who is the MP for Fife North East?   Menzies (Ming) Campbell

Q49     Name King Ahab's wicked queen whose name is now synonymous with wicked or wanton women everywhere.

            Jezebel.

Q50     St Johnstone play their home games in which city?

            Perth

Q51     Which caring mother from Dewsbury was convicted in December 2008 of kidnapping and falsely imprisoning her own daughter?

            Karen Matthews

Q52     The factorial of a number is denoted by what symbol?

            ! Exclamation mark

Q53     Which bird is the mascot for the Linux computer operating system?

            Penguin (called Tux)

Q54     Who was the wife of Robert Schumann and a renowned concert pianist in her own right?

            Clara

Q55     Which variety of citrus fruit takes its name from a city in Morocco?            

Tangerine (After Tangiers the port which first exported tangerines to Europe)

Q56     The Orinoco forms a 200mile border between two S. American countries, name either?

            Colombia or Venezuela

Q57     In December 2008 which film become the highest-grossing film of all time at the UK box office?

            Mamma Mia! (overtaking Titanic)

Q58     As of Dec 2008, three airlines have taken delivery of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, name one of the airlines?

            Singapore Airlines, Emirates or Quantas

Q59     What name is given to the notorious tidal current in the Lofoten islands off northern Norway?

            Maelstrom

Q60     What was Sven Goran Erikson's next managers job after leaving England?

            Manchester City

Q61     Honda has announced its intention to withdraw from F1, name either of its two main drivers facing redundancy?

            Jensen Button or Rubens Barrichello

Q62     On Radio 4 who presents Ramblings?

            Clare Balding

Q63     What is the name given to the change in frequency and wavelength of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the waves?

            The Doppler effect/ Shift

Q64     In Dec 2008, Where were Des and Carol replaced by Jeff & Rachel?          Countdown (Des O'Connor, Carol Vordeman, Jeff Stelling, Rachel Riley)

Q65     What is the first birth to be recounted in the Bible?

            Cain

Q66     Which American cartoon series stars the Griffins: Brian, Lois, Peter, Stewie, Chris & Meg?

            Family Guy

Q67     Which brewery brews Hobgoblin, Wychcraft and Bah Humbug beers?

            Wychwood Brewery,

Q68     In Greek Mythology how are Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia better known?

            The Three Graces

Q69     Who duetted with Kenny Rogers on the 1987 hit Islands in the Stream?

            Dolly Parton

Q70     What was the Baghdad prison at the centre of the US military 'abuse of Iraqis' scandal?

            Abu Ghraib

Q71     What, in population terms, is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world?

            Mexico

Q72     What is the largest species of fish?

            Whale shark

Q73     Which city will host this year's Super Bowl?

            Tampa Florida

Q74     Which English town has waterways called The Backs?

            Cambridge

Q75     6 food colourings will be banned in the UK from 2009, due to worries about child behavioural problems. Name any of the three yellow colourings?

            E102 tartrazine or E110 sunset yellow or E104 quinoline yellow

Q76     What was the pen-name shared by the mystery authors Frederic Dannay and Manfred B Lee?

            Ellery Queen

Q77     What nationality was the composer Samuel Barber?

            American

Q78     Which Radio 4 Today presenter was controversially sacked, and then partially reinstated in December 2008 following an outcry?

            Ed Stourton

Q79     Which was the only one of the major Greek deities whose Roman equivalent had the same name?

            Apollo

Q80     Chelsea recently set a new record for the number of consecutive away wins in the top division with 11. Which team held the previous record?

            Tottenham (in 1960/61 season)

Q81     Which drink was named after its inventor rejected the first six names that were offererd?

            Seven-Up

Q82     The 12th labour of Hercules was to capture the dog that guarded Hades, the underworld.  Name the dog.

            Cerberus.

Q83     In 1997, Which British yachtsman survived for 5 days in his capsized boat during a single handed round-the-world race?

            Tony Bullimore

Q84     Who wrote the novel The Shell Seekers?

            Rosamunde Pilcher

Q85     Who stars as a bank manager in the Nationwide adverts, with the catchphrase “That's for brand new customers only”

            Mark Benton

Q86     What is the muscle called which lies in the upper arm, but at the back of the arm?

            Tricep

Q87     What is the name of the female dragon on BBC's Dragon's Den?

            Deborah Meaden

Q88     Name the island that lies between and roughly equidistant between the Shetland and Orkney Islands, and also is a shipping forecast area.

            Fair Isle

Q89     What is the name of the television transmitter situated near Bolton that provides Macclesfield with it's digital freeview services?

            Winter Hill

Q90     Which rockers recently released a greatest hits album entitled “Pictures - 40 years of hits”?

            Status Quo

Q91     Which common device was invented 40 years ago by Doug Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute in California?

            The computer mouse

Q92     Grand Teton National Park is contiguous with which other US national park?

            Yellowstone

Q93     The Great Smoky Mountains National Park lies in two US States; name either?

            Tennessee or North Carolina

Q94     Which is the last county that joined the Cricket County Championships, in 1992?

            Durham

Q95     Which German playwright's works include Mother Courage and her Children, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and The Threepenny Opera?

            Bertold Brecht

Q96     The largest specimen of which root vegetable was recently dug up in Lebanon weighing nearly 25 pounds?

            Potato

            Supplementaries         

S1        What was the Christian name of the composer Offenbach?

            Jacques

S2        On ITV's program the X factor, who replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge?

            Cheryl Cole

S3        From which book is the following the first line: It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.?

            1984 by George Orwell

S4        How was Farrokh Bulsara better known?

            Freddie Mercury

S5        Who was the father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a renowned composer in his own right?

            Leopold

S6        With whom did Elton John release a live version of 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me'? in 1991?

            George Michael

S7        At which racecourse is the Prix de L'Arc De Triomphe race run?

            Longchamps

S8        Queen of the South play their home games in which town?

            Dumfries