Macclesfield Quiz League

2008-9 season: Week Ten

10 February 2009

This week’s questions were set by the Ox-fford ‘C’.

Thanks to the Knot Inn and the Chester Road Tavern for their help in vetting them.  (We have taken the liberty of changing a few of the General Knowledge questions after vetting, mainly to make them more topical.)

The specialist rounds are:

1.                Arts & Entertainment

2.                Science

3.                History

4.                I can Sing a Rainbow

5.                Colours – in Black & White

6.                Valentines

7.                Sport

8.                Geography

Note: four of tonight’s questions (all in the General Knowledge section) use the word “currently”.  These facts were last checked yesterday – i.e. Monday 9^th February.

Our reference source for the vast majority of these questions is Wikipedia: the free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit (but perhaps unwisely, we don’t let that put us off!).

Round One: Arts & Entertainment

1.	Q	Whose painting Le Bateau (or The Boat) was reportedly hung upside down for 47 days in 1961 in the New York Museum of Modern Art?
	A	Henri Matisse
2.	Q	In which cult film does Paul McGann say, after receiving a frosty reception from some villagers, “That's not the attitude I'd been given to expect from the H. E. Bates novels I've read”?
	A	Withnail & I
3.	Q	How were Flanagan and Allen, Caryll and Mundy, Nervo and Knox, and sometimes “Monsewer” Eddie Gray, collectively known?
	A	The Crazy Gang
4.	Q	Which cartoon character had a sidekick called Musky the Muskrat?
	A	Deputy Dawg
5.	Q	Of which classic English novel is Becky Sharp the central character?
	A	Vanity Fair
6.	Q	Jack Worthing and Algy Moncrieff are the central characters of which play?
	A	The Importance of Being Earnest
7.	Q	Whose 11th and 12th symphonies are known respectively as The Year 1905 and The Year 1917?
	A	Dmitri Shostakovich
8.	Q	Which Shakespeare character delivers the soliloquy beginning “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” on learning of his wife’s death?
	A	Macbeth

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Who directed the Pink Panther films?
	A	Blake Edwards
10.	Q	What’s the popular name for the beginning of Act III of the second opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle?
	A	Ride of the Valkyries

Round Two: Science

1.	Q	The process of galvanisation involves coating with which element?
	A	Zinc
2.	Q	What is the largest artery in the human body, carrying blood from the heart to all parts of the body?
	A	The aorta
3.	Q	There are three types of lizard native to Great Britain.  The common lizard and the sand lizard are two of them; what’s the third?
	A	The slow worm (it is a lizard apparently, even though it has no legs!)
4.	Q	What word do meteorologists use to refer collectively to rain, snow, hail, et cetera?
	A	Precipitation
5.	Q	Which metallic element is the heaviest known substance (at room temperature) and is used in making pen nibs?
	A	Osmium
6.	Q	What’s the more common name for the plant calendula (ca-LEND-yoo-la)?
	A	Marigold
7.	Q	Which disease of the nervous system is often caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B1?
	A	Beri-Beri
8.	Q	Which household product is essentially made of hydrated magnesium silicate?
	A	Talcum powder (talc)

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Which constant, central to the theory of quantum mechanics, is represented by a lower case H (h)?
	A	The Planck constant
10.	Q	In the human body, what links the ear to the throat?
	A	The Eustachian tube

 

 

Round Three: History

1.	Q	Who nailed his so-called “95 theses” to the door of Wittenberg cathedral in 1521?
	A	Martin Luther
2.	Q	Berengaria of Navarre, the only Queen of England never to set foot in the country, was the consort of which King?
	A	Richard I (the Lionheart)
3.	Q	Who was executed in 1757 on board HMS Monarque?
	A	Admiral Byng (giving rise to Voltaire’s famous comment about the British shooting admirals from time to time “to encourage the others”)
4.	Q	Which British general died in battle on the Plains of Abraham in 1752?
	A	Wolfe
5.	Q	Which English king was defeated by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314?
	A	Edward II
6.	Q	What was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty?
	A	The Vatican City (as a sovereign state)
7.	Q	Which British prime minister resigned in 1782, following Britain’s defeat in the American War of Independence, and after losing the first ever vote of no confidence?
	A	Lord North (Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guildford)
8.	Q	Who served as prime minister of Great Britain from 1945 to 1951, between Winston Churchill’s two terms?
	A	Clement Atlee

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Which sovereign’s last speech to Parliament was dubbed “the Golden speech”?
	A	Elizabeth I
10.	Q	The Third Silesian War began in 1756; by what name is it better known?
	A	The Seven Years’ War

 

Round Four: I can Sing a Rainbow

This round is about songs that have colours in their titles or in their lyrics.

1.	Q	In December 2008, the song Hallelujah was both number one and number two in the UK chart.  The last time this happened was in 1957, when the artists were Tommy Steele and Guy Mitchell.  What was the song on that occasion?
	A	Singin’ the Blues
2.	Q	How did Lily the Pink become the saviour of the human race?
	A	She invented Medicinal Compound
3.	Q	Amarillo is Spanish for which colour?
	A	Yellow
4.	Q	Which Beatles song features ‘tangerine trees and marmalade skies’?
	A	Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
5.	Q	What green thing did the Lemon Pipers play in 1967?
	A	My green tambourine
6.	Q	Whose single and album Back to Black both reached number one in 2007?
	A	Amy Winehouse
7.	Q	Who wrote and originally recorded the UB40 hit Red Red Wine?
	A	Neil Diamond
8.	Q	Which Van Morrison song began: ‘Hey, where did we go, days when the rains came?’?
	A	Brown Eyed Girl

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Which song was the subject of a 2006 lawsuit between Matthew Fisher and Gary Brooker, nearly 40 years after it was a hit?
	A	A Whiter Shade of Pale
10.	Q	Which song did Tony Blair unsuccessfully try to suppress at Labour Party conferences?
	A	The Red Flag

Round Five: Colours – in Black & White

Note to question persons: this is a visual round.  Before starting, ask if any of the contestants is or are visually impaired; if anyone is, offer them (when it comes to their turn) one of the alternatives below.

You should have two copies of each picture.  Hand out one copy to each team simultaneously, one question at a time.

Now please read out the following paragraphs to the contestants!

The pictures can be seen in colour

After that most colourful round, we now have a round that you might think should also be in colour – but it isn’t.

You will be shown a picture of the flag, or “colours”, of a particular country; you have to name the country.  Just to make it more interesting (!), the pictures are in black & white; but hey – colour isn’t everything!

1.	Cyprus
2.	Libya (the only national flag with just one colour – it’s green.  But don’t read this out until the question has been answered!)
3.	India
4.	Nepal
5.	Switzerland
6.	Mexico
7.	Israel
8.	Lebanon

Alternatives (for visually impaired contestants)

1.	Q	Which country’s national flag is said to have been unchanged for the longest?
	A	Denmark (said to date from the 14th century)
2.	Q	Which European country’s flag has nine horizontal stripes, and a cross in a canton?
	A	Greece

Supplementaries

1.	South Africa
2.	Jamaica
3.	South Korea

 

Round Six: Valentines

1.	Q	In which 1957 film, also starring Frank Sinatra, did Kim Novak sing My Funny Valentine?
	A	Pal Joey (My Funny Valentine first appeared, along with The Lady is a Tramp, in the 1937 Rogers & Hart musical Babes in Arms)
2.	Q	Which 1977 TV drama series was based on the books of E. W. Hornung, and starred Anthony Valentine in the title role?
	A	Raffles
3.	Q	Who was the sworn enemy of Al Capone, and the intended victim of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?
	A	George Clarence “Bugs” Moran (not Malone!)
4.	Q	In the Grand National, what’s the name of the public road that’s crossed soon after Valentine’s Brook?
	A	Melling Road
5.	Q	The West Indies’ Alf Valentine was one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year in 1951.  Who was his even more famous spin bowling partner, their partnership immortalised in the famous Victory Calypso?
	A	Sonny Ramadhin (the chorus went, “With those two little pals of mine: Ramadhin and Valentine”)
6.	Q	Which King of England is believed to have starved to death in Pontefract Castle, on or around the 14th of February 1400?
	A	Richard II
7.	Q	Who played Shirley Valentine in the West End and on Broadway, as well as in the film?
	A	Pauline Collins
8.	Q	Hilton Valentine, born in North Shields in 1943, was the original guitarist with which 1960s pop group?
	A	The Animals (he gave us the classic instrumental introduction to House of the Rising Sun)

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Valentine and Proteus are the title characters in which Shakespeare play?
	A	Two Gentlemen of Verona
10.	Q	Which popular Irish entertainer of the 1960s, 70s and 80s had the middle name Valentine?
	A	Michael Valentine Doonican (The Val Doonican Show ran on BBC TV from 1964 to 1986)
11.	Q	According to the US Greeting Cards Association, what percentage of Valentine cards are bought by women?
	A	85%

Round Seven: Sport

1.	Q	In which athletics event did Phillips Idowu win Silver for Britain in Beijing – having been the favourite for Gold?
	A	Triple jump
2.	Q	Whose record did Lance Armstrong beat in 2004, when he won the Tour de France for the sixth consecutive time?
	A	Miguel Indurain (5 wins, 1991-5)
3.	Q	Who was the first boxer to defeat Muhammad Ali in a professional fight?
	A	Joe Frazier (1973)
4.	Q	Who was the first footballer to represent England at all levels (schoolboy, youth, amateur, Under 23 and full) – and went on to manage the national team?
	A	Terry Venables
5.	Q	Before France in 1998, which was the last host nation to win the FIFA World Cup?
	A	Argentina (1978)
6.	Q	What type of equipment is being allowed in Formula One motor racing for the 2009 season, after being banned for eleven years?
	A	Slick (un-treaded) tyres (accept slicks)
7.	Q	Which American football team recently became the first to lose all sixteen games of an NFL season?
	A	Detroit Lions (accept Detroit or Lions)
8.	Q	Apart from skiing, which sport takes place on a piste?
	A	Fencing

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Who is England’s leading try scorer in rugby union, having scored 49 between 1984 and 1996?
	A	Rory Underwood
10.	Q	Which country, in 1975, became the first non-English speaking country to win the Davis Cup?
	A	Sweden

Round Eight: Geography

1.	Q	What’s the only country that Denmark shares a border with?
	A	Germany
2.	Q	What’s the capital of The Gambia?
	A	Banjul
3.	Q	In which country is Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of mainland Europe?
	A	Greece
4.	Q	In which county is Malin (mallin) Head, the northernmost point of Ireland?
	A	Donegal
5.	Q	For which mineral is the Australian town of Coober Pedy (peedy) famous?
	A	Opal
6.	Q	In which country is Lake Havasu – most famous in Britain for a bridge that crosses it?
	A	USA (it’s the one that London Bridge was moved to in 1968)
7.	Q	Which river flows out of Lake Erie, northwards and into Lake Ontario?
	A	The Niagara
8.	Q	Which modern country corresponds roughly to a region known historically as White Russia – which is an approximate translation of its official name?
	A	Belarus

Supplementaries

9.	Q	What is Canada’s smallest province, by both area and population?
	A	Prince Edward Island
10.	Q	Which Italian city is famous for balsamic vinegar, also for Ferrari and Maserati cars which are built there, and for being the birthplace of Luciano Pavarotti?
	A	Modena General Knowledge 1.      Q The motto of the French Republic extols Liberty, Equality, and … what?   A Fraternity or Brotherhood 2.      Q Which English city was known to the Romans as Verulamium?   A St. Albans 3.      Q Which 1995 film starred Nicole Kidman as a ruthlessly ambitious TV weather girl?   A To Die For 4.      Q In which European city might you catch a vaporetto?   A Venice (it’s a water bus) 5.      Q Which was the first state to secede from the union of American states, thus prompting the Civil War?   A South Carolina 6.      Q What was the title of the comic novel by Spike Milligan, published in 1963, about a fictional Irish village split into two following partition in 1921?   A Puckoon 7.      Q Which famous liqueur is named after the monastery near Grenoble where it was produced until 1935?   A Chartreuse 8.      Q Which genus of plants has the scientific name Urtica?   A Nettles 9.      Q Who literally died on stage at the Sunderland Empire in 1976?   A Sidney James 10.  Q Which traditional name for the first day of August originates in the custom of taking a loaf made from the first harvest of the year to church?   A Lammas (loaf-mass) day 11.  Q Which Mediterranean island has a name that comes from the Latin word for honey?   A Malta (the Latin word is melita) 12.  Q Who played Judy in Rebel without a cause, aged 16, and Maria in the film version of West Side Story?   A Natalie Wood 13.  Q In which Italian city does the Palio, a traditional horse race, take place each year in the Piazza del Campo?   A Siena 14.  Q Who was the leading Union general in the US civil war, and went on to become president in 1869?   A Ulysses S. Grant 15.  Q Which wood was home to Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends?   A The Hundred Acre Wood 16.  Q Which type of sausage, popular in Britain, is named after an Italian onion stew?   A The chipolata (cippola is Italian for onion) 17.  Q What’s the only mammal that can kneel on all fours?   A The elephant 18.  Q Who died in 1999 after falling off his roof during a UEFA Champions’ League match?   A Rod Hull (he was trying to adjust his TV aerial to get a better reception; it was the Quarter Final, 2nd leg – Internazionale vs. Manchester United) 19.  Q In ancient Rome, what was a denarius?   A A unit of currency or a coin (it’s what the d stood for in £. s. d.) 20.  Q Which modern South American country occupies the territory that was known to the Spanish colonialists as Upper Peru?   A Bolivia 21.  Q Which film starred Jack Nicholson as a character called McMurphy?   A One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 22.  Q What is the capital city of Corsica and the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte?   A Ajaccio (a-JAK-see-o) 23.  Q Who replaced Field Marshal John French in December 1915 as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force?   A Douglas Haig 24.  Q Which character was described by Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar as having “a lean and hungry look”?   A Cassius 25.  Q Which spice is obtained from the seed covering of the nutmeg?   A Mace 26.  Q What did some ITV viewers miss last week, causing Michael Grade to issue a public apology?   A Everton’s goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup replay 27.  Q Whose last words, spoken in 1977, were said to have been “That was a great game of golf fellas”?   A Bing Crosby 28.  Q Which English coin was worth fourpence, minted originally around 1300 and last in 1888?   A The groat 29.  Q What is Kenya’s largest port, and its second largest city?   A Mombasa 30.  Q Which actor might be said to have got his big break in 1991, when he took his shirt off in Thelma & Louise?   A Brad Pitt 31.  Q Which US city is nicknamed Motor City or Motown?   A Detroit 32.  Q What name was shared by the consorts of Henry II, Henry III and Edward I?   A Eleanor (of Aquitaine, Provence and Castile respectively) 33.  Q By what name is Haydn’s Symphony No. 45, at the end of which the performers leave the stage one by one, popularly known in English?   A The ‘Farewell’ Symphony 34.  Q Which spice, used as a cheaper alternative to saffron, is known in Indian cooking as haldi?   A Turmeric 35.  Q Which Australian cricketer recently announced his retirement after 102 Tests and 161 one-day internationals?   A Matthew Hayden 36.  Q Whose last words were said to have been, “I shall hear in heaven”?   A Ludwig van Beethoven 37.  Q Which Dragon was once the Chairman of Millwall Football Club? (Note to Question Persons: if anyone doesn’t understand this question, please explain that we’re looking for one of the entrepreneurs featured in the BBC TV programme The Dragons’ Den)   A Theo Paphitis 38.  Q Which town near Dresden, in eastern Germany, has been famous since 1710 for its high quality porcelain?   A Meissen 39.  Q What’s the name of the central character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, played in the film by Audrey Hepburn?   A Holly Golightly 40.  Q In which Texan town or city is the mission building known as The Alamo?   A San Antonio 41.  Q What was the name of the French penal colony off French Guiana, operational from 1852 to 1952 – its most celebrated inmate being Alfred Dreyfus?   A Devil’s Island (according to official French records, and contrary to what he wrote in Papillon, Henri Charrière was never imprisoned on Devil’s Island but in a different penal colony on the mainland) 42.  Q Whose backing group were The Blockheads?   A Ian Dury 43.  Q In the game of poker, what word refers to a hand where all the cards are of the same suit?   A A flush 44.  Q Which Stockport-based darts player, nicknamed “Silverback”, was runner-up to Ted Hankey in the recent BDO world darts championship?   A Tony O’Shea 45.  Q Which prize, known until 2005 as the Whitbread Book Award, was recently won by Sebastian Barry’s novel The Secret Scripture?   A The Costa Book Award 46.  Q Which traditional unit of measurement was defined as the length of the arm, from the elbow to the end of the middle finger?   A The cubit 47.  Q Which desert covers up to 70% of Botswana (depending on the season)?   A The Kalahari Desert 48.  Q In which 1995 film did Patrick McGoohan, who died recently, play King Edward I?   A Braveheart 49.  Q What name, meaning “divine wind”, was given to the typhoons that were said to have saved Japan from two Mongol fleets in the 13th century?   A Kami-kaze 50.  Q In which part of the body is the deltoid muscle?   A The shoulder 51.  Q Which prolific rock band was formed in Prestwich, Manchester, in 1976 and named after a 1956 novel by Albert Camus (al-bare ca-MOO)?   A The Fall 52.  Q In Arthurian legend, who succeeded in finding the Holy Grail, as predicted after he sat in the Siege Perilous and survived?   A Sir Galahad 53.  Q Nicknamed “the Jester from Leicester”, currently ranked No. 4 in the world and the defending champion, who did Ronnie O’Sullivan beat in the final of the recent Masters snooker tournament?   A Mark Selby 54.  Q Why was Nadya (NAY-dia) Suleman, a resident of California, in the news recently?   A She was the single mother of six who gave birth to octuplets (accept anything that refers to a multiple birth) 55.  Q Which ancient European unit measures the distance that a person (or a horse) can walk in an hour – defined in ancient Rome as three miles?   A The league 56.  Q On which Scottish island is Fingal’s Cave?   A Staffa 57.  Q In Kipling’s Barrack Room Ballads, what was Gunga Din’s occupation?   A Water carrier 58.  Q What word can mean to dress tanned leather, or to rub down and dress a horse – as well as a popular type of meal?   A Curry 59.  Q What is produced as a result of the Bessemer process?   A Steel 60.  Q Which influential rock star began as the lead singer of The Stooges, and is currently fronting a series of adverts for swiftcover.com?   A Iggy Pop 61.  Q King Arthur’s Avalon has been associated with Glastonbury Tor, but which kingdom of Arthurian legend has been identified in later tradition as a lost island off the Isles of Scilly?   A Lyonesse 62.  Q Cornelius Lysaght (lie-sut) is the BBC’s correspondent for – which sport?   A Racing (that’s horse racing; do not accept any other form of racing) 63.  Q What’s the name of the Russian state-controlled gas company, in the news recently when it cut off supplies to Ukraine?   A Gazprom 64.  Q Which Welsh-born movie star recently caused a furore when his rant strewn with four-letter words was broadcast unedited by the BBC?   A Christian Bale 65.  Q What name is given to the sandstone blocks found in quantity on and around Salisbury Plain – widely used by the builders of Stonehenge, Avebury etc.?   A Sarsens 66.  Q Who wrote the novels The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence?   A Edith Wharton 67.  Q What word can mean a waterfall or a defect of the eye?   A Cataract 68.  Q Which chemical compound is sometimes known as marsh gas or firedamp?   A Methane 69.  Q Who had a hit in 1979 with Hot Stuff, immortalised eighteen years later by its starring role in The Full Monty?   A Donna Summer 70.  Q In Greek mythology, who was the son of Daedalus (DEE-duh-lus) who flew too near to the sun?   A Icarus 71.  Q Which Scottish Premier League football club moved to a new ground last month?   A St. Mirren (the old ground was called St. Mirren Park, or Love Street; the new one is called, with great imaginativeness, New St. Mirren Park) 72.  Q In the Old Testament, who was the eldest son of Saul?   A Jonathan 73.  Q Who founded the American Institute of Public Opinion in 1935?   A George Horace Gallup 74.  Q Who was Lord Chief Justice at the so-called Bloody Assizes of 1685?   A George Jeffreys 75.  Q Complete the title of Brian Rix’s 1975 autobiography: My Farce from …?   A … my Elbow 76.  Q What name is used for the traditional Japanese code of conduct, loosely equivalent to the European concept of chivalry and particularly associated with Samurai warriors?   A Bushido 77.  Q In geometry, what name is given to a straight line that touches a curve but doesn’t cross it?   A Tangent 78.  Q Who narrated the fifty-two previously un-shown episodes of The Magic Roundabout that were broadcast by Channel 4 in 1992?   A Nigel Planer (Eric Thompson having sadly passed away) 79.  Q According to Roman mythology, who was the father of Romulus and Remus?   A Mars 80.  Q Who is currently the manager of FC Internazionale of Milan (commonly referred to in Britain as Inter Milan)?  (Last checked yesterday – i.e. Monday 9th February)   A José Mourinho 81.  Q Who painted a famous series of views of Rouen cathedral in different lighting conditions?   A Claude Monet 82.  Q What type of bird is Kenya’s Lake Nakuru (na-KOO-roo) famous for?   A Flamingoes 83.  Q What was the name of the Welsh buccaneer who became Deputy Governor of Jamaica in 1672?   A Sir Henry Morgan 84.  Q Who wrote the poem Home thoughts, from abroad, with its famous opening line “O to be in England, now that April’s there …”?   A Robert Browning 85.  Q Which Italian phrase has entered English to mean a life of self-indulgence or luxury?   A La Dolce Vita 86.  Q On the Fahrenheit scale, what temperature does water boil at?   A 212 degrees 87.  Q In which TV sitcom did Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby appear?   A Fawlty Towers 88.  Q Which species of whale has a large forward-pointing tusk, thought by some ancient peoples to affirm the existence of the unicorn?   A The narwhal 89.  Q Which US sports star was recently banned for three months after apparently being photographed smoking cannabis?   A Michael Phelps 90.  Q Which cartoon character made his debut in 1934 in The Wise Little Hen?   A Donald Duck 91.  Q Which city was named after Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister?   A Melbourne 92.  Q What was the original name of Sir Francis Drake’s ship – before he renamed it Golden Hind?   A The Pelican 93.  Q Whose latest novel, published in 2008, is entitled Scarpetta?   A Patricia Cornwell 94.  Q Which cocktail is made from sparkling wine and peach purée?   A Bellini 95.  Q What’s the more common name for pre-patellar bursitis?   A Housemaid’s knee 96.  Q Which Biblical city gave its name to the ranch in the TV Western series The Virginian?   A Shiloh Supplementaries 97.  Q With which composer is the Austrian musicologist Ludwig von Köchel (kerchel – ch as in loch) chiefly associated?   A Mozart (Köchel catalogued Mozart’s works – it’s what the K stands for, e.g. in K551 which is the Jupiter symphony) 98.  Q Which famous fictional character had a secretary called Della Street?   A Perry Mason 99.  Q In publishing, the left hand page is known as the verso; what is the right hand page called?   A Recto 100.    Q In the Bible, who was the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob?   A Benjamin 101.    Q Which legendary phantom ship is said to haunt the seas around the Cape of Good Hope, doomed to sail the seas forever in search of Table Bay?   A The Flying Dutchman 102.    Q What term used in cooking means to boil, in order to evaporate water and increase concentration?   A Reduce (accept reduction) 103.    Q Whose most famous role was that of Norman Bates in Psycho?   A Anthony Perkins 104.    Q Market Rasen is currently the only operational racecourse in which English county?   A Lincolnshire 105.    Q Which major battle is known in Germany as the Battle of the Skaggerak?   A Jutland 106.    Q What is defined as “the rate of change of velocity over time”?   A Acceleration 107.    Q Which international organisation has a name that’s Latin for “table”?   A Mensa 108.    Q In which state is the southernmost point of mainland USA?   A Florida 109.    Q Which native British tree is sometimes known as the mountain ash?   A The rowan