The Dawn of a New Era - The AGM and Plate Final

Questions from the Final - see News and Views for details of the AGM:

Macclesfield Quiz League

Plate competition – 2008/9 season

Final – 22 September 2009

These questions were collated by the Ox-fford ‘C’.

1.	Q	Who designed the cover of the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper album?
	A	Peter Blake
2.	Q	According to Greek legend, who slew the Minotaur?
	A	Theseus
3.	Q	Which river flows through Madrid?
	A	The Manzanares
4.	Q	The anthem of the European Union is an excerpt from Beethoven’s choral symphony. What’s the name of the poem that it sets to music?
	A	Ode to Joy
5.	Q	Which British astronomer coined the term “big bang”, as a derisive reference to a theory he didn’t subscribe to?
	A	Fred Hoyle
6.	Q	Which branch of mathematics has a name that is derived from Greek and literally represents “measurement of the Earth”?
	A	Geometry
7.	Q	What was the name of the spaceship in the TV series Blake’s Seven?
	A	The Liberator
8.	Q	Which former West Indies pace bowler holds the records for the most ducks and the most not-outs in Test cricket?
	A	Courtney Walsh
9.	Q	Who invented the clockwork radio?
	A	Trevor Baylis
10.	Q	Who painted Rail, Steam and Speed, depicting a steam locomotive, in 1844?
	A	J. M. W. Turner
11.	Q	Who was the Roman god of fire?
	A	Vulcan
12.	Q	Which river flows through the city of Munich?
	A	The Isar
13.	Q	Which work by Tchaikovsky incorporated the tune of La Marseillaise?
	A	The 1812 Overture (the Russian national anthem appears in the 1812 and also in the Marche Slave; but the French one only appears in the 1812)
14.	Q	What’s the common name for the flower myosotis?
	A	Forget-me-not
15.	Q	What is the American term for variety entertainment?
	A	Vaudeville
16.	Q	In which field was Walter Gropius famous?
	A	Architecture
17.	Q	Which football club did Alf Ramsey manage before taking on the England job?
	A	Ipswich Town
18.	Q	Which organisation won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963?
	A	The Red Cross
19.	Q	In The Simpsons, what’s the name of Moe’s pet cat?
	A	Mrs. Snookums
20.	Q	Whose first volume of autobiography, published in 1992, was entitled Don’t laugh at me?
	A	Norman Wisdom (the second volume was Cos I’m a clown)
21.	Q	What’s the name of the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, between Poland and Lithuania?
	A	Kaliningrad
22.	Q	Which opera by Borodin features the Polotsvian Dances?
	A	Prince Igor
23.	Q	What’s the common name for the flowering plant impatiens?
	A	Busy Lizzie
24.	Q	Which English word is derived from two Old French words meaning “sour wine”?
	A	Vinegar
25.	Q	By what sobriquet was the architect Charles Edouard Jeanneret better known?
	A	Le Corbusier
26.	Q	Name one of the clubs that Fabio Capello managed before taking on the England job.
	A	AC Milan (1991-6 and 1997-8), Real Madrid (1996-7 and 2006-7), Roma (1999-2004), or Juventus (2004-6)
27.	Q	Which trade union was formed in 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the TGWU?
	A	Unite (or, to give it its full title: Unite – the Union)
28.	Q	In which US state is the cartoon series South Park set?
	A	Colorado
29.	Q	Give one of the forenames of the English author G. K. Chesterton.
	A	Gilbert (or) Keith
30.	Q	Which region of Italy has Rome as its capital?
	A	Lazio
31.	Q	Which opera by Verdi features the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves?
	A	Nabucco
32.	Q	Which website was founded in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger?
	A	Wikipedia
33.	Q	What name is given to the study of the history and origins of words?
	A	Etymology
34.	Q	Which world-famous building was (due to be) renamed the Willis Tower in the Summer of 2009?
	A	The Sears Tower (in Chicago)
35.	Q	Who played his 52nd and last US Masters tournament this year?
	A	Gary Player
36.	Q	In which London building would you find Poets’ Corner?
	A	Westminster Abbey
37.	Q	Who directed the films Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Raising Arizona?
	A	The Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel – only the latter was credited)
38.	Q	Who were Joy, Babs and Teddy?
	A	The Beverley Sisters
39.	Q	What did Howard Carter discover in 1923?
	A	The tomb of Tutankhamen
40.	Q	Which musical features the song Getting to know you?
	A	The King and I
41.	Q	Which fish has the Latin name Esox lucius?
	A	The pike
42.	Q	What does a dendrochronologist use to date past events?
	A	Tree rings
43.	Q	In which US city would you find the Space Needle, a 605-foot tower built for the 1962 World’s Fair?
	A	Seattle
44.	Q	Which Japanese company currently supplies all the tyres for Formula One?
	A	Bridgestone
45.	Q	Which famous sporting venue is in the postcode area of SW19?
	A	Wimbledon
46.	Q	Which instrument plays the theme music of the film The Third Man?
	A	The zither
47.	Q	Which famous American writer was the father of Charlie Chaplin’s fourth and last wife Oona?
	A	Eugene O’Neill
48.	Q	Which battle took place near York in 1066, three days before Hastings?
	A	Stamford Bridge
49.	Q	Which musical features the song Luck be a lady?
	A	Guys and Dolls
50.	Q	If a capital E represents energy and a small m represents mass, what does a small c represent?
	A	The speed of light in a vacuum (E=mc2 – “the energy equation”)
51.	Q	Which herbal liqueur is combined with brandy to make a B & B?
	A	Benedictine
52.	Q	In which month is Saint Swithin’s Day?
	A	July (15th)
53.	Q	What was the first US city to host the Olympic Games?
	A	St. Louis (1904)
54.	Q	What’s the only African country with an eponymous capital city? (i.e. the city has the same name as the country)
	A	Djibouti
55.	Q	In The Wizard of Oz, what was the scarecrow searching for?
	A	A brain
56.	Q	Who assisted Bruce Forsyth in The Generation Game, and became his second wife?
	A	Anthea Redfern
57.	Q	Which Mexican leader captured the Alamo in 1836?
	A	Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
58.	Q	What left Pennsylvania Station on Track 39 at a quarter to four?
	A	The Chattanooga Choo Choo
59.	Q	The Salk vaccine was developed in 1954 to be used against which disease?
	A	Poliomyelitis (polio)
60.	Q	Which cocktail is made from vodka, Galliano and orange juice?
	A	Harvey Wallbanger
61.	Q	What was the name of the lioness featured in Joy Adamson’s book Born Free?
	A	Elsa
62.	Q	At which sport, apart from cricket, did W. G. Grace captain England?
	A	Bowls
63.	Q	What’s the capital city of Croatia?
	A	Zagreb
64.	Q	Who starred as the troubled mathematician John Forbes Nash Junior, in the 2001 bio-pic A Beautiful Mind?
	A	Russell Crowe
65.	Q	Which Royal spouse was nicknamed Fog, because he was thick and wet?
	A	Mark Phillips
66.	Q	Who, in 1520, became the first European explorer to cross the Pacific Ocean?
	A	Ferdinand Magellan
67.	Q	Who composed the song God bless America?
	A	Irving Berlin
68.	Q	Which part of the body is affected by silicosis?
	A	The lungs
69.	Q	Which fruit is used in the dish known as sole Veronique?
	A	Grapes
70.	Q	What’s the lowest rank in the RAF?
	A	Aircraftman
71.	Q	Name one of the three years in which Red Rum won the Grand National.
	A	1973, 1974 or 1977
72.	Q	In which country is the city of Donetsk, home of the last ever UEFA Cup winners?
	A	Ukraine
73.	Q	Which character in English literature had sisters called Mary, Jane, Kitty and Lydia?
	A	Elizabeth Bennet (in Pride and Prejudice)
74.	Q	In World War Two, who was known as The Desert Fox?
	A	Erwin Rommel
75.	Q	The first amendment to the US constitution guaranteed freedom of speech. What was the principal effect of the second amendment?
	A	The right to bear arms
76.	Q	Who starred opposite Robert Powell in the TV comedy series The Detectives?
	A	Jasper Carrott
77.	Q	What is Britain’s smallest bird of prey?
	A	The merlin
78.	Q	Which foodstuff is known in France as Crème Anglaise?
	A	Custard
79.	Q	What is Finland’s largest company, accounting for approximately one third of the market capitalisation of the Helsinki stock exchange?
	A	Nokia
80.	Q	Who was the first woman to ride in the Grand National?
	A	Charlotte Brew (1977 – Geraldine Rees, five years later, became the first to complete the course)
81.	Q	In which English town are the headquarters of the Open University?
	A	Milton Keynes
82.	Q	Which Graham Greene novel features a sociopathic teenager named Pinkie?
	A	Brighton Rock
83.	Q	Whose last recorded words were, “I’m just going outside – I may be some time”?
	A	Captain Laurence “Titus” Oates
84.	Q	Which monarch was the intended victim of the Rye House Plot?
	A	Charles II
85.	Q	Which US city provides the setting for the popular TV drama series The Wire?
	A	Baltimore
86.	Q	What type of creature is a hawksbill?
	A	A turtle
87.	Q	What type of food is chateaubriand?
	A	A cut of fillet steak
88.	Q	What is the name of the headdress that was commonly worn by women in the middle ages but is now mainly associated with nuns?
	A	The wimple
89.	Q	Who was the captain of the British and Irish Lions side in South Africa this summer?
	A	Paul O’Connell
90.	Q	Which county on the East coast of Ireland borders Northern Ireland and is the smallest in the Republic by area?
	A	Louth
91.	Q	Who wrote the plays Tamburlaine and Edward II?
	A	Christopher Marlowe
92.	Q	Which famous speech began with the words, “At last I am able to say a few words of my own”?
	A	The abdication speech of Edward VIII
93.	Q	Who was succeeded as monarch of England by Lady Jane Grey?
	A	Edward VI
94.	Q	Which TV detective kept his gun in a cookie jar (translation: biscuit barrel)?
	A	Jim Rockford
95.	Q	What type of creature is an alewife?
	A	A fish
96.	Q	Which popular Italian dish consists of dumplings made with potato, flour or semolina?
	A	Gnocchi
97.	Q	What stopped appearing on British coins after 1982?
	A	The word new (as in “new penny” or “new pence”)
98.	Q	Who won the World Snooker Championship this year, for the third time?
	A	John Higgins
99.	Q	Which country is Australia’s closest neighbour?
	A	Papua New Guinea
100.	Q	Who wrote the play The Madness of George the Third?
	A	Alan Bennett
101.	Q	How is or was Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known?
	A	Mark Twain
102.	Q	Who was Henry the Eighth’s elder brother, and the first husband of Catherine of Aragon?
	A	Prince Arthur
103.	Q	What was the name of the character played by John Thaw in The Sweeney?
	A	Jack Regan
104.	Q	What is the SI unit of force?
	A	The newton
105.	Q	Who first appeared in the arcade game Donkey Kong, went on to star in over 200 video games, and has an antagonist called Bowser?
	A	Mario
106.	Q	What was the name of the dog that found the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966?
	A	Pickles
107.	Q	What was the name of the oil tanker that caused the world’s first major oil spill, when it broke up off Cornwall in 1967?
	A	Torrey Canyon
108.	Q	What’s the name of the major ocean current that flows northwards along the Pacific coast of South America?
	A	The Humboldt Current
109.	Q	In which literary work did the phrase “brave new world” first appear?
	A	The Tempest (Shakespeare)
110.	Q	What is the shortest book in the Bible, consisting of one chapter with 21 verses?
	A	Obadiah
111.	Q	Which Westminster constituency was represented from 1964 to 1970 by Robert Maxwell, and currently by Mr. Speaker, John Bercow?
	A	Buckingham
112.	Q	Which TV series brought together David McCallum and Joanna Lumley?
	A	Sapphire and Steel
113.	Q	Who was the captain of England’s cricket team on the infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932-3?
	A	Douglas Jardine
114.	Q	What is the surname of Barbie’s boyfriend Ken?
	A	Carson
115.	Q	Which English king is said to have ridden a horse called White Surrey?
	A	Richard III
116.	Q	Which London underground line serves only two stations and is colloquially known as The Drain?
	A	The Waterloo and City (probably because it’s an underground line but is, or was, operated by staff who normally worked above ground)
117.	Q	Which famous Paris landmark stands in the Place Charles de Gaulle, previously known as the Place de l’Etoile?
	A	The Arc de Triomphe
118.	Q	From which work of literature did the TV series Room 101 and Big Brother get their names?
	A	Nineteen Eighty-Four
119.	Q	In the Bible, who was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah?
	A	Lot’s wife
120.	Q	Who was replaced by Idi Amin as President of Uganda in 1971, but returned to power in 1980?
	A	Milton Obote

Supplementaries

121.	Q	Which battle of 1746 ended the rebellion known as the forty-five?
	A	Culloden
122.	Q	Chittagong is the largest port in which country?
	A	Bangladesh
123.	Q	Which Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was based on a 1950 film directed by Billy Wilder?
	A	Sunset Boulevard
124.	Q	Who wrote Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats?
	A	T. S. Eliot
125.	Q	By what nickname was Edward Teach known?
	A	Blackbeard
126.	Q	Who built the labyrinth on Crete which was home to the Minotaur?
	A	Daedalus
127.	Q	Who wrote the plays Volpone and Bartholomew Fair?
	A	Ben Jonson
128.	Q	What is the nationality of the golfer Rory Sabbatini?
	A	South African
129.	Q	Who wrote the Tracey Beaker series of children’s books?
	A	Jacqueline Wilson
130.	Q	What type of creature is a boomslang (bomes-lang)?
	A	A venomous snake

Tie-breaker

1.	Q	How old, in days, was the Queen Mother when she died? (method of calculation is to subtract date of birth from date of death; in other words, either the date of birth or the date of death is included – but not both)
	A	37,128 (born 4 August 1900; died 30 March 2002. 101 years (including 25 leap days) = 36,890 days; 4 August to 30 March = 238 days
2.	Q	How many pages, in total, are there in the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1989 (the latest complete edition to date)?
	A	21,730