Specialist Questions
1. Geography
2. St David’s Day special
3. History
4. Science
5. Sport
6. In other words…
7. Art and Entertainment
8. It all adds up
Geography
1. 1. What is the smallest of the Great Lakes?
A. Lake Ontario (the others, in order of size are: Superior; Huron; Michigan and Erie)
2. Camp David is the official country home of the US President. What is the name of the mountain range it is in?
A. Appalachians
3. Which island in the Shetlands is the most northerly of the British Isles?
A. Muckle Flugga
4. Which city is served by airports called Arlanda and Skavsta?
A. Stockholm
5. The Lao people are indigenous to Laos but their largest number live in which other country?
A. Thailand
6. Fiords (or Fjords) are found mainly in Norway. But, where is Fiordland?
A. New Zealand (SW coast of South Island)
7. What town is known as the ‘Capital of the Cotswolds’?
A. Cirencester
8. The Miquelon Islands are French. Off the coast of which country are they found?
A. Canada -(Off the SW coast of Newfoundland)
Supplementaries
9. This is the sequence of the world’s largest islands: Greenland; New Guinea; Borneo and Madagascar. What is the next island?
A. Baffin Island (Canadian arctic)
10. The Welland Canal links two lakes - name either. Lake Erie or Lake Ontario
St David’s Day - a round devoted to all things Welsh.
1. Which town is home to the Centre for Alternative Technology?
A. Machynlleth
2. Who was the author of ‘How Green Was My Valley’?
A. Richard Llewellyn
3. Wales has had only two First Ministers. (It briefly had a First Secretary, Alun Michael, but he was soon ousted and replaced by another First Secretary who, subsequently, took the title of First Minister.) Who was the first First Minister?
A. Rhodri Morgan
4. Which Welsh band, whose name is inspired by shopping for jewellery at Argos, had a song called ‘Your missus is a nutter’, allegedly dedicated to David Beckham?
A. Goldie Lookin’ Chain
5. Which town is home to the Big Pit National Coal Museum?
A. Blaenavon
6. What is the name of Wales’ own daily newspaper?
A. Western Mail
7. Which town is home to the National Library of Wales?
A. Aberystwyth
8. In England, the organisation Sianel Pedwar Cymru is better known as.....?
A. S4C
Supplementaries
1. There are four ferry ports in Wales. Three of them are: Holyhead; Fishguard and Pembroke. What is the fourth?
A. Swansea ( to Cork)
2. In 1957, the village of Capel Celyn (near Bala) and the surrounding valley was flooded to create a reservoir that supplies a location in England. Where?
A. Liverpool
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SCIENCE AND NATURE
Grass
2. The Spider, the Early Monkey and the Bee are all varieties of which flower ?
Orchid
3. A quadruped is a four footed animal, but what is a pinniped ?
an animal with flippers
4. With deer they are crotties; with hares they are currants and with otters they are spraints. What are they ?
droppings
5. The old country name for this insect is “ the devil’s darning needle “. Which insect is it ?
Dragonfly
6. The shrike is a bird which gets its nickname from its habit of impaling the things it catches, such as mice and small birds, on thorns to be eaten later. What is its nickname ?
Butcher bird
7. What’s the name of the small South American rodent often bred in captivity for its soft grey fur ?
Chinchilla
8. Which is the only animal , apart from humans , which can recognise itself in a mirror ?
Chimpanzee
SPARES
1. Which planet in our solar system is closest in size to Earth ? Venus
2. Which is the nearest star to our sun ?
Proxima Centauri
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Sport - a round dedicated to losers.
1. In 2010, Somerset very nearly won Cricket’s county championship for the first time. Two other first class counties have never won it. Can you name one?
Northants or Gloucester
2. Tim Henman came closest to Wimbledon success in 2001. Who beat him in 5 sets in the semifinal?
Goran Ivanisevic
3. Which team has lost 3 football World Cup finals, but never won the tournament?
Holland
4. In the 2010 Ryder Cup, Graeme McDowell won the vital last match, but whom did he beat?
Hunter Mahan
5. The Rugby World Cup takes place every 4 years. In 2011, New Zealand will again be the favourites to win it, but how many years is it since their last tournament victory. No leeway.
24 years (their only one was in 1987 - the first year the tournament was held).
6. Which team has scored the lowest number of points in a FA Premier league season?
Derby County - (11 in 2006-7)
7. US Figure skating had a scandal in 1994, when one hopeful champion arranged a violent attack on a rival. Can you name either skater?
Tonya Harding or Nancy Kerrigan
8. Snooker - World runner up 6 times, never champion. Who? Jimmy White
Supplementaries:
1. Arguably not a loser. Which footballer holds the record for the most FA Cup winner’s medals (he’s still playing).
Ashley Cole
2. What was the name of the South African athlete caught in a dispute over gender after winning her event at the 2009 World Championships?
Caster Semenya
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In other words - Foreign words used in English
You will get a definition and a language the word or phrase is borrowed from - you supply the word or phrase.
Example: Radically original or cutting edge - French. Answer: Avant-garde
1. Desire for travel German
Wanderlust
2. Fair exchange Latin
Quid pro quo
3. The common people Greek
Hoi Polloi
4. Spiritual guide Sanskrit
Guru
5. A tip or gratuity Persian
Baksheesh
6. Arrogance or audacity Yiddish
Chutzpah
7. Enthusiast or fan – Spanish
Aficionado
8. Holy War – Arabic
Jihad
Supplementaries
1. Labour camp – Russian
Gulag
2. A person who lives well, particularly enjoying good food and drink - French
Bon viveur/Bon vivant
Art and Entertainment
1.Which English Impressionist painter, a member of the Camden Town Group has been linked to Jack the Ripper?
Walter Sickert
2.Picasso and which other artist are considered to be the inventors of Cubism?
Georges Braque
3. Which detective was played on television by William Conrad?
Frank Cannon
4. Alfred Burke played which private detective in the TV series Public Eye ?
Frank Marker
5. Which legal series was set in the offices of McKenzie,Brackman,Chaney and Kusack ?
L.A.Law
6. Name a year during which The Likely Lads (not the sequel) was first broadcast.
1964-1966
11 What Archers character exited the series sliding off a roof ?
Nigel Pargiter
12 Which ballerina was arrested after her husband attempted a coup against the Panamanian Government ?
Margot Fonteyn
Supplementaries
1. Signor Buonarroti is better known by what name? Michelangelo
2. Which French ex-stockbroker recently had an exhibition in London?
Gauguin
7. IT ALL ADDS UP
Example:
Take the year of the Battle of Britain and add the number of lines in a sonnet and the number of players in a rugby league team, you get the year of the release of which Beatles album ? ( Sgt Pepper - ie. 1940 + 14 + 13 = 1967 )
1. Take the year of the Great Fire of London, add the number of Nena’s red balloons and the years in a Golden Wedding and you’re left with which famous battle ? ( Waterloo )
ie. 1666 + 99 + 50 = 1815
2. If you take the number of the Beast in the bible, add the number of pennies in a pre-decimal pound and multiply the total by 2, it leads you to which famous composer ?
( Tchaikovsky )
ie. 666 +240 x 2 == 1812
3. Take the year of the two Russian Revolutions, add the number of John Buchan’s steps and the number of the hills of Rome and you arrive at the year of the death of which world leader ? ( J.F. Kennedy )
ie. 1917 + 39 +7 =1963
4. Take the boiling point of water in degrees Fahrenheit, multiply by the number of rings on the Olympic flag and add the number of Snow White’s dwarves that had beards and you are left with which famous battle ? ( Hastings )
ie. 212 x 5 + 6 = 1066
5. Add the year Coronation Street was first screened, the number of letters in the alphabet and the number of players in a rugby union team and you arrive at which famous film ?
( 2001 A Space Odyssey ) ie. 1960 + 26 + 15 = 2001
6. Take the year of the Festival of Britain, subtract the number of inches in a yard and the number of members of the rock group Cream and you are left with a date relating to which famous
ship ? ( Titanic ) ie. 1951 - 36 - 3 = 1912 , when the Titanic sank.
7. Take the year of the first F.A. Cup Final at the old Wembley stadium, add the number of feet in a fathom and the years of a Ruby Wedding and you arrive at the year of which important event in Science and Exploration ? ( Man landing on the moon )
ie. 1923 + 6 + 40 = 1969
8. The sum of the number of pounds in a hundredweight, the number of half crowns in a pre decimal pound and the years of a Diamond Wedding gives you a number associated with which sport ?
( Darts ) ie. 112 + 8 + 60 = 180
SPARES
1. Take the year in which the NHS was started, add the number of holes on a championship golf course and the number in the address of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and you get the year of which famous singer’s death ? ( Elvis Presley )
ie. 1948 + 18 + 11 = 1977
2. Take the year of Hitler’s death, add a baker’s dozen and the number of bits in a byte and you get the year of which famous event in British sporting history ? ( England win the football World Cup )
ie. 1945 + 13 + 8 = 1966
8. History
1. When Bill Clinton beat George Bush to the presidency in 2002, who came 3rd?
Ross Perot
2. What did the Factory Act of 1833 regulate ?
Child employment (not under 9 years old and a maximum 9 hour day )
3. Which country was invaded by Iraqi forces in August 1990? Kuwait
4. In which year did the Arab-Israeli 6-day war take place?
1967 accept +/- 1 year
5. In the 17th century what was the principal industry of England ?
Wool
6. Who was in charge of the National Coal Board during the Miners Strike in 1984?
Ian McGregor
7. Which mathematician gives his name to a device for raising water into irrigation channels?
Archimedes (screw)
8. Which is the only country from the former Yugoslavia to have joined the EU?
Slovenia
Supplementaries
1. In which country did the ‘Revolution of the Carnations’ lead to the creation of a first democratic government in 1974/5? Portugal
2. What was the name of the film processing lab in London, which was the scene of a strike over Union recognition in the late 1970’s?
Grunwick
General Knowledge questions
1. Which comedian said “All I need to make a film is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.”
Charlie Chaplin
2 “In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had 500 years of democracy and peace - and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”
This is a quote from which famous film.
The Third Man
3. In London what name is given to the junction of Haymarket, Regent Street, Piccadilly, ShaftesburyAvenue and Coventry Street ?
Piccadilly Circus
4. Which item, of particular use to London tourists, was designed in the 1930’s by Harry Beck ?
London Underground map
5. In 1974, who famously murdered Sandra Rivett ?
Lord Lucan
6. Attempts on whose life were made by Edward Oxford in 1840, John Francis in 1842 and William Hamilton in 1849 ?
Queen Victoria
7. Three of the four breeds of draught horse used in Britain are the Percheron, the Clydesdale and the shire horse. Which is the fourth ?
Suffolk Punch
8. What’s the largest wild bird native to Britain ?
The mute swan
9. Which order of friars are known as the Grey Friars ? Franciscans
10. Which well known politician had the nickname Vindaloo
Edwina Currie
11. Samuel Crompton, inventor of the spinning mule, was born in which Lancashire town ?
Bolton
12. Which British scientist discovered 5 different elements between 1807 and 1808 ?
Humphrey Davy - sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium and barium
13. What number is worn by a hooker in a rugby league team ?
9
14. Which rugby league team plays its home matches at the Jungle ?
Castleford Tigers
15. Who is the central character in John Buchan’s novel “ The 39 Steps “ ?
Richard Hannay
16. In the survey carried out by Channel 4 and Waterstones bookshops in 1997, which book was voted Book of the Century?
Lord of the Rings
17. What instrument is played by jazz musician Thelonius Monk ? Piano
18. What nationality was jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt ?
Belgian
19. For the fifth year running, who was the most-borrowed author from British lending libraries in 2010?
James Patterson
20. Which political leader owned a dog called Blondie ?
Adolf Hitler
21. What is the only deciduous conifer native to Europe?
Larch
22. Where is the Macclesfield wine district?
South Australia (accept Australia)
23. Volkswagen’s new hybrid supercar is capable of how many mpg?
313 (accept 293 to 333)
24. How is Dr Griffin known in the title of an 1897 novel?
The Invisible Man
25. What is the name of the Barber of Seville?
Figaro
26. What is the name given to the planktonic material eaten by the Baleen Whale?
Krill
27. Which clergyman fabricated the popish plot, and was convicted of perjury in 1685?
Titus Oates
28. Who directed the films Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive? David Lynch
29. Who was the mythological character whose voice was taken by Hera?
Echo
30. Who was the Irish doctor who founded a Children’s charity in 1867.
Dr Barnardo
31. What is the name given to a medieval war trumpet with a clear shrill tone?
Clarion
32. Which branch of geology is specifically devoted to the scientific study of rocks?
Petrology
33. Which dramatist and composer coined the phrase ‘Poor little rich girl’?
Noel Coward
34. Who coined the word Newspeak?
George Orwell (in an essay in 1943, later used in the novel 1984)
35. Toponymy is the study of what?
Place names
36. Skopje is capital of which country?
Macedonia
37. Which prime minister repealed the Corn Laws?
Sir Robert Peel
38. Which desert is the driest place on earth?
Atacama (in Chile)
39. Which bird, not seen in Britain since 1832, has been reintroduced to Salisbury Plain?
Great Bustard
40. What is the name of the BBC TV comedy in which Friends actor Matt LeBlanc plays himself?
Episodes
41. In a sporting context, what is Ffos Las?
A racecourse (near Llanelli)
42. Kumho is a main sponsor of Manchester United - what is their main product?
Tyres
43. The Booker prize in 2010 was won by a novel called the Finkler Question. Who wrote it?
Howard Jacobson
44. Which country’s leader fled town after anti-government riots on January 13th 2011?
Tunisia
45. Which BBC news presenter revealed the name of his biological father on his 50th birthday in January 2011?
Justin Webb (son of Peter Woods - also formerly a newsreader)
46. What is the name of the Oscar-nominated film telling the story of Facebook?
The Social Network
47. What is the name of David Cameron’s press secretary who resigned because of phone-tapping allegations?
Andy Coulson
48. Which city is served by the airport with the 3-letter code CDG?
Paris (Charles de Gaulle)
49. Whose 9-piece Jazz band recorded Birth of the Cool in 1949?
Miles Davis
50. Which cultural icon will celebrate his 70th birthday on 24th May 2011?
Bob Dylan
51. In what context was Samantha Stobart in the news in 2010?
She was the former girlfriend of Geordie gunman Raoul Moat (accept any answer which includes refs to Geordie gunman or Raoul Moat)
52. In what news context was Ann Timpson featured in Feb 2011?
77 year old who attacked jewellery shop robbers in Northampton (Use same discretion as previous question)
53. Comedians Lee Mack and Tim Vine star in which middle of the road BBC1 sitcom?
Not Going Out
54. What is the name of Ricky Gervais’s character in the sitcom masterpiece, The Office?
David Brent
55. Which Canadian songwriter released the album Greendale in 2003, alongside an accompanying film he directed under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey?
Neil Young
56.Who, collectively, are Eliza Lopes, Grace van Cutsem, Tom Pettifer and Billy Lowther-Pilkington?
Bridesmaids and pageboys at William and Kate’s wedding
57. What colourful name has been widely applied to the recent Tunisian revolution in external media sources?
The Jasmine Revolution
58. Officially renamed after the country’s 1952 revolution, which square was the focal point of protests in the recent Egyptian revolution?
Tahrir Square
59. Recently dramatized in the television series Mad Men, which New York street became the centre of the American advertising industry in the 1920s?
Madison Avenue
60. The Bank of England is nicknamed the “old lady” of which London Street?
Threadneedle Street
61. Which Swiss-born Italian was sacked from his Premier league management position earlier this year?
Roberto Di Matteo
62. Who is currently the head coach of Scotland’s rugby union team, having coached his home nation for a catastrophic period in the 2000s?
Andy Robinson
63. Ranked the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International, which landlocked state is the setting for the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels?
Botswana
64. Transparency International’s most corrupt country in South America carries the epithet “Bolivarian Republic” after the political philosopher and leader Simón Bolívar – where is it?
Venezuela
65. Natalie Portman was nominated for the 2011 Actress in a Leading Role Oscar for which film?
Black Swan
66. Which tennis player won the ladies’ singles at the 2011 Australian Open?
Kim Clijsters
67. Which tennis player won the mens’ singles at the 2011 Australian Open?
Novak Djokovic
68. Which pop star’s real name is Stefani Germanotti?
Lady Gaga’s
69. The quiff-wearing singer Elly Jackson says the name of her band was inspired by her appearance, mingling the masculine and feminine French for “red-haired” – what is the band’s name?
La Roux
70. Which British media company, which merged with Granada plc in 2004 to form ITV plc, employed David Cameron as director of corporate affairs for seven years?
Carlton Communications
71. What is the name of the under-threat government department responsible for the protection and expansion of Britain’s woodlands?
The Forestry Commission
72. What is the name of the current Coen brothers film, from a novel previously adapted in 1969 in a film starring John Wayne? True Grit
73. The Department for Social Affairs and Citizenship is a fictional government department in which 2000s television series?
The Thick of It
74. Who wrote the 2009 Man Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall?
Hilary Mantel
75. Which US politician said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet", receiving mostly-deserved derision for his claim?
Al Gore
76. Why is it wrong to say that bulls are enraged by the colour red?
They are dichromats, so red does not stand out - it is quick movements that they don’t like
77. Which current MP’s career comprises recording London deaths in a data entry position for the NHS, a brief spell with Selfridges and then a move into politics?
George Osbourne
78. Which contemporary American artist is known for creating gigantic pieces, like the floral dog outside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao?
Jeff Koons
79. Whose triptych painting, Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud, sold for £23 million in a Sotheby’s auction on Thursday, 10 February this year?
80. An air crash at which Irish airport killed six people on 10 February this year?
Cork Airport
81. Two horses were killed at which racecourse in February – the result of an apparent electrical shock?
Newbury
82. Tony Blair found himself in trouble in December 2009 when he told which TV interviewer he would “still have thought it right to remove” Saddam Hussein if he had known there were no WMD?
Fern Britton
83. What is the only US state to begin with the letter L?
Louisiana
84. What is the state capital of Louisiana?
Baton Rouge
85. Which US oil company has recently been fined $8.6 billion by Ecuador for toxic waste dumping by Texaco, with which it merged in 2001?
Chevron
86.Which metallic element, often found in alloys, was recently reported by health research authority Cochrane Reviews to help treat the common cold?
Zinc
87.What is the process plants use to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds with the help of sunlight?
Photosynthesis
88. In which organ in the body are insulin and glucagon made?
Pancreas
89.Sauted and stewed meat served in a dense white sauce is known by what term, thought to derive from an Old French word meaning “to fry”?
Fricassee
90.If you were to muddle fresh mint, limes and sugar syrup before adding rum, soda and bitters, what cocktail would you have made?
Mojito
91. Back to school - spell ACQUIESCE (a-kwee-ess)
92. What is 23 times 22.
506
93. Who is recognised as the founder of the Sikh religion?
Guru Nanak
94. What is the Chemical symbol for the Heavy Metal Antimony?
Sb
95. In Physics, whose law states that the product of a gas’s absolute pressure and its volume is a constant at constant temperature?
Boyle’s
96. Who beat Cheryl Cole, among others, to win the Best British Female singer award at the Brits 2011?
Laura Marling
Supplementaries:
1. Which European country (as at 20th Feb) has been managing without a government for over 8 months?
Belgium
2. The inventor Ron Hickman died in February. For which product is he best remembered?
Black and Decker Workmate
3. On the Kelvin scale, what is the boiling point of water?
373
4. Who is (Feb 20) Secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills?
Vince Cable
5. What is the famous last line of Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto?
(Workers of the world unite)
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