6 December 2011

 

Set by the Ox-fford ‘C’.

Thanks to the Lamb Inn and the Pack Horse Bowling Club for their help in vetting them.

The specialist rounds are:

1. Sport

2. Science

3. Geography: Animals Around the World

4. Arts & Entertainment

5. Are You Twitching?

6. History

7. The Powers that Be

8. Songs for Whoever

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: Sport

1.	Q	Frenchman Sébastien Loeb, last month, became world champion for the eighth consecutive time – in which sport?
	A	Motor rallying
2.	Q	Which South African batsman scored his 12,000th Test run recently?
	A	Jacques Kallis
3.	Q	Which sport provided three of the ten nominees for BBC Sports Personality of the Year when they were announced last week?
	A	Golf (Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy)
4.	Q	Who coached New Zealand to victory in the recent Rugby Union world cup?
	A	Graham Henry
5.	Q	In volleyball, how many times can a team hit the ball before passing it over the net?
	A	Three times
6.	Q	In golf, what term denotes the close-cut area of grass that surrounds a green?
	A	The apron
7.	Q	Which Rugby League club is moving to Langtree Park at the start of the 2012 season?
	A	St. Helens
8.	Q	How many red balls (including the power ball) are used in the new, sexed-up version of snooker known as Power Snooker?
	A	Nine

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Australia recently recorded their lowest total in a Test innings since 1902. What was it?
	A	47 (accept 45-49. The 9th wicket fell at 21 – five runs short of the lowest ever Test total!)
10.	Q	Which club last week ended Huddersfield Town’s record-breaking unbeaten run?
	A	Charlton Athletic

Round Two: Science

1.	Q	The damselfly is a smaller relative of which more familiar insect?
	A	The dragonfly
2.	Q	What is the lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere, where all weather systems occur?
	A	The troposphere
3.	Q	Which branch of science is concerned with the movement of air around a moving object?
	A	Aerodynamics
4.	Q	Which metal burns with a bright white light at comparatively low temperatures, and was used as a source of illumination in the early days of photography?
	A	Magnesium
5.	Q	Which element has the atomic number 15, and is commonly stored under water as it reacts violently with oxygen?
	A	Phosphorus
6.	Q	Which branch of science is concerned with the motion of projectiles?
	A	Ballistics
7.	Q	Which disease was certified by the World Health Organisation to have been eradicated in 1979?
	A	Smallpox
8.	Q	Which disease is caused by excess levels of uric acid in the blood?
	A	Gout

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Who discovered, in 1605, that planetary orbits are elliptical?
	A	Johannes Kepler
10.	Q	In birds, insects, and other animals, which part of the alimentary tract is used to store food prior to digestion?
	A	The crop (also accept croup or craw)

Round Three: Geography – Animals Around the World

In each case, either the question or the answer includes the name of an animal or a bird.

1.	Q	What is the most southerly point in Great Britain?
	A	The Lizard
2.	Q	Goat Fell is the highest point on which Scottish island?
	A	Arran
3.	Q	Situated close to Niagara Falls, which is the second most populous city in New York State?
	A	Buffalo
4.	Q	What name is given to sub-tropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees north and south, where ships often became becalmed in mid-ocean?
	A	The Horse Latitudes
5.	Q	Which of Spain’s seventeen regions includes Mount Teide (TAY-deh), the country’s highest mountain?
	A	Canary Islands
6.	Q	What is the chief port on the Gulf of Lion?
	A	Marseille
7.	Q	The Australian city of Perth is on the banks of which river?
	A	The Swan River
8.	Q	Tiger Bay is the former name of an area within which British city?
	A	Cardiff (it’s now known as Cardiff Bay)

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Which island in New York state has a name that comes from the Dutch word meaning “rabbit”?
	A	Coney Island
10.	Q	What is the name of the island off the south-west coast of the Isle of Man?
	A	The Calf of Man

Round Four: Arts & Entertainment

1.	Q	Who or what did Percy Bysshe Shelley refer to as “blithe spirit”?
	A	A skylark
2.	Q	Whose Meditation Seventeen included the lines “for whom the bell tolls” and “no man is an islande”?
	A	John Donne
3.	Q	Which rock band took its name from a novel by Herman Hesse, first published in 1927?
	A	Steppenwolf
4.	Q	Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is part of his incidental music to which Shakespeare play?
	A	A Midsummer Night’s Dream
5.	Q	Who composed the Bridal Chorus – better known as Here Comes the Bride?
	A	Richard Wagner (it’s from his opera Lohengrin)
6.	Q	What was James Dean’s last film, in which he played an oil-rich Texan called Jett Rink?
	A	Giant
7.	Q	Whose only appearance at the Oscars ceremony, to date, was in 2002, when he made a plea for producers to continue filming their movies in New York City after the 9-11 attacks?
	A	Woody Allen
8.	Q	Who was the original presenter of BBC television’s Blankety Blank?
	A	Terry Wogan

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Who played the leading role in the 1980 remake of the film The Jazz Singer?
	A	Neil Diamond
10.	Q	What inspired Carol Ann Duffy’s poem Achilles, which she wrote in 2010?
	A	The injury that kept David Beckham out of the World Cup finals

Round Five: Are You Twitching?

Note to question persons: this is a visual round. Before starting, please 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 paragraph to the contestants!

This is a visual round. You will be shown a picture of a native British bird, and its Latin name. All you have to do J is give its common (or English) name.

1	Pica pica Magpie
2	Turdus merula Blackbird
3	Passer domesticus House Sparrow (full name required )
4	Troglodytes troglodytes Wren
5	Lagopus muta Ptarmigan
6	Alcedo atthis Kingfisher
7	Hirundo rustica Swallow
8	Sternus vulgaris Starling

Alternatives (for visually impaired contestants)

1	Q	Which member of the crow family has distinctive pinkish–brown plumage and blue striped wings?
	A	The jay
2	Q	What colour is the breast of the grey wagtail?
	A	Yellow

Supplementaries

9	Phalacrocorax carbo Cormorant (accept Shag)
10	Falco subbuteo Hobby

Round Six: History

1.	Q	What have Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter done that no other US president has?
	A	Won a Nobel (Peace) Prize
2.	Q	Who was the first Vice President of the United States?
	A	John Adams
3.	Q	The so-called Triple Entente was an alliance that was forged in 1907 between Britain, France, and which other country?
	A	Russia
4.	Q	Who was Britain’s first Labour prime minister?
	A	James Ramsay McDonald
5.	Q	Which pharaoh built the famous temples at Abu Simbel?
	A	Ramesses II (accept Ramesses)
6.	Q	Which war began in 1618 following a Protestant uprising in the Holy Roman Empire?
	A	The Thirty Years’ War
7.	Q	Who succeeded Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1999?
	A	Thabo Mbeki
8.	Q	Who was the wife of Prasutagus (pra-SOO-ta-gus), king of the Iceni (eye-SEEN-eye)?
	A	Boudica or Boadicea

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Which English king did Owain Glyndwr (Owen Glendower) defeat in three campaigns from 1400 to 1402?
	A	Henry IV
10.	Q	Who established the first Viking settlement in Greenland?
	A	Eric Thorvaldsen (accept Eric the Red)

Round Seven: The Powers that Be

The American business and media company Forbes last month published its annual list of the 70 most powerful people on Earth. This round is about the top 12 people on that list – in no particular order.

(We extended our list to No. 12 because despite his being Chairman of the US Federal Reserve most of us had never heard of Ben Bernanke, who was named by Forbes at No. 8; and because Mark Zuckerberg, who’s No. 9, came up a couple of weeks ago)

1.	Q	Last year’s No. 1, this year he falls to No. 3: he’s the President of China
	A	Hu Jintao (accept Hu)
2.	Q	Up from No. 3 to No. 2: according to Forbes, the decision of his “loyal lapdog” to stand down in 2012 has set him up for a return to the job that “some claim he never gave up”
	A	Vladimir Putin
3.	Q	Credited by Forbes with “saving millions of lives” through the Foundation that he set up with his wife Melinda, which is “changing the world again, through vaccines”: he rises from No. 10 to No. 5
	A	Bill Gates
4.	Q	This year’s Number One: his debt-ceiling negotiating was derided and his popularity has plummeted, but Forbes rates him as the most powerful person on the planet by virtue of his job
	A	Barack Obama
5.	Q	A non-mover at No. 4: the only woman in the Top Ten, described as “de facto leader of the European Union”
	A	Angela Merkel
6.	Q	Down from No. 5 to No. 7: a former Hitler Youth who sprang from relative obscurity to worldwide fame in 2005, three days after his 78th birthday
	A	Pope Benedict (the Sixteenth) – accept The Pope
7.	Q	The only Briton in the Top Ten: his fall of three places to No. 10 is partly attributed to the demise of his communications director
	A	David Cameron
8.	Q	Just failing to make the Top Ten, but the second woman on the list: born in Italy, she’s the President of India (both names required)
	A	Sonia Gandhi

Supplementaries

9.	Q	The oldest person in the Top Ten, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is King of which country?
	A	Saudi Arabia
10.	Q	Mario Draghi is a new entry at No. 12. Which financial institution did he recently become President of?
	A	The European Central Bank

Round Eight: Songs for Whoever

Taking our title from the Beautiful South, in this round the answer to each question is a girl’s name that appears in the title of a song. For example:

	Q	Who did the Beatles describe as being in the sky with diamonds?
	A	Lucy

They’re not all as easy as that, obviously. But maybe some of them are …

1.	Q	Who was breaking Simon & Garfunkel’s heart?
	A	Cecilia (she did it again to Suggs about 30 years later)
2.	Q	Who did Status Quo entreat to take their hand, so that together they could rock and roll – while Neil Diamond simply assured her that good times never were so good?
	A	(Sweet) Caroline (strangely, both songs refer to Sweet Caroline in the lyrics, but Status Quo’s title is just Caroline while Neil Diamond’s is Sweet Caroline)
3.	Q	Who did the Beatles glimpse ‘filling in a ticket in her little white book’?
	A	(Lovely) Rita
4.	Q	Who got the Beach Boys ‘rocking and a-rolling, rocking and a-reeling’?
	A	Barbara Ann
5.	Q	Who has been Smokie’s next-door neighbour for the last twenty-four years?
	A	Alice (don’t ask … )
6.	Q	Whose daddy did Kid Creole and the Coconuts confess to not being?
	A	Annie
7.	Q	Who came to Barry Manilow and gave without taking? (And then did the same to Westlife.)
	A	Mandy
8.	Q	Who did Tom Jones ask to forgive him because he just couldn’t take any more?
	A	Delilah

Supplementaries

9.	Q	Who did The Police advise that there was no need to put on the red light?
	A	Roxanne
10.	Q	Who did the Zutons invite to come on over?
	A	Valerie
11.	Q	For whom did Tony Christie do what he did?
	A	Maria

General Knowledge

1.	Q	Which series of cartoons featured a grouchy cowboy or prospector named Yosemite (yo-SEMI-tee) Sam?
	A	Bugs Bunny
2.	Q	Which publishing company was founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane?
	A	Penguin
3.	Q	In brewing, what name is given to the liquid that results from the “mashing” of the grains – sometimes described as unfermented beer?
	A	Wort (rhymes with caught)
4.	Q	Which famous hymn or anthem has words by William Blake and music by Charles Parry?
	A	Jerusalem
5.	Q	What was the maiden name of Lady Diana Moseley, wife of Sir Oswald?
	A	Mitford (strictly speaking, it was Freeman-Mitford)
6.	Q	At which English town, now a city, did Charles Edward Stuart turn back in 1745?
	A	Derby
7.	Q	Popularly known as the Poll Tax, what was replaced by the Council Tax in 1993?
	A	Community charge
8.	Q	From which plant are linseed oil and linen produced?
	A	Flax
9.	Q	What rank is used instead of Corporal in the Royal Artillery?
	A	Bombardier
10.	Q	In a Looney Tunes cartoon, what sort of creature was Pepe le Pew?
	A	A skunk
11.	Q	What would you add to a Bechamel (BESH-uh-mel) sauce to make a Mornay sauce?
	A	Cheese
12.	Q	Not counting Wales and the Vatican City, what is Europe’s last country alphabetically?
	A	Ukraine
13.	Q	Whose debut album, released in 2004, was entitled Back to Bedlam?
	A	James Blunt
14.	Q	What nickname was given to the British champion jockey Harry Wragg and the American athlete Dave Wottle, because of their aptitude for timing their sprint finishes just right?
	A	The Head Waiter
15.	Q	Who was the first woman to be admitted to the Order of Merit?
	A	Florence Nightingale
16.	Q	Who was leader of the Labour party from 1980 until 1983?
	A	Michael Foot
17.	Q	What type of organism consists of a fungus and an alga living symbiotically?
	A	A lichen
18.	Q	Who currently appears on the back of a £20 note?
	A	Adam Smith
19.	Q	Which famous film was inspired by a book entitled The Seven Pillars of Wisdom?
	A	Lawrence of Arabia
20.	Q	The graham cracker is the American equivalent of which popular British snack?
	A	The digestive biscuit
21.	Q	What’s the only South American country that has both Pacific and Caribbean coastlines?
	A	Colombia
22.	Q	Which British singer, songwriter and pianist has released albums entitled Twentysomething, Catching Tales and The Pursuit?
	A	Jamie Cullum
23.	Q	Which comedian and TV presenter was born in Farnworth, Bolton in 1951 and has the real name David Gordon Bramwell?
	A	Dave Spikey
24.	Q	Who was the first Governor-General of India, famously impeached in 1787 but acquitted in 1795?
	A	Warren Hastings
25.	Q	Who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1956 until 1967, and again briefly in 1976?
	A	Jo Grimond
26.	Q	Who was the first black heavyweight boxing champion of the world?
	A	Jack Johnson
27.	Q	Who invented, and is still most famous for, jasperware?
	A	Josiah Wedgwood
28.	Q	Which 1965 film, directed by David Lean, was said by one critic to have done for snow what Lawrence of Arabia did for sand?
	A	Doctor Zhivago
29.	Q	In the game of bridge, how many tricks do you need to win if you make a contract of (for example) one club?
	A	Seven
30.	Q	Which river flows through Hamburg?
	A	The Elbe (EL-buh)
31.	Q	Claiming to be the original Take That tribute act, and still the best, their name differs from the real thing in only one letter. What are they called?
	A	Fake That
32.	Q	Born in London in 1979, how is the twice Mercury-nominated singer Natasha Khan better known?
	A	Bat for Lashes (she’s the only artist other than the Arctic Monkeys to be nominated for the Mercury twice)
33.	Q	Who led the British forces that surrendered to the combined American and French forces after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781?
	A	Lord Cornwallis
34.	Q	Which former pop singer sat in the US House of Representatives from 1995 until his untimely death following a ski-ing accident in 1998?
	A	Sonny Bono (accept “Sonny out of Sonny and Cher”, but the answer must include the first name. Just in case anyone is showing off, his real first name was Salvatore. Basically however, we are not talking about the bloke from U2!)
35.	Q	Who, in 1960, became the first boxer to regain the world heavyweight title?
	A	Floyd Patterson
36.	Q	Which animal was known in Middle English as the urchin?
	A	The hedgehog
37.	Q	Whose autobiography, completed by his widow and published posthumously in 2005, was entitled Margrave of the Marshes?
	A	John Peel
38.	Q	In table football, how many midfielders does each side have?
	A	Five (they play 2-5-3!)
39.	Q	In which European capital city is the Charles Bridge?
	A	Prague
40.	Q	What’s the name of the band formed in 2009 by Liam Gallagher and other former members of Oasis, after brother Noel left to form his High-Flying Birds?
	A	Beady Eye
41.	Q	According to the Bible, who succeeded David as King of Israel?
	A	His son Solomon
42.	Q	Who was commander-in-chief of the United States Pacific Fleet during World War Two?
	A	Admiral Chester Nimitz
43.	Q	Two bridges cross the Menai Straits. One is the Menai Bridge; what’s the other one called?
	A	The Britannia Bridge
44.	Q	Why was Wigan Athletic’s central defender Antolin Alcaraz suspended recently?
	A	For spitting at an opponent (apparently he didn’t know that spitting at people was considered offensive in this country – he’s from Paraguay)
45.	Q	Which Spanish word for a range of mountains appears in the NATO phonetic alphabet?
	A	Sierra
46.	Q	Who described his brief political career in a book that was published in 2001 and entitled An Accidental MP?
	A	Martin Bell
47.	Q	In Greek mythology, which Cypriot sculptor fell in love with a statue he had made?
	A	Pygmalion
48.	Q	In which mountain range is Elbrus, said by most authorities to be the highest mountain in Europe?
	A	The Caucasus
49.	Q	Which fictional town has been portrayed, in two separate TV drama series, by the Scottish towns of Callander and Auchtermuchty?
	A	Tannochbrae (in Dr. Finlay’s Casebook on the BBC in the 1960s, and in Dr. Finlay on ITV in the 1990s, respectively)
50.	Q	Which element is referred to in the Bible as brimstone?
	A	Sulphur
51.	Q	In which seaport, situated between the heel and toe of Italy, did the Royal Navy launch a famous attack on the Italian fleet in 1940?
	A	Taranto
52.	Q	Which famous TV advert, first shown in 1973, featured an arrangement of the Dance of the Reed Flutes, from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker?
	A	Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut (Everyone’s a Fruit & Nut Case)
53.	Q	Which Liverpool player was recently accused of making a racist comment aimed at Manchester United’s Patrice Evra?
	A	Luis Suárez
54.	Q	Which charitable organisation was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon H. D. Rawnsley?
	A	The National Trust
55.	Q	In which school is the novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays set?
	A	Rugby
56.	Q	In Greek mythology, who was carried to Olympus by an eagle, to be cupbearer to Zeus?
	A	Ganymede
57.	Q	In which modern country is the site of the ancient city of Antioch?
	A	Turkey
58.	Q	Which television crime-fighting duo were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber?
	A	Dempsey & Makepeace
59.	Q	In the Zodiac, which constellation comes between Aquarius and Aries?
	A	Pisces
60.	Q	From which language did we get the word geyser (pronounced geezer or guy-ser – meaning a spring that spouts water intermittently)?
	A	It’s said to be the only word in the English language that comes from Icelandic
61.	Q	Who is leading the inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press?
	A	Lord Justice Leveson
62.	Q	On which course is the Scottish Grand National run?
	A	Ayr
63.	Q	What was built in 1856 on the site of the Peterloo Massacre?
	A	The Free Trade Hall
64.	Q	Which fictional character taught Latin at Brookfield School?
	A	Mr. Chips (Chipping)
65.	Q	Which American jazz pianist, whose compositions include Blue Rondo à la Turk, is celebrating his 91st birthday today?
	A	Dave Brubeck (he didn’t actually compose Take Five!)
66.	Q	Which inlet of the sea lies between England and Scotland on the west coast?
	A	The Solway Firth
67.	Q	Who is set to take over as presenter of Countdown in January 2012?
	A	Nick Hewer
68.	Q	How many planets in the Solar System are bigger than Earth?
	A	Four (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune)
69.	Q	What term was originally used in relation to Northern politicians or businessmen going south to exploit conditions after the American Civil War?
	A	Carpetbaggers
70.	Q	Marc Jacobs was in the news recently when he was the victim of a robbery. In which field is he famous?
	A	He’s a fashion designer (most famous, apparently, for designing Steve Jobs’ rimless spectacles!)
71.	Q	In (or near) which city does the football club known as Espanyol play its home games?
	A	Barcelona (at the Olympic Stadium, until a couple of years ago)
72.	Q	What traditional event has taken place annually since the year 1445, in the Buckinghamshire village of Olney?
	A	A pancake race
73.	Q	Who founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932?
	A	Sir Thomas Beecham
74.	Q	Which English sporting legend, who retired last year, is celebrating his 34th birthday today?
	A	Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff
75.	Q	Which river is crossed by Brunel’s bridge at Saltash, near Plymouth?
	A	The Tamar
76.	Q	Who took over as presenter of The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, after Adrian Chiles left in 2010 to join ITV?
	A	Dara O’Briain
77.	Q	Which chemical substance is (or was) sometimes known as spirit of hartshorn?
	A	Ammonia
78.	Q	What term was originally applied to the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, after they broke up a Russian attack at the Battle of Balaclava?
	A	They were the original thin red line
79.	Q	What sort of creature is a Maine Coon?
	A	It’s a type of domestic cat
80.	Q	Which football club was formerly known as Meadowbank Thistle?
	A	Livingston
81.	Q	Where is Britain’s National Media Museum?
	A	Bradford (formerly known as the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television)
82.	Q	What was the title of Edward Elgar’s set of five marches, one of which provided the tune for Land of Hope & Glory?
	A	Pomp & Circumstance
83.	Q	In which cathedral is Jane Austen buried?
	A	Winchester
84.	Q	Who succeeded his nephew Caligula as Emperor of Rome in 41 AD, and was succeeded thirteen years later by Nero – who was also his nephew?
	A	Claudius
85.	Q	Who became Prime Minister of Greece on the 11th of November this year?
	A	Lucas Papademos
86.	Q	What is said to have been invented around 850 AD, when a Chinese alchemist mixed saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal?
	A	Gunpowder
87.	Q	Why might Dame Catherine Cookson, Dame Flora Robson, Sir Ridley Scott and Mr. Eric Idle all be referred to as Sand Dancers?
	A	Because they all come from South Shields
88.	Q	Which big cat, of the puma genus, is also known as the mountain lion?
	A	The cougar
89.	Q	What’s the most famous race that’s run at Flemington racecourse?
	A	The Melbourne Cup
90.	Q	Which government agency moved its headquarters in 2003, from Bracknell, to a site near Exeter?
	A	The Met Office
91.	Q	Who composed the operetta, The Merry Widow?
	A	Franz Lehar
92.	Q	Which US playwright was the father of Charlie Chaplin’s fourth wife Oona?
	A	Eugene O’Neill (also the grandfather of eight of Chaplin’s eleven children)
93.	Q	Who led the West Saxon army to victory over the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown in 871 AD?
	A	Alfred (the Great)
94.	Q	Who became Prime Minister of Italy on the 16th of November this year?
	A	Mario Monti
95.	Q	Which wild flower is sometimes known as the windflower, thimbleweed, or smell fox?
	A	The common (or wood) anemone
96.	Q	Traditionally, what crucial ingredient was present in beer but not in ale?
	A	Hops

Supplementaries

97.	Q	Which country officially consists of four islands at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel?
	A	Comoros
98.	Q	Who wrote the novels Desperate Remedies, The Hand of Ethelberta and A Laodicean (lay-o-diss-EE-an) describing them as “Novels of Ingenuity”?
	A	Thomas Hardy
99.	Q	Which European country’s flag shows a black double-headed eagle on a red background?
	A	Albania
100.	Q	What’s the name of the ITV breakfast programme, currently (but not for much longer) presented from Monday to Thursday by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley?
	A	Daybreak
101.	Q	Which Roman emperor wrote twelve books of Meditations, setting forth his Stoic philosophy?
	A	Marcus Aurelius
102.	Q	Which Derby-based pop act is the work of Jyoti Prakash Mishra and had its only major hit in 1997 with Your Woman?
	A	White Town