NOVEMBER 19th 2013 THE QUESTIONS

 

All questions set by the Ox-fford C

Vetted by the Lamb Inn and the Chester Road Tavern

Specialist rounds:

Geography

History

Entertainment

Science

Sport

Art & Culture

The X Factor

The American Songbook

Round 1: Geography

1. Q What's the only national capital city whose name begins with Q?
   A Quito (Ecuador)
2. Q What is China's largest city and chief port?
   A Shanghai
3. Q What's the largest city in Syria, whose 11th-century Great Mosque lost its minaret during the civil war in 2013?
   A Aleppo
4. Q Which island is paired with the former county of Argyll in the name of a Scottish unitary authority?
   A Bute
5. Q In which country are Europe's five highest waterfalls?
   A Norway
6. Q Since South Sudan became an independent state, which is now the largest country by area in Africa?
   A Algeria
7. Q Which tropical island's inhabitants are known as Bajans (bay-juns)?
   A Barbados
8. Q Which US state lies between Washington and California on the Pacific coast?
   A Oregon

Supplementaries

1. Q In which English city is the car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover based?
   A Coventry

1. Q Which British island was known to the Romans as Mona?
   A Anglesey

Round 2: History

1. Q Who was hanged at Holloway prison in July 1955?
   A Ruth Ellis
2. Q Which German city gave its name to the Republic that was established there in 1871 and which ended with the rise of Hitler?
   A Weimar
   
3. Q In which decade did the so-called ‘Long March’ of Chinese Communists take place?
   A 1930s (1934-5)
4. Q Although born in Hawaii, which state did Barack Obama represent in the Senate?
   A Illinois
5. Q During whose reign did Colonel Thomas Blood attempt to steal the Crown Jewels?
   A Charles II (1671)
6. Q Who was shot dead in 1882 by Bob Ford, described in a popular song as ‘that dirty little coward’?
   A Jesse James
7. Q Which moor near Inverness gave its name to a battle that was fought there in 1746?
   A Culloden
8. Q Who was Britain’s Secretary of State for War from 1914 until his death through enemy action in June 1916?
   A Lord Kitchener

Supplementaries

1. Q Who was on the English throne throughout the reign of Catherine the Great of Russia?
   A George III (1762-96)
2. Q What was the capital of the Republic of Texas during its brief existence from 1837-1845?
   A Houston

Round 3: Entertainment

1. Q With which TV programme is the 1p (one p) club associated?
   A Deal or no Deal
2. Q Often serving as the ‘field leader’ of the X-Men, which superhero is the alterego of Scott Summers?
   A Cyclops
3. Q Named ultimately after a Robert Redford film role, what is the USA’s biggest annual festival for independent films?
   A Sundance
4. Q Which 2002 film features the fictional Hounslow Harriers Football Club?
   A Bend it like Beckham
5. Q Which song from Les Miserables made Susan Boyle famous?
   A I dreamed a dream
6. Q Bella, Milo, Fizz and Jake are the main characters in which children’s TV series?
   A Tweenies
7. Q Who bought his mum a £150,000 bungalow after the end of his sellout Mum Wants a New Bungalow tour?
   A Peter Kay
8. Q Which Bond villain was named after the father of a cricket commentator?
   A Blofeld

Supplementaries

1. Q Which Irish comedian had the letters L and R painted (the wrong way round) on his wellies?
A Jimmy Cricket

2. Q Which musical features the song No Matter What, which was a hit for Boyzone?
A Whistle down the Wind

Round 4: Science

1. Q In the human body, what can be fixed, floating or false?
   A Ribs
2. Q Once known as a condenser, what is the more modern name for a device that can store electric charge?
   A Capacitor
3. Q By what name do we know the remnant of a supernova in the constellation of Taurus that was recorded by the Chinese in the year 1054AD?
   A Crab nebula
4. Q What’s the most familiar domestic use for naphthalene?
   A Mothballs
5. Q What property of a metal indicates its ability to be worked, hammered or shaped without breaking?
   A Malleability
6. Q What part of the body is affected by gingivitis?
   A Gums
7. Q By what other name is the plant belladonna commonly known?
   A Deadly nightshade
8. Q In chemistry, what is the opposite of oxidation?
   A Reduction

Supplementaries

1. Q What was the name of the video format developed by Sony, which lost its battle with VHS in the 1980s?
   A Betamax
2. Q Which company produces the software packages Acrobat, Photoshop and InDesign?
   A Adobe

Round 5: Sport

1. Q Give any year in which Lance Armstrong apparently won the Tour de France.
   A 1999-2005
2. Q In which decade was the legend of the Ashes born in a mock obituary for English cricket in The Times?
   A 1880s (1882)
3. Q Which Scottish Premier League football club is nicknamed the Staggies and plays home games at Victoria Park, Dingwall?
   A Ross County
4. Q At the start of a game of snooker, what is the points value of all the balls on the table before any balls have been potted?
   A 42 (15+27)
5. Q At which racecourse earlier this month did Tony McCoy ride his 4000^th winner?
   A Towcester
6. Q Which Australian tennis player won the US Open in 1997 and 1998 and lost the Wimbledon finals in 2000 and 2001?
   A Pat Rafter
7. Q Which athlete, born in Jamaica in 1956, competed for Great Britain at every Olympiad from 1976 to 1996, winning gold at Los Angeles in 1984?
   A Tessa Sanderson
8. Q In the world of boxing, how is John Sholto Douglas better known?
   A Marquess of Queensbury

Supplementaries

1. Q The Iroquois Nationals are a team uniquely sanctioned to travel on Native American passports. What sport do they play?
   A Lacrosse
2. Q Which US athlete won the decathlon competition in the 1976 Olympics and went on to become stepfather to the Kardashian sisters?
   A Bruce Jenner

Round 6: Art & Culture

1. Q Which river features in many of the paintings of John Constable?
   A The Stour
2. Q Name either of the two novels written by Anne Bronte.
   A The Tenant of Wildfell Hall or Agnes Grey
   

3. Q Which Poet Laureate wrote a series of twelve narrative poems on Arthurian themes, collectively entitled Idylls of the King?
A Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1. Q Which British composer’s centenary was celebrated at the 2013 BBC Promenade concerts?
   A Benjamin Britten
2. Q Which artist has recently been delivering this year’s BBC Reith Lectures?
   A Grayson Perry
3. Q In the Bible, who was the youngest of Jacob’s twelve sons?
   A Benjamin
4. Q In Greek mythology, who was the wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld?
   A Persephone
5. Q Which German philosopher, born in 1844, introduced the concept of the Übermensch (superman) as a goal for humanity?
   A Friedrich Nietzsche

Supplementaries

1. Q Whose painting Black on Maroon was vandalised at London's Tate Modern gallery in October 2012?
   A Mark Rothko
2. Q In which Dickens novel does Dick Swiveller plan to marry the central character?
   A The Old Curiosity Shop

Round 7: The X Factor

You will get a definition of a word that ends in X. Just give the word!

1. Q A statement that seems absurd or self-contradictory, but is (or is believed to be) true
   A Paradox
2. Q A Greek hero of the Trojan war, who killed himself when Achilles' armour was given to Odysseus
   A Ajax
3. Q A large African antelope, typically having long, straight horns
   A Ibex
4. Q A cartoon character who gives his name to a theme park 35 kilometres north of Paris
   A Asterix
5. Q A bird of Asian legend, said to set fire to itself and rise unharmed from the ashes
   A Phoenix
6. Q The raw material that is used to make rubber
   A Latex
7. Q A town in Switzerland, famous for its annual television festival
   A Montreux
8. Q The branch of linguistics that deals with the arrangement of words to make sentences
   A Syntax

Supplementaries

1. Q A brand of coating for walls and ceilings, giving a textured finish - very popular circa 1975
   A Artex
2. Q In Britain, a brand of contraceptive; in Australia, a brand of sticky tape
   A Durex

Round 8: The American Songbook

Americans love songs about American places. These questions all relate to a state or a city that appears in song.

1. Q Which state did Ray Charles have on his mind in his 1960 US number 1?
   A Georgia

1. Q Which state gave the Bee Gees their first UK number 1?
   A Massachusetts

1. Q Glenn Campbell’s dreams of which Texan town include hearing its seawinds blowing and its seawaves crashing?
   A Galveston
2. Q According to Frank Sinatra, which town could Billy Sunday not shut down?
   A Chicago
3. Q In the song What did Delaware Boys, what did Dela wear?
   A A brand New Jersey

1. Q According to Katy Perry, girls from where are so hot they’ll melt your popsicle?
   A California
2. Q What city was Sheryl Crow leaving on her first single?
   A Las Vegas
3. Q According to Rogers & Hammerstein, where does ‘the wind come sweepin’ down the plain’?
   A Oklahoma

Supplementaries

1. Q Johnny Cash and June Carter hoped to revive the fever in their marriage with a trip to which city?
   A Jackson
2. Q In the musical 42^nd Street, where do the honeymoon couples shuffle off to?
   A Buffalo

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

1. Q In Noel Coward's Private Lives how does Amanda describe the county of Norfolk?
A Very Flat

2. Q Before Elizabeth Fry, who was the only woman apart from the Queen to appear on a British banknote?
A Florence Nightingale

3. Q What kind of foodstuff is a shiitake (shi-tacky)?
A A mushroom

4. Q Which novel begins with the words ‘The great fish moved silently through the night water’?
A Jaws

5. Q Which UK gossip magazine shares its name with a 1995 film that starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino?
A Heat

6. Q Jennie Jerome was born in 1854 in Brooklyn, New York. Who was her famous son?
A Winston Churchill

7. Q Julie Hesmondhalgh (hesmond-halge) is leaving Coronation Street in 2013. Which character has she played since 1998? (First name is acceptable)
A Hayley (Cropper)

8. Q Who did George Osborne succeed as Chancellor of the Exchequer?
A Alistair Darling

9. Q What's the name of England's national football development centre in Burton-upon-Trent, opened in 2012 by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge?
A St George’s Park

10. Q Which actress described herself as ‘the only sex symbol Britain has produced since Lady Godiva’?
A Diana Dors

11. Q Which company's flagship mobile phone is the Galaxy?
A Samsung

12. Q What sort of creature gives its Italian name to the pasta known as farfalle?
A Butterfly

13. Q Which novel by Graham Greene is about a vacuum cleaner salesman who goes to work for the secret service in Cuba?
A Our man in Havana

14. Q In which Italian city are the headquarters of both Alfa Romeo and Dolce & Gabbana?
A Milan

15. Q In the human body, which gland is situated beneath the Adam's apple and secretes hormones that regulate the body's metabolism?
A Thyroid

16. Q In tenpin bowling, how many strikes do you need to score the maximum 300?
A 12

17. Q Who regained the English throne in 1471, after defeating Henry VI at the Battle of Tewkesbury?
A Edward IV

18. Q Which sport will be included in the 2016 Olympics for the first time since 1904?
A Golf

19. Q In the film Goldeneye, who played agent double-O-six (codename Janus, real name Alec Trevelyan)?
A Sean Bean

20. Q What was the number for the exclusive Directory Enquiries service operated by BT up to 2002?
A 192

21. Q In which game, first marketed in 1967, do you remove plastic straws from a plastic tube, trying not to drop marbles?
A Kerplunk

22. Q In the title of the Stephen King novella, which actress is associated with Shawshank Redemption?
A Rita Hayworth (the novella is entitled Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption)

23. Q What is the name of the junction between the A1 and the A66?
A Scotch Corner

24. Q If a can of beer contains a widget, which gas does the widget release into the beer when the can is opened?
A Nitrogen

25. Q In Arthurian legend, the virtuous Sir Galahad was the illegitimate son of which knight?
A Lancelot

26. Q What surname is shared by the current Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the current shadow Foreign Secretary?
A Alexander

27. Q Two male Olympic gold medallists were knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours List. One was Bradley Wiggins; who was the other?
A Ben Ainslie

28. Q How are the cartoon characters Dupond and Dupont known in English?
A Thomson & Thompson (accept the Thompson twins)

29. Q Which British coin was introduced in 1971 and abolished in 1985?
A Half penny

30. Q Which toy was described on the box as "engineering for boys"?
A Meccano

31. Q Which singer received her third Mercury prize nomination this year at the age of 23, for her album Once I was an Eagle?
A Laura Marling

32. Q By what name, made famous by a certain aromatic tonic, was the Venezuelan port of Ciudad Bolivar known between 1764 and 1846?
A Angostura

33. Q What word do astronomers use to indicate the brightness of stars?
A Magnitude

34. Q In Greek mythology, who was the twin brother of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt?
A Apollo

35. Q What was unique about Pope Adrian the Fourth?
A He was the only English pope (Nicholas Breakspear)

36. Q The singer Noel Harrison died last month. Prior to his singing career he represented Britain at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, in which sport?
A Skiing

37. Q Who won seven Oscars as producer of the Tom & Jerry cartoons?
A Fred Quimby

38. Q Who gave birth in August to a baby rejoicing in the name of Jett Riviera?
A Katie Price (accept Jordan)

39. Q Which writer was married to the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, from 1930 until her death in 1976?
A Agatha Christie

40. Q Which musical instrument gets its name from the Italian word for "little"?
A Piccolo

41. Q In which English county are the towns of Market Drayton and Much Wenlock?
A Shropshire

42. Q Used as a food preservative and one of the principal ingredients of gunpowder, what is the common name for potassium nitrate?
A Saltpetre

43. Q Which Biblical character was visited by the Queen of Sheba?
A Solomon

44. Q What was the surname of the 'Wild West' showman known as Buffalo Bill?
A Cody

45. Q Which US city is represented by the Bulls in basketball and the Cubs in baseball?
A Chicago

46. Q What wine did Hannibal Lecter wash down his liver and fava beans with?
A Chianti (a nice one)

47. Q What type of creature is being swallowed by an eagle on the flag of Mexico?
A A snake

48. Q What was the real first name of the Project Mercury astronaut 'Gus' Grissom?
A Virgil

49. Q Whose third studio album, 18 Months, was released in 2012 and has produced a record eight Top Ten hits?
A Calvin Harris

50. Q St. Peter Port is the only town on which island?
A Guernsey

51. Q Doug Engelbart died in California in July 2013, aged 88. What was his most famous invention?
A The computer mouse

52. Q Who was the first person in the Bible to get drunk?
A Noah

53. Q Who resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the British army, in 1828, to become Prime Minister?
A Duke of Wellington

54. Q In which sport is there a scrimmage at the start of every down?
A American football (accept Canadian football)

55. Q Mickey Goldmill, played by Burgess Meredith, is a central character in which series of films?
A Rocky

56. Q Which South American country's flag is essentially similar to that of Canada, without the maple leaf?
A Peru

57. Q Which iconic singer, songwriter and musician, had the middle name Nesta?
A Bob Marley

58. Q Which band was formed at Wilmslow High School in 1985, and had a No. 1 album in 2002 with The Last Broadcast?
A Doves

59. Q Name one of the three countries with which Indonesia shares a land border.
A Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor

60. Q What's the name of the medical condition in which the optic disc is damaged by the pressure in the eyeball?
A Glaucoma

61. Q Which strait is crossed by two bridges, one designed by Thomas Telford and the other (originally) designed by Robert Stephenson?
A Menai strait

62. Q Which Chinese phrase means "wind and water"?
A Feng shui

63. Q Which canal links London and Birmingham?
A Grand Union

64. Q Which 2001 film made Halle Berry the first African American woman to win the Best Actress Oscar?
A Monster’s Ball

65. Q Which household item was invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892?
A The vacuum (Thermos) flask

66. Q Which cricket commentator, a former Test cricketer, is nicknamed Bumble?
A David Lloyd

67. Q Which musical is based on a 1988 film directed by John Waters and tells the story of a "pleasantly plump" teenager named Tracey Turnblad?
A Hairspray

68. Q Which river flows through Washington DC?
A Potomac

69. Q Which venomous spider gets its name from an Italian city?
A Tarantula (from Taranto)

70. Q What's the name of the cottage in Grasmere that was once home to William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy?
A Dove Cottage

71. Q What's the customary English translation of the Russian word "tovarisch"?
A Comrade

72. Q Formerly known as the Culebra Cut, where is the Gaillard (GAY-lard) Cut?
A On the Panama Canal (accept Panama)

73. Q In the film E.T., who played Elliott's little sister Gertie?
A Drew Barrymore

74. Q Name either of the joint winners of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded following the Camp David agreement.
A Mohammed Anwar al-Sadat or Menachem Begin

75. Q Who made the so-called 'Wind of Change' speech, in 1960, predicting the end of colonial rule in Africa?
A Harold MacMillan

76. Q Which song, written by Leon Russell and a hit for Joe Cocker, is said to have been inspired by the singer Rita Coolidge?
A Delta Lady

77. Q The USS Arizona has a designated war memorial straddling its hull. In what body of water does it lie?
A Pearl Harbor

78. Q The plant sometimes known as meadow saffron is also known as the autumn … what?
A Crocus

79. Q In English law, what's the last quarter day in each calendar year?
A Christmas Day

80. Q Which animal gives its name to a hastily-arranged and unjust court?
A Kangaroo

81. Q Which 38-year-old English schoolteacher died on Mount Everest in 1924?
A George Mallory

82. Q Which 1990 film, starring Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, took its title from a Leonard Cohen song?
A Bird on a Wire

83. Q Who had an inscription in Irish Gaelic, which translates into English as "I told you I was ill", put on his gravestone?
A Spike Milligan

84. Q Complete this quotation from Margaret Thatcher: "Every prime minister needs a … "
A Willie (she was obviously referring to Willie Whitelaw)

85. Q In which TV sitcom does the title character live above her own joke shop?
A Miranda

86. Q What's the only US state that has two words in its name, where the first word is not 'New' or a point of the compass?
A Rhode Island

87. Q In cricket, what do the initials ODI stand for?
A One-Day International

88. Q Which confectionery product did Mr T advertise while driving a tank?
A Snickers

89. Q What word can mean a small mammal, a naevus (NEE-vus), an infiltrator, a breakwater, or the SI base unit for the amount of a substance?
A Mole

90. Q In which year did London's first Underground line open?
A 1863 (no leeway as this year is the well-publicised 150^th anniversary)

91. Q Which character in Dickens's David Copperfield had the first name Wilkins?
A Mr Micawber

92. Q Which 'lad-mag' has the same name as the first Top 20 hit for the Scottish alternative rock band Primal Scream?
A Loaded

93. Q Who married Cynthia Powell on the 23rd of August 1962?
A John Lennon

94. Q How is 57-year-old Brendan O'Carroll better known on TV?
A Mrs Brown

95. Q Which German city gave its name to the edict of 1521, which declared Martin Luther a heretic and an outlaw?
A Worms

96. Q Whose 1981 single Rapture is often named as the first rap single to achieve mainstream chart success?
A Blondie

Supplementaries

1. Q Which product's advertising slogan, "a little dab'll do ya", gave Fred Flintstone his famous "Yabber-dabber-doo" catchphrase?
A Brylcreem

2. Q Which Massachusetts-based employment website was founded in 1994 by Jeff Taylor?
A monster.com

3. Q What is Mick Jagger's middle name, and also the real first name of the actor Anthony Hopkins?
A Philip

4. Q What do Melissa, Chernobyl and Anna Kournikova have in common?
A They are computer viruses

5. Q In volleyball, a spike is the equivalent of which stroke in tennis?
A Smash