7th October Questions

 

Specialist Questions

Set by The Ox-Fford

1. Art and Entertainment

2. TV Comedies

3. History

4. Sport

5. English Tourist Attractions

6. Science

7. Geography

8. Egg-Heads

   Art and Entertainment

1	Which intelligent animals tried to warn humans about the world coming to an end in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?	Dolphins
2	Which American dancer, exiled from the USA for her pro-Soviet sympathies, was killed in France in 1927 after her long silk scarf became entangled around a wheel and the rear axle of the car she was travelling in?	Isadora Duncan
3	Which poet published a final collection of poems shortly before his death in 1998 entitled Birthday Letters?	Ted Hughes
4	What are Alex's fellow gang members called in A Clockwork Orange?	Droogs
5	Which Shakespeare play tells the story of two sets of identical twins that were accidentally separated at birth?	The Comedy of Errors
6	Which Scottish author wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie?	Muriel Spark
7	The works of which English painter included A Harlot’s Progress and A Rake’s Progress?	William Hogarth
8	Martin Freeman had mixed reviews in 2014 for playing the title role in which Shakespeare play at London's Trafalgar Studios?	Richard III
S1	Which British artist, who was born in Brighton and died in 1898 at just 25 years of age, famously illustrated the 1893 edition of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur?	Aubrey Beardsley
S2	In which country is Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha set?	Ireland

TV Comedies

A simple picture round. You will be shown a picture of a TV Comedy programme – simply name the programme!

(Note to QMs: there are 2 substitute questions about TV Comedies at the end for use if there are any visually impaired Quizzers)

 

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

S1

S2

1	Last of the Summer Wine
2	Are You Being Served?
3	Red Dwarf
4	Porridge
5	Birds of a Feather
6	'Allo 'Allo!
7	The Royle Family
8	Absolutely Fabulous
S1	The Good Life
S2	On the Buses

Visually impaired Q1

What was the Nurse's name in Open all Hours?

Answer: Nurse Gladys Emmanuel

Visually impaired Q2

Who was the female performer in the comedy show Three of a Kind?

Answer: Tracey Ullman

History

1	What was French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat doing when he was stabbed to death on 13 July 1793 by Royalist Charlotte Corday?	Taking a Bath
2	Eboracum was a fort and city in Roman Britain. By what name is it known today?	York
3	What was the name of the Thames river boat which sank in 1989 killing 51 people?	Marchioness
4	Which infamous Nazi was known as the 'Butcher of Lyon'?	Klaus Barbie
5	Who is the only Roman Catholic to hold the office of President of the United States?	John F. Kennedy
6	The invasion by Iraq of which country in 1990 led to the first Gulf War?	Kuwait
7	What was the name of Christopher Columbus' flagship in 1492?	The Santa Maria
8	Who was the English archaeologist who became world famous after discovering the intact tomb of 14th-century BC pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922?	Howard Carter
S1	In which city did Anne Frank hide from the Germans?	Amsterdam
S2	What was the name given to the pact signed by Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain on September 29, 1938?	Munich Pact

Sport

1	Which England footballer was arrested for theft during the build up to the 1970 World Cup finals?	Bobby Moore
2	Which country club hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup?	Medinah
3	Who wore gold coloured running shoes at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta?	Michael Johnson
4	Name the martial art first practiced by Buddhist monks in China which literally means "empty hand"	Karate
5	Who was the first Australian cricketer to play 100 Tests for his country?	Allan Border
6	Which player scored the last goal of the 2011/12 English Premier League football season?	Sergio Aguero
7	Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel sealed his fourth consecutive World Drivers' Championship in 2013 at the Indian Grand Prix. He was the fourth man to become a four-time champion. Name one of the other three	Juan Michel Fangio Alain Prost Michael Schumacher
8	Who scored four tries for New Zealand when they defeated England in the semi-finals of the 1995 Rugby World Cup?	Jonah Lomu
S1	Which former W.B.A. heavyweight champion died in Ohio in 2012 after losing a battle with liver cancer at the age of 54?	Michael Dokes
S2	In September 2013, which horse gave Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien his fourth St Leger Stakes and jockey son Joseph his first?	Leading Light

English Tourist Attractions

Another simple picture round. You will be shown a picture of a well-known tourist attraction; you simply have to say what it is. All of the locations are in England.

(Note to QMs: there are 2 substitute questions about tourist attractions at the end for use if there are any visually impaired Quizzers)

Visually impaired Q1

James Maxwell and Charles Tuke were the designers of which North West of England landmark which opened in 1894?

Answer: Blackpool Tower

Visually impaired Q2

The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture in Gateshead designed by which architect?

Answer: Antony Gormley

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

S1

S2

1	York Minster
2	Warwick Castle
3	HMS Victory (in Portsmouth)
4	Blenheim Palace (Oxfordshire)
5	Roman Baths (in Bath)
6	Albert Dock (in Liverpool)
7	Legoland (in Windsor)
8	Eden Project (in Cornwall)
S1	Hampton Court (in Richmond upon Thames, London)
S2	Alton Towers

Science

1	The scientist Joseph Priestly called it 'dephlogisticated air', fellow scientist Antoine Lavoisier called it something else, what was that?	Oxygen
2	What is the name given to the molten rock found beneath the Earth's crust that erupts as lava?	Magma
3	Which astronomical unit of distance, defined so as to make calculations of astronomical distances quick and easy for astronomers from only their raw observational data, was first suggested in 1913 by British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner?	Parsec
4	What is 100 degrees Celsius on the Fahrenheit scale?	212
5	Which bird has the widest wingspan, of up to 3.61 metres?	Albatross
6	The measurement 'half the base multiplied by the height' works out the area of what?	Triangle
7	In which part of the human body is the pineal gland?	Brain
8	What colour is the non-metallic element sulphur?	Yellow
S1	Pure gold is rated as how many carats?	24
S2	What does the Douglas scale measure?	Disturbance of the Ocean Surface

Geography

1	In which British city has there been an annual Goose Fair for hundreds of years?	Nottingham
2	Which American state is named after Queen Elizabeth I?	Virginia
3	In British legend, in which English market town did Joseph of Arimathea plant his staff?	Glastonbury
4	In January 2012, Australian bungee jumper Erin Langworthy was plunged into crocodile-infested waters in Africa after her bungee rope snapped. She jumped from Victoria Falls bridge into which river?	Zambezi
5	What is the capital city of Slovakia?	Bratislava
6	The Republic of Kiribati is in which ocean?	Pacific
7	Which country contains the three highest waterfalls in Europe?	Norway
8	Which American state is home to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Rock City Gardens near Chattanooga?	Tennessee
S1	Angola's coast is on which body of water?	Atlantic Ocean
S2	In which city do Eurostar services to Belgium terminate?	Brussels

Egg-Heads

And another picture round. You will be shown a picture of an (allegedly) well-known person, or at least most of their face as the pictures will be “egg shaped”. All will become clear…

(Note to QMs: there are 2 substitute questions about well-known people at the end for use if there are any visually impaired Quizzers)

Visually impaired Q1

Who was the longest serving Blue Peter presenter, hosting the show from 1965-1978?

Answer: John Noakes

Visually impaired Q2

Which singer released her debut album Rockferry in March 2008?

Answer: Duffy

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q5

Q6

Q7

Q8

S1

S2

1	Ross Kemp
2	Bear Grylls
3	Katy Perry
4	Billie Piper
5	James May
6	Gordon Ramsay
7	Helen Mirren
8	Joanna Lumley
S1	Larry David
S2	Morgan Freeman

 

 

 

General Knowledge

 

Set by: Ox-fford

1. Prior to Gordon Brown, who was the last British Prime Minister to take office without winning a General Election?

John Major (took over from Margaret Thatcher in November 1990; later won a General Election in May 1992).

1. What was the name of the TV detective played by Jimmy Nail in the early 1990s?

Spender

1. Which car manufacturer produces a model called the Mulsanne?

Bentley

1. Of which ancient empire was Nebuchadnezzar king

Babylon

1. Who played the second Doctor in the BBC TV series Doctor Who?

Patrick Troughton

1. In which James bond movie did Jane Seymour play the character Solitaire?

Live and Let Die

1. Which football team paid a then record £1,000 for Alf Common in 1905?

Middlesbrough

1. As of 06/10/2014, how many former Presidents of the USA are still alive?

Four (Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush)

1. Who wrote the words to the hymn Jerusalem?

William Blake

1. Who is the only player to beat Bjorn Borg in a Wimbledon men’s singles final?

John McEnroe

1. Which board game did Chris Haney and Scott Abbott invent in 1979?

Trivial Pursuit

1. Who wrote the book ‘The Last of The Mohicans’?

James Fennimore Cooper

1. Who is the current British Secretary of State for Defence?

Michael Fallon (took over from Philip Hammond in July 2014)

1. The Charles Bridge, Wenceslas Square and the Staropramen Brewery can be found in which European capital city?

Prague

1. Which village on the Cheshire / Staffordshire border is featured prominently in the 1973 novel, Red Shift, by Alan Garner?

Mow Cop

1. Which of Henry VIII’s wives had three other husbands?

Catherine Parr

1. Who designed the dome of St Peter’s in Rome?

Michelangelo

1. There are 2 islands in the middle of the River Seine in Paris. Name either.

Île de la Cité or Île Saint-Louis

1. The Ghurkhas are famous for carrying a particularly large and nasty knife. What is it called?

Kukri

1. At which race circuit was Formula One legend Ayrton Senna killed?

Imola

Also accept Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (its formal name) but not San Marino, which is just the name of the Grand Prix held there

1. Balmain, St Leonards and Crow’s Nest are suburbs in which southern Hemisphere city?

Sydney

1. Which team are the 2014 County Cricket Champions?

Yorkshire

1. Which is the first line of the London Underground to be opened?

The Metropolitan Line

1. In the Clint Eastwood films, what was Dirty Harry’s surname?

Callahan

1. Which actor did Paul Newman and Robert Redford swindle in the film ‘The Sting’?

Robert Shaw

1. Which battle took place in Natal Province, South Africa on 22–23 January 1879?

Rorke's Drift

1. Who was the European Team’s winning Ryder Cup Captain at Gleneagles last month?

Paul McGinley

1. Who is currently fourth in line to the British Throne?

Prince Harry (Charles is first, then William, then Baby George)

1. Microsoft has just announced the name of the latest operating system which will (in theory) go on sale in 2015. What is it called?

Windows 10 (having decided to miss out Windows 9)

1. Who, when stoned to death, became the first Christian martyr?

St Stephen

1. A famous household product took its name from its original active ingredient Sodium Ricinoleate. What is the famous product?

SR Toothpaste (Accept toothpaste or anything along these lines)

1. In July and during October – November 1942, the British fought and beat the Germans in the first and second battles of where?

El Alamein

1. What is the capital of Mozambique?

Maputo

1. Windhoek is the capital of which African country?

Namibia

1. Which English king was nicknamed Rufus?

William II

1. Who hosts the ITV quiz show Tipping Point?

Ben Shephard

1. Which Carry on star made the most appearances in the Carry On films

Kenneth Williams (26 – all the same, mostly…)

1. Which was the first state of the United States of America, which (oddly enough) means one of its nicknames is The First State?

Delaware

1. Which comedian and magician used to come on stage to the tune The Sheikh of Araby?

Tommy Cooper

1. The atomic bombs dropped on Japan in World War II were each given a code name / nickname; give either

Little Boy or Fat Man

1. In which European capital does OPEC have its headquarters?

Vienna

1. Victory in a close race in which sport is sometimes referred to as “winning by a canvas”?

Rowing

1. Which pasta is made in the form of narrow ribbons, and takes its name from the Italian for “little tongues”?

Linguini

1. How many stars are there on the New Zealand flag?

4

1. How many men have set foot on the moon?

12

1. Which is the newest of London’s underground lines?

The Jubilee Line

1. Which fictional detective first appeared in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’?

Hercule Poirot

1. Walter Swinburn won his first Derby in 1981, riding which horse?

Shergar

1. Who wrote Silas Marner?

George Eliot

1. The name of which English county was restored to the map as a Unitary Authority in 1997, having been incorporated as a part of Leicestershire for the previous 23 years?  

Rutland

1. Who carried the spirits of dead Viking warriors to Valhalla?

The Valkyries.

1. In which country do the Pashtuns form the largest ethnic group?

Afghanistan

1. What name is given to growing plants in liquid nutrients, rather than soil?      

Hydroponics

1. Whose backing band was called The Attractions?

Elvis Costello

1. Which classic children’s television programme was originally a French production called Le Manège enchanté

The Magic Roundabout

1. What was the surname of brothers Adolphe and Edouard-Jean, who began producing orange liqueur in Angers in 1849?

Cointreau

1. What name is given to a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried?

Tempura

1. Who is the chairman of the Radio 4 panel show, Just a Minute?

Nicolas Parsons

1. In hereditary terms, what is the difference between the children of Princess Anne and the children of Prince Charles and Prince Andrew?

They do not have any Royal Titles (William and Harry are both Princes, Beatrice and Eugene are Princesses. Zara and Peter Phillips are not titled).

1. How is the common bird Sternus Vulgaris better known?

Starling

1. What is the name of the servant who faithfully follows Orlando into Exile in As You Like It?

Adam

1. Which Egyptian God had the head of a hawk or falcon?

Horus

1. What name is given to the small, blind extension of the bowel in the lower right abdomen?

Appendix

1. What was the title of the Peter Wright book banned by the British Government in this country in 1987 but which remained widely available abroad?

Spycatcher

1. Discovered in 1950 and named after a US College, which element has the Atomic Number 97

Berkelium

1. The Americans call it a ‘faucet’. What do the British call it?

A Tap

1. How many stripes are there on the American Flag?

13 (and 50 stars)

1. FTTB, FTTC, FTTD, FTTH, FTTK, FTTN, and FTTP are all abbreviations used in broadband network architecture. What does the letter F stand for in all of them?

Fibre (Fibre to the Building, Fibre to the Cabinet etc…)

1. Who was the first player ever to be sent off in an F A Cup Final?

Kevin Moran (1985, playing for Manchester United)

1. Raleigh is the capital of which US state?

North Carolina

1. In which European city did world renowned human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin recently get married to a well-known actor?

Venice (marrying George Clooney, of course)

1. How many Megabytes are there in a Gigabyte

1024

1. How many players form a basketball team?

5

1. Which controversial American author wrote the shocking 1980’s satire American Psycho?

Bret Easton Ellis

1. Which city is known in its native language as ‘Baile Atha Cliath’?

Dublin

1. Who had hits in the 1980s with The Reflex, Planet Earth and Is There Something I Should Know?

Duran Duran

1. Which science or area of study was founded on the work of Gregor Mendel?

Genetics

1. What is the name of the current United States Secretary of State, responsible for foreign affairs?

John Kerry

1. Baton Rouge is the capital of which US state?

Louisiana

1. Which sportsman’s autobiography was entitled It’s Not About the Bike?

Lance Armstrong

1. Whose backing band was called The Tremeloes?

Brian Poole

1. What was the name of the last steam engine to be built for British Rail?

Evening Star

1. Who is the chairman of the Radio 4 panel show, I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue?

Jack Dee

1. What name is given to the four small bones at the base of the spine?

Coccyx

1. How many different numerals were used in the Roman numbering system?

Seven (I, V, X, L, C, D, M)

1. Who discovered the wrecks of the Titanic, the Bismarck and the USS Yorktown (sunk in the battle of Midway)?

Robert Ballard

1. How high, in feet, is the crossbar of American Football goals?

10 feet

1. Which famous English brothers played both County Cricket and 1st Division Football in the 1930s, 40s and 50s?

Leslie and Denis Compton

1. Which 20th Century poet wrote collections such as New Bats in Old Belfries and A Few Late Chrysanthemums?

Sir John Betjeman

1. Who developed the first effective vaccine against smallpox?

Edward Jenner

1. Which percussion instrument consists of tuned metal bars and is takes its name from the German words for “bell” and “play”?

Glockenspiel

1. Who was the kidnap target in the novel and film entitled The Eagle has Landed?

Winston Churchill

1. Renal Calculus is the medical name for what painful ailment?

Kidney Stone

1. Who is the magical spirit of the air in Shakespeare’s The Tempest?

Ariel

1. Which trade union was formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of NALGO, NUPE and COSHE?

UNISON

1. What was the name of the transvestite in M*A*S*H

Corporal Klinger

Supplementary Questions

S1 By what name is the US Military academy in New York State usually known?

West Point

S2 Which British Statesman made a speech in 1850 in support of his decision to send gunboats to Greece in support of Don Pacifico?

Lord Palmerston

S3 Which Explorer's last words were "I have not told half of what I saw"?

Marco Polo

S4 Which Opera Singer recorded the theme song to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Freddie Mercury?

Montserrat Caballe

S5 Which Germanic Race of People sacked Rome in 455 AD?

Vandals

S6 Where would you find the Pillars of Hercules?

Either side of the Straits of Gibraltar