2003 Sun n Fun Quiz-in
Questions by Valencia Red (Amy Harvey, Elissa Caffery, Jamie Delmolino (with CB))
1. The son of Vayu, god of the wind, as a child he mistook the rising sun for fruit, and when he tried to eat it, he disturbed the grahas, or the astrological bodies. This led to a dispute between Indra and Vayu, which eventually led to Indra granting Vayu’s son supernatural (*) powers. In his most famous adventure, he helped the title hero by bearing him on his shoulders so he could shoot an arrow into the demon Ravana. FTP name this Monkey King from the Ramayana.
Answer: Hanuman
2. Pyridoxine deficiency can result in a secondary deficiency of this nutrient since pyridoxine is involved in tryptophan metabolism. By stimulating prostaglandin, in large doses the nutrient can cause (*) flushing of the skin. In the body it is incorporated into the coenzymes NAD and NADP, and its deficiency, which is often caused by a corn-based diet, results in the disease pellagra. FTP, name this B-vitamin also known as niacin.
Answer: vitamin B3
(Accept niacin before mention, prompt on nicotinamide or nicotinic acid)
3. His play Clap Shack takes place in a VD ward, and his first critical notice was for Lie Down in Darkness, concerning the disintegration of a Southern family. Darkness, Visible (*) is an account of the lengthy struggle with depression of this writer who won a 1967 Pulitzer for a novel about an 1831 historical event. But his greatest acclaim came for the story of a young mother in Auschwitz who must choose which of her children is to live. For ten points, name this author of Sophie’s Choice and The Confessions of Nat Turner.
Answer: William Styron
4. These were described as ships that were “built by the mile and chopped off by the yard.” Welded, not riveted, in order to speed up production (*), one such ship was launched only 4 days and 15.5 hours after her keel was laid. Eventually a total of 2,710 were constructed; 200 went to the UK and 50 (which were never returned) went to the USSR. FTP, id these mass-produced merchantmen built by the United States in World War II.
Answer: Liberty Ships
5. Meant to be ironic, a citation in this composition’s original program described its creator as a composer of “serious music,” but this medley of drinking songs, including “Gaudeamus Igitaur” and the hazing tune “Fuchsleid,” was an attempt to show college (*) from a student’s point of view and was the composer’s closest attempt to the “New German” school. Written to celebrate the honorary degree from the University of Breslau conferred upon its composer, for ten points name this work with an intellectual title by Johannes Brahms.
Answer: Academic Festival Overture
6. Among its members are child actress Claire Sprantz, daughter of romance novelist Vicki and Lily Marcigan, daughter of a Southeast Asian dictator. Its badges include International Affairs, Jewelry Appraisal (*) and Gardening and according to its arch-nemesis Velda Plendor its had “more leaders than a banana republic”. Buts only when Phyllis Nefler takes over does the group really achieve its aim to work and try real hard while leaving behind its credit cards. For ten points name this troop with an eponymous 1989 movie starring Shelley Long.
Answer: Troop Beverly Hills
7. Its complex with iron is a constituent of Prussian blue, which explains the derivation of its name. When inhaled or ingested it inactivates cytochrome oxidase, halting the (*) electron transport chain and preventing cellular respiration. It is a strong-field ligand of transition metals and it combines with organic groups to firm nitriles. Symptoms of poisoning include bright red blood and an almond smell on the breath. FTP, identify this poisonous ion with formula CN.
Answer: cyanide
8. Virginia Woolf said all women together ought to let flowers fall on this woman’s tomb. As a professional spy she was known as (*) “Astrea” and was rumored to be the mistress of James II. Regarded for centuries as a smutty writer, younger generations have rediscovered her rather as a sensual writer dealing with issues of gender and class. For ten points identify this writer of Oroonoko and the first professional female writer in English.
Answer: Aphra Behn
9. Fossil members of this class include Orthoceras and many genera of ammonites. Most species in the class have chromatophores which enable them to change color and chitinous (*) beaks, and they are the only members of their phylum to have a closed circulatory system. They also have a well-developed nervous system, with the most complex brains among invertebrates. FTP, what is this molluscan class which includes the nautilus, squid and octopus?
Answer: Cephalopoda or cephalopods
10. Mount Everest is of course the tallest mountain in the world, but since the Earth bulges near the equator, however, you’d have to journey to a different country to reach the highest point on Earth’s surface from the center (*). This point is located in on top of Mount Chimborazo, which is located in this mountainous equatorial country. For ten points, what is this South American country, owner of the Galapagos, with its capital at Quito?
Answer: Ecuador
11. Starting when the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, it reached its greatest height in the A.D. 2nd century with the schools of Ishmael ben Elisha and Akiba ben Joseph. Divided into two parts, the Halachah and the Haggadah, (*) which deal with legal and non-legal aspects respectively, it is often mentioned in the Talmud. For ten points name this Rabbinical investigation into and interpretation of the Old Testament.
Answer: Midrash
12. Despite their name, they were actually microfilm. Some of their less important features were guidelines on the painting of fire extinguishers. Alternately titled the “Baltimore (*) Documents”, they spent ten years hidden at the home of Nathan Levine before being transferred to Whittaker Chambers’ Baltimore farm. For ten points name this evidence containing photographs of State Department Documents which helped convict Alger Hiss, found in a large vegetable.
Answer: Pumpkin Papers
13. A black patch in the lower right corner was described by its creator as a vertical whose existence was for purely formal reasons. Now hanging in the Detroit Institute of Arts, its 200-guinea price was considered outrageous (*), and it was called unfinished. For ten points, name this picture of fireworks on the Thames which caused John Ruskin to accuse James Whistler of flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.
Answer: Nocturne in Black and Gold (or) The Falling Rocket
14. Sekou Damate Commeh is head of the rebel forces trying to oust this leader who came to power in 1997. In the past his country has had UN sanctions placed on it due to its alleged backing of the rebels in Sierra (*) Leone. Consistently named by Committee to Protect Journalists as one of the worst enemies to freedom of the press, his army is responsible for the torture and forced labor of civilians and the use of rape as a war tactic. For ten points, name this man who declared himself “the most mischievous Liberian”, the president of that country.
Answer: Charles Taylor
15. The author did little original research, and most of its subjects can be divided into three parts: a biography, character and brief critical section. It held Dryden, Pope and Swift as greatest writers of the Restoration (*) and attacked the Metaphysicals. Later Romantics deplored its inadequate mention of Thomas Gray and Milton. For ten points name this massive collection concerning 52 English writers by Samuel Johnson.
Answer: Lives of the Poets
16. This term was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene and it was used by Susan Blackmore to explain altruism in humans. Transmitted much like a gene, both horizontally and longitudinally, (*) they comprise everything from song lyrics to entire religions. For ten points give this term, a unit of culture passed on by non-genetic means, especially imitation.
Answer: Meme
17. “Ferdinandea” was originally appended to its name as a salute to its discoverer’s patron. Element number 58 was named for it in 1803, two years after the object’s discovery. Although that discoverer first announced it as a new comet (*), he really believed it to be a minor planet predicted by Bode’s law, since its orbit lies in the region between Mars and Jupiter. Discovered by Giuseppi Piazzi, FTP identify this largest asteroid, named for the Roman goddess of grain.
Answer: Ceres
18. Her mother died in childbirth, and she fed her father via rope and pail for three years after he locked himself in the attic to protest the Civil War. Later she was briefly engaged to her brother-in-law after her sister Ellen (*) died, despite being several years younger than her niece and nephew. However, she left when he suggested they produce a male heir before marriage. Later she recounts the entire story to Quentin Compson and has him accompany her out to Sutpen’s Hundred. For ten points name this sister-in-law of Thomas Sutpen who is a principal character in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!
Answer: Rosa Coldfield
19. The British warships Goliath, Triumph and Majestic were sunk by one German submarine, and as a result Winston Churchill was forced to resign as Lord of the Admiralty. The attacking forces consisted of British, French and Australian (*) troops which suffered heavily due to heat and disease until it was abandoned after eight months. For ten points, name this World War I battle, an attempt to capture Constantinople.
Answer: Gallipoli Campaign
20. It is thought that objects cannot travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum. However, in a medium such as water, the speed of light is considerably less, and it is possible for particles to travel faster than light. When they do, a faint blue radiation (*) is produced from the medium because the water molecules are excited and emit photons. FTP name this type of radiation named for the Russian physicist who shared a 1958 Nobel Prize for work leading to the development of a cosmic-ray counter.
Answer: Cherenkov radiation or light
Extra:
He converted to Catholicism at the age of 20 and his support of Frederick II helped him become Duke of Friedland. However his extortion of powerful German princes gained him powerful and his defeat at the battle of Lutzen (*) as well as accusations of treason motivated his generals to conspire against him until he was removed from command in 1634. With his troops he fled to Eger where he was murdered with the approval of Ferdinand. For ten points name this imperial general of the Thirty Years War and central figure in a trilogy by Schiller.
Answer: Albrecht Wallenstein
It is the basis for non-contact switches such as those used in brushless motors, and it can be used to measure the drift speed of charge carriers (*). It can also distinguish n- and p-type semiconductors since currents of positive and negative charge carriers create opposite voltages. The discovery of the quantum version won von Klitzing the 1985 Nobel Prize. A potential difference is observed across the width of the conductor in, FTP, what physical effect caused by a magnetic field perpendicular to a current?
Answer: Hall Effect
Ivan IV had murdered his oldest son, and his legitimate heir Fyodor was in idiot. Boris Gudonov was elected Czar (*), but following his death was a series of revolts, one a radical movement of peasants. Next, Russia was invaded by Poles which were defeated by Prince Pozharsky in 1612. For ten points, name this period ending with the election of Michael Romanov as czar.
Answer: Time of Troubles
Valencia Red Bonuses (Note: offensive lead-ins all written by Amy)
1. Aromatic compounds, 5-10-15
A. This simplest aromatic compound has formula C6H6.
A. benzene
B. This compound, a benzene ring with an attached amine group, is used to make an important class of dyes.
A. aniline
C. The R group of this aromatic amino acid consists of a benzene ring bonded to a CH2 group.
A. phenylalanine
2. Answer the following questions about an event of saber-rattling FTSNOP.
A. (10pts) Germany and France almost went to war over Germany’s desire to expand her influence in Africa by sending two warships into a port near Morocco in this event.
AAgadir Crisis or Agadir Incident
B. (10pts) Give the year it took place.
A.1911
C. For five points each name either of the two warships.
A.Panther and Berlin
3. Answer the following about Nathaniel Hawthorne works FTPE.
A. A line in Shakespeare’s King John was the inspiration for this collection of short stories featuring pieces like Howe’s Masquerade and The Minister’s Black Veil.
A.Twice Told Tales
B. Brook Farm served as the model for this tale of a Utopian community narrated by Miles Coverdale an also featuring the characters of Zenobia and Hollingsworth.
AThe Blithedale Romance
C. Hawthorne’s alma mater Bowdoin College was the inspiration for this story of the title character who falls in love with Ellen Langdon but gives her up to the man he knows she loves before he dies. Hawthorne published this work anonymously.
A. Fanshawe
4. Name these directors FTPE.
A. This son of a Jewish hat merchant was an extra in Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” and debuted with “Blind Husbands.” His most famous movie is “Greed.”
A. Erich von Stroheim
B. This German got his start with musical comedies starring Maurice Chevalier. Other works include “To Be or Not To Be,” “Trouble in Paradise” and “Ninotchka” with Greta Garbo.
A. Ernst Lubitsch
C. He gave his name a “von” after an early work “Daughters of Vienna” was credited to a colleague. He is best remembered for his seven picture collaboration with Marlene Dietrich which yielded such masterpieces as “The Blue Angel” and “The Shanghai Express”
A. Josef von Sternberg
5. Answer the following about the trail of slime left by a college basketball coach FTPE.
A. Whose bad decisions and/or lack of oversight of his Georgia men’s basketball team has gotten that team banned from tournament play this year?
A. Jim Harrick
B. The trouble at Georgia came from the many allegations made by this slimeball player, himself twice charged with sexual assault?
A. Tony Cole
C. Harrick first ran into trouble at UCLA and then later at this college when his recruitment of Lamar Odom caught the attention of the NCAA.
A. Rhode Island
6. Answer the following questions about the colossal prick Saddam Hussein for ten points each.
A. In 1956 a young Saddam joined this political party, later rising to the rank of Secretary General.
A. B.A.T.H or Arab Ba’th Socialist Party
B. In 1959, Hussein took part in revolutionary activities against this Iraqi dictator. His involvement resulted in this man receiving several shots while Hussein was shot in the leg by his bodyguards.
A. Abdul Karrim Quassim
C. This son of Hussein appears to be his hand-picked successor; he is suspected to have shot his own brother, Qusay, on orders from Daddy.
A. Uday
7. Name these physics laws FTPE.
A. It says that if two bodies are both in thermal equilibrium with a third body, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other; less formally, it defines temperature.
A. the zeroth law of thermodynamics
B. It states that an induced current has direction such that the magnetic field the current produces opposes the change in the magnetic flux.
A. Lenz’s law
C. Stated as 2d sin = m (“two d sine theta equals m lambda”) where m takes the values of the positive integers, it can be used to find intensity maxima in x-ray diffraction.
A. Bragg’s law
8. Name these plays by Dashiell Hammet’s, umm, lady friend, Lillian Hellman FTPE:
A. Hellman unfavorably portrays Southern industrialism in this work about Regina Hubbard who needs to lend her brothers money to help build a cotton mill. When Regina’s former husband won’t give her the money her nephew steals bonds and Regina uses this info to blackmail her brothers for a share in the mill.
A. The Little Foxes
B. In this work Karen Wright and Martha Dobie are just beginning in to succeed in their struggle to make the Wright-Dobie School for Girls thrive. Then they are accused of lesbianism by an unruly student, causing a scandal.
A. The Children’s Hour
C. One of the first successful anti-nazi plays in America, this work tells of a German refugee pursued by Nazi agents. When someone at the embassy recognizes him he kills the informer.
A.Watch on the Rhine
9. Answer the following about the Sirens FTSNOP.
A. According to Homer there were two but later writers named three. For ten points, name any one of the sirens.
A. Parthenope, Ligea, Leucosia
B. In one tale this group of mythological heroes was able to pass safely by the Sirens because one musician in their company sang more beautifully. For ten points each name the group and the musician.