Virginia High School League Scholastic Bowl page 8
2007 State Tournament Match #2
These questions are for use in the Virginia High School League’s Scholastic Bowl State Tournament. Shawn Pickrell, Jason Mueller, Adam Fine and Dan Goff are the authors of these questions, which were then edited by Adam Fine, Raj Dhuwalia, Marian Suter, Dan Goff, Fred Morlan, Tom Chuck and Tom Egan.
Competitors must observe the following conditions, which must be known by all coaches, competitors and spectators of the competition:
(a) Public discussion of these questions is permitted.
(b) Releasing these questions to entities who are not associated with the tournament is prohibited.
First period: 15 tossups, 10 points each
1. Landmarks in this Rust Belt city include the McKinley Monument and the western end of the Erie Canal. It is the second largest city in the state of New York, located on the eastern shore of Lake Erie and some 75 miles west of Rochester. What city is also the home to the Sabres and the Bills?
ANSWER: Buffalo, New York
2. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Using radians for the theta, what is the polar equivalent of the Cartesian point (-4, 0) (read as: negative four, comma, zero)?
ANSWER: (4, pi) (accept either “4-pi” and “4 comma pi”)
3. His predecessor, Muhammetnazar (moo-hah-met-nah-ZAR) Gapurow (gah-POO-roff), was ousted in 1985 over a corruption scandal involving cotton. After his country’s independence, he decided to give his nation a national identity. What man created a national identity that included: closing rural libraries, building a statue of himself on the Neutrality Arch, writing the Ruhnama (ROO-nah-mah) and renaming January after himself?
ANSWER: Turkmenbashi Saparmurat Niyazov (Accept either underlined name)
4. The traction type of this medical problem may reflect other disorders such as a stroke or a sinus infection. The cervicogenic (ser-vih-KOH-jen-ik) variety reflects a problem with the neck. The myogenic (my-OH-gen-ik) type includes the tensing of neck and face muscles. The most familiar types of what upper body problem include cluster, tension and migraine?
ANSWER: headache(s)
5. In 1896, he got a volunteer position in a French library and then took sick leave until his 1922 death. He translated two works by John Ruskin and wrote a short story collection, The Pleasures and the Days, but spent most of his life writing his masterwork. A 1995 translation of what French author’s seven-volume masterwork had the more accurate title In Search of Lost Time, but was once called Remembrance of Things Past?
ANSWER: Marcel (Valentin Louis Eugene Georges) Proust
6. The FICO (fee-KOH) variety of this important stat can be between 300 and 850, although Trans Union, Experian and Equifax have their own version. Punctual payment and avoiding excessive indebtedness are the best methods of improving what stat that determines how “safe” a lending risk you are?
ANSWER: credit score (accept “credit rating” or other close equivalents)
7. He married Black Buffalo Woman and survived an assassination attempt by her enraged ex-husband, No Water. A plan was made for him to lead a force to stop Chief Joseph. Plotting by other captured chiefs stopped that plan and he died in 1877 after resisting arrest on probably false charges. The world’s largest sculpture will be of what Lakota leader that, along with Gall and Sitting Bull, won the Battle of Little Big Horn?
ANSWER: Crazy Horse
8. After this poem was published in 1812, its author stated, “I awoke one morning and found myself famous.” A prelude to its four cantos is titled, To Ianthe (ee-ahn-thay). An enjoyable Grand Tour of Europe inspired its author, Lord Byron. The first word of what poem’s title refers to a candidate for knighthood, and not a very young person?
ANSWER: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
9. He made two films in 2006: a documentary about Hurricane Katrina, entitled When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts; and his first-ever $100 million blockbuster, Inside Man, which starred Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster. What director may perhaps be best known for earlier work, such as Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing?
ANSWER: Spike Lee
10. This effect, a type of scattering, is noticed when headlights are seen through fog and is essentially the reason the sky is blue. What effect, named for an Irish scientist, is demonstrated by a colloid when light passes through and scatters?
ANSWER: Tyndall effect
11. Some people with this title are in pectore (in pek-TOH-ray), or known only to the Pope and to God. Once, any Catholic male could become one; today, however, they must be priests and are almost always bishops. To be eligible to vote, however, they must be under age 80. The “College” of people holding what title elects the Pope?
ANSWER: cardinals
12. Part eight of this novel is set after the title character’s death. In it, Levin has found faith in God, Stiva has gotten the job he wanted and Vronsky has left to fight in Serbia. At the end of part seven, the title character breaks up with Vronsky and commits suicide by throwing herself under a train. This is the climax of what novel by Leo Tolstoy?
ANSWER: Anna Karenina (kah-reh-NIH-nuh)
13. René Descartes (day-CART) called this gland the “seat of the soul,” and some yoga practitioners believe it can be “awakened” to enable telepathy. In birds and lizards, it lies on the surface of the brain and regulates their biological clock. What gland that secretes serotonin (say-roh-TOH-nin) and melatonin (meh-lah-TOH-nin) is attached to the third ventricle of the brain?
ANSWER: pineal gland
14. Its prasiolite (pray-see-OH-light) variety only occurs artificially. Citrine is usually made artificially by heating amethyst. There’s also tiger’s eye, chalcedony (chal-she-DOH-nee), agate, onyx and jasper. Silica tetrahedrons make up what common mineral that has a Mohs value of seven?
ANSWER: quartz
15. During the course of his reign, Rome absorbed the Nabatean (nah-buh-TEE-un) kingdom in what is now northwestern Saudi Arabia and conquered the kingdom of Dacia (DAY-see-uh) in modern-day Romania. He conquered most of the Parthian Empire, regretting that he was “too old” to follow Alexander the Great’s footsteps. What Roman Emperor ruled between 98 and 117 AD, and gave the Roman Empire its largest land area?
ANSWER: Trajan
Second period, 10 directed questions per team, 10 points each
Set A questions have an “A” after their number; set B questions have a “B.”
1A. John Barleycorn and The Road were the two autobiographies of what author, better-known for The Sea-Wolf, White Fang and The Call of the Wild?
ANSWER: Jack London
1B. Investigative journalists Lincoln Steffens and Upton Sinclair were given what name by Theodore Roosevelt due to their apparent lack of optimism?
ANSWER: muckrakers (Roosevelt was in favor of their exposés, but thought they were overly pessimistic about solutions to the problem)
2A. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the remainder when 800 is divided by 7?
ANSWER: 2
2B. Being and Time is the most notable work of what German philosopher who was criticized for his association with the Nazi party during the 1930s and 1940s?
ANSWER: Martin Heidegger (HIGH-deh-ger)
3A. What 1973 war saw Israel repel an Arab invasion and is named for the day it began – the highest holy day of Judaism?
ANSWER: Yom Kippur War
3B. What is the comparative form of the Spanish adjective mal (mahl), meaning “bad”?
ANSWER: peor (PAY-or)
4A. The designers of this aimed to make it independent of programming languages, database systems, and operating systems. Name this standard in Windows to connect to databases which can be found in the administrator tools.
ANSWER: Open Database Connectivity or ODBC
4B. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the prime factorization of 330?
ANSWER: 2, 3, 5, 11 (can be said in any order, and accept answers that include “times” between the numbers)
5A. Which Muse of epic poetry was the mother of Orpheus?
ANSWER: Calliope (kah-LIE-oh-pee)
5B. If someone gives you “pen toints” for a correct answer, they have committed what speaking error in which the first sounds of a pair of words are unintentionally swapped?
ANSWER: spoonerism
6A. The plays The Birthday Party, The Caretaker, The Homecoming and Betrayal are all by what British playwright who won the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature?
ANSWER: Harold Pinter
6B. What is the term for a negatively charged ion?
ANSWER: anion (an-EYE-un)
7A. Which actor appeared in several 1960s Sergio Leone westerns before starring as Dirty Harry; immortalizing the phrase, “Go ahead, make my day”?
ANSWER: Clint Eastwood
7B. Four-thirds pi times R cubed is the formula for the volume of what object?
ANSWER: sphere
8A. What taxonomic category is used in the plant kingdom instead of phylum?
ANSWER: division
8B. What city is the home to the main campus of the University of Tennessee?
ANSWER: Knoxville, Tennessee
9A. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the area of a square with a perimeter of 76 feet?
ANSWER: 361 square feet
9B. What phase of mitosis precedes the cell’s entrance into interphase, in which two daughter cells emerge?
ANSWER: telophase
10A. Before the steamboat’s invention, Mississippi river-men going home had to travel what road between Nashville and the Mississippi town for which this road is named?
ANSWER: Natchez Trace
10B. Forwards Caron (kuh-RON) Butler and Antawn Jamison and guard Gilbert Arenas play for which NBA team?
ANSWER: Washington Wizards (accept either)
Third period, 15 toss-ups, 10 points each
1. Delta Q equals delta U plus delta W is one way to state this law of physics, which essentially states that “work plus heat energy equals increase in internal energy.” The conservation of energy is restated by what law that comes right after a zeroth law?
ANSWER: first law of thermodynamics
2. His 1990 work, Superbia, was a futuristic update of George Orwell’s 1984, but the Orwell estate did not permit him to adapt the novel in earnest. His next piece, Tick, Tick… BOOM!, was an autobiographical rock monologue and also an homage to Stephen Sondheim. Name this composer who died of a heart ailment in 1996, just before the premiere of his masterpiece, Rent.
ANSWER: Jonathan Larson
3. In some Bushmen languages, this punctuation mark is used to represent a consonant made by clicking the tongue. Its origin comes from the Latin word io (ee-oh), which was a random expression of joy. Part of the interrobang (in-TAY-roh-bang) is what punctuation mark that ends sentences that express strong feeling or surprise?
ANSWER: exclamation mark or point (accept bang before “interrobang”)
4. Banks in other English-speaking countries offer similar products called term deposits or time deposits. Since the Federal Reserve has been increasing interest rates, many of them allow you to “bump up” their interest rate once during their lifetime. What alternative to savings accounts have a penalty if the owner tries to make an early withdrawal?
ANSWER: bank certificate(s) of deposit or bank CDs
5. His father, a wealthy non-farmer of alfalfa, did not give him the name, “Caleb.” In fact, when his mother found his real name, she died from the shock. In an effort to avoid work, he signed all official documents “Irving Washington” or “Washington Irving.” What character in Catch-22 was promoted during Basic Training from Private to the rank between Captain and Lieutenant Colonel?
ANSWER: Major Major Major Major (only one “Major” is required. Accept two, three or four Majors in a row, as well.)
6. In 1999, David Keys theorized that its eruption in 535 AD led to a worldwide lowering of temperature. In 416 AD, another eruption was recorded in a Javanese record. Over 35,000 people are known to have died in its most recent cataclysmic eruption, mostly due to 100-foot tsunamis. A loud noise heard by Australians on August 27, 1883, was the eruption of what volcano located between Java and Sumatra?
ANSWER: Krakatoa
7. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Solve for x and y. 3x plus 2y equals 26 and 6x plus y equals 22.
ANSWER: x equals 2 and y equals 10 (either order is acceptable)
8. The beginning and end of this novel imply that the Johnson children, Michael and Carolyn, requested that it be published after reading the journal of their mother, Francesca. Francesca was an Italian war bride taken to rural Iowa, and on August 16, 1965, she met National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid. A four-day affair followed in what novel by Robert James Waller?
ANSWER: The Bridges of Madison County
9. On an episode of Scrubs, J.D. attempted to complete one of these just before he turned 30. It debuted as an Olympic sport in the 2000 Sydney games, featuring distances of 1.5, 40, and 10 kilometers respectively. What is this competition that combines swimming, cycling, and running, one example of which is an “Ironman” event held every year in Hawaii?
ANSWER: triathlon
10. He gained some repute after building an all-wood clock that kept time for forty years. He worked with Andrew Ellicott and Pierre L’Enfant (LAWN-fawnt) to survey Washington, D.C. The “Sable Astronomer” was the nickname of what African-American scientist?
ANSWER: Benjamin Banneker
11. In the 1950s, he hosted a program, called You Are There, which re-enacted historical events as contemporary news items. In 1962, he replaced Douglas Edwards to bring ratings back up. On February 27, 1968, he said, “the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.” Between 1962 and 1981, what legendary CBS news anchor closed his broadcasts, “And that’s the way it is?”
ANSWER: Walter Cronkite
12. For mercury, it’s 59 kilojoules per mole; for argon, 6.3 kilojoules per mole; and for water, 40.79 kilojoules per mole. Name this term for the energy required to change one mole of a liquid into gaseous form.
ANSWER: heat of vaporization (accept standard enthalpy charge of vaporization, accept heat of condensation or standard enthalpy charge of condensation)
13. His greatest patron was the merchant Joseph Smith, who would arrange sales to British customers while on their “Grand Tour.” He lived in Britain for nine years, where he created paintings of the Northumberland House and Westminster Bridge. Who is this Venetian-born artist of landscapes such as The Stonemason’s Yard of 1730 and The Piazzetta?
ANSWER: Canaletto (or Givoanni Antonio Canale)
14. EXACT WORD REQUIRED. Jon Stewart called this person’s selection “a joke,” while Slate called it “just stupid.” But “seizing the reins of the global media” and “filling the web’s virtual world” led to “controlling the Information Age,” and that was apparently enough. Who bested Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-mah-dee-NAY-jahd), Hu Jintao (jin-TOW) and Kim Jong-il to be named as the 2006 Person of the Year by Time magazine, someone better known as a second-person pronoun?