Virginia High School League Scholastic Bowl page 8
2007 State Tournament Match #3
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. This word is taken from French words meaning “ill comfort,” and was famously used to describe a 1979 speech given by Jimmy Carter. Medically, it can be caused by hunger, depression or more seriously, internal bleeding or cancer. What is this condition characterized by general discomfort and tiredness?
ANSWER: malaise
2. When his father Bindusara died, he killed his brothers, including Susima, and dumped their bodies in a well. His name means “without sorrow” in Sanskrit but he apparently regretted his bloody conquest of Kalinga, renouncing war and turning to Buddhism. He unified more of India than anyone before the British. Who ruled the Mauryan Empire between 273 and 232 BC?
ANSWER: Ashoka (ah-SHOH-kah) the Great (it is also spelled Asoka)
3. The quote “Our Germans are better than their Germans” was said by this novel’s German scientist character to then-Senator Lyndon Johnson. Several interviews between the author and Chuck Yeager are used in this novel; Yeager’s lack of a college degree prevented him from being an astronaut. What novel by Tom Wolfe recounts the story of the Mercury Seven?
ANSWER: The Right Stuff
4. Following nationalization of the industry in 1918, this company enjoyed a natural monopoly on its service until 1984. In 2005, it was acquired by a conglomeration of three of its former holdings, who adopted their name and trademark "T" ticker symbol. What company now owns four of its former Baby Bells with its acquisition of BellSouth?
ANSWER: AT&T
5. Mary and Louis Leakey discovered this species and gave it a name, based on the stone flakes found near their skeletons. What hominid that came between Australopithecus (aw-STRAH-loh-pih-theh-kus) and Homo (HOH-moh) erectus (eh-REK-tus) gets its name from the Latin for “handy man”?
ANSWER: Homo habilis (HOH-moh HAH-bil-is)
6. For his work related to this field of mathematics, Grigori Perelman was recognized by Science magazine in December 2006. The Poincaré (PWAHN-kah-ray) Conjecture, the Seven Bridges of Konigsburg and toroids are topics studied in what branch of math named for the Greek for “place” and “study” deals with preservation of spatial properties while stretching without tearing or gluing?
ANSWER: topology
7. George Bernard Shaw coined a name for the partnership this writer had with his fellow Catholic, Hillaire (ee-LAIR) Belloc. His poetry includes “The Rolling English Road,” his novels include The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who Was Thursday, and his short stories include the detective Father Brown. What writer once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried?”
ANSWER: G(ilbert) K(eith) Chesterton
8. Peter O’Toole earned the third of his seven Oscar nominations for his role in this film, set in 1183. Timothy Dalton played Philip II, while Anthony Hopkins portrayed Prince Richard, but the plot centered on King Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Directed by Anthony Harvey, what 1968 film resulted in Katharine Hepburn’s third Oscar?
ANSWER: The Lion in Winter
9. The acrylates are a subset of this type of organic compound, and many alkenes are also members. It contains an R group single-bonded to a CH group that is double-bonded to a CH2 group. Its numerous industrial uses include the straps used in lawn furniture, a less expensive type of house siding, and in phonograph records. What is the “V” in PVC?
ANSWER: vinyl or polyvinyl(s)
10. This ship was originally built as the Simmons Victory in 1945, and was finally sold for scrap in 1973. In 1965, she was given $20 million of improvements that enabled her to collect and process foreign communications for the National Security Agency. On June 8, 1967, she was stationed off the Sinai Peninsula. Over 200 crewmen were killed or wounded when what American ship was attacked by the Israelis?
ANSWER: USS Liberty
11. It contains two fluids called perilymph and endolymph. It also contains the organ of Corti. The stereocilia (stay-ree-oh-sih-LEE-uh) within it are attached on “hair cells” that convert vibration into electrical signals that are then sent to the brain. The Greek word for “snail” gives its name to what part of the inner ear that is a coiled canal?
ANSWER: cochlea
12. According to Ovid (AH-vid), he was the son of the nymph Liriope (luh-RYE-oh-pee) and the river god Cephissus (seh-FISS-us). Nemesis arranged for the demise of this youth, after he spurned the advances of several women, including Echo. Who was this man who died after falling in love with his own reflection, lending his name to the general concept of self-love?
ANSWER: Narcissus
13. It was first minted after the Civil War in response to silver coinage virtually disappearing from circulation. Only five genuine versions of its 1913 Liberty Head type exist, making it extremely valuable. The Buffalo or Indian Head was minted between 1913 and 1938. What coin today has a picture of President Jefferson on its obverse and is worth five cents?
ANSWER: the nickel
14. Dialects of this language include Silesian (sigh-LEE-see-un) and Mazovian (mah-ZAW-vee-un). Its alphabet includes an “L” with a slash through it. What language lends us the words pierogi (pee-ay-ROH-ghee) and kielbasa (keel-BAH-sah), and is rarely forgotten by 46 million people in cities like Krakow and Warsaw?
ANSWER: Polish
15. Directed by Nigel Dick, it begins when a stranger prevents the protagonist, a man talking on his cell phone, from getting hit by a bus. The protagonist then begins to see timers over people’s heads, including an old woman who dies when hers reaches zero. The timers disappear when he pulls a woman away from a falling statue in what 2006 Nickelback video that preceded “Far Away” in the U.S.?
ANSWER: “Savin’ Me”
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. Who was the last Republican governor of Virginia?
ANSWER: James (Jim) Gilmore III
1B. The River Thames (TEMS) was the setting for the 1717 premiere of what orchestral composition by George Handel honoring King George I?
ANSWER: Water Music
2A. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Tintern Abbey” begin and end what poetry collection written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth?
ANSWER: Lyrical Ballads
2B. What type of defense can be used in a trial if the police induced or forced an otherwise unwilling person to commit an illegal action?
ANSWER: entrapment
3A. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Factor x squared minus 28x plus 195.
ANSWER: x minus 13 and x minus 15 (either order is acceptable)
3B. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. In simplest terms, what is 1/5 plus 1/3 plus 2/9?
ANSWER: 34/45
4A. What Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom is Tony Blair’s likely successor as Prime Minister?
ANSWER: Gordon Brown
4B. In the Java computer language, what keyword indicates that the main method does not return any value to the caller?
ANSWER: Void
5A. What is the atomic number of gold?
ANSWER: 79
5B. Logan Killicks, Joe Starks and Tea Cake are the three husbands of Janie Crawford in what novel by Zora Neale Hurston?
ANSWER: Their Eyes Were Watching God
6A. What term, named for an Austrian physicist, gives velocity in terms of the speed of sound?
ANSWER: Mach number or scale
6B. Moses smashed the two tablets of the Law after the Israelites had convinced Aaron to build what idol?
ANSWER: the golden calf
7A. What fictional character acquired nine yellow tickets, nine red tickets and ten blue tickets in exchange for the stuff his friends had given him to whitewash his fence?
ANSWER: Tom Sawyer
7B. Expand the biological abbreviation “DNA.”
ANSWER: deoxyribonucleic acid (dee-awk-see-RYE-boh-noo-klay-ik)
8A. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. How much money is 17 quarters, 4 dimes, 9 nickels, and 63 pennies?
ANSWER: $5.73
8B. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the sine of 330 degrees?
ANSWER: -.5 or -1/2
9A. Johnny Storm is the alias of what flamboyant superhero and member of the Fantastic Four, played in the 2005 movie by Chris Evans?
ANSWER: The Human Torch
9B. La Galatea (lah gah-lah-TAY-ah) is a pastoral romance written in 1585 by what author, much better known for Don Quixote?
ANSWER: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
10A. What landmark in Abingdon, Virginia, is the state theatre of Virginia?
ANSWER: Barter Theatre
10B. What Scottish king ruled between 1306 and 1329 and restored Scottish independence after the battle of Bannockburn?
ANSWER: Robert the Bruce or Robert I
Third period, 15 toss-ups, 10 points each
1. Before this attack was made, the corps commander overseeing it said he didn’t think there were “15,000 men on earth capable of taking that position.” It failed, despite an hour-long bombardment from Porter Alexander’s artillery, and the help of divisions led by Isaac Trimble and Johnston Pettigrew. The “High Water Mark” of the Confederacy occurred during what failed attack on the third day of Gettysburg?
ANSWER: Pickett’s Charge
2. He did not have absolute power, and was opposed by Chancellor Anton von Kolowrat (koh-loh-VRAHT), among others. He put Ferdinand I on the throne in 1835, and then made him abdicate in favor of Franz Josef during the revolutions of 1848; he then resigned as Foreign Minister. The Congress of Vienna was dominated by what Austrian diplomat?
ANSWER: Prince Klemens von Metternich
3. Notably, this fictional character is not a native Southerner, but moved to Louisiana from the North. He bought the slaves Cassy and Emmeline to be his mistresses. He tried to crush his newest slave’s faith in God, but was unable to defeat it. By the end of the novel, he ordered his overseers to kill that newest slave. Who is the cruel plantation owner and final owner of Tom in Uncle Tom’s Cabin?
ANSWER: Simon Legree (accept either name)
4. Eight of this club’s players died in a plane crash in Munich, Germany in 1958, while returning home from a European Cup match. In 1986, manager Ron Atkinson was replaced by Alex Ferguson, who led the club to the Treble 13 years later. Identify this team that plays its games at Old Trafford, and perennially contends for the English Premiership title.
ANSWER: Manchester United
5. This text describes not only the titular science, but also the original concepts of the four elements, along with the studies of hydrology and geology. The author also documents the concept of a spherical earth, along with earthquakes and several astronomical phenomena. Water vapor, lightning and tornadoes are all described in what work by Aristotle about, as the name suggests, the weather?
ANSWER: Meteorology or Meteorologica
6. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the average of 12, 38, 37, 13, 19, and 61?
ANSWER: 30
7. The most rare spelling of this triple homophone refers to two African species of the Bovidae (boh-vih-DYE) family. The second spelling is the past tense of a verb that means, “to possess factual information of something,” such as this question’s answer. What word’s third spelling refers to something recent, the opposite of “old”?
ANSWER: gnu, knew or new
8. Founded in 1800, this European museum contains a fair amount of Ming and Ching dynasty porcelain in addition to paintings from its nation’s Golden Age. Currently undergoing renovation, its Philips wing contains The Jolly Drinker by Hals and The Love Letter by Vermeer. Rembrandt’s The Night Watch has its own room in which national museum of the Netherlands, located in Amsterdam?
ANSWER: Rijksmuseum (RIKES-myoo-zee-um)
9. In the 1970s, this scientist declared that “selfishness is unnecessary” due to scientific advances making sustainable life for all possible, and he described the human race as “four billion billionaires.” The Dymaxion (die-mak-SEE-awn) car and the geodesic dome are inventions of what namesake of the 60-atom “ball” allotrope of carbon?
ANSWER: R. Buckminster Fuller
10. This store was set up in 1835 in Stepney, and moved to its current location on Brompton Road in 1849. Its owner became prominent in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death for public conflicts with the Royal Family. Mohamed al-Fayed is the owner of what famous London department store?
ANSWER: Harrods
11. Their orders included Lichida (lih-KIH-duh) and Proetida (PROH-tih-duh). They started showing up in the Cambrian period, but they made good shark food and started to disappear after the Devonian. Their presence in the fossil record is augmented by their habit of shedding a complete skeleton every time they molted. What arthropod that disappeared during the Permian extinction got its name from having three sections?
ANSWER: trilobite(s)
12. Nine year old Linden Porco portrays the body of jewel thief and ex-con Calvin Sims in this movie. A bungled heist leads Sims to move in with Vanessa and Darryl Edwards – but since he is less than three feet tall, he poses as an abandoned baby. This is the plot of what 2006 clunker starring Shawn Wayans and his brother Marlon in the title role?
ANSWER: “Little Man”
13. He resigned from his Cabinet post in 1953 after the arrest of Morocco’s sultan and turned leftward. Since he opposed the Fifth Republic’s formation, he was shut out of power for several years, but returned to lose the 1965 and 1974 Presidential elections; his party’s loss after the May 1968 riots meant he did not run in 1969. In 1981, who defeated Valery Giscard (ZHEE-skar) d’Estaing (deh-STAN) to become President of France?
ANSWER: Francois Mitterand
14. Write down the sentence (quizmaster: speak slowly) “We gave the money to our landlord, Mr. Jenkins.” (quizmaster: speak normally) What is the appositive in that sentence?
ANSWER: Mr. Jenkins
15. This type of metamorphic rock is usually formed from shale, and its varieties occur due to different pressures being applied. They include phyllite, gneiss (NICE), schist and slate, and feature a wavy or banded appearance. What type of metamorphic rock gets its name from the Latin word for “leaf”?
ANSWER: foliated metamorphic rock
Spare questions