TOSSUPS – VIRGINIA TECHSWORD BOWL 2001 – UT-CHATTANOOGA
Questions by Waldon Jue, Jody Neel, Jeremy Ramont, J.P. Lien, Steve Robinson, Robin Ripley, Fred Esenwein, and Joe Sanderson
1.Its detrimental effects begin to be seen as the myelin sheath is removed, which end up causing spasms, paralysis and eventually death. FTP, name this enterovirus, once so feared that mothers wouldn’t let their children go swimming, but today is effectively wiped out thanks to vaccines developed by Salk and Sabin.
_Polio_myelitis
2.(TWO ANSWERS REQUIRED) Judge Webster Thayer repeatedly denied appeals and refused to recuse himself despite clearly biased statements he made in public. In April 1920, in Braintree, Massachusetts, two men gunned down a factory paymaster and his guard for a cashbox holding almost $16,000. Although it attracted little attention at first, the trial of the two suspects arrested became a national media event in Red Scare America. FTP, who were these two men convicted, despite mountains of contrary evidence, and put to death for the murders in 1927, probably only because they were Italian anarchists?
Niccola _Sacco_ and Bartolomeo _Vanzetti_
3.Jealous of Baldur, this "Sky Traveller" tricked Hod into killing the god of light with a dart of mistletoe. Child of a giant and a giantess but considered one of the Aesir, when Ragnarok comes his chains will break and he will lead the giants in war against the Aesir where he and Heimdall will kill each other. FTP, who is this "trickster" and "Sly One" of Norse myth?
_Loki_
4.This describes humans’ acceptance of knowledge. First they are chained and forced to look at the shadows of objects. After a time the men are released, and are blinded by the light. Once they are use to the light they try to tell their friends, but are disbelieved. FTP, name this allegory that is told by Socrates but recorded by Plato.
_The Allegory of the Cave_
5.“You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory, so Since I Don’t Have You, I feel like I’m living Right Next Door to Hell,” said My Michelle. “You’re Crazy,” I replied, “I Don’t Care About You. Besides, Down On the Farm, they say Anything Goes, and it seems like you’re Out Ta Get Me. I’d be Dust N’ Bones if I stayed with you.” “Fine then,” she shot back. “You Ain’t the First, and you won’t be the last. Go on back to Paradise City, I know Mr. Brownstone will still come over to listen to…” FTP, what band known for “Welcome to the Jungle”?
_Guns N’ Roses_
6.It was “to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure,” but of course it was taken to be all three. The story begins with the characters sitting in a meadow on a pleasant morning, chatting as they use wooden boxes for toilets, and is told from the perspective of a 19-year old student, Paul Baumer, who had been convinced to enlist in the German army by his schoolmaster Kantorek. FTP, identify this classic wartime novel written by Remarque.
_All Quiet on the Western Front_
7.It "was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war, by creating a place where humans and aliens can work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call -- home away from home -- for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs, and wanderers. Humans and aliens, wrapped in two million, five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal . . . all alone in the night." FTP, what is this "dangerous place" brought to us by Michael Straczynski, which according to the introductory monologue was "our last best hope for peace"?
_Babylon 5_ or _B5_
8.In 1328, Charles IV died childless; his cousin Phillip ascended the throne and claimed the lands of Aquitaine through Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Louis VII of France. Just across the channel, Charles’s other cousin Edward III claimed Aquitaine through Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Henry II of England. The ensuing war included the battles of Sluys, Crecy, and Poitiers, and did not end until 1453. FTP, name this war, whose key figures included Jeanne d’Arc and Henry V.
The _Hundred Years War_
9.Born in Hanover in 1866, he studied under Gauss at the University of Gottingen, and later under Dirchlet at Berlin. In his thesis, he described the conditions necessary for a function to be integrable. A famous unsolved problem lies in finding the roots of his Zeta function. FTP, Identify this man, who invented a non-Euclidean geometry named for him, and whose “Sums” every calculus student learns as a method of numerically approximating an integral.
Bernhard _Riemann_
10.During his youth, his size and manner led to the nickname “Dumb Ox.” As an adult, however, this philosopher and theologian was a superior lecturer and brilliant thinker. He opposed both the Averroës and Augustinian philosophies; he described himself as Aristotelian, but his views are today described as moderate realism. FTP, identify this man, canonized in 1323 and recognized today as the most important figure in Scholastic philosophy, whose beliefs were declared by Pope Leo XIII to be the official Catholic philosophy.
St. Thomas _Aquinas_
11.A farmer in rural New England, he marries the woman who cared for his mother on her deathbed. Her hypochondria and guilt mongering ruin his otherwise happy existence. When her poor cousin Mattie comes to care for her, her youth and vitality captivate him. FTP, identify this novel about the love triangle between Mattie, Zeena, and the title character, which ends badly for all concerned when he and Mattie, kept apart by his feelings of duty toward his wife, attempt suicide in a bobsled.
_Ethan Frome_ (Moderator Note: His life sucked)
12.It begins with the Overture and includes two Minuets, a Bourree, and a Hornpipe. It was first performed on Wednesday, July 17, 1717 for King George I as he floated down the Thames and Chelsea Rivers. The monarch was so enthralled he had three repetitions of, FTP, what set of suites composed by George Frederic Handel for the king’s boat party?
_Water Music_or _Wassermusik_
13.A novelist and essayist, she stands as one of the most influential women in 20th century letters. Her most famous novel is The Mandarins, but she is more famous for her essays, including “Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter,” and “The Prime of Life.” FTP, name this woman who, in 1929, began a 50-year relationship with Jean-Paul Sartre, and who published the monumental feminist work “The Second Sex”, in 1949.
Simone _de Beauvoir_
14.An outcome of Dirac’s wave equations, which predicted that an electron’s total relativistic energy could be either positive or negative, it was first observed in 1932 by Carl Anderson, but it would take another 63 years before it would be successfully made to orbit a nucleus. FTP, what bizarre particle with mass -9 x 10-31 kg combines with an anti-proton to form anti-hydrogen?
_positron_ or _anti-electron_
15.Born in the same year as Monet, 1840, his work was often associated with the impressionists because of its rough, unfinished nature. The intimate and detailed quality of his work is shown in the series of hands, which he sculpted in a variety of positions. The Society of French Letters commissioned his famous monument to Balzac, in which he portrayed an unhandsome man just as he had been in life. FTP, name this sculptor of “The Gates of Hell,” “The Burghers of Calais,” and “The Thinker.”
Auguste _Rodin_
16.It marked the end of the most famous republic of antiquity. Fought off the coast of Epirus in 31 BCE, its victor, having eliminated the last of his opposition, declared himself emperor. Its losers committed suicide, one of them quite famously by snake venom. FTP, name this naval battle, which was lost when Antony fled in a ship containing the army payroll, a great victory for Octavian.
_Actium_
17.Birds that damaged crops were systematically destroyed, and the Soviet brand of Kolkhoz was abandoned. The excellent harvest of 1958, unfortunately, was a poor indicator of the catastrophic years to follow. Famous for the massive forced collectivization of peasants, FTP, give the name for China’s failed attempt to rapidly modernize itself.
_Great Leap Forward_
18.One of these can be found in your cupboard eating your food, sitting beside your chimney on your roof, digging in your yard, or living on a beach. They appear to be about two feet tall and covered in a light brown fur with a distinctive “A” marking on its chest. FTP, identify this creature which constantly babbles sports facts in commercials for ESPN’s Two Minute Drill, also what you should always do after buzzing in.
_Answer_
19.Discovered by Smithson Tennant in 1804, this metal is hard and usually brittle; an alloy of it and platinum forms the brick that defines the international kilogram standard. Despite this, its very unreactive (and therefore corrosion-resistant) nature finds it use in chemical crucibles and surgical tools. FTP, what is this element, number 77, whose name has also found use identifying the failed satellite communications system of Motorola?
_iridium_
20.Old Man Warner, who has participated 77 times, takes umbrage at the way some of the old rituals of this annual June 27th event have been dispensed with, such as the salute to each person drawing and the substitution of paper slips for wood chips. Some traditions have remained, however: the head of each household still draws from the same black wooden box, the loser and his family still have a second draw, and the loser of that second draw still is stoned to death in, FTP, what 1948 Shirley Jackson short story?
_The Lottery_
21.Its familial classification has been under debate for the last few years, whether it’s part of the raccoon or bear family or should be given its own family. The recent arrival of two of this species via FedEx, Mei-Xiang's [may sch-AHNG] and Tian-Tian [t-YEN t-YEN], have created quite a stir at the National Zoo. FTP, name this animal, found primarily in the Chinese highlands whose most famous members used to be Hsing-Hsing [SHING SHING] and Ling-Ling.
The _Giant Panda_ or _panda bear_
22.Argentina, Canada, Malaysia, Namibia and the Netherlands all just stepped down, and were replaced by Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway and Singapore. Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia and the Ukraine, meanwhile, just passed the mid-point of their two-year terms. They will serve two year terms alongside the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, and the United States - the five permanent members of, FTP, what body governing UN military actions?
United Nations _Security Council_
23.The names of the character Earendil and the realm that he lived in came from a couplet in the "Crist" of Cynewulf, while he regarded his characters Beren and Luthien to be analogs to himself and his wife Edith. A professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford, such scholarly works as "A Middle English Vocabulary," "Beowulf: The Monster and the Critics," and his translation of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" never received as much notice as his fiction. FTP name this author of "The Hobbit" & "The Lord of the Rings"?
John Ronald Reuel _Tolkien_
BONI – VIRGINIA TECHSWORD BOWL 2001 – UT-CHATTANOOGA
Questions by Waldon Jue, Jody Neel, Jeremy Ramont, J.P. Lien, Steve Robinson, Robin Ripley, Fred Esenwein, and Joe Sanderson
1. And you thought Florida was complicated. FTPE name these folks about to duke it out electorally in Israel:
(a) Seeking a “new mandate” from the Israeli people, this Prime Minister from the One Israel Party resigned his office on December 9th. This forces a special election to fill the post, in which he intends to run
Answer:Ehud Barak
(b) Israeli law allows only Knesset members to run in such races. On December 18th, the Knesset voted down a resolution to dissolve itself, leaving, what former Prime Minister still legally blocked from entering the race?
Answer:Binyamin Netanyahu
(c) Barak will most likely have this Likud party leader as his toughest opponent. A former defense minister, his visit to the Temple Mount triggered the recent Palestinian unrest.
Answer:Ariel Sharon
2. Trofim Lysenko was wrong,; Mendel was right. Answer these questions about Mendelian genetics FTPE.
[10] Genotype refers to the types of genes present in an individual. How those genes are expressed observably is the…?
_phenotype_
[10] This geometric and statistical tool helps predict the distribution of phenotypes when you know the genotypes of the parents in a monohybrid cross.
_Punnett Square_
[10] The is performed if one of the parents genotypes is unknown by crossing the unknown genotype with a known homozygous recessive individual and observing the offspring.
_test cross_
3.FTPE, identify the Dickens work from characters.
[10] Jarvis Lorry, the Marquis de St. Evremonde, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton
_A Tale of Two Cities_
[10] Mr. Micawber, Betsy Trotwood, James Steerforth
_David Copperfield_
[10] Belle, Fred Holliwell, Old Fezziwig
A _Christmas Carol_
4.Here is your one and only chance to be proud that you listen to National Public Radio. Answer the following questions relating to NPR for ten points each.
[10] This show features Tom and Ray Magliozzi providing solutions to callers with a specific kind of trouble.
_Car Talk_
[10] Formerly known as the Garrison Keillor Show, it features the “News from Lake Wobegon,” “Lives of the Cowboys,” and countless fictional sponsor advertisements.
_A Prairie Home Companion_
[10] Perhaps we should consider naming this competition “Things You Should Have Learned in School Had You Been Paying Attention,” a category in this Michael Feldman show.
_Whad’Ya Know_
5.FTSNOP, identify the composer from works.
[5] Mass in B Minor, “Little” Fugue in G Minor, Goldberg Variations
_J_ohann _S_ebastion _Bach_
[10] Hebrides [HEB-rid-dees] Overture, Scottish Symphony, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Felix _Mendelssohn_-Bartholdi
[15] Songs My Mother Taught Me, Carnival Overture, Slavonic Dances
Antonin _Dvorak_
6.Give the names of the following major bones of the human body, FTSNOP
[10] This bone provides the supportive connection from the pelvis to the tibia and fibia.
_Femur_
[5 each] These two bones form your lower arm, between the Humerus and the Carpals.
_Radius_ and _Ulna_
[10] Finally, these vertebrae lie between the cervical and lumbar regions. Your ribs are attached to them.
_Thoracic_ Vertebrae
7.For 10 points each, identify these people involved in the Scopes-Monkey Trial.
[10] Already famous for defending Leopold and Loeb, he defended Scopes at the trial.
Clarence Seward _Darrow_
[10] He unsuccessfully ran for president three times, and even broke down when called as a witness by Darrow, but he nonetheless successfully prosecuted Scopes.
William Jennings _Bryan_ [Note: William Cullen Bryant wrote Thanatopsis and is very very wrong here]
[10] The trial was held in this city a scant 30 miles north of Chattanooga, the seat of Rhea [RAY] County, TN.
_Dayton_
8.Identify the Russian novels from clues, ten points each.
[10] It is the Aleksander Solzhenitsyn story of a good day for the title character, one in which he does not get sick, get confined to solitary, or forfeit any of his possessions.
_One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch_
[10] Raskolnikov theorizes that if he is a superior man, he should be able to murder and escape detection. He feels he is entitled as an educated man, and the pawnbroker is a burden on society.
_Crime and Punishment_
[10] Beginning “All happy families are alike…”, this story of the love a young married woman for the army officer Count Vronsky ends with the title character’s suicide on the train tracks.
_Anna Karenina_
9.30-20-10-5-1, identify the following.
[30] A “zumbooruk” was a chain gun or small cannon mounted on the back of one of these.
[20] According to the Koran, the people of Thamud in Arabia killed one of these to scorn the message of the prophet Salih, and were punished with a devastating storm.
[10] These hoofed ruminants with a reputation for nasty tempers are in the same family as the guanaco, vicuna, and the alpaca.
[5] The two widely recognized varieties are the dromedary and Bactrian.
[1] They belong to the family Camelidae.
_Camel_
10.Name Canada! FTSNOP, answer the following questions about Canadian geography.
[5] The most populous metropolitan area in Canada, and home of the CN Tower, it is the capital of Ontario.
_Toronto_
[5] An inlet of the Atlantic Ocean between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it is subject to the world’s highest tides.
Bay of _Fundy_
[10] Its capital is Iqaluit, and it encompasses most of the eastern Northwest Territories and traditional Inuit lands. It just narrowly missed being named Bob in elections held to decide its name. No, really.
_Nunavut_
[10] Located in Alberta it was Canada’s first national park, it contains hot springs and many active glaciers.
_Banff_ National Park
11.A lot of people die in Hamlet. But how? FTSNOP, given the character, say whether they survived the play, died by their own hand, or were killed by someone else.
[5] HamletANS: _someone else_
[5] OpheliaANS: _by own hand_
[10] HoratioANS: _still alive_
[10] Rosencrantz & GuildensternANS: _someone else_
12.Identify the following.
[5] This computer game series begins with war against the Kilrathi, but after that war is won, humanity falls back into war against itself.
_Wing Commander_
[10] In this 1990 movie, a dissatisfied wife runs away from her cop-husband, but picks up an insane hitchhiker who kills several people, including a bus driver and a woman with a glass eye.
_Midnight Ride_
[10] This 1978 movie was the first leading role for Annie Potts, who plays a prostitute who helps a car nut track down his stolen custom Stingray.
_Corvette Summer_
[5] For a final five points, what is the common link of these three things?
Mark _Hamill_
13.Identify the scientists from a list of elements that they discovered, FTPE.