This Greek Philosopher Believed That Numbers Were the Essence of All Things and That The

Seventh Annual

WashingtonUniversityHigh School Academic Challenge

Round 7

Edited by Lori Currier, Sean Phillips, Jon Pinyan, and Jay Turetzky

Written by Andrew Brantley, Danny Bravman, Lori Currier, Joel Gluskin, Ryan Jacobson,

Alex Jeffrey, Sean Phillips, Jon Pinyan, Matt Schneider, Jay Turetzky, and Matt Weiner

1. According to Plutarch, his oddly shaped head made him a subject of humor for comedians, but this did not keep him from wielding political power in Athens. He prosecuted his rival, Cimon, and succeeded in having this statesman ostracized in 461 B.C. He came up with a Grand Strategy for Athens to defeat Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, but died of a plague only a couple years into the war. FTP, name this oft-elected archon who gave a famous funeral oration for the Athenian war dead in 430, and lead Athens through its Golden Age.

ANS: Pericles

2. Until 1983, an orange-red emission line in the spectrum of one of its isotopes was used to define the meter. Discovered by William Ramsay and Morris Travers in 1898, it can combine with fluorine but none of the other halogens. This is not very surprising as it is a noble gas. FTP, name this element, the fourth noble gas, whose name comes from the Greek for hidden, not the home of Superman.

ANS: krypton

3. PENCIL AND PAPER READY. Joey walks into a grocery store, and he notices that a bushel of apples costs six times more than a bunch of bananas. In addition, he finds that a bunch of bananas costs three times as much as a bowl of cherries minus the cost of a bushel of apples. FTP, if a bunch of bananas costs Joey $3, how much does a bowl of cherries cost?

ANS: 7 dollars

4. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute declared that it was the “worst book of the twentieth century.” The work was the result of a study of 600 Polynesians on an island in the Pacific. Its description of the pre-marital sexual habits of the young women of this society shocked the West and led to much criticism. FTP, identify this work, which Derek Freeman challenged after the death of its author Margaret Mead.

ANS: Coming of Age in Samoa

5. The story opens on a yacht in the Thames, where an unnamed narrator is listening to a story told by the principal character, who then takes over the narration. He tells of his journey down the Congo as a ship captain for a company that collects ivory. On the way he meets many people, but almost all of them speak of a man named Kurtz. FTP, identify this work chronicling Marlow’s journey, written by Joseph Conrad.

ANS: Heart of Darkness

6. This Greek philosopher believed that numbers were the essence of all things and that the soul transfers to a new body when one dies. He went so far as to found a school in Crotona, Italy to teach aristocrats such ideas. FTP, name this pre-Socratic philosopher, better known for his theorem about right triangles, which derives its name from his.

ANS: Pythagoras

7. In 1994, a team of scientists claimed that they had found this organic molecule floating around outer space, but their claim was later refuted. It can function as a neurotransmitter, but it is more commonly known as one of the twenty amino acids. For ten points, name this optically inactive molecule, the simplest of all amino acids, whose side chain is simply a hydrogen atom.

ANS: glycine

8. The title of this play is taken from Chapter 2, Verse 17 of the Song of Solomon, though the title creature should have been translated as “fruitbats.” It involves a woman who schemes with her brothers in a land deal, but when her husband Horace refuses to give her any money for it, she refuses to give him the medicine that will save him from dying from a heart attack. FTP, what is this play about the Hubbard siblings, whose sister, Regina Giddens, thrilled its playwright Lillian Hellman?

ANS: The Little Foxes

9. After this country became independent, Kader Siddiqi led a purge of old-regime loyalists. Its first attempt at independence under the Peasants and Tenants Party failed, but sentiments reawoke under the harsh governors Ghulam Mohammad and Iskander Mirza. With the aid of India This nation won independence in 1971. For 10 points, name this now-independent country, once known as East Pakistan.

ANS: People’s Republic of Bangladesh [or Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh; prompt on East Pakistan before it is mentioned]

10. R.J.C. Atkinson excavated this structure and proved it was built from around 2800 to 1500 B.C. It is believed that there was a wall of earth 320 feet in diameter around the monument, which consisted of 30 gray sandstones, crowned by a ring of continuous smaller blocks, surrounding a smaller ring of 60 stones. FTP, name this structure on the Salisbury plain in Wiltshire, England.

ANS: Stonehenge

11. Patrick Arnold has allegedly made it by manipulating the structure of norbolethone. Related to trenbolone and gestrinone, it is alleged to have been used by everyone from Bill Romanowski to Marion Jones. FTP, what is this popular name of THG which Barry Bonds allegedly thought was flaxseed oil?

ANS: The Clear (accept THG before its mention as well as tetrahydrogestrinone; accept The Stuff under all circumstances)

12. It was negotiated by Nicholas P. Trist on the American side, a diplomat so wordy he sent James K. Polk a 65 page letter explaining why he was not returning when that President recalled him. By the terms of the treaty, the United States paid $15 million, plus some claims of its citizens, and in return got most of what is now Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, and Texas. FTP, identify this treaty that ended the Mexican War.

ANS: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

13. The Supreme Court confirmed his victory on January 20, 2005 and he took office on January 23, 2005 with Colin Powell in attendance. On January 24, 2005, he fulfilled a campaign promise, making his first foreign visit to Moscow. This was almost a month after he was finally elected President on December 26, 2004 and two months after the first fraud-filled election. FTP, name this man, the new President of Ukraine, who defeated former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich.

ANS: Viktor Yushchenko

14. When this novel shared the National Book Award with Isaac Bashevis Singer’s A Crown of Feathers, its author sent Irwin Corey to deliver a rambling, gibberish-filled acceptance speech on his behalf. The book follows such characters as Enzian, leader of the Schwarzkommandos, and his associate Captain Blicero. The rocket quintuple-zero is one of many V-2s whose arrival in London is foretold by Tyrone Slothrop. For 10 points, “a screaming comes across the sky” at the start of what novel by Thomas Pynchon?

ANS: Gravity’s Rainbow

15. It is usually the fourth brightest object in the night sky, though sometimes it is either third or fifth. The setting for the movie adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it was in the way of a comet, and the impact was widely photographed in 1994. With a barycenter above the surface of the Sun, and a storm on its surface larger than Earth, FTP, name this largest planet of the solar system, fifth from the Sun.

ANS: Jupiter

16. According to the Zend Avesta, this prophet began preaching against corrupt priests after receiving a vision from Ahura Mazda. While his name literally means “yellow camel” in Persian, later followers translated his name as “golden light”. FTP name the composer of the Gathas who founded a monotheistic religion of ethical dualism later used as inspiration by Voltaire and Nietzsche.

ANS: Zarathustra or Zoroaster

17. It was opposed by more than 1000 economists who sent a petition to the President warning of its dangers. Sponsored by two Republicans, Hoover was disappointed by its final version but signed it anyway. Intended to be a mild protective measure, it eventually stifled international trade into almost nonexistence, hastening the Great Depression. FTP, identify this 1930 tariff, the highest peacetime tariff in the history of the United States.

ANS: Hawley-Smoot Tariff or Smoot-Hawley Tariff

18. The idea was first introduced in 1972, and since that time there have been 22, the last occurring on December 31, 1998. Inserted to ensure that civil time is as close as possible to mean solar time, they are represented as 23:59:60 in Greenwich, or 5:59:60 pm in St Louis. FTP, identify this extra time period that has nothing to do with February 29.

ANS: leap second (Do not accept or prompt on “leap year”)

19. PENCIL AND PAPER READY. Timmy is trying to randomly select an integer between one and six, and he has decided to do so by rolling three standard dice, and then choosing a number if it is rolled by more than one dice. However, this plan is far from foolproof. FTP, what is the probability that no number comes up more than once in one roll of three separate dice?

ANS: 5/9 (accept equivalents)

20. His most recent book is the second volume of his memoirs, And the Sea Is Never Full. I His first works were a spy thriller under the pen name of Carmeli and the volume And the World Remained Silent in Yiddish, which is now known, from its French version, as Night. For 10 points, name this American, French, and Israeli citizen whose books mostly concern the Jewish experience in the Holocaust.

ANS: Elie Wiesel

21. It eventually flows into the Atlantic at the port of Banana after originating from the Chambeshi and Lualaba. The area between Matadi and Malebo is unnavigable due to LivingstoneFalls and thirty-one other cataracts. Draining the Central African Republic, Angola, Cameroon, and Tanzania, it flows past Kinshasa and Brazzaville. For 10 points, name this river, the longest after the Nile in Africa and the namesake of two countries.

ANS: Congo River [prompt on Zaire River]

1. Name these forms of marriage for 10 points each.

a) This general anthropological term applies to any marriage of one person with multiple people and does not connote information about the gender of anyone involved.

ANS: polygamy

b) This specific form of polygamy, the most common form of marriage in the world, includes one man and multiple women.

ANS: polygyny

c) Only found in Inuit and Tibetan culture, this practice is the marriage of several men to one woman.

ANS: polyandry

2. Identify the commanders of the Union Army of the Potomac from clues FTPE.

a) Given command of the army after Antietam, his plan to capture Richmond led to disaster at Fredericksburg. He is probably best known for his facial hair.

ANS: Ambrose Burnside

b)He was in command of the army at Chancellorsville. The story that a slang term for women of loose morals comes from his name is probably spurious.

ANS: Joseph Hooker

c) Replacing Hooker after the latter resigned, he was in command of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, and remained its commander through the end of the war.

ANS: George Gordon Meade

3. Name these Islamic Archangels, FTP each.

a) The Angel of Revelation, who dictated the Koran to Muhammad.

ANS: Djibril or Gabriel
b) The Angel of Death.

ANS: Azrael
c) The Angel of Music, who will sound the trumpet on the Day of Judgment.

ANS: Israfel

4. Name these female authors for 10 points each.

a) Bayou Folk and A Night in Acadie are among the later works of this writer who created Edna Pontelier in The Awakening.

ANS: Kate Chopin [or Katherine O’Flaherty]

b) She followed The Joy Luck Club with The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses.

ANS: Amy Ruth Tan

c) This devout Catholic depicted Southern Protestantism in Wise Blood, The Violent Bear It Away, and “Everything That Rises Must Converge.” She also wrote “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.”

ANS: Mary Flannery O’Connor

5. Answer these questions about PCR, a process that is extremely important in biological research, FTPE.

a) First, what does PCR stand for?

ANS: polymerase chain reaction

b) A form of DNA polymerase called Taq polymerase, isolated from bacteria living in hot springs, is often used in PCR because it does not degrade at the high temperatures necessary for the process. Give the name for any organism, particularly used for such bacteria, which thrives at high temperatures.

ANS: thermophilic or thermophile

c) This scientist won the Nobel in Chemistry in 1993 for his invention of PCR.

ANS: Kary Mullis

6. PENCIL AND PAPER READY. Consider the following list of numbers 17, 19, 12, 15, 17, 16, 7, 17. Answer the following question FTP each.

a) What is the arithmetic mean of this list of numbers?

ANS: 15

b) What is the mode of this list of numbers?

ANS: 17

c) What additional number would have to be added to the list in order for the mean, median and mode to all be equal to one number?

ANS: 33

7. Answer the following about colorful groups from history, FTPE.

a) The followers of Garibaldi during the Italian Risorgimento were called this, because of the color of an article of clothing they wore.

ANS: Redshirts

b) The members of the Sturmabteilung, German for "Storm Division", were the Nazi paratroopers in WWII. Give their nickname, also due to the color of an article of clothing they wore.

ANS: Brownshirts

c) A secret Serbian organization founded in 1911, they were responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

ANS: Black Hand

8. In January, 2005, when Congress started the largely ceremonial procedure of counting the electoral votes, a challenge was raised for only the second time in history. FTPE:

a) The current system for challenging votes was adopted in this year, when Congress’s challenge to the Hayes-Tilden election caused havoc.

ANS: 1877

b) The challenge in 2005 was raised when this state's votes were being counted.

ANS: Ohio

c) In order for the challenge to be official, a member of the House and a member of the Senate each had to object. Name the Senate member, a California Democrat or the House member, an Ohio Representative.

ANS: Barbara Boxer and Stephanie Tubbs Jones

9. Identify the following Tennessee Williams plays from descriptions, FTPE.

a) New Orleans still hasn’t forgiven The Simpsons for their unflattering depiction of the city when they did a musical adaptation with Ned Flanders as Stanley and Marge as Blanche DuBois.

ANS: A Streetcar Named Desire

b) The action in this play occurs at a family gathering where Maggie “The Cat” and Brick Pollitt have gathered for “Big Daddy” Pollitt’s birthday.

ANS: Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

c) This play centers around Chance Wayne who has returned to his hometown with Alexandra Del Lago, a faded movie star. While there, Chance runs into the girl whose father ran him out of town years ago.

ANS: Sweet Bird of Youth

10. Identify the following measures of concentration FTPE.

a) The number of moles per liter of solution.

ANS: molarity

b) The number of moles per kilogram of solvent.

ANS: molality (ask for clarification or spelling if necessary)

c) The concentration of alcohol is measured as this, twice the volume percentage.

ANS: proof

11. Given a bowl game and that games’ winner in the most recent BCS, identify the loser, for 10 each.

a) The Orange Bowl, USC

ANS: OklahomaSooners (accept either on all; prompt on a bunch of losers who barely bothered with showing up)

b) Fiesta Bowl, Utah

ANS: PittsburghPanthers

c) Gator Bowl, FloridaState

ANS: West VirginiaMountaineers

12. FTPE, answer these questions about X-rays.

a) X-rays were previously named for this physicist who won the first Nobel Prize in Physics for the work.

ANS: Wilhelm (or William) Roentgen

b) Name the X-ray observatory run by NASA launched onboard Columbia in July 1999.

ANS: Chandra X-Ray Observatory

c) These photons that can be produced by electron-positron annihilation are higher in energy than x-rays.

ANS: gamma rays

13. Generally speaking, the more anecdotes there are about a President, the more capable he was. Calvin Coolidge is the exception. Answer the following about our taciturn President FTPE.

a) Coolidge was the governor of this state, which was not the state of his birth.

ANS: Massachusetts

b) Coolidge succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of this man.

ANS: Warren G. Harding

c) Probably the most famous Coolidge anecdote is the story of how a woman sat down next to him at dinner and informed him that she had made a bet that she could get more than two words out of him. This was his response.

ANS: “You lose.”

14. Name these Japanese authors for 10 points each.

a) This retainer at the court of Jotomonin wrote a diary and the thousand-year-old novel The Tale of Genji.

ANS: Murasaki Shikibu

b)Narrow Road to the Deep North contains works by this master of haiku.