TOSSUPS – GEORGETOWN COLLEGESWORD BOWL/PENN BOWL 2006 (UTC/Penn/Oklahoma/Drake)
Questions by Eric Blair and Chris Hammons with a few from Drake University
1.The name of the title character was originally "Mocha" and no one knows why the author decided to change it. It drew heavily upon a narrative by Owen Chase. It was the inspiration for the latest concept album by the metal band Mastodon, as well as a song on Led Zeppelin’s second album. Supporting characters include Father Mapple, the mates Flask, Stubb, and Starbuck, and the harpooner, Queequeg. FTP, identify this 1851 novel which begins, “Call me Ishmael.”
Answer:Moby Dick; or, The Whale
2.Rats and horses are among the mammals that do not possess this organ, whose main blood supply in humans comes via the cystic artery. Its epithelial lining is characterized by Aschoff’s Recesses and its surface is marked by the intersection of the mid-clavicular line and the transpyloric plane. FTP identify this organ, whose removal is known as a cholecystectomy (koh-lee-siss-ECK-toh-mee) and whose main function is to store bile.
Answer:Gall Bladder
3.After attending Georgetown College, he attended medical school at the Baltimore Medical College. In 1877 he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Maryland Assembly, eight years after his work stemming an outbreak of yellow fever at Fort Jefferson led to his pardon by President Johnson. He escaped the death penalty by only one vote, despite his insistence that he didn’t recognize his most famous patient. FTP, identify this physician convicted in June of 1865 of conspiracy to murder President Abraham Lincoln after tending the wounds of John Wilkes Booth
Answer:Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd
4.In reference to this drink, the chief marketing officer for Pepsi-Cola North America, Greg Creed, stated in a USA Today article that "the fountain business is an important part of our business, and it's growing." Along with Darth, Red, Sport, Blue Shock, Pitch Black, AMP, LiveWire, and Code Red, it makes up its company's alternate soft drinks. Having a bluish color, FTP, name this version of Mountain Dew sold only as a fountain drink in Taco Bell restaurants.
Answer:Mountain Dew Baja Blast
5.With a libretto written by Alice Goodman, the most notable line from it is "at the edge of the Rubicon, men don't go fishing." The foxtrot theme at the end of it was adapted by its composer into a concerto piece known as "The Chairman Dances" in which the characters reflect on their pasts. Known for having a scene in which an East-Asian Communist propaganda play is performed, FTP, identify this opera by John Adams that chronicles a historical visit made by Henry Kissinger, the First Lady, and America's 37th president.
Answer:Nixon in China
6.The first known use of it was in a translation of the Aeneid by Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, around 1554. The first use of it in drama was in the play, Gorbuduc, by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville. It is thought to have been inspired by the Italian versi sciolti and was used to its full potential by Christopher Marlowe. FTP, name this poetic form often used by William Shakespeare, known for its unrhymed iambic pentameter scheme.
Answer:Blank Verse
7.One theory known as the Ontogenetic Hypothesis states that this is essential to the development of the nervous system in infants. In it, the release of certain neurotransmitters are halted causing the condition of a relaxed state of motor neurons and muscles known as atonia. First identified by Eugene Aserinsky and Nathaniel Kleitman in 1953 and occurring after Stage IV sleep, FTP, name this stage of sleep where most dreams occur.
Answer:REM (Rapid Eye Movement)
8.Born into a Muslim family, his birth name was Ma Sanbao and he was later called Hajji Mahmud by the Arabs. Rumored to be over seven feet tall, he was taken captive by the Ming army after the conquest of the Yunnan province and became a close confidante of the Yongle Emperor. The most famous eunuch in Chinese history, FTP, name this 15th century admiral and explorer whose voyages for China took him to Australia, India, Arabia, and Africa.
Answer:Zheng He (or Cheng Ho)
9.(DU) It was the first star (other than the sun) to have starspots resolved on its surface, and, next to the sun and R Doradus, this star has the third largest angular separation of any star as viewed from Earth. Its name is a corruption of the Arabic words for “hand of the central one”. Although it is not the brightest star in its constellation, it is still designated the alpha star, which some suggest may mean that in the past it appeared brighter than its rival Rigel. For ten points, name this star, the alpha star of the constellation Orion.
Answer:Betelgeuse[but don’t say it three times, or Dick Cheney will appear – Ed.]
10.They are alluded to in Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" as the "one-eyed shrews" and in Macbeth with the Weird Sisters. Living underneath Yggrasil, they tried to stop the decay of it by pouring mud and water from the Well of Fate on its branches. Made up of the demi-goddesses Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, FTP, identify this group from Norse mythology whose counterparts in Greek mythology are the Fates.
Answer:the Norns
11.This show spun off from the A&E show Take This Job when its main characters were featured on the show. The main character's title is "Master Rehabilitator" and he was once a convicted murderer himself. Centering on the owners of Da Kine Bail Bonds in Honolulu, Hawaii, FTP, identify this reality show that features Tim, Leland, Beth, and Duane Chapman and their pursuits of fugitives.
Answer:Dog the Bounty Hunter
12.With a melting point of about 161 Kelvin, it is found in the atmosphere in trace amounts at about one part per 20 million. While compounds of this element do not naturally occur, over 80 manmade compounds have been synthesized with fluorine and oxygen. It is often used in the study of the formation of the solar system and is commercially available when it is stored in high-pressure cylinders. First isolated in 1898 by Willam Ramsay and Morris Travers, FTP, identify this noble gas with atomic number 54 whose name comes from the Greek for “stranger.”
Answer:Xenon
13.(DU) Though the size of the opposing forces was roughly equal, the victorious side caused more than 16 times as many casualties. The first attack occurred at 7:45 local time, targeting Soviet-made bombers while they were still on the ground, and many of the air strikes that day were focused on destroying enemy aircraft. The victors soon tripled the size of theterritory they controlled, including the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. FTP name this brief conflict where Israelresponded to threats from neighboring Arab nationsby demolishing their armed forces.
Answer:Six Day War (Accept 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or June War)
14.(DU) Though not usually thought of as a tragedy, this playcould be classified as "fa la la la la, everybody dies" since a fair portion of the main cast is dead by Act III. The Choirmaster, Simon Stimson, committed suicide, Wally Webb died of a burst appendix on a boy scout trip, Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Soames are dead, though a reason is not given, and Emily, one of the main protagonists, died in childbirth nine years after being married to George. However, the most distinctive aspect of the play is not the mortality rate, but the lack of set and props. Set in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, and narrated by the Stage Manager,FTP name this 1938 Thornton Wilder play.
Answer:Our Town
15.Discovered by Joseph Szombathy in 1908, it is currently housed in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. The position of its feet suggests that it wasn't meant to stand upright and many scholars believe that its primary use was for vaginal insertion. Carved out of spherical limestone around 24,000 years ago and thought to represent a fertility goddess, FTP, identify this statuette of a naked, plump woman with no facial features.
Answer:Venus of Willendorf
16.Many of them exist naturally in plants and animals in the HET-S form, which goes to prove that not all of them are harmful. Their discovery led to the awarding of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology to Stanley Prusiner. Known for causing such TSEs as Chronic Wasting Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jacobs Syndrome, and mad cow disease, FTP, name this pathogen, devoid of DNA, whose name is short for proteinaceous infectious particle.
Answer:Prions (Accept Proteinaceous Infectious Particleif answered before given in question)
17.One of his lesser known novels, Shoot!, deals with a cameraman, who only perceives good and evil through the scenes that he shoots for movies. More noted for the plays he wrote, his later works such as The New Colony and The Mountain Giants were translated into English by his possible lover, Marta Abba. Winning the Nobel Prize in Literautre in 1934, identify this Italian who, FTP, is most noted for the plays As You Desire Me, Right You Are, If You Think You Are, and Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Answer:Luigi Pirandello
18.He is an eighth cousin once removed of President Bush and is a ninth cousin of Vice President Cheney. His father and grandfather served as U.S. Senators, while his uncle was a U.S. ambassador to Ireland in the 1950s. In August 2005 this man was indicted on four charges of ethics violations to which he pleaded no contest. In November, he was named by TIME magazine as one of the three worst governors in the nation. FTP, name this governor of Ohio, the great-grandson of the 27th U.S. president.
Answer:Robert(or “Bob") Taft(prompt if they give last name only)
19.It was first documented by Leibniz in the 17th century and George Boole would later publish a paper on a logical system that would be essential for its use in electronic circuits. The first computer to make use of its addition properties was called the Model K and was completed in 1937 at the Bell Labs by George Stibitz. Used internally by all personal computers, FTP, name this numbering system with digits known as bits represented by ones and zeroes.
Answer:Binarynumber system
20.In the Koran, this prophet's life is recounted more than any other of the 25 named prophets in the book. In 2 Timothy 3:8, two magicians, Jannes and Jambres, are identified as being the magicians that challenged him with miracle performing. The son of Amram and Jochebed, and the brother of Aaron, FTP, name this prophet of the Old Testament who, at Mount Horeb, spoke to God through a burning bush.
Answer:Moses
21.The foremost artists from this country include Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd, and Albert Namatjira, and its national opera first gained prominence due to the diva, Dame Joan Sutherland. It strengthened relations with Asian and Pacific nations through the ASEAN Pact and with the U.S. through the ANZUS Pact. FTP, what is this island nation separated from the Asian mainland by the Arafura and Timor Seas that is home to the the Simpson Desert, Mount Kosciuszko, and the Great Barrier Reef?
Answer:Australia
22.She has appeared in such films as Wishman, Sweetie Pie, Wonderland, Nine Lives, Pauly Shore is Dead, and Zoolander. Rob Mills, Brian Urlacher, Deryck Whibley, Jason Shaw, Edward Furlong, Rob Mills, and Leonardo DiCaprio are among many of her past boyfriends. Making $100,000 in advance for her book Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, FTP, identify this sex icon known for saying the phrase "that's hot" and for carrying her Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, wherever she goes.
Answer:Paris Hilton
23.While on his deathbed he revealed to a friend that he had never slept with a woman. After his failure as a presidential candidate, this man's position as Governor of New York was given to Lucius Robinson. Known for leading impeachment trials against several corrupt New York judges and his conflict with the Tweed Ring, FTP, name this man, who after the Compromise of 1877, lost the election of 1876 to President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Answer:Samuel Jones Tilden
24.First published in 1961 in the “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,” this work was part of the collection Welcome to the Monkey House and was turned into a 1995 TV movie starring Sean Astin. In this story, the 211th, 212th and 213th amendments to the United States Constitution achieve equality by reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator. The title character, age 14 and already seven feet tall, is imprisoned by the Handicapper General, but breaks free of prison and of his forced handicaps. FTP, name this short story by Kurt Vonnegut in which all people were finally equal.
Answer:"Harrison Bergeron"
BONI – GEORGETOWN COLLEGESWORD BOWL/PENN BOWL 2006 (UTC/Penn/Oklahoma/Drake)
Questions by Eric Blair and Chris Hammons with a few from Drake University
1.Identify the following concerning mythological birds FTPE.
This famous mythological bird of the Native Americans was often represented with an extra head on its abdomen. It was able to generate lightning from its beak and was said to be strong enough to carry a whale.
Answer:Thunderbird (also accept: Adee or Idi)
These sisters were the daughters of Thaumus and Electra and were represented as winged hags with sharp talons. They are best known in Greek mythology for constantly stealing food from Phineas as punishment by Zeus.
Answer:Harpies
FFPE. In Norse mythology, these two ravens of Odin are sent out at dawn and return to him in the evening. Upon their arrival, they whisper the news of the world in his ears each and everyday.
Answer:Hugin and Munin
2.Identify the following about aromatic compounds, FTPE.
A component of gasoline and an industrial solvent, this compound has the formula of C6H6.
Answer:Benzene(accept: Benzol)
After having a dream about a snake biting its own tail, this German chemist discovered benzene. The models representing many aromatic compounds are also named after him.
Answer: Friedrich AugustKekulévon Stradonitz
Also known as tar camphor and white tar, this compound with formula C10H8 is abundant in moth balls.
Answer:Naphthalene (accept naphthene, albocarbon, white tar, or tar camphor)
3.Identify the following about a famous 1958 novel FTSNOP.
(10) Having the same title as an album by The Roots, this novel centers on the tribal wrestling champion, Okonkwo, and tells how he accidentally killed a boy at a funeral ceremony.
Answer:Things Fall Apart
(10) Name the author of Things Fall Apart.
Answer:Chinua Achebe.
(5/5) For 5 points each, name the two sequels that Achebe wrote for Things Fall Apart.
Answers:No Longer at EaseandTheArrow of God
4.Its ultimate significance may be that it changed the motives for going to war from religious reasons to nationalism– in midstream, actually.Answer the following about a war FTPE:
White Mountain, Lutzen, and Breitenfeld were among the major battles in this particularly nasty war.
Answer:the Thirty Years’ War
The famous Second Defenestration of Prague, in which two imperial governors were thrown out of windows, was the initiator for what revolt from 1618 to 1625, considered the first phase of the Thirty Years’ War?
Answer:Bohemian Revolt
Known as the Lion of the North, this famous military leader and monarch of Sweden led the Swedes throughout most of the Thirty Years’ War.
Answer:Gustavus II Adolphus (accept: Gustav II Adolf)
5.Answer the following about a famous socioeconomic theory FTPE.
This theory was put forth in a somewhat humorous book of the same name in 1969. Name this theory that states that workers tend to rise to their highest level of competence in hierarchical organizations.
Answer:Peter Principle
Derived from the Peter Principle, this theory first suggested by Scott Adams states that companies tend to promote the least competent employees to management to limit the amount of damage that they are capable of doing.
Answer:Dilbert Principle
The basis for the coinage of the “Peter Principle,” this psychoanalytical theory put forth by Sigmund Freud states that one simply strives for gratification as a way to avoid pain.
Answer:Pleasure Principle
6.Answer the following about the dreaded discipline of particle physics FTSNOP:
(10) This theory developed in the 1970s is used to describe strong, weak, and electromagnetic fundamental forces. The major flaw of this model is that it cannot describe gravity.