Tossups by University of Pennsylvania

1) This artillery captain from Petersburg, Virginia saw action on the Niagara frontier during the war of 1812 and was promoted to the rank of major-general. His next promotion came forty years later when he became the first American since George Washington to hold the rank of Lieutenant General. For ten points, name this commanding general of the U.S. Army from 1841 to 1861 and Whig candidate for President in 1852.

Answer: Winfield Scott

2) They are found in several sugars and compounds for medicinal use, including natural and synthetic steroid hormones. Highly reactive, they are characterized by the presence of a carbonyl group in which the carbon atom is covalently bonded to an oxygen atom. They differ from aldehydes in that this carbon atom is not bonded to a hydrogen atom. For ten points what is this class of organic compounds, whose most common member is acetone?

Answer: ketones

3) After a north wind drove Odysseus from Cape Malea onto the Libyan Coast, the crew met a local tribe. This tribe invited the scouts to eat a plant which caused them to become blissfully forgetful. Those that did eat it then needed to be chained to their rowing benches to resume working. For ten points, name the tribe, who has given their name to any indolent person.

Answer: Lotus-Eaters

4) The son and nephew of landscape painters, by the time he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1648 he was already an accomplished landscapist. His works include Dunes, depicting his native Holland, but he is more famous for his dark landscapes of waterfalls, castles, and cemeteries. For ten points, identify the painter, best known for Bentheim Castle and The Jewish Cemetery.

Answer: Jacob Isaakzoon van Ruisdael

5) Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, this slugger compiled a lifetime average of .344 and hit 521 career home runs in spite of losing five years in the prime of his career while flying fighters in World War II and Korea. For ten points name this two-time triple crown winner and last man to bat .400, known affectionately to Boston fans as "the splendid splinter."

Answer: Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams

6) Originally named Thomas Straussler, he moved to London in 1960 to become a theater critic. However, he is more notable for his plays, abilities, which include Travesties, Dirty Linen, Arcadia, and The Real Thing. For ten points, name this author of a play about two peripheral characters from Hamlet.

Answer: Tom Stoppard

7) This Sidney Lumet film took home four Oscars in 1976, including Best Actor and Actress. It chronicles the lives of a group of psychos at fledgling UBS, including Robert Duvall as hatchet-man Frank Hackett and Faye Dunaway as the horrendously ambitious Diana Christensen. For ten points, name the film, starring Peter Finch as crazed TV anchor Howard Beale, which depicts the first known instance of a man who was killed because of lousy ratings.

Answer: Network

8) Three of the kings of this dynasty shared their name with its founder and had the sobriquets Callinicus, Soter, and Philopator. There were also two Demetriuses: Soter and Nicator. Antiochus was, however, by far the most popular name of kings in this dynasty, including a Theos, a Sidetes, a Soter, and a Megas. For ten points, identify this Hellenistic dynasty which ruled Syria.

Answer: the Seleucids

9) An attempt was made to make him successor to Adam Smith as the chair of logic at Glasgow, but this failed due to rumors of his atheism. He was a proponent of the concept of belief as a significant component in the process of causal inference. He strongly supported the concept of altruism. For ten points, name this writer, historian, economist and empiricist, author of History of England and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

Answer: David Hume

10) His first novel to gain critical success dealt with the birth of his severely brain-damaged son, a theme which was to surface in later works. Despite the disdain which his unconventional use of the Japanese language earned him, for ten points, which author of A Personal Matter and The Silent Cry was finally awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1994?

Answer: Kenzaburo Oe

11) In 1825, this professor from Copenhagen was the first scientist to isolate aluminum. However, he is most notable for his discovery that a magnetic needle is deflected at right angles to a conductor carrying an electric current, thereby establishing a relationship between magnetism and electricity. For ten points, name this namesake of a unit of magnetic field strength.

Answer: Hans Christian Oersted

12) This economic construct assumes that a single consumer may purchase two goods, necessities and luxuries in various combinations. All combiantions of purchases that yield the same level of consumer satisfaction lie together on this curve. For ten points, name this curve which, when used with a budget line, shows the optimal combination of purchases a consumer should make.

Answer: Indifference Curve

13) Notable stars included Violet and Daisy Hilton, Johnny Eck, and Zip the Pinhead. It tells the story of Hans, an unlucky midget who falls in love with a predatorial trapeze artist named Cleopatra, only to find that she is actually plotting with her strongman lover to kill him and inherit his fortune. As the circus train prepares to leave camp on a rainy night, Hans and his friends exact a gruesome revenge on the pair. For ten points, name this movie directed by Todd Browning.

Answer: Freaks

14) The son of a weaver, at the age of 12 he began teaching at a Quaker school, two years later moving to teach with his brother at Kendal. Throughout his life he kept a diary of meteorological observations in the lake district, but he is better known for his work in chemistry and physics. For ten points, name this scientist, who discovered butylene and determined the composition of ether, who is best known for his atomic theory and his Law of Partial Pressures.

Answer: John Dalton

15) According to critic Jay Sherman, she is best known for her ability to burp. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, she writes about inhabitants of rural Mississippi, who are grotesque, eccentric, yet charming. The Wide Net and The Bride of Innisfallen are 2 famous short story collections, while her novels include The Ponder Heart and Losing Battles. For ten points, name this woman who won a Pulitzer Prize for The Optimist's Daughter.

Answer: Eudora Welty

16) In order to outflank Field Marshal Kesselring's Gustav Line, an amphibious attack was made here early in 1944. General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army, however, could still not breach the Gustav Line and so the beachhead here remained isolated until late May. For ten points, identify this small Italian town, less than fifty miles from Rome, that witnessed five months of carnage in 1944.

Answer: Anzio

17) Its contents include an iron lung, the conjoined livers of Chang and Eng, a tumor removed from Grover Cleveland's mouth, and an unfortunate victim of saponification known colloqially as "The Soap Lady". Founded as a teaching laboratory for medical students, it is open to the public but is officially a division of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia. For ten points, name this gruesomely fascinating institution whose unofficial motto states: "We're just a medical museum, goddamit!"

Answer: Mutter Museum

18) He taught himself to play the piano as a young boy, and at seven, wrote a military march for the Russian grand duke Constantine. An introduction to the wealthy Rothschild family, along with his elegant manners, fastidious dress, and sensitivity, allowed him to establish ties with many mistresses in Paris, most notably the author George Sand. For ten points, identify this composer of two piano concerti, a fantasie-impromptu in C sharp minor, and seventeen polonaises.

Answer: Frederic Chopin

19) Caused by the substitution of a single amino acid in the hemoglobin protein of red blood cells, this disease is a fine example of pleiotropy, because the diseased gene has multiple effects. For ten points, name the malady, marked by the deformation of erythrocytes whenever the oxygen content of an affected individual's blood is too low, which affects one of every four hundred African Americans.

Answer: sickle-cell anemia/disease

21) He has run for governor, barely escaped assassination, and built a casino. He managed to fight in World War II for America while manufacturing munitions for the Germans, and he is bitter to this day about his mother's affair with President Taft. For ten points identify this mean old man, lusted after by his sidekick, whose first name Homer could not remember when it counted.

Answer: (Mr.) Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns

21) The protagonist is a lonely, semi-alcoholic civil servant who lives alone with his dog and a homosexual houseboy. He falls madly in love with the social-climbing niece of one of the other colonials, but runs into conflict when he has to decide between winning the approval of the European community and helping his Indian doctor friend to become the first member of the European club. For ten points, name this novel, based on George Orwell's days as a colonial civil servant.

Answer: Burmese Days

22) It became an independent kingdom in the 1840's, after an opportunistic Englishman named James Brooke was declared Rajah by the Sultan of Brunei in exchange for ridding the area of pirates. James, his nephew Charles, and Charles' son Vyner were to successfully rule it until the Japanese invasion during World War II, after which it became a British protectorate. For ten points, name this region in northwestern Borneo with capital at Kuching, currently one of the states of Malaysia.

Answer: Sarawak

Boni by Penn and ASU Weightgain 4000

1) Given an Albert Camus protagonist, name the novel in which he appears for the stated number of points

5 - Meursault (mur-so)

Answer: The Stranger (L'Etranger)

10 - Jean Baptiste Clamence

Answer: The Fall (La Chute)

15 - Patrice Mersault (mair-so)

Answer: A Happy Death (La Morte Heureuse)

2) 30-20-10 name the element.

30 - It was discovered in 1899 by Andre Debierne and independently by Geisel in 1902. Both scientists obtained it while working on separation techniques for rare earth oxides.

20 - 150 times more radioactive than radium, it is found mostly in pitchblende. Its name comes from the greek for "ray".

10 - Atomic number 89, it heads a series of elements that bears its name.

Answer: Actinium

3) Identify the following statistical distributions from their equations (you may want to write them down), for 15 points each:

a. f(k, n, p) = (n choose k) * p^k * (1 - p)^(n - k)
(Read: 'f' of 'k', 'n', and 'p' = n choose k, times p to the k, times the quantity 1 minus p to the quantity n minus k)

Answer. binomial distribution

b. f(x, lambda) = ( exp(-lambda) * lambda^x ) / x!
(Read: 'f' of 'x' and lambda = e to the negative lambda, times lambda to the x, the quantity over x factorial)

A. Poisson distribution

4) Answer these questions about the sport of cricket.

A. First, for five points, what is the name of the highest level of cricket, played between 9 countries?

Answer: Test cricket.

Now, for five points per pair and a total of twenty-five for all correct, name the nine test playing countries. Hint: one answer is actually a group of countries.

Answer: England (or equivalents), Australia_, _New Zealand_, _India_,_Pakistan_, _Sri Lanka_, _West Indies_, _Zimbabwe and South Africa

5) 30-20-10 name the mythological figure.

30-He was the son of Farbauiti and Laufey.

20-His wife is Sigyn and his mistress is Angrboda.

10-On the day of Ragnarok, this god's chains will break and he will lead the giants into a battle with the gods.

Answer: Loki

6) Identify these things in your brain associated with pleasure for 10 points each.

a) This class of neurotransmitter includes opiates. They suppress pain and are responsible for "runner's high."

Answer: _endorphins_

b) An excess of this neurotransmitter is thought to cause schizophrenia; it is blocked by anti-psychotic drugs. A variation is used to treat Parkinson's Disease.

Answer: _dopamine_

c) This area of the brain was originally thought to be associated with fear, but that hypothesis was revised when it was found that rats placed in a cage with a lever stimulating this area would press the lever until they died of exhaustion. Similar experiments concerning self-mediated intercranial stimulation have been tried with human beings suffering from depression.

Answer: _medial forebrain_ bundle (prompt on forebrain)

7) 30-20-10 name the book from quotations.

30 - He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt, and his only mission each time he went up was to come down alive.

20 - You won't marry me because I'm crazy, and you say I'm crazy because I want to marry you? Is that right?

10 - Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions.

Answer: Catch-22

8) During the course of the cultural revolution in China much of the party authority was in the hands of a group of individuals who took advantage of Chairman Mao's purging of Deng Xiaoping and subsequent decline into senility to further their own political agendas.

First, for five points, by what name was this group commonly known?

Answer: the Gang of Four

For another ten points, the leader of this group was a former actress who had become Mao's third wife shortly after he first gained power. Name her.

Answer: Jiang Qing

Finally, for five points each, name the other three members of the Gang of Four.

Answer: Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wen Yuan, Wang Hongwen

9) Identify these works of music associated with E. M. Forster novels for 15 points apiece, or for 5 points apiece is you need a clue about the musical piece.

A. 15: In _Howard's End_, nearly all of the main characters attend a performance of this 1808 work, which Helen Schlegel likens to goblins walking over the universe.

5) Schindler, a friend of the composer, compared the first four notes of this symphony to fate knocking at the door.

Answer: _Beethoven's Fifth_ Symphony

B. 15) In _Maurice_, Maurice Hall meets Clive Durham as the latter is searching for a copy of the pianola roll for this 1893 work.

5) The composers brother, Modeste, suggested the nickname for this symphony which premiered in Saint Petersburg.

Answer: _Tchaikovsky's Pathetic_ Symphony (also accept Symphonie_Pathetique_ or Symphony _Number 6_ in B Minor, prompt for Tchaikovsky on just _Pathetic_ Symphony)

10) Given the year and the book which earned a Booker Prize, name the author for ten points each.

a) 1998 - Amsterdam

Answer: Ian McEwan

b) 1990 - Possession

Answer: A.S. Byatt

c) 1988 - Oscar and Lucinda

Answer: Peter Carey

11) 30-20-10. Name the scientist.

30 - A character in Aldous Huxley's novel Point, Counterpoint is based on this shy and misogynistic scientist who communicated with his housekeeper by notes and ordered all female domestics to keep out of his sight.

20 - He described the composition of water and wrote Electrical Researches, which predicted some of the discoveries of Faraday and Coulomb.

10 - He isolated a gas he described as "inflammable air" later called hydrogen.

Answer: Henry Cavendish

12) Identify these economists for fifteen points each.

a) He was the first to assume that the agricultural sector was subject to diminishing returns in his The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.

Answer: David Ricardo

b) His labor surplus model of economic development claimed that present day Third World countries resemble pre-Industrial Revolution England because there are "unlimited supplies of labor; thus, income inequality is a cause of growth."

Answer: W. Arthur Lewis

13) Answer the following about the Velvet Underground for the stated number of points.

5: This lead singer of the Velvet Underground battled heroin addiction for many years and is still releasing solo albums.

Answer: Lou Reed

10: Probably the best known Velvet Underground album, it was recorded in Andy Warhol's studio and its name comes from the cover which Warhol designed for it.

Answer: The Banana Album

15: This German model sang with the Velvet Underground on The Banana Album and also released several solo albums, the best known of which is Chelsea Girl.

Answer: Nico

14) Name these cell organelles for ten points each.

a) Especially extensive in cells specialized for secretion, this organelle consists of flattened membranous sacs where products of the endoplasmic reticulum are modified and stored.

Answer: Golgi apparatus/body

b) This is a membrane enclosed sac of hydrolytic enzymes that the cell uses to digest macromolecules.

Answer: lysosome

c) This organelle contains enzymes that transfer hydrogen from various substrates to oxygen, producing and then degrading hydrogen peroxide.

Answer: peroxisome

15) Answer the following about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the stated number of points:

First, for ten points, all or nothing, name all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Answer: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael

The turtles were trained in the ancient Japanese art of ninjitsu by a mutated rat named Splinter. For ten points, who was Splinter's original owner, a master of ninjitsu who was killed by his evil rival shortly after coming to New York?

Answer: Hamato Yoshi

The Ninja Turtles' sworn enemy was, of course, Shredder, a ninja-gone-wrong who headed an enormous criminal organization. For ten points, name that organization.

Answer: the Foot Clan

16) Identify the sculptor from works 30-20-10.

30 - The Vanquished, The Age of Bronze

20 - The Man with the Broken Nose, The Burghers of Calais

10 - The Thinker, The Kiss

Answer: Auguste Rodin

17. 30-20-10-5. Name the author from works.

30) _A Man of the People_

20) _No Longer at Ease_

10)_Christmas in Biafra_

5) _Things Fall Apart_

Answer: Chinua _Achebe_

18) Since Great Britain joined the European Community in 1973, that nation has had six prime ministers. For five points each, name them.

Answers: Edward Heath (1970-74), Harold Wilson (1974-76), James Callaghan (1976-79), Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990), John Major (1990-97), Tony Blair (1997-present).

19) Answer the following about the current New York senate race for the stated number of points:

5 - This three-term incumbent Republican senator ran for re-election.

Answer: Alphonse D'Amato

10 - D'Amato lost to this Democrat.

Answer: Charles Schumer

15 - D'Amato was criticized recently for calling Schumer this derogatory name, which some construed as an anti-semitic remark.

Answer: putz-head

20) Name these masochistic and suicidal writers from what sick things they did to themselves for 15 points, or for an easier clue about their lives for 5.

A. 15: When young, this poet would cut herself with a razor just to see herself bleed. Later, she hid in a crawl space under her house and poisoned herself, but was found alive.

5: This wife of poet Ted Hughes killed herself by putting her head in a gas oven.

Answer: Sylvia _Plath_

B. 15: This Russian poet wrote a farewell poem in his own blood shortly before hanging himself in a hotel room.

5: He wrote actively during the Silver Age of the 1920s and was at one point married to Isadora Duncan.

Answer: Sergei _Yesenin_

21) Identify these astronomers for 15 points each.

A. This Dutch astronomer developed the theory that comets develop in an area 10,000 to 100,000 AU from the sun, in which they remain frozen without tails or comas. Answer: Jan _Oort_

B. After World War I, he extended our knowledge of the Milky Way by combining his research on star clusters with past research on Cepheid variable, showing that the galaxy was far larger than previously believed. Answer: Harlow _Shapley_

22) Name the author from works, 30-20-10.

30 - World's End, Water Music

20 - If the River Was Whiskey, The Tortilla Curtain

10 - East is East, The Road to Wellville

Answer: T.C. Boyle