VETO 2008 Lisgar Alumni Team
Tossups
(Ben Hare, Tamara
Vardomskaya)
1. He started out as a shoemaker's
apprentice, but later became a minister of agriculture. He ordered
the construction of the world's largest civilian administrative
building, which was never completed after his death. He was very
impressed by Juche and North Korea under Kim Il Sung, and was
inspired to compose the July Theses proposing a cultural revolution
for his country. He was firmly against both divorce and abortion;
Freakonomics notes that his eventual downfall was perhaps due
to people who would not have existed if not for his policies. FTP,
name this infamous dictator of Romania.
2. The Simmonds' test or Thompson test is used to
verify this injury; squeezing the calf muscle does not cause plantar
flexion. The antibiotic Cipro is linked to an increased risk of this
injury. It is one of the most common sports injuries due to powerful
acceleration stresses on the leg and foot. Gymnast Ivan Ivankov and
sprinter Donovan Bailey both suffered what sports injury, FTP,
involving the rupture of the largest tendon in the body?
Answer:
Achilles tendon rupture (accept
clear-knowledge equivalents)
3. Hailing from Stockbridge,
Georgia, they were asked to perform at the 1994 Woodstock festival
after their successful debut album. The bands name comes from an Ayn
Rand novel although they maintain that they could have picked it out
of a motorcycle magazine. Including members Ryan Hoyle, Joel Kosche,
Will Turpin and Ed and Dean Roland, their albums include “Hints,
Allegations and things left unsaid”, “Disciplined
Breakdown” and “Afterwords”. FTP, what band had
hits with “Shine”, “December” and
“Hollywood”?
Answer:
Collective Soul
4. He is said to have been obsessed
with wombats, kept two as pets, and a caricature in the British
Museum portrays him lamenting the death of one of them. He wrote
poetry, including a poem about "the blessed Damozel", but
unlike his sister, it was painting rather than poetry that made him
famous. Many of his most renowned paintings recognizably feature the
same woman, Jane Burden Morris, the wife of his friend William
Morris. She appears as his "Monna Vanna" and "Proserpine."
Brother of Christina who wrote "Goblin Market", FTP name
this most famous artist of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood?
Answer: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
5. It once housed several large
trading empires whose success depended on their fast horses and
camels. Dakar and Kano are its two largest cities and it stretches
over 3,000,000 sq km. Its name literally means "coast" in
Arabic and it covers a region defined by average rainfall. FTP, what
is the name of the sub-Saharan region, stretching from Senegal on the
West to Sudan on the East?
Answer: Sahel
6. This series' world's map strongly resembles Europe, with much of the action taking place in the location of France, also the source of much of the vocabulary. However, the world posits that the inhabitants of this country, known as Terre d'Ange, are the descendants of angels who had rejected God to join with Blessed Elua on earth and follow the precept of "Love as thou wilt." The main character in the first trilogy is a courtesan for whom loving as she wilt involves experiencing pain as pleasure and thus being a masochistic submissive to her clients, as well as gathering information in the service of the Queen. FTP, Phedre no Delaunay is a main character in what fantasy trilogy by Jacqueline Carey?
Answer:
Kushiel's Legacy / Kushiel's
Dart (accept "Kushiel series")
7. The aircraft of
that name, named after the first syllable of its designer's last
name, was the main Soviet military aircraft during World War II. It
is also African-American slang for cognac. However, the most common
meaning of that name is a borrowing from Tibetan, where the original
word refers to merely the male of this animal species. With the
scientific name Bos grunniens, FTP, what syllable refers to a
Himalayan beast of burden and is a synonym for chatter or talk?
Answer: Yak
8. The tungstate of
this element has negative thermal expansion characteristics. The
silicate of this element is often used in jewelry, as the stone known
as jacinth when red. The synthesized dioxide of this element is much
more famous as an inexpensive diamond substitute. The metallic
element itself is valued for its resistance to heat and corrosion, as
well as being used in some incendiary bombs because its powder is
highly flammable. The crystal-bar process used for its extraction was
replaced by the Kroll process, also used to extract titanium. FTP,
name this metallic element with atomic number 40 and symbol Zr?
9. A sequel to this work, which can be called a series of linked vignettes, was written nine years after it in 1954. He calls it a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. It is a depiction of the author's time in Monterey, Californi[10] It follows the exploits at the Palace Flophouse and Grill, Lee Chong's Grocery and the Bear Flag Restaurant, with characters like Hazel, Eddie, The Chinaman, Dora, and a marine biologist known simply as Doc. FTP, what is the name of this John Steinbeck novel?
10. Air Canada concluded that the pilots and mechanics were at fault for this incident, while the Transportation Safety Board of Canada blamed Air Canada for equipment deficiencies, particularly the fuel gauge problem leading to this event. It was principally caused by an error in the conversion factor, as the plane had the right number of pounds of fuel aboard, not kilograms. Consequently, the plane had both engines shut down due to lack of fuel, and the emergency checklist had no section on flying the aircraft with both engines out. However, Captain Robert Pearson, a glider pilot, was able to land the plane safely on the strip of a Manitoba air force base, saving all passengers in, FTP, what 1983 aviation incident?
11. He is a Canadian of ethnic
Macedonian origin and was born on February 7th, 1990. He was
originally a member of the Markham Waxers of the OMHA before being
drafted first overall in the 2006 OHL entry draft. He ended up
scoring 197 points in 124 games for the Sarnia Sting. FTP, who was
just drafted in the 2008 NHL entry draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning
first overall?
Answer: Steven Stamkos
12. In 1978, this lake was hit by a Soviet Cosmos 954 satellite in a decaying orbit, spilling nuclear fuel. Gold was discovered on its shore in the 1930s, leading to the establishment of the city known in Dogrib as "where the money is." The remnant of a post-glacial lake, it is the ninth-largest lake in the world. FTP, what Northwest Territories lake, on the shore of which is Yellowknife, is the deepest lake in North America and the second-largest in Canada?
13.A Chinese myth tells of it being in the form of ten birds, and when all of them appear at once, the hero Hou Yi has to shoot nine. Inti, god of it, was the revered ancestor of the Inca dynasty. Sangya, the wife of the Hindu god of it, flees her husband and leaves her shadow Chhaya in her place because she cannot endure her husband Surya's radiance. Amaterasu is a notable goddess of it. FTP, Horus, Ra, Helios and Sol Invictus are also gods of what celestial body?
14. Pan carves a gap in one. Another
is established by Pandora and Prometheus. They are not named in their
actual order but are instead named in the order of their discovery
and span over 165,000 miles. When they were first discovered by
Galileo they were believed to be two moons, although Christiaan
Huygens recognized what they were. Geysers on Enceladus are believed
to provide material to, FTP, which large structure surrounding
Saturn?
Answer: Saturn's rings (accept
clear-knowledge equivalents)
15. This
company was the first company in history to issue stock, and the
first multinational corporation. Founded to compete with the
Portuguese in the intercontinental spice trade, it followed the
example of its similarly-named English equivalent on seeing its
advantages. Its posts were established in Canton, Siam, Formosa,
Colombo, and the Cape of Good Hope, but most famously in Batavia, now
Jakarta. It was nationalized in 1796 by the Batavian Republic. FTP,
what Netherlands company had a major influence on the history of
colonial Indonesia?
Answer: Dutch East India Company / Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
16. Its development began in 1998 and
came into effect in 2003. It is estimated to cost $800 million and
involve 30,000 police. It can be bypassed using secure traffic, onion
routing, or most popularly, using a proxy server. Language Log may
have been affected by it, and many blogging sites definitely are, as
well as the BBC and sites related to the Taiwanese government and to
the Dalai Lama's government in exile. FTP, give either the official
or the popular name of the People's Republic of China's project on
censoring information available through the Chinese Internet?
Answer: Great Firewall of China / Golden Shield Project / Jīndùn gōngchéng
17. It is the source of the title of a collection of poetry by New York author Tao Lin. It was first developed by Albert Ellis in the 1950s. In treating depression, it aims to correct the thinking errors that lead to the patient's negative interpretation of events. It proceeds to analyze the activating event, the beliefs associated with that event, and the consequences of those beliefs, in order to reinterpret the event in a more positive light. FTP, what psychological therapy aims to adjust both the patient's beliefs and actions about events, and is often abbreviated CBT?
Answer: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (prompt on CBT before it is mentioned)
18. The month of the event was chosen
"to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather." It
began in the San Francisco Bay area with 21 participants in 1999,
while this year over 100,000 people took part worldwide, belying the
first part of its name. It emphasizes quantity produced over quality,
and accepts any kind of text that the participant chooses to consider
being within the rules, as long as it was not created before the
beginning of the event. Software confirms a "winner" so it
is possible to win without anyone but you having seen your work. FTP,
November is the month of what event that encourages people to
complete 50,000 words of a work of fiction?
Answer: National Novel Writing Month / NaNoWriMo
19. "She had the perfect motion for being effective and efficient," Larry Jones said about her. Like every one of her competitors, she was a descendant of Native Dancer. A race has been renamed in her honour, that will run on the same day in 2009 as the event after which she died in 2008. Her injury was a compound fracture of the cannon and sesamoid bones, the same bones that Barbaro shattered, but in both forefeet. FTP, what filly that came second after Big Brown in the 2008 Kentucky Derby but broke both forelegs and had to be euthanized right on the track, has the same name as the naval term for the maximal time struck by ship's bells on a watch?
20. This opera was inspired by Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse, and the composer had to argue with censors over many aspects of it. The title role is sung by a baritone, while a soprano sings the lead female role of his daughter, and a tenor sings the role of his dissulute employer, the Duke of Mantua. The plot involves Gilda voluntarily letting herself be killed by her father's hired assassin in place of the Duke who had seduced her and whom she loves. FTP, the aria "La donna é mobile" comes from what Verdi opera about a hunchbacked jester?
21. She is similar to a mermaid and is the daughter of the Creator God Anguta. She ate everything in her parents' house and even gnawed off one of her husband's arms as he slept. She lives in and rules over Adlivun, the Inuit Underworld, although she is also a mighty sea goddess and when mad can trap all of the animals of the sea. FTP, who is this goddess, also known for being namesake of one of the furthest objects from the sun?
22. Its name is considered to derive from the Indo-European root meaning "horn" due to its shape. The city of Holtville, California, considers itself the capital of the world with regards to this vegetable. Cultivated types include Imperator, Chantenay, and Nantes. It is a significant source of Vitamin A, but overconsuming it can cause the skin to turn orange. FTP, what root vegetable is considered in popular culture to be a rabbit's favourite food?
23. This book was called by the New York Times "the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race." Called by some the second greatest work of literature in Spanish after Don Quixote, it is an epic of Colombian and Latin American history. Telling the story of the Buendia family in the town of Macondo, FTP, what is this magical-realism novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
Answer: One Hundred Years of Solitude / Cien Años de Soledad
24. He used to sleep with all of his clothes on because he feared that taking them off would cause insomnia. To defend one of his inventions, he tried to get people to refer to the the electric chair as Westinghousing someone. This man was known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, so FTP, which man invented or took credit for the Stock Ticker, direct current and the light bulb?
VETO 2008 Lisgar Alumni Team Boni
(Ben Hare, Tamara Vardomskaya, Chris Greenwood)
1. Name the internet même from the clues given.
[10] I can haz questionpack? Why yoo no
answerz ma bone-us?
LOLcats
[10]This line actually originated in
the Japanese videogame Zero Wing.
All your bases are
belong to us
[10] This shock site with a Christmas
Island country code originated the frequently parodied image of a man
disproportionately stretching an orifice.
Goatse.cx
2. (To reader: please tear off last page of question packet with the skeleton pictures)
Are you as notoriously obsessed with
prehistoric megafauna skeletons as the question writer? Bring on the
visual bonus!
[10] All three skeletons on top are of what
Pleistocene mammal, known in Latin as Megatherium
americanum?
giant sloth
[10] Giant sloths shared the
South American megafauna scene with what marsupial cat, which
resembled saber-toothed cats but had flanges on its lower jaw
providing slots for its saber canines to fit into?
Thylacosmilus
[10] As no other animal at the time was strong enough to do this, it is
thought that Megatherium is responsible for remains of this
giant armadillo, about the size of a VW Beetle, often being found
flipped upside down.
Glyptodon / Glyptotherium
3. Answer the following questions about a chemical process you are unlikely to do at home, but if you do, more power to you.
[10] What process is usually used to colour aluminum and titanium?
anodization (accept word forms)
[10] When aluminum alloy is anodized, a layer of what compound forms on its surface?
[10] As per its name, anodization works by the aluminum part acting as the anode of an electrical circuit when passing a direct current through an electrolytic solution. What solution, also one of the most famous acids, is most commonly used for that purpose?
4. Figure out the book titles from the clues given. The words of the answer can be found in the clue.
[10] A girl with brown eyes cries to God as she goes through three husbands; their efforts to please her were as pointless as watching paint dry.
[10] This book chronicles the story of
a man who witnesses a horrible slaughter in the winter of 1945 and
upon returning to his house begins to travel through
time.
Slaughterhouse-Five
[10] Two poor men try and follow their
dream of owning a home, and there having many mice to pet, but it
all goes tragically wrong.
Of Mice and Men
5. The following questions deal with
hash, and no, not that kind.
[10] The hash symbol is the British
term for what symbol on the keyboard?
pound sign / number
sign / octothorpe
[10] In the context of cryptographic hash
functions, what does the SHA in SHA-1 stand for?
secure hash
algorithm
[10] What is the principal ingredient in hash
browns?
potato
6. (Note to Reader: Tear off page of
packet, which contains the picture of lots of people and no
skeletons.)
Answer the following questions about this picture:
[10]
This famous fresco, actually called "Philosophy" portrays
Greek philosophers, some of whom are actually portraits of Raphael
Santi's contemporaries. What is it most commonly called?
The
School of Athens
[10] In what Vatican building is the School
of Athens fresco?
Apostolic Palace
[10]
The two main figures in
the painting, located at the focal point, are Aristotle and this other
philosopher, who holds his work Timaeus in the crook of his left
arm.
Plato
7. Answer the following questions
about a sports team.
Nicknamed the “Reds”, their main sponsor is Carlsberg and one of their biggest rivalries is with Merseyside club Everton. FTPE:
[10] Name this English Premier League team who were eliminated by Chelsea in the semifinals of the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League.
Liverpool Football Club
[10] Liverpool plays its home games at which stadium?
Anfield
[10] In 1986, disaster struck the club, when, at an away game against Sheffield Wednesday, a surge of fans through the stadium’s gates caused a crush that killed 96 Liverpool supporters. Give the name of this disaster, named for the Notttingham stadium in which it occurred.
Hillsborough disaster
8. The following questions are about
that hip and happenin' U.S. state --- Wyoming.
[10] Which city, Wyoming’s largest, is also its capital?
Cheyenne
[10] In April 1892, a war between famers and ranches erupted in rural Wyoming, one that would eventually require American military intervention. Name this war.
Johnson County War
[5+5] For five points each, name the two national parks found within Wyoming’s borders.
Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park
9. Answer the following questions
about a recent book.
[10] What alternate-history novel won the
Nebula and Locus Awards this year?
The Yiddish Policemen's
Union
[10] The Yiddish Policemen's Union takes place in
what fictionalized Alaska community?
Sitka
[10] A key plot
point in The Yiddish Policemen's Union is the Jewish belief
that into every generation a potential Messiah is born. What phrase,
meaning "the righteous one of [his] generation", refers to
this potential Messiah?
tzadik ha-dor
10. "Only the farmers won. We lose. We always lose."
[10] What classic Western movie about a small group defending a village against thirty bandits is this line from?
[10] What Russian-born actor, who also starred in The King and I, played the lead role in The Magnificent Seven?
C. Name two of the three Magnificent Seven alive at the end of the movie (character names).
Chris, Vin, or Chico (any two)
11. Some places are so scenic, so peaceful, just crying out for a battle or two to be fought there, even if they've already been used for that purpose. Given the description of the site of multiple battles sharing the same name, give that shared name.
[10] Both the Egyptians and the British
won here, albeit almost 3400 years apart.
Megiddo
[10] The Italians and the Austrians
fought an incredible 11 battles here in World War I.
The Isonzo
[10] Twice battles at this river saved
the French.
The Marne
12. You won't
have to imitate anyone else on these questions if you know your
parrot lore.
[10] What comedy troupe created the famous "Dead Parrot Sketch"?
[10] What was the name of Long John Silver's parrot in the novel Treasure Island?
[10] What famous African Gray parrot studied by Irene Pepperberg died in September 2007?
13. Momma always said, ‘Life Is like a box of chocolates.’ FTPE:
[10] This line was first uttered in the 1994 classic Forrest Gump, which won this Californian the Academy Award for Best Director.
Robert Zemeckis
[10] In the film, Forrest Gump founds a successful shrimp fishing company, whose name is a hybridization of Forrest’s and his late friend’s from the Vietnam War. What is this name?
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
[10] Before founding that company, Forrest finds huge success in and around this sport, which he learns at the hospital in Vietnam while recovering from an injury to his “Butt-tox”.
Ping-Pong or Table Tennis
Currently represented by Lawrence Greenspon, this Ottawa man is on trial for his connection to the British “Fertilizer Bomb” plot. FTPE:
[10] Name this software engineer, whose trial has captured headlines across Canad[10]
Mohammad Momin Khawaja
[10] Khawaja allegedly designed and built a transmitter for detonating multiple bombs across London simultaneously, known by this somewhat colloquial name.
Hi-Fi Digimonster
[10] Khawaja is the first to be charged and subsequently tried under this bluntly named Canadian act.
Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act
15. You keep telling those athletes to
Just Say No, and they keep on using steroids.
[10] This man's 583 home runs, 12
all-star game appearances and 70 home run season may still not be
enough to lift him to the hall of fame after steroid
accusations.
Mark McGuire
[10] This man won a stage on the Tour
de France last year, but was pulled from the competition after it was
revealed that he tested positive for blood doping, and subsequently
retired.
Alexander Vinokourov
[10] She won five medals at the 2000
summer games but was stripped of all of those medals after she
revealed that she took performance enhancing drugs.
Marion Jones
16. Answer these questions about Abstract Data Types
[10] This kind involves nodes that
contain a piece of information and a link to the next node.
Linked
Lists
[10]This kind has nodes that contain a
piece of information and link to “left” and “right”
nodes, although either of these nodes can be empty.
Trees
[10] The nodes of this kind can link to
as many other nodes as is required, although certain connections may
come with an arbitrary cost for taking that path.
Graphs
17. This cult's story is used as an
object lesson that mass murder is not as easy as it sounds.
[10]
What Japanese cult's actions led to the death of twelve people on the
Tokyo subway in 1995?
Aum Shinrikyo
[10]What gas was used
in the Tokyo subway attacks?
sarin
[10] Who was the head
of the cult?
Shoko Asahara
18. Seek inspiration from on high to
answer these questions about the Muses.
[10] What goddess of memory
was the mother of the nine Muses, according to Hesiod?
Mnemosyne
(if the team cannot remember the answer, laugh at them)
[10]Which
play by Shakespeare calls "O for a Muse of fire that would
ascend..."
Henry V
[10] What novel by Henry Fielding
has a (hilarious) chapter entitled, "A battle sung by the muse
in the Homerican style, and which none but the classical reader can
taste", describing a fight in a graveyard?
The History of Tom
Jones, a Foundling
19. Name the play from characters.
All of the plays are by George Bernard Shaw; none of the plays is
Pygmalion. Or My Fair Lady.
[10] Raina Petkoff,
Sergius Saranoff, Bluntschli.
Arms and the Man
[10]John
Tanner, Ann Whitefield, Roebuck Ramsden
Man and Superman
C.
The Archbishop of Rheims, Charles the Dauphin
Saint Joan
20. The following questions are about
the question writer's favourite T.V. series, House, M.D.
[10]
What British actor plays the title character?
Hugh Laurie
[10] What neurologist on the show, played by Omar Epps, was referred to by
House as "Blackpoleon Blackaparte"?
Eric Foreman
[10] The Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where the series is set,
is in what U.S. State?
New Jersey
21. A mere fifteen days ago, the United States celebrated its 232nd birthday. In the spirit of belated celebration, here are some questions about the bald eagle. FTPE:
[10] The bald eagle was chosen as the Presidential Seal’s most prominent figure in which 18th-century decade?
1780s (1782)
[10]Within the chordata phylum the bald eagle belongs to which class?
Aves
[10] This process became infamous after the levels of DDT were studied in North American bald eagle populations. What term is used to describe this process, wherein toxin levels increase dramatically in organisms higher on the food chain?
Biomagnification
22. Given the African mountain range, name one of the countries it passes through.
[10] The Ahaggar mountains
Algeria or
Libya