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I.B.A. Academic League Round 1 - Individual Questions - October 1990

1. This word is of French origin and originally was applied to younger sons who would inherit no family property and therefore sought army commissions.  Now it refers to students at Britain's Royal Military Academy or the United States Military Academy.  For 10 points, what's the word?

Answer:   cadet

2. It is a high-level computer language that the Department of Defense had created in the late 1970s.  Based on Pascal, it is general purpose language that is reliable and easily maintained.  For 10 points, what is this language named for Lord Byron's daughter, Lady Lovelace?

Answer:   Ada

3. It was organized and given cabinet status in 1849 as the Home Department.  It was given jurisdiction over the US Patent Office and the US Census Bureau, as well as over Army and Navy Pensions, although it does none of that now.  In 1902, it was given responsibility over the National Park Service.  For 10 points, what is this cabinet post?

Answer:  Department of the Interior

4. If this family had continued on the British throne, Prince Albrech of Bavaria would now be Britain's king.  If this family had continued on the throne, James II would have been followed by James III, Charles III, and Henry IX.  For 10 points, what is this English and Scottish royal family?

Answer:   Stuart

5. This name is given to any thermodynamic process in which the pressure of a gas is increased or decreased without any exchange of heat energy with the surroundings.  For 10 points, what is this term usually generalized to any process that occurs without heat transfer?

Answer:   Adiabatic process

6. His adoption of an orphan girl named Eppie softened his hard heart.  For 10 points, who was this incredible miser and "weaver of Raveloe", the title character of a novel by George Eliot? Answer:   Silas Marner

7. He led his New York City high school team, Power Memorial Academy, to 71 consecutive victories.  He was a three time All American at UCLA and he's won the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award a record six times.  For 10 points who is this player born Lew Alcindor?

Answer:  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (on early buzz "Alcindor" ask for more information)

8. Robert Morse won a best actor Tony in 1990 for playing this writer.  He rose to fame at 23 after the publication of his Other Voices, Other Rooms .  For 10 points, identify this southern writer whose best known novel is the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood .

Answer:  Truman Capote

9. While conducting an emergency meeting to deal with Operation Iron Fist, he found out that his controversial wife, Winnie, would stand trial on charges of kidnapping and assault stemming from the January 1989 murder of a Soweto activist. For 10 points, identify this South African, head of the African National Congress.

Answer: Nelson Mandela

10. His father was a pacifist and isolationist Minnesota Congressman.  He too was an isolationist and supported the idea that the Germans could win the Second World War.  In 1936, he helped invent an artificial heart.  For 10 points, who was this aviator whose plane was called The Spirit of St. Louis ?

Answer:  Charles A. Lindbergh

11. Franklin Roosevelt established this retreat about 70 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. and called it Shangri-La.  President Eisenhower renamed it for his grandson.  In 1978 it was the site of peace talks between Israel and Egypt.  For 10 points, what is this presidential retreat?

Answer:   Camp David

12. Her novels are usually about white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who face some family or moral crisis.  Typical of these is her The Accidental Tourist , where the hero's marriage breaks up after the accidental shooting of his son.  For 10 points, who is this author who won the Pulitzer Prize for her Breathing Lessons ?

Answer:  Anne Tyler

13. In Germany they are known as dachs and dachshunds were bred to chase them.  They are of the weasel family and live primarily in burrows.  For 10 points, what is this predatory animal?

Answer:   Badger

14. In Roman myth he is a psychopomp, or conductor of souls.  In that capacity the gods used him as a messenger, though he is also the god of thieves.  The English word commerce is derived from his name.  For 10 points, who is this Roman god, sometimes represented with a winged hat?

Answer:   Mercury

15. A vine with woody stem and purple flowers, it was first brought to the U.S. South as a cover crop to control soil erosion.  For 10 points, what is this fast-growing vine that covers nearly everything it can?

Answer:   Kudzu

16.  When it is used in churches it usually consists of spices and gums burnt on a charcoal block in a censer.  Popularly, it can be bought as cones or joss sticks.  For 10 points, what is this term for any sweet odor produced and spread by the burning of aromatic gums and spices?

Answer:   Incense

17. They take their general name from one in Iceland and usually occur around areas of volcanic activity.  Water is superheated without boiling because of pressure from colder water above.  When it turns to steam it raises the upper part of the column of water causing it to spurt from the earth.  For 10 points, what is this geologic phenomenon often found at Yellowstone Park?

Answer:   Geyser

18. In this Shakespearean play are found the St. Crispin's Day speech, the death of Falstaff, and the Battle of Agincourt.  In it, we see Prince Hal, now a king, repudiate his old friends to reign as a true monarch.  For 10 points identify this play, twice made into a film.

Answer:   Henry V

19. They are one of the most controversial groups in rock music history.  They were asked to withdraw from playing an AIDS benefit because of racist and homophobic lyrics.  Their first album, "Appetite for Destruction" had its cover song banned.  For 10 points, name this rock group.

Answer:   Guns and Roses

20. Born near Abbeville, South Carolina in 1782, he was a violent War Hawk, and a supporter of a protective tariff.  In 1828, he authored the South Carolina Exposition and Protest , which asserted that a state could nullify or rule invalid any federal law it deemed unconstitutional.  For 10 points, name this first vice-president of Andrew Jackson.

Answer:  John C. Calhoun

I.B.A. Academic League Round 1 - Consultation Questions - October, 1990

1. (20 PTS.) This is a region in northeastern France that consists of two distant areas separated by the Vosges Mountains.  An area steeped in history, it has been the source of considerable controversy between France and Germany.  It was owned by the French from 1766-1871 when Germany took it as part of the settlement of the Franco-Prussian war.  Following World War I, the area was returned to France.  For 20 pts. what is this region?

Answer:   Alsace-Lorraine

2. (25 PTS.) Given a star, identify the constellation in which it is located, 5 pts. each.

a. Arcturus Answer:   Bootes or the Wagon or the Wain

b. Deneb Answer:   Cygnus or Signus or the Northern Cross

c. Vega Answer:   Lyra

d. Rigel Answer:   Orion

e. Regulus Answer:   Leo

3. (25 PTS.) Although Joseph Conrad was born in Poland, he wrote mostly in English.  Given a significant European novel or play, identify the language in which it was written.

a. The Inspector General Answer:   Russian

b. The Magic Mountain Answer:   German

c. The Flies Answer:   French

d. An Enemy of the People Answer:   Norwegian

e. The Last Temptation of Christ Answer:   Greek

4. (30 PTS.) Apollo was one of the most beloved gods of Greek mythology.  Answer these questions about him for the stated number of points.

a. Zeus was his father.  But, for 5 pts. each, who was his mother and twin sister, identify which was mother and sister.

Answer:   Leto was his mother , Artemis (or Diana) his sister

b. On of his first services to humanity was the killing with his famous bow and arrow of this monster which molested the people in the vicinity of Mount Parnassus.  For 10 pts. name this monster.

Answer:  the Python (if say snake, ask for more information)

c. Shortly after his birth, he was sent to a bright northern home, the land of people dwelling in a state of perfect bliss.  For 15 pts. by what name were these great worshippers of Apollo known.

Answer:   Hyperboreans

5. (30 PTS.) Time for an American geography quiz.  Given two geographical features of a U.S. state, identify that state for 10 pts.  If you can't identify it, an additional clue will be provided for 5 pts.

a. CLUE 1:  Great Sandy Desert and Harney Basin

  CLUE 2:  Crater Lake

Answer:   Oregon

b. CLUE 1:  Isle Royale and Thunder Bay

  CLUE 2:  Kalamazoo

Answer:   Michigan

c. CLUE 1: Boston Mountains and the Sabine River

  CLUE 2: Hot Springs National Park

Answer:   Arkansas

6. (25 PTS.) If I were to ask you what Tennessee Williams' put "on the Roof," you would answer a "cat."  For 5 pts. each, answer these other questions about American literary titles.

a. On what two rivers did Thoreau spend a week?

Answer:   Concord and Merrimac

b. What sort of person ruled Oliver Wendell Holmes' Breakfast-Table?

Answer:   Autocrat

c. What were "abroad" for Mark Twain?

Answer:  The Innocents

d. Who was Stephen Crane's "Girl of the Streets?"

Answer:   Maggie

e. Who were companions of Norman Mailer's "The Naked?"

Answer:  the Dead

7. (25 PTS.) Given a description of an electric measure, identify it for 5 pts. each, 25 for all four correct.

a. It is equal to one ampere flowing for one second.

Answer:   Coulomb

b. It is equal to the work done in one second in maintaining a current of one ampere in a resistance of one ohm.

Answer:   Joule

c. It is the difference in potential electro-motive force necessary to force a current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm.

Answer:   Volt

d. It is an electric power unit which equals one ampere times one volt.

Answer:   Watt

8. (30 PTS.) Identify this U.S. president from the following clues, 30-20-10.

a. He received a degree in engineering from Stanford University.

b. Following his presidency, he acted as a consultant to the UN on food and medical distribution problems and was one of the founders of the UN children's Emergency Fund and CARE,

c. While president he created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to cope with financial problems facing America.

Answer:  Herbert Hoover

9. (25 PTS.) The largest lake on the African continent is surrounded by three countries.  For 10 pts. name the lake and for 5 pts. each, name the three countries.

Answer:  Lake Victoria , Kenya , Uganda , Tanzania

10. (30 PTS.) Since their inception in 1896, the Summer Olympic Games have been cancelled three different times.  First, for 5 pts. each, identify the three years the Olympics were cancelled.

Answer:   1916 , 1940 , 1944

Now, for 5 pts. each, identify the three cities in which those Olympic Games would have been held (no order necessary).

Answer:   Berlin , Tokyo (or Helsinki, were scheduled 2 places), London

11. (20 PTS.) The legacy of the Reformation was to break up Christianity into a number of Protestant sects.  Under different circumstances, the Islamic religion split into two divisions.  For 10 pts. each, name these two fundamental divisions of Islam.

Answer:   Sunni and Shi'ite

12. (25 PTS.) For 5 pts. each, identify the authors of these classic stories or novels of the horror genre.

a. Dracula Answer:  Bram Stoker

b. The Moonstone Answer:  Wilkie Collins

c. "The Lottery" Answer:  Shirley Jackson

d. Frankenstein Answer:   Mary Shelley

e. The Phantom of the Opera Answer:  Gaston Leroux

13. (30 points) Answer these questions about a figure from the American Revolution.

a.  First, for 10 points, identify the person from this description: He was born in 1738 in Litchfield, Connecticut. After Vermont proclaimed its independence in 1777, he became commander of the Vermont Militia.

Answer:  Ethan Allen

b. In 1771, Allen organized a group of soldiers to help protect himself and his fellow settlers of the New Hampshire Grants from the claims of New Hampshire and New York. For 10 additional points, identify this group.

Answer:   Green Mountain Boys

c. Following the battle of Lexington, Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were ordered to capture an important British base near the Canadian border. In May 1775, he and Benedict Arnold crossed Lake Champlain and captured that fort. For a final 10 points, name it.

Answer:  Fort Ticonderoga

14. (30 PTS.) Identify the astronomer after one clue for 30 pt. after two clues for 20 pts., and after all three for 10 pts.  You may guess after each clue.

a. He built his observatory near Copenhagen on an island given him by King Frederick II in 1576.

b. He was Kepler's teacher and published an important account of a nova in the 1573 De Nova Stella .

c. His works tried to reconcile Ptolemy and Copernicus, but he is  most famous for his silver nose.

Answer:  Tycho Brahe  (BRA-hee)

15. (25 PTS.)  For 5 pts. each, identify the authors of the following post World War II novels.

a. Cat's Cradle Answer:  Kurt Vonnegut , Jr.

b. A Clockwork Orange Answer:  Anthony Burgess

c. On the Road Answer:  Jack Kerouac

d. Go Tell It on the Mountain Answer:  James Baldwin

e. Catch-22 Answer:  Joseph Heller

16. (20 PT.) Answer these questions about modern Spanish history, 10 pts. each.

a. This Facist leader in the Spanish Civil War assumed power in 1939 and kept totalitarian rule in until his death in 1975

Answer:  Francisco Franco

b. On Franco's death in 1975, this man became king of Spain

Answer:   Juan Carlos I

17. (25 PTS.) Dan Quayle, having made one too many verbal blunders, has angered George Bush so much that George hurls a 20 kilogram statue of Ronald Reagan at Quayle with a velocity of 30 meters per second.  If Quayle has a mass of 100 kilograms and if the statue and Dan stick together at impact and continue along the same path, what is the resultant velocity.  You have 30 seconds, your answer is worth 25 points.

Answer:   5 meters per second

18. (30 PTS.) Identify the year from events which occurred during it, 30-20-10.

1. Lewis Carroll writes Alice in Wonderland and Joseph Lister performs anticeptic surgery.

2. The 13th Amendment is ratified and the Ku Klux Klan is formed

3. John Wilkes Booth dies and Lee signs Confederate surrender.

Answer:   1865

19. (25 PTS.) Knowing your opera composers can make you sing for 25 pts.   Given an opera, identify the composer 5 pts. each.

1. La Boheme Answer:   Puccini

2. Fidelio Answer:   Beethoven

3. Don Giovanni Answer:   Mozart

4. Aida Answer:   Verdi

5. Tannhauser Answer:   Wagner

20. (25 PTS.) Identify this statesman, 25-10.

1. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1924-29 and wrote A History of the English Speaking Peoples .

2. He is an honorary American citizen and fought during the Boer War.

Answer:  Winston Churchill