Technophobia 2000

Questions by Matt Bruce

Tossups

 

1. He was admitted to the bar in 1949, 25 years before his disbarment.In 1961 he became chief executive of Baltimore County, six years before his election as governor of Maryland.Accused of accepting bribes, he ultimately pled no contest to federal tax evasion charges.Known for supporting law and order but opposing "nattering nabobs of negativism," this is--for 10 points--what Vice President under Richard Nixon?

 

answer: Spiro T(heodore) _Agnew_

 

2. Birds do it late in the summer and sometimes also a second time in the spring.Amphibians and snakes do it several times a year.Arthropods do it whenever the need to grow, and even secrete a special digestive fluid to help them get the job done.For 10 points--name the process in which skin, fur, feathers or exoskeletons are shed and renewed.

 

answer: _molt_ing

 

3. This Indiana alumnus threw for 3,441 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Redskins in 1998, then signed with the St. Louis Rams.A late hit in a pre-season game caused him to miss the season with torn ligaments in his left knee.For 10 points--name this onetime backup to Kurt Warner, who recently got a chance to start again when Warner broke his pinky.

 

answer: Trent _Green_

 

4. The protagonist is unable to recruit a man named Obstinate.His neighbor, Pliable, does join him for a while, but turns back when they reach the Sloughs of Despond.Goodwill, whom the hero meets at the gate, chastises Pliable, but the hero admits that he himself had joined Mr. Worldly Wiseman in the ways of death.For 10 points--name this story of Fletcher Christian, an allegory by John Bunyan.

 

answer: The _Pilgrim's Progress_ From This World to That Which is to Come, Delivered Under the Similitude of a Dream

 

5. The left background shows a castle on a hill; the right shows a city under a blue sky.The baby in the middle is flanked by two women:A fully dressed blonde with flower petals in her lap, and a redhead whose only clothes are a white cloth across her pelvis and red tunic hanging off her back.For 10 points--name this painting by Titian about two different kinds of affinity.

 

answer: _Sacred and Profane Love_

 

6. Its mass is about five times that of a proton, making it nearly 30 times lighter than its analog.First discovered at Fermi laboratory in 1977, it combines with its own antimatter to form the Upsilon particle.For 10 points--name this quark, which like the down and strange quarks has a mass of -1/3.

 

answer: _b_ quark or _bottom_ quark or _beauty_ quark

 

7. Two answers required."The truth is this: I, Richard Wallace, stabbed and killed a muted Nicole Brown in cold blood, severing her throat with my trusty shiv's strokes.I set up Orenthal James Simpson, who is utterly innocent of this murder.P.S. I also wrote Shakespeare's sonnets, and a lot of Francis Bacon's works too."That is one anagram of the first lines of the book in which Richard Wallace himself uses anagrams to suggest that--for 10 points--what infamous killer was actually what children's author?

 

answer: _Jack the Ripper_, Lewis _Carroll_ or Charles _Dodgson_

 

8. Wilderness areas include the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area.Other scenic places include the Sawtooth Mountains, Salmon River Mountains, Upper Priest Lake, Craters of the Moon National Monument, and Hells Canyon.For 10 points--name this U.S. state, whose largest cities are Pocatello and Boise.

 

answer: _Idaho_

 

9. He gained the throne under the regent Bairam Khan, but dismissed his regent in 1560.He defeated the Rajputs but gave their chiefs high positions in his army and twice married a Rajput princess.He was illiterate, yet his courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri were centers of learning.For 10 points--name this father of Jahangir and son of Humayun, the greatest of the Mughal emperors.

 

answer: _Akbar_

 

10. While in Louisville, she dresses in white, drives a little white roadster, and listens to the phone ring all day as officers from Camp Taylor demand to monopolize her for the night.In New York she is a married woman with an infant child and a voice that is once described as "full of money."For 10 points--name this wife of a bigoted rich man, the title character's love interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_.

 

answer: _Daisy Buchanan_

 

11. An eighteen percent pay raise over five years, an extra hour in the workday, and the elimination of a stipend for coaches and activity leaders.Those were some provisions imposed upon this city's teachers in September 2000 by Mayor John Street.Since a quarter of the city's polling places are in public schools, the ensuing strike threatened to disrupt voting on Election Day in--for 10 points--what city, site of the August 2000 Republican Convention?

 

answer: _Philadelphia_

 

12. He pushes the sun towards the ocean at sunset and guards it through its perilous night journey.Sometimes depicted as a man with a dog's head, this lord of the evening star and personification of Venus also helps guide the dead to Mictlan.For 10 points--name this twin brother of Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec god not to be confused with a certain salamander.

 

answer: _Xolotl_

 

13. This daughter of an heiress and a Grateful Dead groupie became a stripper at age 14.Her acting career began with a bit part in the film _Sid and Nancy_, five years before her band released its debut album, _Pretty on the Inside_.In 1993 her band released "Beautiful Son," a song she wrote about her husband only months before he killed himself.For 10 points--name this widow of Kurt Cobain and lead singer of Hole.

 

answer: Courtney _Love_ or Courtney Michelle _Harrison_

 

14. Novas were observed in this constellation in 389, 1899 and 1918, the latter being the brightest ever seen.Found partly in the Milky Way, just north of Sagittarius, it soars to its highest point in the evening sky in late August.For 10 points--name this equatorial constellation, whose brightest star is Altair and whose name is Latin for eagle.

 

answer: _Altair_

 

15. The front line was just 2,000 yards wide and the defending side had triple the forces of the aggressors, yet the smaller army occupying the top of a gentle ridge, posted stunning victory in this battle.Nearly half a million arrows were shot in an eight-hour period on August 26, 1346, as the English defeated the French in--for 10 points--what early skirmish of the Hundred Years War?

 

answer: Battle of _Crecy_ or _Cressy_

 

16. "Who's a friend to the king of all the monkeys?Who's a pal to the duck who won't fly south?Who's the buddy of the Bible-quoting aardvark?Who's the chum of the cat inside your mouth?"For 10 points--name this Master of Tao and symbol of corporate excess, the bovine idol of the movie _Dogma_.

 

answer: _Mooby_ Cow

 

17. This Sanskrit term describes a principle of ethics that became influential in India after 600 B.C., contributing to the spread of vegetarianism.Its strictest adherents cover their mouths in fabric to protect small creatures from their breath; a milder version led to Mohandas Ghandi's movement of nonviolence.For 10 points--name this principle of avoiding all harm.

 

answer: _ahimsa_

 

18. You might not have thought of your elementary school music teacher as a genius, but this man composed songs in his spare time while teaching at his father's school from 1814-1816.He used the lyrics of Goethe, Schiller and Heine, though it was the poet Wilhelm Mueller who inspired the song cycle _Die Winterreise_.For 10 points--name this Romantic composer of _Death and the Maiden_, _Trout Quintet_, and an _Unfinished Symphony_.

 

Answer: Franz Peter _Schubert_

 

19. The first "ghost scene" in extant drama occurs in this play, the second earliest of the surviving works of its author.Featuring a battle in which the author and his brother both fought, its characters include the widow Atossa, a messenger, the Ghost of Darius, and Xerxes.For 10 points--what tragedy by Aeschylus takes its name from the nationality of its characters?

 

answer: The _Persians_

 

20. Like Baruch Spinoza, he was of Dutch-Jewish parentage.In 1809 he wrote a series of letters to the _Morning Chronicle_, ten years after reading _The Wealth of Nations_.By 1817 he had compiled his ideas into _Principles of Political Economy and Taxation_.For 10 points--name this British economist, originator of the theory of comparative advantage and the labor theory of value.

 

answer: David _Ricardo_

 

21. Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1744, she spent much of her adult life on her husband's farm in Braintree.Known in modern times for the astute observations she made in letters to friends and colleagues.She died in 1818, seven years before her son became president, but did spend some time in the White House upon its 1800 completion.For 10 points--name this First Lady.

 

answer: Abigail _Adams_

 

22. Like Denver, Colorado, this city has an altitude above 5,000 feet, giving it a mild climate in spite of its position just south of the equator.A distribution center for coffee, tea, and cattle, it is linked by railroad to the city of Mombasa and the country of Uganda.For 10 points--name this site of a major wildlife sanctuary and largest city in Kenya.

 

answer: _Nairobi_

 

23. Outfielders John Lowenstein and Al Bumbry were both 36, while John Shelby was 25.Rich Dauer was the oldest infielder at 30, while Todd Cruz and Eddie Murray were both 27.Storm Davis pitched 200 innings at age 21 and Scott McGregor, age 29, notched 18 wins in 260 frames.For 10 points--name this team, which won its last World Championship in 1983 thanks mainly to 22-year-old shortstop Cal Ripken, Jr.

 

answer: 1983 _Baltimore_ _Orioles_

 

24. Its only overloaded method is wait, which can be called with a long, a long and an integer, or no input at all.Its other methods are clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, and toString.For 10 points--name this java class, the root of java's class hierarchy.

 

answer: _Object_

 

25. "What the hammer?What the chain?In what furnace was thy brain?What the anvil?What dread grasp, dare its deadly terrors clasp?When the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the lamb make thee?"For 10 points--those lines come from what poem by William Blake?

 

answer: The _Tiger_


Technophobia 2000

Questions by Matt Bruce

Bonuses

 

1. "Those are the heavy seven.Those are the ones that will affect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war."For 5 points each--name any six of these "seven dirty words" from a George Carlin routine.Be careful: A miss stops you.

 

answer: _shit_, _piss_, _fuck_, _cunt_, _cocksucker_, _motherfucker_, and _tits_

 

2. Name these French novels for 15 points each--5 points if you need the author:

 

A. (15 points) Michel gives up his wife and his job when he discovers his homosexuality, but the true title character may be Melanque, who espouses life in the present by claiming, "every moment should take away with it every thing it brings."

 

(5 points) Andre Gide.

 

answer: The _Immoralist_ or _L'Immoraliste_

 

B. (15 points) The title character says of his girlfriend:"She wanted to know if I loved her.I answered the same way I had the last time, that it didn't mean anything but that I probably didn't."

 

(5 points) Albert Camus

 

answer: The _Stranger_ or _L'Etranger_

 

3. For 10 points each--name these Russian monarchs from the years of their reign:

 

A. 1598 to 1605

 

answer: _Boris Godunov_

 

B. 1682 to 1725

 

answer: _Peter I_ or _Peter the Great_

 

C. 1801 to 1825

 

answer: _Alexander I_

 

4. For 10 points each--name these ships involved in recent disasters:

 

A. A terrorist attack allegedly blew a hole into this U.S. destroyer off the coast of Yemen in October 2000.

 

answer: U.S.S. _Cole_

 

B. The namesake of a famous battle, this Russian submarine mysteriously sank off the coast of Norway in August 2000.

 

answer: _Kursk_

 

C. Fifteen years ago, this Italian cruise ship was hijacked by four Palestinians, who shot and killed the wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer.

 

answer: _Achille Lauro_

 

5. Name these structurally similar metallic elements, for 10 points each:

 

A. Yellow, green and blue pigments can be made from this element, which is also an important part of the diet of sheep.Often part of alloys, it is rarely found by itself except in meteoric material.

 

answer: _cobalt_

 

B. Its primary production source is from nickel sulfide refining near Sudbury, Ontario.Because of its brilliance and its resistance to tarnish, it is used to plate jewelry and searchlights.

 

answer: _rhodium_

 

C. In the same column as cobalt and rhodium lies this hard, brittle metal, often used in surgical tools.It and osmium are the two densest elements.

 

answer: _iridium_

[Sources conflict as to whether osmium is denser than iridium or vice versa.]

 

6. Alma Schindler had nothing on this French painter, who romanced banker Paul Moussis and artist Andre Utter, gave birth to the Cubist Maurice Utrillo, and even produced some memorable art of her own.For 10 points each--name:

 

A. This former acrobat, whose works include _The Blue Room_ and _The Abandoned Doll_.

 

answer: Suzanne _Valadon_

 

B. The composer of _Gymnopedies_ and _Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear_, with whom Valadon had a brief affair.

 

answer: Erik _Satie_

 

C. The painter for whom Valadon posed in such works as _City Dance_ and _Girl Braiding Her Hair_.

 

answer: Pierre-Auguste _Renoir_

 

7. It is a fear of being in situations where escape is either difficult or embarrassing.For 10 points each--


A. Name this phobia.

 

answer: _agoraphobia_

(do not accept "claustrophobia")

 

B. Agoraphobia is often a side effect of what disorder, whose symptoms include sweating, pounding heart, trembling and shortness of breath?

 

answer: _panic_ disorder

 

C. Other than anti-depressants, the medicine most commonly prescribed for agoraphobia or panic disorder is _alprazolam_, sold under what brand name?

 

answer: _Xanax_

 

8. Name these plays for 15 points each--5 points if you need the author:

 

A. (15 points) A cowboy, a nightclub singer, the local sheriff, a college professor, and a teenaged waitress are all stranded in a roadside diner during a Kansas snowstorm.

 

(5 points) William Inge

 

answer: _Bus Stop_

 

B. (15 points) Written a year after a New York cabdriver's strike, it features five scenes in support of the strike, plus vignettes in condemnation of capitalism.

 

(5 points) Clifford Odets

 

answer: _Waiting for Lefty_

 

9. For 10 points each--name these people and places associated with the Battle of Shiloh:

 

A. The state in which it occurred.

 

answer: _Tennessee_

 

B. The place where five divisions under U.S. Grant were attacked by Confederate forces, also the southern name for the battle.

 

answer: _Pittsburg Landing_

 

C. Either the Confederate general who led the initial charge or the man who replaced him upon his death.

 

answer: Albert Sidney _Johnston_ or Pierre Gustave Toutant _Beauregard_

 

10. Pencil and paper ready.Consider the number 111,111,111 ["one hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven"].Raise it to the ninth power.Now, you'll get five seconds per part:

 

A. For 5 points--what is the last digit, in the one's place, of the result?

 

answer: _1_

 

B. For 10 points--what is the penultimate digit, in the ten's place, of the result?

 

answer: _9_

 

C. For 15 points--what is the antepenultimate digit, in the hundred's place, of the result?

 

answer: _5_

[The final digit always stays at 1, the next-to-last keeps incrementing by the last, and the third-from-last keeps incrementing by the sum of the final two.]

 

11. For 10 points each--name these Minor Prophets from the contents of their Old Testament books:

 

A. He tells the Israelites that they haven't met their obligations if they don't give more to the poor, but his book is more famous for a Messianic passage quoted in the Gospels of Matthew and John.

 

answer: _Micah_

 

B. He remarries the unfaithful prostitute Gomer to turn his own life into an allegory of God's love for unthankful humanity.

 

answer: _Hosea_ or _Hoshea_

 

C. Sometimes called the "prophet of Pentecost," this early prophet writes during a plague of locusts, urging Israelites to repent in anticipation of the "day of the Lord."

 

answer: _Joel_

 

12. Answer these questions about the world's highest waterfalls, for 10 points each:

 

A. Eight of the 20 highest are in which country?

 

answer: Kingdom of _Norway_

 

B. At 3,212 feet, which waterfall is the highest?

 

answer: _Angel_ Falls or Salto _Angel_

 

C. Tugela, the second highest, is in which country?

 

answer: Republic of _South Africa_

 

13. For 10 points each--name these people involved in _Encyclopedia Brown and The Case of the Missing Olympic Magic_, as featured on ModernHumorist.com:

 

A. Encyclopedia Brown takes the case from this broadcaster, "a small man wearing a muted plaid sport coat and tasteful burgundy tie."Encylopedia later teaches him about "such things as the Earth's rotation, human nature and sports news on the Internet."

 

answer: Bob _Costas_

 

B. Once they arrive in Sidney, this sidekick of Encyclopedia rushes to the locker room of the women's softball team.Encyclopedia later loses track of her in a cloud of cigar smoke on the team bus.

 

answer: _Sally_ Kimble

 

C. The detectives find this Russian gymnast holding Bugs Meany in a headlock.She later sighs, gets angry, cries, smiles, waves, cries again, hugs everyone, blows kisses, cries, grows pensive, smiles and gets angry again.

 

answer: Svetlana _Khorkina_

 

14. Name these poems from lines, for 10 points each:

 

A. "Of man's first disobedience and the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death unto the world and all our woe"

 

answer: _Paradise Lost_ (by John Milton)

 

B. "But at my back I always hear time's winged chariot drawing near."

 

answer: _To His Coy Mistress_ (by Andrew Marvell)

 

C. "What dire offense from amorous causes springs.What mighty contests rise from trivial things."

 

answer: The _Rape of the Lock_ (by Alexander Pope)

 

15. For 10 points each--name these moons of Neptune:

 

A. This largest moon of Neptune was discovered barely a month after the discovery of Neptune itself.

 

answer: _Triton_ (do not accept "Titan")

 

B. With the most eccentric orbit of any moon in the Solar System, it is so far from Neptune that a single orbit takes 360 days.

 

answer: _Nereid_

 

C. The largest of six satellites discovered in 1989, it has been called "dark as soot" because it reflects only 6% of the sunlight that strikes it.At 250 miles in diameter, it is larger than Nereid but is so close to Neptune that the sunlight reflected off of Neptune obscures it.

 

answer: _Proteus_

 

16. Given the year of the award and the nationality of the recipient, name these female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize:

 

A. 1931, U.S.

 

answer: Jane _Addams_

 

B. 1979, Albania

 

answer: Agnes _Gonxha_ Bojaxhiu or Mother _Teresa_

 

C. 1997, U.S.

 

answer: Jody _Williams_

 

17. In 1804 it became the second nation in the Western Hemisphere to win complete independence from European imperial powers.For 10 points each--name:

 

A. This country.

 

answer: Republic of _Haiti_ (prompt on "Hispaniola")

 

B. The former slave who became an officer in the French army before leading the independence movement.

 

answer: Toussaint _L'Ouverture_

 

C. The dictator who took power in Haiti in 1971 but fled fifteen years later.

 

answer: _J_ean-Claude _Duvalier_

(accept "_B_aby Doc" _Duvalier_ but prompt on "Duvalier")

 

18. For 10 points each--name these great Boston Celtics of the 1980s, none of whom is Larry Bird:

 

A. Drafted a year behind Bird, this blue-collar player wore the #32 and put up big points with his drop step and hook shot.

 

answer: Kevin _McHale_

 

B. Known as "the Chief," he was acquired from Golden State in the same deal that gave Boston the rights to Larry Bird.He wore a double zero and excelled at blocking shots.

 

answer: Robert _Parrish_

 

C. Once a third baseman in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, he wore #44 and gained fame for his tenacious, often dirty, defense.

 

answer: Danny _Ainge_

 

19. Name the Baroque artists and musicians behind these works, for 10 points each:

 

A. The elliptical plaza in front of St. Peter's in Rome.

 

answer: Giovanni Lorenzo _Bernini_

 

B. The _Blacksmith Variations_ and _Israel in Egypt_.

 

answer: Georg Friedrich _Handel_

 

C. Such paintings as _The Milkmaid_, _Young Girl With a Water Jug_ and _Young Girl With a Flute_.

 

answer: Jan _Vermeer_ or Johannes _Vermeer_

 

20. For 10 points each--name these novels by John Updike:

 

A. This sequel shows the former star athlete Harry Angstrom in his 30s, trying to deal with the infidelity of his wife Janice.

 

answer: _Rabbit Redux_

 

B. Ten years later, Angstrom is now the Chief Sales Representative of Springer Motors, a Toyota dealership in Brewer, Pennsylvania.

 

answer: _Rabbit is Rich_

 

C. Ten years later still, Angstrom worries about his son's addiction to cocaine and about his own mortality.

 

answer: _Rabbit at Rest_

 

21. It was fate that gave you this bonus.For 5 points per answer--name:

 

A. The Three Fates, in Greek mythology.

 

answer: _Clotho_, _Lachesis_, _Atropos_

 

B. The Norns, in Norse mythology.

 

answer: _Urth_ or _Urdor_, _Verthandi_ or _Verdandi_, _Skuld_

 

22. "It won't take me six pages to convince you to send me an urgently needed contribution for my United States Senate campaign in New York.It will only take six words."

 

A. For 10 points--name the Republican office-seeker who sent an October 2000 fundraising letter with those words.

 

answer: Rick _Lazio_

 

B. For 20 points if exact--or 5 points per word in any order, up to a maximum of 15--what are the next and last six words of this letter?

 

answer: _I'm running against Hillary Rodham Clinton_

 

23. Name these sexually transmitted diseases, for 10 points each:

 

A. The most common STD in the U.S., it is caused by its namesake microorganisms, which can also lead to an infection of the mucous membranes of the eyelid.

 

answer: _chlamydia_

 

B. Once a common cause of blindness in newborn babies, it usually infects a woman's cervix.Symptoms in both sexes include pain in the joints and throat, as well as infection of one's heart valves.

 

answer: _gonorrhea_

 

C. Caused by contact with a sore, it can be easily treated with soap or water while still on the skin.If untreated, it causes insanity, paralysis and even death.

 

answer: _syphilis_

 

24. 30-20-10.Name the Englishman.

 

A. Six years before dying of dysentery, he was in joint command of a failed invasion attempt of Portugal in 1589.

 

B. A vice admiral in the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada, he had already plundered Spanish holdings on both coasts of North America.

 

C. Queen Elizabeth knighted him aboard the _Golden Hind_

 

answer: Sir Francis _Drake_

 

25. As of 1998 estimates, the state of West Virginia had six cities with a population of more than 20,000 people.For 10 points each--name any three of them.

 

answer: _Charleston_ (55,056), _Huntington_ (52,571), _Wheeling_ (32,541), _Parkersburg_ (31,715), _Morgantown_ (26,751), _Weirton_ (21,206)