IBA High School Rounds

Question Packet 5

1. Born in 1619 in France, his writings include Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon, and Comical History of the States and Empires of the Sun.  Famous as a freethinker and a highly skilled duelist, he served as the inspiration for a famous play by Edmund Rostand.  For ten points, identify this man known for his love letters and his extraordinarily long nose.

Answer: Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac

2. This peasant was knoiwn by a name which is Russian for "the debauched one."  A self-proclaimed holy man, he was rumored to be a great prophet and healer, and since Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra were desperate for someone who could cure their son of hemophilia, they employed him and treated him as a trusted member of the court. His well-publicized lasciviousness undermined confidence in the monarchy, and 1916 a group of conservatives assasinated him.  For ten points, name this "mad monk."

Answer: Rasputin

3. Like many American writers, he served as an ambulance driver in France during World War I.  While in France, he was imprisoned for refusing to state that he hated the Germans, saying instead, "I like the French."  His experiences in prison were the inspiration for his first novel, The Enormous Room.  He went on to become a poet rather than a novelist, producing collections such as No Thanks, Tulips and Chimneys, 50 Poems, and i, six nonlectures.  For ten points, name this American poet, famous for his experimentation with punctuation and lowercase letters.

Answer: Edward Estlin Cummings

4. Born in 1844, he served in the Russian navy and later joined the faculty of the conservatory at St. Petersburg.  His works include the symphonic suite Scheherazade, and the operas The Snow Maiden, The Golden Cockerel, and also Tsar Saltan, which features "The Flight of the Bublebee."  Fore ten points, name this composer.

Answer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

5. William Somerset Maugham's novel The Moon and Sixpence is based roughly on the life of this French painter.  A clerk in the Paris stock brokerage who painted as a hobby, he decided to quit his job and devote himself to art.  Among his early works is The Yellow Christ. Quickly falling into abject poverty, he went to the South Seas, where he produced such works as "Where Do We Come From?  Where Are We? Where Do We Go?"  For ten points, identify this painter.

Answer: Paul Gaugin

6. It shares borders with Sierra Leone, Guinea nand the Ivory Coast.  It was founded in 1821 by the American Colonization Society as a haven for freed slaves.  For ten points, name this African nation, whose capital is at Monrovia.

Answer: Liberia

7. (Pencil and paper may be required.)  Consider the function: f(X) = 100X - X + 7 (F of x equals one hundred x minus x plus seven). If x equals .111... continuing, then, for ten points, what is f of x?

Answer: 18

8. This element's carbonate is one of the hardest substances known, and is commonly used to polish or grind other substances.  A hard, dark gray nonmetal, it makes up about 28 percent of the earth's crust.  Its dioxide is the main ingredient of glass, and in elemental form it is used in many electronic devices.  For ten points, name this element, with atomic number 14.

Answer: Silicon

9. The second time the Supreme Court struck down an act of Congress was in 1857, when the Dred Scott decision nullified this Act of 1820. Allowing the Admission of Maine as a free state in order to balance the addition of a slave state, it also prohibited slavery in the area acquired by the Louisiana Purchase north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes.  For ten points, name this piece of legislation.

Answer: The Missouri Compromise

10. Founded in about 1000 b. c., its modern form is called Parseeism.  It holds a dualistic doctrine, understanding the universe as a continuous struggle between Ahriman, the spirit of evil and darkness, and Ahura Mazda, the spirit of goodness and light.  For ten points, name this ancient Persian religion.

Answer: Zoroastrianism

11. This native of England spent his first 37 years in poverty, but a fortuitous meeting with Benjamin Franklin in London encouraged him to seek his fortunes in America.  He wrote for the Pennsylvania Magazine and became a pamphleteer, writing in The Crisis the famous line: "These are the times that try men's souls."  Later, after returning to England, he was imprisoned for treason for his writings defending the French revolution.  For ten points, name this famous advocate of trhe American Revolution whose writings include Common Sense.

Answer: Thomas Paine

12. It was first awarded in 1851.  In 1967 and 1970, it was won by the Intredpid.  In 1974 and 1977, it was won by the Courageous.  In 1980, it was won by the Freedom.  In 1983, it was won by the Australia II, the first non-American boat to win it.  For ten points, name this celebrated trophy.

Answer: The America's Cup

13. As a youthful poet, he produced worldly verse, including "Go and Catch a Falling Star," and "Woman's Constancy."  In his later days, however, he became a Catholic priest and began writing religious poetry, such as "Batter My Heart, Three-Person'd God."  For ten points, name this dean of St. Paul's cathedral who is responsible for the lines "Death be not proud," and "No man is an island."

Answer: John Donne

14. His name was used as early as the 1600s, but the 18th century Scottish writer John Arbuthnot first popularized him.  A jolly, honest, plain- dealing, hot-tempered farmer, the current image of him was forged by illustrator Sir Francis Carruthers Gould.  For ten points, name this English equivalent of Uncle Sam.

Answer: John Bull

15. They are the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne and their names are Clio, Urania, Thalia, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Erato, and Calliope.  For ten points, name these mythical beings which were held to be responsibl;e for inspiring artists.

Answer: The Muses

16. Many organisms which reproduce sexually are hermaphroditic, producing both male and female gametes.  Among these are many plants, earthworms, snails and planarians.  For ten points, give the bilogical term which describes such species.

Answer: Monoecious

17. He appears as a character in The Divine Comedy, in which he serves as a guide for the poet Dante during his visit to the underworld.  A great poet in his own right, he lived in the first century b. c.  For ten points, name this Roman who wrote The Aeneid.

Answer: Vergil

18. This character has appeared in both literature and opera.  The main character of two plays by Beaumarchais, he is the rascally servant of Count Almaviva who outwits his master to win the hand of Suzanne.  He is perhaps better known, however, as the central figure in both an opera by Rossini and an opera by Mozart.  Fort ten points, name this residnet of Seville.

Answer: Figaro

19. Born in Orange County, Virginia in 1785, he took command of the army in Texas in 1845 and won many important battles of the Mexican War, including the decisive battle of Buena Vista.  He later became the 12th president of the United States and the second president to die in office.  For ten popints, name this Whig president who was nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready."

Answer: Zachary Taylor

20. This physicist taught at the University of California and at Caltech before becoming, in 1947, director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.  A major proponent of civilian and international control of atomic energy, he strongly opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb on both moral and technical grounds.  In 1953 he was suspended from the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission as an alleged security risk. All of this may seem ironic, considering that he was director of the laboratory at Los Alamos which built the first atomic bombs.  For ten points, name this American scientist.

Answer: J. Robert Oppenheimer

21. It was named in 1849 by the survivors of a group of gold seekers who mistook it for a shortcut to their destination.  Soon after other prospectors deliberately enterred it in search of fabeled gold deposits, but the true value of the area was found to be in its borax deposits.  Located in eastern Inyo county, California, it is the lowest depression of the Great Basin.  For ten poiints, name this area, which has the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere.

Answer: Death Valley

IBA High School Rounds

Question Packet 5

1. (Possible 25 points)  Born in 1799, he produced outstanding literary work in every genre and is widely regarded as Russia's greatest poet. Often in trouble with the authorities over his political writings, he was exiled first to southern Russia and later to his family estate. While in exile, he wrote his greatest work, Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse upon which Tchaikovsky based an opera.  For 25 points, name him.

Answer: Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin

2. (30 points possible)  Identify this president of the United States based on events that occurred during his administration:

1)  Rutgers defeated Princeton in a game marking the centennial of collegiate football.

2)  Eleven Israeli athletes were killed at the Olympic Games in Munich after eight members of a terrorist organization invaded the Olympic Village.

3)  Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

Answer: Richard Nixon

3. (30 points possible)  For ten points each, identify the following American political parties:

1)  This party took shape around 1834, drawing memebers from all political factions opposed to Andrew Jackson.  It's principal leaders were Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.

Answer: Whig Party

2)  This party was organized on a national level after the election of 1852.  Stemming from the anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant movements of the time, it was officially called the American Party and took its more common name from the reply partyt members gave to questions from outsiders.

Answer: Know-Nothing Party

3)  This party was most active in 1876, when it nominated Peter Cooper for president.  It sought primarily to improve the lot of farmers by issuing large amounts of paper currency, and also supported other progressive movements.

Answer: Greenback Party

4. (Possible 30 points)  For five points each, identify the authors of the following Pulitzer Prize-winning novels:

1)  The Color Purple Answer: Alice Walker

2)  To Kill a Mockingbird Answer: Harper Lee

3)  The Caine Mutiny Answer: Herman Wouk

4)  Lonesome Dove Answer: Larry McMurtry

5)  Rabbit is Rich Answer: John Updike

6)  The Executioner's Song Answer: Norman Mailer

5. (Possible 30 points)  Identify the painter from paitrs of works, 30-20- 10:

1)  The Chair and the Pipe, and The Olive Grove

2)  Poretrait of Dr. Gachet, and The Potato Eaters

3)  The Starry Night, and Sunflowers

Answer: Vincent Van Gogh

6. (Possible 25 points)  This colorful name is shared by two major U. S. rivers.  One begins at a junction of tributaries in Harmon County, Oklahoma and flows 1,270 miles until it empties into the Mississippi River in Louisisana.  The other originates at the junction of the Otter Trail River and the Bois de Sioux River in Minnesota and terminates at Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.  For twenty-five points, give the common name of these rivers.

Answer: The Red

7. (25 points possible)  Your tyrannical mother has sent you down the street to by a jug of milk.  At first, this may not seem such an awful task, but there are an infinite number of blocks between you and the store!  Fortunately, however, each block is only two thirds as long as the block preceding it.  If the first block is 100 meters long, then for twenty-five points, how many meters will you have to walk before reaching the store?

Answer: 300

8. (25 points possible)  Identify the scientist, 25-15-5:

1)  The subject of a play by Bertolt Brecht, he died in the year of Newton's birth.

2)  His writings include the first scientific treatise written in Italian, Dialogue on the Great World Systems.

3)  His discoveries include the isochronism of the pendulum, sun spots, and the satellites of Jupiter.

Answer: Galileo Galilei

9. (Possible 30 points)  You will be read a brief list of characters from American literature who reside in the same fictional town.  If you can give the name of the town after hearing the characters, then you will receive ten points; otherwise you will be given the author who created the town.  If you answer correctly after being given the author, you will receive five points.  You may give an answer after both clues.

1a)  Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy

1b)  Edwin Arlington Robinson

Answer: Tilbury Town

2a)  Emily Webb and George Gibbs

2b)  Thornton Wilder

Answer: Grover's Corners

3a)  George Willard

3b)  Sherwood Anderson

Answer: Winesburg Ohio

10. (Possible 25 points)  For five points each, identify the following bodies of water:

1)  The major tributary of the Nile which originates in Ethiopia.

Answer: Blue Nile

2)  The body of water which lies to the west of the Korean peninsula, separating it from mainland China.

Answer: Yellow Sea

3)  The body of water which is separated from the Mediterranean by the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles.

Answer: Black Sea

4)  The body of water which separates Africa from the Arabian peninsula.

Answer: Red Sea

5)  The major tributary of the Nile which is itself formed from many tributaries which join in the Sudan.

Answer: White Nile

11. (Possible 30 points)  For ten points each, given a pair of characters, identify the Shakespearean comedy in which they both appear:

1)  Touchstone and Jaques

Answer: As You Like It

2)  Bianca and Petruchio

Answer: The Taming of the Shrew

3)  Shylock and Antonio

Answer: The Merchant of Venice

12. (30 points possible)  For ten points each, identify the following schools of philosophy:

1)  It asserts that all true knowledge comes only from the senses. Flourishing in 18th century Britain, it is represented by such figures as John Locke, Biushop Berkeley and David Hume.

Answer: Empiricism

2)  An 18th and 19th century school of ethical thought most prominent in England, it asserts that the goodness of any action is to be determined by its practical consequences alone.  Its most famous maxim is "The gretaest happiness for the greatest number."  It is represented by Jeremy Bentham and Johgn Stuart Mill.

Answer: Utilitarianism

3)  It is essentially an adaptation of Aristotle's philosophy designed to support Roman Catholic dogma.  The philosophy of the medieval theologians, its advocates are sometimes called the schoolmen.  It is best represented by St. Thomas Aquinas.

Answer: Scholasticism

13. (25 points possible)  He took his PhD from CalTech in 1925 and became a pioneer in the field of physical chemistry, applying quantum mechanics to the study of chemical bonds.  The only person to win two Nobel Prizes alone, he won the 1954 Chemistry prize, and also won the 1962 peaceprize for his active opposition to nuclear testing.  For twenty-five points, name this famous American chemist.

Answer: Linus Pauling

14. (30 points possible)  For ten points each, identify the actresses who won Academy awards for best actress in the following movies:

1)  On Golden Pond

Answer: Katherine Hepburn

2)  Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Answer: Elizabeth Taylor

3)  Cabaret

Answer: Liza Minnelli

15. (30 points possible)  Identify these animals, 30-20-10:

1)  They belong to the genus Ovis of the family Bovidae.

2)  Types of these ruminant animals include the Karakul, the Zackel, the Wiltshire Horn, and the Wensleydale.

3)  The subject of a Monty Python routine and of songs by the House Martins and Pink Floyd, they are found all over the place in northern England.

Answer: Sheep

16. (30 points possible) This woman from greek myth was the wife of Tyndareus and was seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan.  The figure of her with the swan is a standard subject of Renaissance art.  By the swan, she was mother to two eggs, from eachof which came two other mythical characters.  For thirty points, name her.

Answer: Leda

17. (30 points possible)  ide4ntify this American composer from works, 30- 20-10:

1)  The musical comedy Of Thee i Sing

2)  The opera Porgy and Bess

3)  Rhapsody in Blue]

Answer: George Gershwin

18. (25 points possible)  Similar to a vacuole, it is a membrane-bound organelle which isolates substances from the rest of the protoplasm. It is characterized by the substances which it isolates, which are hydrolytic and would be destructive to the cell if not isolated.  For twenty-five points, identify this type of cellular organelle.

Answer: Lysosomes

19. (30 points possible)  Identify this emperor, 30-10:

1)  Born around 742 a.d., the son of Pepin the Short, he became King of the Franks in 768 and later conquered northern Italy, northeastern Spain, and Bavaria.

2)  In 800 the Pope crowned him Emperor of the West, thuis laying the basis for the Holy Roman Emperor.

Answer: Charlemagne

20. (30 points possible)  Identify this president of the United States based on events that occurred during his administration:

1)  The term "manifest destiny" first appeared in print.

2)  The United States established an independent treasury.

3)  The Mexican War was fought.

Answer: James K. Polk