2014 07 asKQAnce Middle School Finals

ASKQANCE 2014

Welcome to the Finals of the Inter-Middle-School Quiz

Rules and Format

• 4 rounds, 36 questions

• Points for each round as we go along

• One answer, into the mike, please!

• Take guesses for every question!

• Finalists, please keep your mobiles OFF

VISUALLY APPEALING

• 6 QUESTIONS

• ALL-WRITTEN

• +5 FOR EACH, NO NEGATIVES

• +10 BONUS for ALL CORRECT

1. Who, from a 1963 photo? (OR) What

crime is he being tried for?

The Answer is….

Lee Harvey Oswald

Assassin of John F Kennedy

2. Who?

The Answer is….

Alan Turing

3. Who are the two people?

The Answer is….

Charlie Chaplin

Helen Keller

4. Who?

The Answer is….

Marilyn Monroe

5. What is this famous incident from 1937?

The Answer is….

Hindenburg crash

6. Who is this well-known author?

The Answer is….

Mark Twain

Scores…

CLOCKWISE

• 12 QUESTIONS

• +10 FOR DIRECT AND PASS

• “POUNCE” IN WRITING FOR +10/0, THREE

WRONG ATTEMPTS

1. Called a Lichtenburg figure, under what

circumstances will you get this fractal tattoo?

The Answer is….

Lightning Strike

2.

The RMS Titanic is a familiar name to everyone.

Although it was an ocean liner, the letters ‘RMS’

denoted another function it was supposed to carry

out. What?

The Answer is….

Royal Mail Ship

These ships used to transport mail across

countries and continents.

3. When this company lost a patent infringement

suit to a competitor to use the number ‘5’ on its

product in continuation of a series that had the

numbers 2, 3 and 4 associated with earlier

models, it went on to use the equivalent Greek

number prefix to derive a word that also stands

for strength.

What company and word?

The Answer is….

Intel

Pentium

4. Plato is said to have possessed one of these

and used it for signalling the beginning of his

lectures at dawn. The Umayyad Mosque in

Damascus, Syria also had one, which was water

powered, to announce prayer times.

Italian writer Dante Alighieri described one in

1319. In modern times, the French inventor

Antoine Redier was the first to patent one in

1847.

What irritating but necessary device, the

function of which is today fulfilled by the mobile

phone?

The Answer is….

Alarm Clock

5. Whose experiment is being re-created here?

The Answer is….

James Joule

6. These pictures represent the first, second and

third names in a list pertaining to India, in the

years 1975, June 1979 and August 1979. Explain.

The Answer is….

India’s first satellites – Aryabhatta,

Bhaskara, Rohini

7. The 1982 Asian Games were held in Delhi.

How would one connect these games to the

following cities?

Ujjain

Mathura

Varanasi

Jaipur

The Answer is….

Jantar MantarThese were the original locations, and you

can see it on the Asiad logo

7. This is the logo of Studio Ghibli. Which

character from one of their most famous movies

is seen here?

The Answer is….

My Neighbor Totoro

8. Two great players from the 1980s, who had a

fierce rivalry, especially at Wimbledon. This year,

at the 2014 Wimbledon finals, both of them

again competed against each other, in a way.

Explain.

The Answer is….

Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, were

the coaches of Novak Djokovic and

Roger Federer respectively

9. The BJP won the maximum seats in the 2014

Lok Sabha Elections (282), followed a long way

behind by the Congress (44).

Which two parties came 3rd and 4th with 37 and

34 seats, and apart from the fact that they are

regional, what is common to these two

parties?

The Answer is….

AIADMK

AITMC

Both led by women

10. There were many Dutch artists who left their

mark on the art landscape. One of them was

Peter Brueghel the Elder. Look carefully at these

parts shown here. They are all from one of his

paintings. Can you identify any two of the

parts, and therefore the name of the painting?

The Answer is….

“No use crying over spilt milk”

“Banging your head against a wall”

“to count one's chickens before they hatch”

The painting is

called “Proverbs”

11. Identify this institution and the bird on the

logo

The Answer is….

Bombay Natural Historical Society

The Great Indian Hornbill

12. What happened at this location on July 7,

1896?

The Answer is….

The first film screening in India

the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe

Scores…

DIFFERENCE WARS!

• 6 QUESTIONS

• ALL-WRITTEN, ATTEMPT IF YOU WANT TO

• +15/12/10/8 depending on how many teams

get it right

• -5 for wrong answers

1.

This word was added to the Oxford English

Dictionary in June 2014, around half a decade

after it came into widespread prominence. The

dictionary defines the word as “a word or phrase

preceded by a ____ and used to identify

messages relating to a specific topic; (also) the

____ symbol itself, when used in this way.”

What word?

The Answer is….

Hashtag

2.

An actor named Brad Lennon currently plays the

role of ______ ________ in advertisements

worldwide, a role which was originated in 1963 by

Willard Scott. In 2010, the company which owns

the ______ ________ trademark has been pressured

to retire the character, in order to combat

childhood obesity worldwide.

However, the company stood firm and the ______

________ mascot continues to be used in

advertisements worldwide, including India. Name

the character.

The Answer is….

Ronald McDonald

3.

In 1958, Italian industrialist and entrepreneur

Ferruccio ___________ travelled to Maranello to buy

a Ferrari 250GT sports car. ___________, an

automotive enthusiast, suggested several

modifications and improvements to the clutch

and gearbox of the 250GT, but his suggestions

were dismissed by the company’s founder, Enzo

Ferrari.

Stung by this insult to his pride, which brand did

___________ go on to start?

The Answer is….

Lamborghini

4. The five domesticated species of the ________ genus are as

follows:

• ________ annuum, which includes many common varieties such

as wax, cayenne, guajillo, and the chiltepin;

• ________ frutescens, which includes malagueta, Thai, and

Malawian Kambuzi;

• ________ chinense, which includes habanero, Datil and Scotch

bonnet;

• ________ pubescens, which includes the South American rocoto

peppers;

• ________ baccatum, which includes the South American aji

peppers.

What is this genus better known as? Or, fill in the blanks.

The Answer is….

The genus Capsicum, better known

as chilli peppers.

5.

• The Latin word for “to flow”

• The Greek word for “greenish-yellow”

• The Greek word for “bad smell” or “stench”

• The Greek word for “violet”

• The Greek word for “unstable”

The above can be grouped under a category

which has a seven-letter name that comes from

the Greek for “originating in the sea”.

What seven-letter name?

The Answer is….

Halogenscomprised of Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine,

Iodine and Astatine.

6.

In the world of food, what is divided into two

categories, i.e. monofloral (with subcategories

including Acacia, Apple Blossom and Manuka)

and polyfloral (the more common, generic

variety)?

The Answer is….

Types of Honey

Scores…

ANTI-CLOCKWISE

• 12 QUESTIONS

• +10 FOR DIRECT AND PASS

• “POUNCE” IN WRITING FOR +10/0, THREE

WRONG ATTEMPTS

1. This is the poster for an upcoming video game,

a crossover between a popular video game series

and the fourth entry in a blockbuster movie

series. Name this game.

The Answer is….

Angry Birds: Transformers

2. The pull-tab on soft

drink cans was invented in

1956, by Mikola Kondakow

of Ontario, Canada. From

the very beginning, they

were designed with a hole

in them, as seen here.

Aside from saving on

material costs, what is the

purpose of the hole in the

pull-tab, something most

people neglect when

drinking from these cans?

The Answer is….

Straw Holder

3. Name the illusionist seen here, and the man

(with a rather distinctive voice) he is

performing for.

The Answer is….

David Blaine

George W Bush

4. This is a list of the batsmen with the most runs

in a single Ranji Trophy season. Positions #3 and

#4 are occupied by two batsmen from the same

Mumbai team in the 2008-09 season. The man

in the #3 position had already played his last

test match by the start of the 2008-09 season,

while #4 would make his test debut four years

after the end of the season. Identify both.

The Answer is….

Wasim Jaffer

Ajinkya Rahane

5. The name given to the sporting equipment

seen here comes from the material used to make

them, and the living creatures that they replaced

in 1921. What two-word name?

The Answer is….

Clay Pigeons

Used in shooting

6. Although it was first described in 1665 by

astronomer Giovanni Cassini, it is still not known what

exactly causes the _____ ___ ____’s distinctive colour.

Theories supported by laboratory experiments

suppose that the colour may be caused by complex

organic molecules, red phosphorus, or a sulphur

compound. Contrary to its name, the _____ ___

____varies greatly in hue, from almost brick-red to

pale salmon, or sometimes even white. The higher

temperature of the reddest central region is the most

convincing evidence that the colour is affected by

environmental factors.

What planetary feature?

The Answer is….

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

(also known as the Eye of Jupiter)

7. This six-letter word is used for breeds of dogs

that are small enough for a person to hold

comfortably, and which have a calm, non-

excitable temperament. Typical examples include

Pekingese, Pomeranians, Chihuahuas, Pugs and

Shih Tzus.

This term is also used to describe an excessively

submissive person (similar to a “yes man”) or

institution that can be very easily controlled.

What six-letter word?

The Answer is….

Lap dog

8. Over the years, there has been a repeated debate in

Germany as to whether November 9 would make a

suitable national holiday. The reasons given by proponents

of the idea include that the 9th of November is the date of

the end of the Revolution of 1848 and the date of the 1918

abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and declaration of the

Weimar Republic, the first German republic.

However, the 9th of November is also the anniversary of

the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous Kristallnacht

attacks of the Nazis in 1938. Finally, as a compromise, the

3rd of October was finally chosen as a national holiday.

What was the major reason given by those who wanted

the 9th of November to be made a national holiday?

The Answer is….

Fall of the Berlin Wall

9. This is an illustration of ________ _____, the winner

of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, showing him as he

appeared in a 2010 episode of The Simpsons.

Who and which organization did he start?

The Answer is….

Mohammed Yunus

Grameen Bank

10. Apart from being an acronym of their

proper name (which translates to “Islamic

Resistance Movement”), the popular name

of this organisation is also the Arabic word

for “enthusiasm”. Which organisation, very

much in the news recently?

The Answer is….

HamasḤarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah

11. This type of

construction

equipment, used to lay

the foundations to

provide support for

buildings and other

structures, has a name

that is familiar to fans of

a particular ‘sport’.

What name?

The Answer is….

Piledriver

Last Question coming up…

12. This is the CEO of company X, talking about

the reasons company X acquired company Y in

February 2014. Name both companies.

“The idea is to develop a group of basic internet

services that would be free of charge to use.

These could be a social networking service like X,

a messaging service like Y, maybe search and

other things like weather. Providing a bundle of

these free of charge to users will work like a

gateway drug of sorts. They would have some

context for why these service are important, and

that will lead them to paying for more services

like this – or so the hope goes.”

The Answer is….

Facebook and Whatsapp