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?

Lee Harvey Oswald
Assassin of John F Kennedy

5. What is this famous incident from 1937?

6. Who is this well-known author?

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?

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?

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?

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?

5. Whose experiment is being re-created here?

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.

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

Jantar Mantar
These 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?

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.

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?

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?

“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

Bombay Natural Historical Society
The Great Indian Hornbill

12. What happened at this location on July 7,
1896?

The first film screening in India
the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe

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?

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.

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?

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 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?

Halogens
comprised 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)?

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.

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?

3. Name the illusionist seen here, and the man
(with a rather distinctive voice) he is
performing for.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

Hamas
Ḥarakat 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?

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.”

2014 07 asKQAnce Middle School Finals

2014 07 asKQAnce Middle School Finals

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2014 07 asKQAnce Middle School Finals