KQA Mega-Whats 2015 Prelims

Mega-Whats 2015
The 6th National Open Quizzing Championships
Conducted by
The Karnataka Quiz Association
Est. 1983
Set by
Arun Hiregange and Kiran Vijayakumar

Be Careful !
These are the answer slides!

In association with
Quiz Foundation of India, Chennai
Bombay Quiz Club, Mumbai
Boat Club Quiz Club, Pune
Kutub Quizzers, New Delhi
Sunday Evening Quiz Club, Goa
Hyderabad Quiz Club and K-Circle, Hyderabad
Grey Cells, Kerala
Coimbatore Quiz Circle
Odisha Quiz Association
And the quizzing communities in
Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kolkata, Mysore,
Guwahati and Dubai

The Rules
1. No negatives
2. No part points
3. Last names will suffice unless indicated
otherwise
4. Write legibly, preferably in UPPER CASE
5. Use of electronic devices will lead to
immediate disqualification

The Design
Three sections leading to 100 points:
I. Section 1  50 x 1 = 50
II. Section 2  7 x (1 + 1) = 14
III. Section 3  18 x (1 + 1) = 36
indicates that the question continues
on the next slide.

Underlined part of answers is the
operative part

Section 1
50 questions – 1 point for each

1
Give us a 7-letter word in French for
"breath". Perhaps the name of a classic
movie will help?

2
Naseeruddin Shah has recently released
a memoir titled And Then One Day. The
title of the first chapter consists of a 7-
word phrase extracted from the opening
lines of a mid-20th century classic novel.
So what is the first chapter called?
Incidentally, those 7 words themselves
contain the title of a 19th century classic
novel.

2
All that David Copperfield kind of crap
(from Catcher in the Rye).

3
It is a silvery metal and one of the least
abundant elements in the universe. Its
electron distribution, which has a half-
filled f-subshell, leads to its
phosphorescence, which is fittingly
exploited for anti-counterfeiting in
banknotes such as the one shown here.
Which element?

4
It has three handles designed to look like
cobras and an elephant sits on its top. It
got badly damaged in 1988 by two people
who kicked it about, appropriately one a
Scotsman and one an Englishman, and
had to be restored back into shape. What
is being talked about?

5
We've all heard about the Vesper dry
martini that James Bond orders, made of
three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka
and half a measure of Kina Lillet. The
'Lillet' refers to a company founded by
brothers Paul and Raymond Lillet in
1872. What did the 'Kina' in the brand
name refer to?

6
The two-word phrase blanked out in three
places in this line from E.M. Forster's
Howard's End was borrowed for the title of a
popular BBC quiz show. What phrase /
show?
"_____! That was the whole of her sermon.
_____ the prose and the passion, and both
will be exalted, and human love will be seen
at its height. Live in fragments no longer.
_____, and the beast and the monk, robbed of
the isolation that is life to either, will die."

7
In which state would you still find what
used to be the only official state
residency of royalty in the USA?

7
Hawaii.
(It is called the 'Iolani Palace.)

8
What would you be holding if what you
had could be referred to as Rocky
Mountains, Bullets, Needles, Batteries,
Sharp Tops or Teepees amongst other
nicknames? Yet another nickname is the
name of the star of the M*A*S*H TV
series.

9
This is the conversation leading up to which
very famous photograph?
A: Oh my God! Look at that picture over
there! There's the _____ coming up. Wow, is
that pretty.
B: Hey, don't take that, it's not scheduled.
(joking)
A: (laughs) You got a color film, Jim? Hand
me that roll of color quick, would you...
L: Oh man, that's great!

10
What 12-letter word connects:
• a name for tissue fluid that surrounds
cells of multi-cellular organisms
• crystalline defects where an atom
occupies a space in crystals where
there is usually no atom (shown in
next slide)
• an annoyance which often pops up
while browsing the World Wide Web?

11
August 2nd, 2011 was celebrated as the
first (and only!) celebratory day of which
ubiquitous technology?

12
In yet another case of mistaken
nomenclature, German entomologist
Wilhelm Kattwinkel happened on a then
unknown place in Africa while searching for
butterflies. The place was filled with a wild
sisal plant (image follows); the locals
thought he was asking for its name, and so
the plant's name stuck to the place. Name
the place, shown here in a satellite photo.

12
Olduvai Gorge / Oldupai Gorge.

13
What connects the Byomkesh Bakshi
story Arthamanartham (Wasiyat in the
Doordarshan TV series), the Sherlock
Holmes story The Sign of Four and the
Hercule Poirot story The Murder on the
Links?

13
Either the detective or sidekick met his
future wife in these stories.
(Give points for anything meaning the
same, e.g. met the love of his life, got
married, …)

14
It is a small piece of land that juts into the
Atlantic Ocean on the coast of North Carolina. It
keeps changing shape and is formed from the silt
of the river of the same name draining into the
ocean. Its name dates back to 1585 when Sir
Richard Grenville's ship came near it and his
crew were afraid that they would wreck there.
Other ships had similar experiences and so the
name stuck. Start off with what such a
geographical feature is called and name this
place which is familiar to us twice over.

15
Which UNESCO World Heritage Site's
name means "The Red One" in Arabic?

16
The graph shown here is a different view
of what? Two words.
Ignore the background. The graph is split
into two larger parts on the next slide.

16
Silk Route / Silk Road.
(The graph shows altitude changes over
the road.)

17
Use your body language skills and work
out which of these numbered disciples is
Judas. The painting is, of course, The
Last Supper. This version is by
Giampietrino.

17
No. 4.
(He is the only one not reacting in horror
or surprise or sadness or defensiveness.
Also note the bag clutched in his hand,
presumably containing the pieces of
silver.)

18
If "First World" countries were the so-
called developed and industrial countries,
while "Third World" countries were
developing countries, what were "Second
World" countries?

18
Communist industrial countries.
(Give points for Soviet Bloc or Eastern
Bloc also.)

19
No man has done it. Three women have,
one of whom did it twice. Billie Jean King
and Frank Sedgman were both one win
away from achieving it. The closest
currently active player is Serena Williams
who is two wins away. What achievement
are we talking about?

19
Boxed Set of Grand Slams / Won Singles
+ Doubles + Mixed Doubles in all 4
Majors.

20
The title of which 1936 novel is taken
from a phrase in these lines from John
Milton's Samson Agonistes?
"… Promise was that I
Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver!
Ask for this great deliverer now, and find him
_______ __ ____ at the Mill with slaves,
Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke."

21
This is an ancient Chinese percussion
instrument called "fou" that was used
during the Beijing Olympics opening
ceremony. There is still some
controversy whether this used to be just
a container and not a musical instrument.
How many of them were used in the
Beijing opening ceremony?

21
2008 (as in, Beijing 2008).

22
The cucumber tree Dendrosicyos _____ is the
only tree forming member of the cucumber
family (left). The species name blanked out
above refers to the archipelago it is endemic
to, which itself probably gets its name from
the Sanskrit word for 'bliss' or 'happiness' or
the Arabic word for 'market'. Another
endemic species which includes the island's
name is Boswellia _____ which is a member
of the family that produces frankincense
(right). Which island / archipelago?

23
In American Film Institute's 100 Years… 100
Heroes and Villains list, this character is the
#1 Hero. This character fetched its actor the
Academy Award for Best Actor beating Peter
O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia. The
character's first name may have been
inspired by a Roman litterateur, philosopher
and correspondent with Cicero — he was
also known for his elegant taste and sound
judgment. Which character?

23
Atticus Finch (from To Kill a
Mockingbird).

24
Some of the earliest usages of this 3-word phrase were 'genuine' in
nature as seen in this first example:
"Bless me, how fat you are grown! — absolutely as round as a ball:
— you will soon be as embonpoint (______) as your poor dear father,
the major."
[The Twelve Nights by Baron Karl von Miltie, 1831]
During the second half of the 19th century, the simmering post-
Napoleonic war hostilities may have helped in changing the usage.
Usually it accompanied blunt language and was intended to divert
criticism to the usage by pretending that it was how the speaker's
neighbor used it. An example from those times goes:
"Dreadful good brandy o' yourn. Ha! ha! ha! My respects. _______."
[Marian Rooke by Henry Sedley, 1865]
What phrase, s'il vous plaît?

24
Pardon my French / Excuse my French.

25
The 1928 discovery was path breaking, but the yield
was miniscule. It took until 1940 when Norman G.
Heatley of Oxford University designed a shallow,
rectangular vessel inspired by hospital bedpans.
Transparent glass, the preferred material, was needed
in wartime — so a slip-cast ceramic model was
produced instead. The flat-sided containers could be
efficiently stacked upright for sterilization and
horizontally during incubation. The unglazed exterior
prevented slippage during handling and reduced
costs. By 1941, the yield met expectations and was
timely to meet the requirements of the war. What
were such vessels used for?

26
One of the earliest descriptions of such an
instrument comes from Thomas Blundeville's
1589 work Briefe Description of Universal Mappes
& Cardes. It is not clear that Blundeville invented
it, for other European practitioners wrote about
similar objects around the same time period. It
entered the standard practices of navigators at
sea and surveyors on land by the early 17th
century. What instrument meaning "one who
lengthens (an action)" are we talking about?

27
Credito Emiliano or Credem is a regional bank in the
Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Since 1953, one of their
units called Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate has been
offering loans for an unusual collateral. It charges
between 3% to 5% interest, depending on the quality and
a fee for storage in their air-conditioned, humidified
vault. They clean it, turn it, hammer it, prick it and make
sure that quality is maintained. The loan period is for a
maximum of 2 years — the bank sells the collateral if
there's a default. In 2013, they held about 17,000 tonnes
of it worth about 200 million Euros. What are we talking
about? (Be specific.)

28
Greta oto is usually found in central
America. The tissue between the veins of
its wings lacks the colored scales found
in other butterflies, thus giving it the
characteristic appearance and its name
— this mechanism also helps in avoiding
predators. How do we commonly know
this species in English?

29
Which company developed this lightweight
"Better Shelter" under a partnership with the
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR)? Each unit has 71 pipes
and 35 panels and takes about four hours to
assemble and is designed to last for three
years — far longer than conventional
refugee shelters, which last about six
months. It has been successfully tested
among refugee families in Ethiopia, Iraq and
Lebanon.

30
He studied art at the Royal Academy in the
Louvre, as well as with his father (a painter with a
good reputation in the service of King Louis XV)
at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.
He left school when he was recruited by Pierre
Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to join in the
American Revolutionary War in the American
colonies. His greatest hour came after the war
was over, but died poor, not being paid for his
work. Today, you can find his grave in a scenic
location in the Arlington National Cemetery,
overlooking the city. Who?

30
Pierre Charles L'Enfant (who designed
the layout of the streets of Washington
D.C.).

31
"'_____' is a very simple thing. It's only funny because it's in a
situation. ... It wasn't funny. If you put it in human terms; you
come home late one night from work, you walk up to the gate in
the yard, you walk through the gate and up into the front room,
the door is partly open and there's some guy shooting under your
living room. So what do you do? You run if you have any sense,
the least you can do is call the cops. But what if you come up and
tap him on the shoulder and look over and say '_____'? You're
interested in what he's doing. That's ridiculous. That's not what
you say at a time like that. So that's why it's funny, I think. In
other words it's asking a perfectly legitimate question in a
perfectly illogical situation." Someone explaining a 3-word
phrase (a common expression in the writer's native state Texas)
first used in the most familiar context in 1940. What?

32
He spent all his adult life at New College, Oxford,
joining it as a scholar in 1862 and retiring as Warden
(head of college) in 1924. Most of the anecdotes
related to him were inventions by ingenious members
of the university who used to spend hours making
them up. One well attested story recounts how he
spilled some salt during a college dinner and
carefully poured some claret on it to mop it up. He is
also said to have remarked on the poor lighting of
some stairs and then to have turned off the lights and
tried to lead his party downstairs in the dark. Some
writers have suggested his quirks may have been
linked with his albinism, perhaps a form of what is
now called dyspraxia. Who was this smart feller?

33
It was invented in1943 by an engineer employed
by the Air Liquide company and his boss' son-in-
law who was a Lieutenant with the French Navy.
After World War II, they founded La Spirotechnique
in order to mass-produce and sell their invention,
this time under a 1945 patent, and known as CG45
(formed from their initials combined with the year
of the patent). In France, the term "scaphandre
autonome" was used, but to sell it in English-
speaking countries, what 8-letter trade name was
coined?

34
According to officials, this modest item is the most
popular single exhibit in the Smithsonian's entire
modern physics collection. (Requests from museums
is the main way to measure popularity of an artifact.)
It is 6 ¼ inches long and 1 ½ inches high. Its original
owner had multiple models, but this specimen came
from the collection of Gina Plunguian (shown in the
visual), a sculptor from Newark, Delaware in 1979.
The original owner stopped using it for its primary
purpose at some point, but continued using it in a
harmless way resulting in marks on the narrow end.
What item?

35
Though popularised by Shakespeare's use in
Julius Caesar, its real origins can be traced
back to a Medieval Latin proverb, "Graecum
est; non potest legi". Shown here is a
representation (made by Mark Liberman, a
linguistics professor at the University of
Pennsylvania) of it in various languages.
The graph may appear incomprehensible,
but take a close look and tell us what it
represents.

36
For what purpose was this giant
centrifuge (weighing 27 tonnes) built by
the Vickers-Armstrong Engineering Group
at a cost of $750,000 in 1967?

36
For filming Discovery's interior in 2001: A
Space Odyssey.

37
This French term is used in zoology
refers to the care of another's offspring,
for instance in a colony. This term is
generally used in the study of bird
colonies, the most common example
being penguins — this allows the young
ones to keep warm while the elders can
hunt for food. Identify this term familiar
to young working parents.

38
In April 2005, Intel offered $10,000 to
anyone who could provide a pristine April
19, 1965, copy of Electronics magazine.
This was part of a specific 40 year
anniversary celebration. Surrey engineer
David Clark furnished one and collected
the bounty. Why was this edition of the
trade journal so special?

38
Moore's law, Gordon Moore's observation
that the number of transistors in an
integrated circuit has doubled
approximately every two years, appeared
for the first time. Intel didn't have a
physical copy of the magazine.

39
Susan G. Komen, founded in 1982 in Dallas,
is the largest breast cancer organization in
the United States. The Lou Ruvo Center for
Brain Health is based in Las Vegas and
operated by the Cleveland Clinic. On May 1,
2015, these two organizations became the
beneficiaries of an event where about 11,500
people paid $10 each to see something that's
usually free to watch. What event? (Be
specific.)

39
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Manny Pacquiao
weigh in.

40
Outside which monument can you see this
life-size outline of its finial (a decorative
fitting at the top of a building)? It mixes
Persian and Hindu decorative elements and is
believed to have been originally done in gold.
The current version is made of gilded bronze.
According to one story, this outline was made
when the original was dismantled to make
sure that the replacement had the exact
shape and dimension.

41
Who used this coconut as a paperweight on
his table? The message on it reads: "NAURO
ISL… COMMANDER… NATIVE KNOWS
POS'IT… HE CAN PILOT… 11 ALIVE… NEED
SMALL BOAT… _____."

42
These sets of houses or living quarters were
features of many temple towns in south India,
but with urbanisation they are gradually
vanishing. The name originates from the fact
that the houses (almost similar in
appearance) lined either side of the road
leading to the temple at the centre, thus
resembling a garland around the temple's
edge or boundary. What term is given to such
village-like features?

43
The origins of this phrase are uncertain, with some speculating
that it may refer to being "out in the open" or "ready for action".
Slate magazine's Daniel Engber dates the modern usage to USA
college campuses circa 1974, where it was perhaps associated
with soldiers in the Vietnam War, who were reputed to do this
to "increase ventilation and reduce moisture." However, the
phrase was in use in the UK, referring mainly to women, from
the late 1960s. The connection to the UK and women has been
suggested to link to a World War II euphemism for prostitutes
working in London's West End, who were termed "Piccadilly
_____". What phrase, possibly familiar to followers of people
like Paris Hilton and Miley Cyrus, are we talking about?

44
The most popular design for this comes from the
Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, a native of
Philadelphia, who obtained US Patent 9300 in
1852. From top to bottom, it had a telescoping or
migratory cover, an inner cover, one or more
supers made of wood and a bottom board. Each
super had an optional queen excluder and eight to
ten frames like the ones shown here. The sweet
success of this 160-year old design can be
attributed to the minimal empty space and the
ease of handling. What is it used for?

44
Beehives / Bee cultivation / Apiculture /
Apiary.

45
This practice, dating as far back as at least AD 77,
is older than most specific explanations can
account for. Perhaps the most fanciful is the one
associated with Gregory I who became the Pope in
AD 590 as an outbreak of the bubonic plague was
reaching Rome. In hopes of fighting off the
disease, he ordered unending prayer and parades
of chanters through the streets. What practice did
the chanters adopt when they encountered people
whom they thought were exhibiting an early
symptom of the plague?

45
Saying "Bless you" when you hear
someone sneezing.

46
Which Indian tabloid was launched on
February 1, 1941, with the inaugural
issue introducing itself as 'Our _____,
India's _____ against Hitler'? (Both blanks
are the same.)

47
Salman Khan, of the Khan Academy,
recently investigated this controversy
and gave a possible explanation using
the Ideal Gas Law, first stated by Emile
Clapeyron in 1834 as a combination of
Boyle's law and Charles's law. A
screengrab from his explanation is
shown here. What was he investigating?

47
Deflate-gate.
Give points for controversy surrounding
New England Patriots using underinflated
footballs or "Ballghazi".

48
In which building can you see this section
of the wall preserved in memory of an
incident that happened on August 24,
1814?

48
White House.
(Scorch marks from the fire set by the
British forces are visible.)

49
Seen here is one of the most famous
images from the history of early
computing. Tell us either who the subject
is, or how this work of art was produced.
Copies of this were only produced to
order. Charles Babbage owned one of
these portraits and may have inspired a
particular aspect of his analytical engine.

49
Joseph Marie Jacquard / Jacquard loom.

50
This is an ancient palace of the Roman
Empire and later the main papal residence in
southeast Rome. Located on St. John's
square on the Caelian Hill, it is now used by
the Vatican Historical Museum. It gets its
name from the Plautii _____ family, whose
members lived there and served as
administrators for several emperors. It is
well-known for a signature event that took
place on February 11, 1929. Identify.

50
Lateran Palace (where the namesake
treaty was signed).

Section 2
7 questions with 2 parts each – 1 point
for each part
Agrarian Maps / Anagram Pairs

?
• The answers to each question pair are
anagrams of each other. For example,
"Mega-Whats" and "What Games?".
• Use surnames whenever a person's
name is involved.
• Spellings are important for this
section.

1A
The two objects crossed in the centre of this
country's flag were intended to evoke the image of
the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union. The
star was also a tribute to the stars on the Soviet
flag. One of the objects is a cog wheel
representing workers and industry. The other
object is a machete that represented agriculture
and the armed revolution. The red half of the flag
represented the blood spilt in the independence
struggle and the black half the continent of Africa.
Which country's flag is being described here?

1B
The longest running continuously published
science fiction magazine started in 1930 and
has gone through many name changes since
then, though a single three letter acronym is
conveniently used to represent any of these
names. It is going to publish its 1000th issue
in June 2015. A science fiction award for
Best New Writer is named after one of its
greatest editors. What is the first word in its
current name?

2A
Table tennis balls are made of celluloid,
which itself is composed of camphor and
guncotton. Guncotton is an example of a
certain type of compound. 'Lunar caustic'
which is one of the ingredients of Tollen's
Reagent is also such a compound and so
is saltpetre which is one of the
ingredients of gunpowder. What type of
compound?

2A
Nitrate (Cellulose Nitrate, Silver Nitrate,
Potassium Nitrate respectively).

2B
One of the earliest uses of the word
"abracadabra" was prescribed by Roman
physician Quintus Serenus Sammonicus who
recommended tying an amulet, with the word
written on it, around one's neck to keep away
what we now know as malignant Malaria but
which in those days was known as _____ fever
because it was characterized by febrile
paroxysms occurring every third day. Fill.

3A
In 2014, Google executive Alan Eustace
set a new world record for a skydive from
the highest altitude. For this, he jumped
off a balloon from a height of 135,890
feet. The balloon itself set a high altitude
record. Which Indian entity designed and
manufactured these balloons? Just the
initials please.

3B
An analysis taken from a branding blog:
"Employing two real (though uncommon) English words
previously not collocated, X Y captures the elusive quality of
simultaneously being oddly recognizable and yet wholly
unique. As far as the literal meaning goes, X is an obscure
architectural term meaning an eye-like aperture or window.
Because most people don't know the term aside from guessing
that it has something to do with eyes or vision, [the company] is
able to imbue the word with meaning and feelings of their own,
like awe and excitement. The word Y, meaning a break or split,
gives the name edginess and even a hint of danger."
Just Y please.

4A
It was a title shared by several political and
military offices of the Roman Republic and
Empire. The word is derived from the Roman
tribes, the three original ones being the Ramnes,
the Tities or Titienses and the Luceres. The
English form of this word is more common in use
and has been part of the title of various
newspapers and magazines. It is also the name
given to the domed or vaulted apse in a Christian
church that houses the bishop's throne. What?

4B
It is a rotary mechanical device that extracts
energy from a fluid flow and converts it into
useful work. The word was coined in 1822 by the
French mining engineer Claude Burdin from a
Latin word meaning "spinning top" or "vortex" in a
memo, "Des ____ hydrauliques ou machines
rotatoires a grande vitesse", which he submitted
to the Academie royale des sciences in Paris.
The two main variants (based on the working
principle) are the impulse and reaction varieties
shown here. What?

5A
Art Kane, a freelance photographer working for
Esquire magazine, took this picture around 10 a.m. on
August 12, 1958. 57 notable jazz musicians
(including Count Basie, Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie,
Coleman Hawkins, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk,
Sonny Rollins and Lester Young) gathered at 17 East
126th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues in
_____. Kane referred to it "the greatest picture of that
era of musicians ever taken". Esquire published the
photo in its January 1959 issue. Where was this great
day's photo taken?

5B
Which composer's Sixth Symphony is the
subject of this satirical cartoon here? The
caption translates: "My God, I've
forgotten the motor horn! Now I shall
have to write another symphony." The
symphony was written for a large
orchestra comprising of a large variety of
instruments.

6A
This memorial sits in the Tsitsernakaberd
(literally "swallow's fortress") hill along the
Hrazdan River. It commemorates something
known as Medz Yeghern which in the local
language means "Great Crime", and is
considered to have started from 24 April
1915, eventually resulting in the death of
almost 1.5 million people. Which
nationality/language are we talking about?

6B
In July 2013, a new stamp designed by Olivier Ciappa
and David Kawena was released to the French public.
Ciappa claimed that Inna Shevchenko, a high-profile
member of the Ukrainian protest group FEMEN who
had recently been granted political asylum in France,
was the main inspiration behind the design. Kawena
later claimed that Ciappa was falsely representing
himself as having had any level of creative input on
the work. Shevchenko, for her part, tweeted: "All
homophobes, extremists, fascists will have to lick my
a** when they want to send a letter." What design on
the stamp was supposedly modelled on Shevchenko?

7A
Connect: Sid Vicious, Lee Harvey Oswald,
Count Dracula, Ludwig van Beethoven,
Sirius Black, James Gordon and George
Smiley.

7B
This picture shows the effect of the current
drought in California on this crop. About
80% of the world's supply comes from USA.
The pollination of California's crops is
believed to be the largest annual managed
pollination event in the world. These days, a
lot of Californians are against the cultivation
since it uses up an estimated 10% of the
state's water budget. What crop are we
talking about?

Section 3
18 questions with 2 parts each – 1 point
for each part
Order of answers (A) and (B) does not
matter

1
(A) Which Shakespeare line is the basis for
the punchline of this joke?
X: I was in Mercy, Australia, recently and was
served tea made from the hair of a koala
bear.
Y: You're kidding! How was it?
X: Oh, it was awful. It was filled with koala
hair!
Y: Well, you know, ______________.
(B) Which character delivers this line?

1
(A) The quality of mercy is not strained
(The koala tea of Mercy is not strained)

(B) Portia / Balthazar (in disguise) from
The Merchant of Venice.

2
The city of Paris is divided into twenty
administrative districts known as
arrondissements. They are arranged
numerically along a clockwise spiral as
shown in the following slide. Give us the
name of the first and second
arrondissements. Both are named after
institutions which were housed in
palaces when they started off.

3
All of these people have something in
common. A South African entered the
club recently and received wide
coverage. (A) What connects? (B) Which
South African?

3
(A) All have daughters named India.
(B) Jonty Rhodes.

4
In August 1979, a couple named Patricia and
John Knatchbull (who was a 2-time Academy
Award nominee for Best Picture) survived a boat
explosion that killed many other members of
their family.
(A) Name Patricia's father, whose boat it was.
(B) John's mother Doreen also died in the
explosion. What Mumbai feature, for which he
laid the foundation stone in 1936, is named after
her husband?

4
(A) Lord Mountbatten.
(B) Brabourne Stadium.

5
This painting is variously called Opening of the
Fifth Seal or The Fifth Seal of the Apocalypse or The
Vision of Saint John. It was painted for the side
altar of a church of St. John the Baptist in Spain.
(A) Identify the painter.
(B) It is said that Spanish painter Ignacio Zuloaga,
who owned it for some time, exhibited it to various
interested countrymen, one of whom is said to
have been inspired by its figures in one of his
most famous works. Name that 20th century work.

5
(A) El Greco / Doménikos
Theotokópoulos.
(B) Les Demoiselles d'Avignon / The Young
Ladies of Avignon.

6
These are the edible seeds of Euryale ferox, also
known as Fox nut or Gorgon nut in English and
onibasu in Japanese, after frying to puff them.
(A) How do we know it in India (Hindi name),
perhaps because it looks like a similarly white and
fluffy food item?
(B) Its plant, that has large leaves that can be
about a metre in diameter, has been cultivated in
India, Japan, China and other parts of Asia for
thousands of years. What family of plants does it
belong to?

6
(A) Makhana / Makhaana.
(B) Water Lily.
(Lotus is not acceptable, as it is a
different family with entirely different
leaves.)

7
Roberto Cavalli is an Italian designer known for his
exotic designs.
(A) What objects inspired this particular design?
(B) Cavalli is also credited with inventing a
technique which was hugely popular for a long
time but is now being banned by companies like
Levi Strauss, Benetton, Gucci and H&M. This is
because of the damage caused to the lungs of
factory workers by the small particles used in the
process. Name the technique, that is named after
the particles.

7
(A) Ming vases.
(B) Sandblasting.

8
(A) Eratosthenes is said to have invented
this instrument whose name comes from
the Latin for 'bracelet', because it has a
skeleton made of metallic circles, with a
ball at the centre. Name it.
(B) A particular national flag still depicts
this object, denoting the country's
historical association with exploration.
Which country?

8
(A) Armillary sphere.
(B) Portugal.

9
Identify these two adjacent towns in Tinsukia
district in Assam, each known for being the
place where something (different) started.
(A) boasts of an 18-hole golf course, perhaps
India's only oil museum and a World War II
memorial.
(B) is a tiny town, about 25km south-east of (A)
across the Dihing river. Nearby town Margherita
(named for the Italian queen) is very scenic and
famous for its plywood and coal industries.

9
(A) Digboi (where oil drilling in India is
said to have started).
(B) Ledo (where the Ledo / Stillwell Road
started).

10
Two of the many interesting aspects of Sidhpur, a
small town in North Gujarat:
(A) A famous product, founded in 1937 and which
would once (and perhaps even now) be found in
every Indian household, is produced here. It is
exported to many countries and can be bought in
any medical shop.
(B) While Sidhpur is considered to be a 'shristhal'
for Hindus, it also houses mansions of a particular
community whose gaudily decorated houses are a
minor tourist attraction. Which community?

10
(A) Isapgol / Isabgol / Psyllium husk.
(B) Bohra.

11
This is a pictorial table of __(A)__ and
their __(B)__. Identify both.

12
This is the location of the erstwhile Flatford
Mill in Suffolk on the bank of River Stour. In
1821, the mill owner's son stood at this spot
and created a "six-footer" (his usage) that has
since entered the public subconscious.
Identify (A) him and (B) his creation. The
building to the far left, Willy Lott's Cottage
has survived to this day practically unaltered,
but none of the trees from 1821 exist today.

12
(A) John Constable.
(B) The Hay Wain.

13
Lab126 is a subsidiary of a multinational
company. Its name originates from a
quirk in the parent company's logo. The
subsidiary functions as a lab of
innovation, research and development for
consumer electronics products of the
parent company.
(A) Identify the parent company.
(B) What quirk are we talking about?

13
(A) Amazon.com.
(B) The arrow from A to Z.

14
During World War I, when British troops
commanded by (A) captured Jerusalem,
Punch magazine printed a cartoon of (B)
looking down from the heavens with the
caption "At last my dream has come true."
(A) protested against his campaign being
presented in this manner stating: "The
importance of Jerusalem lay in its strategic
importance, there was no religious impulse
in this campaign." Identify (A) and (B).

14
(A) Edmund Allenby.
(B) Richard I / Richard the Lionheart /
Richard Coeur de Lion.

15
The Latin word for "feather" or "quill" is
familiar to us in multiple contexts.
(A) One is an English word derived from it,
referring to a use of the material.
(B) The other is an Italian word owing its
origin to the similarity in shape. This food
item is produced in two main variants:
"lisce" (smooth) and "rigate" (furrowed or
having ridges).
Identify both.

16
He was the Principal of the Government Sanskrit
College at Poona from 1856 to 1861. On behalf of the
proprietors of the Daily Telegraph in conjunction with
the New York Herald, he arranged the journey of H.M.
Stanley to Africa to discover the course of the Congo
River, and Stanley returned the gratitude by naming a
mountain after him. He is credited with the idea of a
great trunk line traversing the entire African
continent, by proposing a "Cape to Cairo railway"
subsequently undertaken by Cecil Rhodes. His most
famous work was published in 1879 and played a
large part in popularizing something that existed in
the eastern world for 25 centuries, among a western
audience. (A) Who? (B) What work?

16
(A) Sir Edwin Arnold.
(B) The Light of Asia.

17
This mechanism uses a 72-inch-diameter platter;
fully loaded it weighs 600 pounds and takes a forklift
to move. For years it had a "maximum limit" of 2
hours 30 minutes. In 2009, there was a demand for
more and engineers moved the clamp system from
the top to the bottom thus allowing 2 hours 46
minutes and 54 seconds. This change helped again in
2014 when 2 hours 49 minutes were needed. But for
anything more, a significant redesign may be
required.
(A) What is this mechanism used for?
(B) Give us the 2009 or 2014 "event" that benefitted
from the change.

17
(A) IMAX projection.
(B) Avatar OR Interstellar.

18
When he ruled the kingdom of Dhara, the poets sang:
"Adya dhara sadadhara sadalamba sarasvati |
Panditah manditah sarve _____ raje bhuvam gate ||"
(Today Dhara is ever supported, and the Goddess
Sarasvati is ever propped up. All the pundits are adorned
with the coming of King _____ on this earth.)
When he died, they sang:
"Adya dhara niradhara niralamba sarasvati |
Panditah khanditah sarve _____ raje divam gate ||"
(Today Dhara is unsupported, and the Goddess Sarasvati
is without a prop. All the pundits are scattered with the
ascent of King _____ to heaven.)

18
(A) Who?
(B) According to folklore,
which state capital city is
believed to have been
founded by him? Shown
here is a statue of him
situated in this city.

18
(A) Raja Bhoja.
(B) Bhopal.

The End
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KQA Mega-Whats 2015 Prelims

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