Quiz conducted by Julian D'Souza as part of the July Monthly

1. SEQC July Monthly
3-7-16
Julian D’Costa
(with some help from Chantal D’Costa, Terrence D’Costa, Ira
Almeida, Yohan Kuriyan, Merle Almeida and Vinod Kuriyan)

2. July
Round 1: Report Cards
This is a series of fictional report cards given to famous mathematicians (in a broad sense)
Identify the mathematician
Written
6 questions, 5 points each
The last two are connected in some way

3. July

4. July

5. July

6. July

7. July

8. July

9. July
Answer slides coming up

10. July

11. July

12. July

13. July

14. July

15. July

16. July

17. July

18. July

19. July

20. July

21. July

22. July
Round 2: Simple Subjects
Choose your own Topic
Infinite bounce, 3 pounces, +10/-0
Geopolitics Sports Consumer Goods Literature
Chemistry Food Government Biology
Movies Comics Current Affairs Computers

23. July
End of round, thank you!

24. July
Current Affairs
There have been only three of these.
The first was related to the current one.
First Past the Post beat Alternative Vote in the second.
Who won this time?

25. July
Ans: Current affairs
Vote Leave
UK-wide referendums
BACK

26. July
Consumer Goods
What are these things for?

27. July
Ans: Consumer Goods
Called Periscope Glasses, they let you read or watch TV or use a laptop while lying down.
BACK

28. July
Chemistry
Professor Chris Ballentine, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, said: "We sampled ______
just bubbling out of the ground in the Tanzanian East African Rift valley. By combining our understanding
of ______ geochemistry with seismic images of ___ trapping structures, independent experts have
calculated a probable resource of 54 Billion Cubic Feet (BCf) in just one part of the rift valley. This is
enough to fill over 1.2 million medical MRI scanners. To put this discovery into perspective, global
consumption of _____ is about 8 BCf per year and the United States Federal ______ Reserve, which is the
world's largest supplier, has a current reserve of just 24.2 BCf. Total known reserves in the USA are around
153 BCf.
This substance is usually found while looking for something else. The passage above refers to the first
intentional discovery, on June 27th, of a vast field of what, in the Tanzanian Rift valley?

29. July
Ans: Chemistry
Helium.
Helium is so light that Earth’s gravity isn’t strong enough to hold on to it, so it leaks out of the atmosphere
into outer space, so we have very little of it.
BACK

30. July
Literature
Which Pulitzer-prize winning
oncologist is the author of
this new book?

31. July
Ans: Literature
Siddhartha Mukherjee, the author of the Emperor of All Maladies. BACK

32. July
Comics
Why was Ray Felix sued by both Marvel and DC
after publishing an online comic series called ‘A World without
Superheroes’ in 2013?

33. July
Ans: Comics
Marvel and DC own a joint trademark on the word ‘Superhero’ and all of its variants.
BACK

34. July
Biology
The Reuleaux Triangle is a circular-triangular shape that has the same width from all sides. What bone in the
human body is also this shape?

35. July
Ans: Biology
The patella / kneecap.
BACK

36. July
Food
Might as well ask a question about my name…
So what does the verb ‘julienne’ mean?

37. July
Ans: Food
It’s a kind of knife cut which involves cutting food into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks.
BACK

38. July
Sports
X-ing is the attempt to create an impression of widespread grassroots support for a policy, individual, or
product, where little such support exists. Multiple online identities and fake pressure groups are used to
mislead the public into believing that the position of the X-er is the commonly held view.
What is X?

39. July
Ans: Sports
Astroturf.
BACK

40. July
Computers
ELIZA, named after Eliza Doolittle and written in 1965, was one of the first chatbots. Despite its simplicity,
several testers believed ELIZA was human for several minutes and became emotionally involved in its
conversation.
Joseph Weizenbaum, its creator, explained:
“I chose the context of __________ to sidestep the problem of giving the program a data base of real-
world knowledge, the __________ situation being one of the few real human situations in which a human
being can reply to a statement with a question that indicates very little specific knowledge of the topic under
discussion. For example, it is a context in which the question "Who is your favorite composer?" can be
answered acceptably with responses such as "What about your own favorite composer?" …
So what kind of professional was ELIZA a parody of?

41. July
Ans: Computers
ELIZA, or more specifically the script DOCTOR, simulated a psychotherapist.
BACK

42. July
Movies
Which 2012 film won two National Tourism Awards for its impact in promoting India as a tourism
destination, especially Puducherry in Tamil Nadu and Munnar in Kerala?

43. July
Ans:Movies
Life of Pi
BACK

44. July
Geopolitics
Which is the only country to voluntarily dismantle all of its nuclear weapons it had built?

45. July
Ans: Geopolitics
South Africa.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, South Africa assembled six nuclear bombs. Before the anticipated changeover
to a majority-elected African National Congress government in the 1990s, the South African government
dismantled all of its nuclear weapons.
BACK

46. July
Government
Who said this?
(play audio)

47. July
Ans: Government
Ronald Reagan, in 1984.
It was supposed to be:
My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you that today I signed legislation that will allow student religious
groups to begin enjoying a right they've too long been denied — the freedom to meet in public high schools
during nonschool hours, just as other student groups are allowed to do.“
BACK

48. July
Euro Round
Name all the previous Euro champions (since 1960), which failed to make it to the quarter finals this time.
(even if they didn't qualify for the euro)
written
+10 for every correct country, -10 for every wrong one

49. July
These are the winners:
Spain 3
Soviet Union 1
Czech Republic 1
Netherlands 1
Denmark 1
Greece 1

50. July
Euro Flags
Infinite bounce
Six pairs of flags
One country in each pair participated in Euro 2016 and the other starts with the same letter.
5 points for one correct, 15 points for both correct.

51. July
Flags 1

52. July
Flags 2

53. July
Flags 3

54. July
Flags 4

55. July
Flags 5

56. July
Flags 6

57. July
Answer slides coming up

58. July
Flags 1

59. July
Ans: Flags 1
Italy
Iran

60. July
Flags 2

61. July
Ans: Flags 2
Albania
Angola

62. July
Flags 3

63. July
Ans: Flags 3
Ivory Coast
Ireland

64. July
Flags 4

65. July
Ans: Flags 4
Peru
Poland

66. July
Flags 5

67. July
Ans: Flags 5
Slovakia
Slovenia

68. July
Flags 6

69. July
Ans: Flags 6
Turkey
Tunisia

70. July
Workable Wuns (I hope!)
12 questions
Straight infinite bounce
Reverse order (Anticlockwise?)
+10
3 pounces per team

71. July
1
You probably know that Osama bin Laden was buried at sea, partially because no country would accept his
remains.
Who, after being hunted down, tried, hanged and cremated in 1962, had his ashes scattered at sea for similar
reasons?

72. July
A1
Adolf Eichmann, captured by the Mossad in Argentina

73. July
2
Speaking of Eichmann…
“Before they settled on killing the Jews of Europe, the Nazis had a more creative plan: send
them all to _________. They hoped that after taking over Britain they could use the British
merchant fleet to transport them, with the voyages being funded by confiscated Jewish assets.
Imagine a world in which the plan was successful – say all European Jews deported to ______
– but the Nazis were defeated on schedule and the victorious Allies declared ________ the
world Jewish homeland instead of Israel. Sure, we would probably end up debating _________
apartheid with the same fervency as the Gaza War. But the _________ would have twenty
times the land area of Israel, probably at least double the population (since it would include the
six million murdered Europeans) and infinitely more farmland and natural resources. And they
would be on a basically uninvade-able island. Between the land God promised us and the land
Hitler promised us, I’m kinda going with advantage Hitler here. At the very least it would make
good alternate history.”
This is a tongue-in-cheek description of a plan to send the Jews of Europe where?

74. July
A2
The Madagascar Plan
Franz Rademacher, head of the Jewish Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recommended that
the French colony of Madagascar should be made available as a destination for the Jews of Europe as one of
the terms of the surrender of France, which the Germans had invaded on 10 May 1940. With Adolf Hitler's
approval, Adolf Eichmann released a memorandum on 15 August 1940 calling for the resettlement of a
million Jews per year for four years, with the island governed as a police state under the SS. They assumed
that many Jews would succumb to its harsh conditions should the plan be implemented.

75. July
3
Made of ground almonds, grated coconut and egg yolks and dipped in caramel, this delectable dessert is
stuck on decorated skewer and found at Goan weddings.
Literally meaning ladies fingers, by what Portuguese name is it known in Goa?

76. July
A3
Dedos de damas

77. July
4
Some time ago, I read a paper published by Microsoft Research titled
“Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?”
So, why do they?
The paper provided a mathematical model, but just the funda is sufficient.

78. July
A4
Sending emails is cheap, so the scammers’ biggest problem is people
who go almost all the way but then smell a rat. To quote the paper:
“Far-fetched tales of West African riches
strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an
advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since
his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian
scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives.
By sending an email that repels all but the most
gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to
self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his
favor.

79. July
5
On August 4, 1968, Chairman Mao was presented with some _______ by the Pakistani foreign minister, Syed
Sharifuddin Pirzada, in an apparent diplomatic gesture. Mao called the ________ a “spiritual time bomb”
and shortly afterwards, had his aide divide them up and send them to Mao Zedong Propaganda Teams across
Beijing, starting with one started at Tsinghua University on August 5.
This started a craze for ______, which were almost unknown in China until then.
Here is a poem composed for the occasion:
Seeing that golden _____ / Was as if seeing the Great Leader Chairman Mao!
Standing before that golden _____ / Was just like standing beside Chairman Mao!
Again and again touching that golden ______: / the golden ______ was so warm!
Again and again smelling the ______: / that golden ______ was so fragrant!
What was given to Mao? (poster on next slide)

80. July
5

81. July
A5
Mangoes

82. July
6
My 14-year old cousin plays with this, but what is it for?

83. July
A6
It motorizes your paper planes.

84. July
7
Traditionally, Doorways in Tibet are low to keep out ro-
langs.
What are ro-langs?
If it helps, ‘langs’ in Tibetan
is the perfect tense of "to rise up"

85. July
A7
Zombies.
A ro-langs is a zombie-like creature from Tibetan folklore. Ro is the word for corpse
and Langs is the perfect tense of "to rise up", so Ro-Langs literally means "a risen
corpse". A ro-langs cannot speak or bend over, it signals its victims by wagging its
tongue back and forth. They can not bend at any joints, which makes them walk with
a stiff-armed lurch, and thus can’t get through low doorways

86. July
8
Sometimes described as 'jungle devils', Cuon alpinus are the antagonists of Rudyard Kipling's short story Red
___, in which Mowgli and the wolf-pack defeat them in pitched battle. What is the common name of Cuon
alpinus, a member of the family Canidae?

87. July
A8
Dhole.
Red Dog was the penultimate
Mowgli story, published in
The Second Jungle Book

88. July
9
GiveWell is a startup that evaluates charities, as part of the effective altruism movement.
It’s current top recommendations are the Against Malaria Foundation, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative,
and the Deworm the World Initiative.
Unlike other charity evaluators, which assess charities based on percent of budget that goes into overhead,
what criterion does GiveWell use to rank charities?

89. July
A9
Lives saved / dollar
Interestingly, it takes about $3000 dollars to save a life after you add in all the factors. (Malaria)

90. July
10
What substance, derived from yaks,
are these Tibetan Buddhist sculptures made of?
They decay quickly, of course, but that is supposed
to symbolize the impermanence of human existence.

91. July
A10
Butter.
Butter sculpture was a popular art
form at 19th century American farm fairs.
This is one of the best examples.

92. July
11
The SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915 the top-heavy
ship rolled over while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed in
what was to become the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
Why was this disaster partially a result of the sinking of the Titanic, three years earlier?

93. July
A11
In 1915, the new federal Seamen's Act had been passed because of the RMS Titanic disaster three years
earlier. The law required retrofitting of a complete set of lifeboats on the Eastland, as on many other
passenger vessels. The extra weight of the lifeboats helped the already unstable ship topple over.

94. July
12
In 2011, the Argentinian press began reporting on unusual behavior by the more than 200 Argentinean
McDonald's restaurants. They no longer prominently advertised Big Macs for sale and the sandwich, both
individually and as part of value meals, was being sold for an unusually low price compared to other items.
Why was the price so low?

95. July
A12
Guillermo Moreno, Secretary of Commerce in the Kirchner government, forced McDonald's to sell the Big
Mac at an artificially low price to manipulate the country's performance on The Economist’s Big Mac index.
This was after The Economist stated in January 2011 that the Big Mac index "does support claims that
Argentina’s government is cooking the books. The gap between its average annual rate of burger inflation
(19%) and its official rate (10%) is far bigger than in any other country."

96. July
Name, Poem, Anagram, Theme
Written
Two questions each on
Names
Poems
Anagrams
Themes (from films)
+5 for each

97. July
1
Through a process called rebracketing, what do we now call ekenames?

98. July
2
Aside from alphabetical ones, what lists do the names Aarav and Aadya top?

99. July
3
1.
I‘ve grown a goitre by dwelling in this den —
As cats from stagnant streams in Lombardy,
Or in what other land they hap to be —
Which drives the belly close beneath the chin:
My beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in
Fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly
Grows like a harp: a rich embroidery
Bedews my face from brush-drips, thick and thin.
Who is the author, complaining about what job?

100. July
4
2. Identify the poet (translated). This was written
shortly before his death.
Delhi was once a paradise Where Love
held sway and reigned But its charm lies
ravished And only ruins remain
No tears were shed when shroudless they Were
laid in common graves No prayers
were read for the noble dead Unmarked remain their
graves
But things cannot remain, O _____, Thus for
who can tell? Through God’s great
mercy and the Prophet All may yet be well

101. July
5
old west action

102. July
6
read, shun islam

103. July
7
Play theme1

104. July
8
Play theme 2

105. July
Answers coming up

106. July
1
Through a process called rebracketing, what do we now call ekenames?

107. July
A1
Nicknames.
Rebracketing is this process: (an) (ekename) -> (a)(nekename)

108. July
2
Aside from alphabetical ones, what lists do the names Aarav and Aadya top?

109. July
A2
They are the most popular Indian baby names of 2015.
(From parents who registered at Babycentre.in – selection bias warning!)

110. July
3
1.
I‘ve grown a goitre by dwelling in this den —
As cats from stagnant streams in Lombardy,
Or in what other land they hap to be —
Which drives the belly close beneath the chin:
My beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in
Fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly
Grows like a harp: a rich embroidery
Bedews my face from brush-drips, thick and thin.
Who is the author, complaining about what job?

111. July
A3
Michelangelo, about his trials painting the Sistine chapel ceiling

112. July
4
2. Identify the poet (translated). This was written
shortly before his death.
Delhi was once a paradise Where Love
held sway and reigned But its charm lies
ravished And only ruins remain
No tears were shed when shroudless they Were
laid in common graves No prayers
were read for the noble dead Unmarked remain their
graves
But things cannot remain, O _____, Thus for
who can tell? Through God’s great
mercy and the Prophet All may yet be well

113. July
A4
2. Identify the poet (translated). This was written
shortly before his death.
Bahadur Shah Zafar

114. July
5
1. old west action

115. July
A5
1. old west action – Clint Eastwood

116. July
6
read, shun islam

117. July
A6
read, shun islam – Salman Rushdie

118. July
7
Play theme1

119. July
A7
1. Hedwig’s Theme, from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

120. July
8
Play theme 2

121. July
A8
Mission: Impossible Theme, from the TV series, though also used in the films

122. July
Four Forts
Four Goan Forts
Written
+20 if one or two teams get it
+10 if three or four
+5 if five or six

123. July
1

124. July
2

125. July
3

126. July
4

127. July
Answers coming up

128. July
1

129. July
Corjuem Fort

130. July
2

131. July
Aguada Fort

132. July
3

133. July
Terekhol Fort

134. July
4

135. July
Cabo de Rama Fort

137. July
Theme
Six questions on infinite bounce
Very much non-exhaustive
Write down the theme
+30/-15 after first question is revealed
+25/-10 after second
….and so on to
+5/-0

138. July
“Although the blurb says that he “fully reveals the deal-maker’s art” and that it is “an unprecedented
education in the practice of deal-making” and “the ultimate read for anyone interested in achieving money
and success” – only seventeen pages of very large print are anything resembling business advice. The rest of
it is a weirdly deal-focused autobiography that doesn’t mention marrying his wife or having children, but
devotes a lovingly detailed twenty-four pages to the time he renovated the Commodore Hotel.”
This is the blogger Scott Alexander reviewing a 1987 memoir/business advice book called _____:The Art of
the Deal. Who is it by?

139. July
Donald J. Trump

140. July
T2
It’s rather peculiar, but the Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t seem to have an entry for
Most Film Stunts. They do, however, have an entry for ‘Most Stunts by a Living Actor’, which is
held by –who?

141. July
AT2
Jackie Chan.

142. July
T3
Which currently disgraced football administrator won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1983, 1984, and 1985?

143. July
AT3
Michel Platini

144. July
T4
Which actor was voted "greatest star of stage or screen" in a BBC Your Millennium online poll in 1999?

145. July
AT4
Amitabh Bachchan.

146. July
T5
This car was originally supposed to be called Zica, but that sounded too much like a virus, so they changed
the name to something that sounds very similar (coincidentally) to the name of the son of a brand
ambassador of the company. Who is the brand ambassador?

147. July
AT5
Lionel Messi. His son’s name is Thiago.

148. July
T6
Which Indian conglomerate is apparently India’s most trusted infrastructure brand (according to The Brand
Trust Report 2015), and is the largest port developer in India?

149. July
AT6
The Adani group.

150. July
And the Theme is…+5/0
Trump
Jackie Chan
Michel Platini
Amitabh Bachchan
Lionel Messi
Vinod Adani

151. July
And the Theme is
Trump
Jackie Chan
Michel Platini
Amitabh Bachchan
Lionel Messi
Vinod Adani
People named in the Panama Papers