These questions are for use in the Virginia High School ...



These questions are for use in the Virginia High School League’s Scholastic Bowl State Tournament. Shawn Pickrell, Jason Mueller, and Dan Goff are the authors of these questions; further editing was done by Adam Fine and Marian Suter.

Participants must observe the following conditions, which must be known by all coaches, competitors and spectators of the competition:

(a) Public discussion of these questions before the end of the state tournament is prohibited.

(b) Releasing these questions to entities outside Virginia is prohibited.

First period: 15 tossups, 10 points each

1. Its monarchy was founded by Zulilu around 1900 BC. It soon prospered from coordinating the metal trade from Anatolia to the rest of the world. It was conquered by the Hurrians and only became independent again under Shalmaneser (shall-mah-NEE-ser) I. It reached its greatest height under kings like Sargon II, Sennacherib (seh-nah-CHAIR-ib), and Tiglath-Pileser III in the early 8th century BC. What empire, conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, had a capital of Nineveh?

ANSWER: Assyrian Empire

2. Rainer Riehn and Arnold Schonberg re-arranged this work for a chamber orchestra. This work was inspired by the German translation of Li Po’s poetry collection The Chinese Flute. Its six movements include ‘Of youth,’ ‘The lonely one in Autumn,’ and ‘Of Beauty.’ Although symphonic in scale, its composer did not want to make it his ninth symphony. ‘A Symphony for Tenor and Alto Voice and Orchestra’ is the description of what six-movement work by Gustav Mahler?

ANSWER: Das Lied von der Erde or The Song of the Earth

3. Characters in this play that do not appear on stage include Harker, the ‘Standard Oil millionaire,’ and Eugene, a son of the protagonist who died in infancy. Cathleen, described as a ‘buxom Irish peasant,’ is not related to the other characters – James Sr., Mary, Jamie, and Edmund. The play is set during August 1912 at the Connecticut beach home of the Tyrone family. What final Pulitzer-winning play by Eugene O’Neill was not performed until three years after his death?

ANSWER: Long Day’s Journey into Night

4. In her first work, Molly Chalmers dies of leukemia in A Summer to Die. She has focused on the Gooney Bird series in recent years, although by number of works, most of her output has been about Anastasia and Sam Krupnik. Her more acclaimed works include a story about a Danish girl rescuing Jews during World War II and a young boy that has been picked to be a ‘Receiver of Memory.’ Who won Newbery Medals in 1990 for Number the Stars and in 1994 for The Giver?

ANSWER: Lois Lowry

5. Parts of it are the glenoid cavity and two hooklike projections called the coracoid process and the acromion. This bone’s three borders are superior, vertebral, and axillary. Name this flat, triangular bone that attaches the humerus to the clavicle and is also known as the shoulder blade.

ANSWER: scapula (accept shoulder blade before mentioned)

6. It is a special case of both Bretschneider’s formula and Brahmagupta’s formula and can be derived from a trapezoid area equation by setting the smaller parallel side to zero. Name this formula named after an Alexandrian mathematician that says the area of a triangle with semiperimeter s and side lengths a, b, and c is equal to the square root of the quantity s times (s minus a) times (s minus b) times (s minus c) end quantity.

ANSWER: Hero(n)’s formula

7. He accepted Black Hawk’s surrender to end that war and was made commander of the U.S. Army’s Southern Division in 1841. He won the battles of Palo Alto, Monterey, and Buena Vista during the Mexican War before turning to politics. He defeated Lewis Cass to win the Presidency, but died of gastroenteritis only 16 months into his term and was followed by Millard Fillmore. What President was elected in 1848?

ANSWER: Zachary Taylor

8. A printer uses this five-letter word with ‘left’ or ‘right’ to describe text even with a margin. A hunter uses this word to describe causing birds to act surprised and fly off. It can mean to get rid of slag from a furnace or cleaning something by flooding it with water. It can mean a rosy glow, a sudden feeling, or having lots of something. A poker player uses this word to describe a hand in which all five cards are the same suit. What is this word most used in association with using a toilet?

ANSWER: flush

9. The giant Utgarda-Loki disguised this monster as a cat and challenged Thor to lift it. It had been discarded by Odin after its birth and allowed to grow to enormous size. Thor also accidentally caught this monster while fishing, but had to wait until Ragnarok before killing this monster and being killed by it. A full sibling to Hel and the Fenris Wolf, what monster from Norse mythology circles the world?

ANSWER: Jormungand(r) or Midgard Serpent (accept World serpent before world is said)

10. Types of them include the 4c-2e; the 3c-2e, or bent; and the 3c-4e, or hydrogen. Propane has ten of this type of bond that is symmetrical with respect to rotation around the bond axis. Name this strongest type of covalent bond named after the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet.

ANSWER: sigma bond (prompt on bond)

11. He published his 29th novel, Indignation, in September 2008. Characters he created include David Kepesh and Nathan Zuckerman. He won the 2005 Sidewise Award for Alternate history for The Plot Against America. He won the 1995 National Book Prize for Sabbath’s Theater and the 1960 National Book Prize for Goodbye, Columbus. Who is this writer of American Pastoral and Portnoy’s Complaint?

ANSWER: Philip Roth

12. This company has created spinoffs like the O-dial, a cell phone holder shaped like its signature product. Recent models include the fur-lined Mammoth and slightly modified Cayman, designed to be very similar to the company's first model, the Beach. All these models are believed to be a danger to people using escalators. Founded in Boulder, Colorado, and sponsor of the AVP men's pro volleyball tour, what company makes Croslite-manufactured footwear resembling Swiss cheese?

ANSWER: Crocs

13. Companies headquartered in this state include AMI Semiconductor and Micron Technology. Its natural landmarks include its highest point, Borah Peak, the deepest canyon in the U.S., Hells Canyon, and the Sun Valley ski resort. The presence of star garnets gives this state its nickname, ‘Gem State.’ It produces about 1/3 of this country’s potatoes. Coeur d’Alene, Moscow, and Pocatello are cities in what state whose capital is Boise?

ANSWER: Idaho

14. It is named after its Swiss-born Russian discoverer and is true because enthalpy is a state function. In equation form, it says delta H is equal to delta H sub f of P minus delta H sub f of R. Name this thermochemical law that states the change in enthalpy in a reaction is the same regardless of the number of steps in the reaction.

ANSWER: Hess’s law

15. Coming from Methodist roots, this Christian movement’s numerous denominations can be grouped into ‘Wesleyan Holiness,’ ‘Higher Life,’ and ‘Oneness’ groups. Its history started with the Azusa Street Revival of 1906. The largest church within it is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, and its largest denomination is the Assemblies of God, What branch of Christianity is named for the day on which the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles?

ANSWER: Pentecostal Christianity (or Pentecostalism)

Second period, 10 directed questions per team, 10 points each

Set A questions have an ‘A’ after their number; set B questions have a ‘B.’

1A. Sad Sack, Shifty Henry, and the Purple Gang are characters in what Elvis Presley song?

ANSWER: ‘Jailhouse Rock’

1B. Adam Trask, Charles Trask, and Cathy Ames are characters in what John Steinbeck novel?

ANSWER: East of Eden

2A. ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne defeated an Indian confederacy led by Blue Jacket in what 1794 battle that opened Ohio for white settlement?

ANSWER: Battle of Fallen Timbers

2B. What does CPR stand for?

ANSWER: cardiopulmonary resuscitation

3A. What term was coined by Jakob Grimm to describe Germanic verbs that conjugate by vowel changes as opposed to endings?

ANSWER: strong

3B. Who crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center’s North Tower and was the leader of the September 11 hijackers?

ANSWER: Mohammad Atta

4A. On land, most of these species reside at trophic level three, while in marine environments they often occupy level four or higher. Animals such as humans, bears, big cats and sharks are what group of animals, not often hunted by other animals?

ANSWER: apex predator (also accept alpha predator, superpredators or top-level predators)

4B. Originally thought to either be a live-action Voltron film or a movie based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, what secretive J. J. Abrams project was revealed to actually be about a monster that destroys New York City?

ANSWER: Cloverfield

5A. THIS IS A 20-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Convert 683 into a Roman numeral.

ANSWER: DCLXXXIII

5B. THIS IS A 20-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the mean of the following eight numbers: 13, 87, 32, 68, 24, 66, 91, and 59?

ANSWER: 55

6A. P V equals n R T is what “perfect” equation?

ANSWER: ideal gas equation

6B. S-expressions are the components of programs written in what computer language, developed in 1958 and often used in the artificial intelligence field?

ANSWER: LISP

7A. Who was ‘from his mother’s womb untimely rip’d’ and was thus able to slay Macbeth?

ANSWER: Macduff

7B. Spiritualists use the term ‘receiving messages’ to describe what ceremonies, where a medium attempts to contact the dead and, despite its name, participants need not be seated?

ANSWER: séance(s)

8A. Hecuba was the wife of what man, the father of Paris and Hector and the last king of Troy?

ANSWER: Priam of Troy

8B. Spell the genitive of the Latin noun pax (spell out ‘pax’).

ANSWER: p a c i s

9A. Taken from a word meaning ‘drifting person,’ what term described a samurai without a feudal lord?

ANSWER: ronin

9B. ‘Bad money drives out good’ is the most common expression of what economic law?

ANSWER: Gresham’s Law

10A. THIS IS A 30-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. What first-quadrant angle has an inverse sine of one-half?

ANSWER: 30 degrees or pi over 6 radians

10B. THIS IS A 30-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. What are the coordinates of the foci of the ellipse x squared over 100 plus y squared over 64 equals one?

ANSWER: (6, 0) and (-6, 0)

Third period, 15 toss-ups, 10 points each

1. The smallest type comes from the forget-me-not. They contain vegetative cells and a generative cell that contains a tube nucleus and a generative nucleus. Responsible for many allergies, they are produced in a microsporangium that is found in either a cone or an anther. Name this term for a plant microspore that contains male gametes in their grains.

ANSWER: pollen

2. He hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. Along with D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford, he founded United Artists. Also known as ‘America’s Hero,’ he became known as the ‘King of Hollywood’ after he married Mary Pickford. What silent screen star appeared in The Thief of Baghdad, The Mask of Zorro and Robin Hood, and lived in a mansion called Pickfair?

ANSWER: Douglas Fairbanks

3. Her grandfather George created the character of Svengali. Her forays into non-fiction included The Infernal World of Branwell Bronte and Enchanted Cornwall. After the death of her husband, British general ‘Boy’ Browning, she wrote The House on the Strand. Her short stories included ‘The Apple Tree,’ ‘Not After Midnight,’ ‘Don’t Look Now,’ and ‘The Birds.’ Who created the character novel Rebecca?

ANSWER: Daphne du Maurier

4. In 1911, he became the youngest member of the U.S. Army’s general staff. After he criticized military leadership in the wake of the deadly crash of the dirigible Shenandoah, he was court-martialed in 1925, ending his military career. In 1921, he engineered a controversial experiment in which the old German battleship Ostfriesland was sunk. His book Winged Defense predicted war with Japan, even stating they would strike first at Pearl Harbor using air power. Who was this ‘Father of the U.S. Air Force?’

ANSWER: Billy Mitchell

5. THIS IS A 10-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the sum of the even numbers from 2 to 60? There are 30 terms in this series, and the sum is equal to twice the sum of the integers from 1 to 30.

ANSWER: 930

6. In Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra, he intersected a circle and a hyperbola to solve cubic equations. He calculated the length of a year to six decimal places. The Jalali calendar was created from his calculations, and remained in use until the 20th century in Iran. He is most famous, however, for lines such as ‘a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.’ What Persian astronomer and poet wrote The Rubaiyat?

ANSWER: Omar Khayyam

7. It is ideally applied to a steady, frictionless, streamline flow of a fluid of constant density and can be used to explain the curveball and airplane wing lift. Pressure plus one-half times density times velocity squared plus density times gravitational acceleration times height equals a constant is what equation named after Swiss mathematician Daniel?

ANSWER: Bernoulli’s equation or principle

8. His relationship with Ulrike von Levetzow inspired the Marienbad Elegy. While his opposition to Newton was incorrect, scientists today appreciate the insights on human perception seen in his Theory of Colors. Works such as The Xenies were products of his collaboration with fellow Weimar resident Friedrich Schiller. What German’s most famous works are the novels Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and The Sorrows of Young Werther, along with the play Faust?

ANSWER: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

9. It was recently named the 9th-most corrupt state in America, finishing ahead of New York and Illinois. This state is currently governed by Jack Markell, successor to Ruth Ann Minner, who caused a minor controversy in 2008 after appointing Ted Kaufman, a political aide, to serve in the Senate. What is this state, formerly represented by Sen. Joe Biden, which shares a namesake peninsula with Maryland and Virginia?

ANSWER: Delaware

10. This country’s independence was guaranteed after victory in Operation Storm. In World War II its so-called ‘Independent State’ was led by the fascist Ustashe (oo-STAH-sheh). Part of its territory attempted to declare independence as Krajina (krah-YEE-nah), after it had itself declared independence in 1991. Franjo (FRAHN-yoh) Tudjman (TOOD-mahn) was the first post-independence president of this country that calls itself Hrvatska (herr-VAHT-skah). What former Yugoslav republic has a capital of Zagreb?

ANSWER: Croatia

11. In the book of Amos, God is credited with making it, along with the Pleiades. The Norse associated it with the goddess Frigg, Indians called it ‘the destroyer,’ and Egyptians associated it with Osiris. It is sometimes associated with Lepus or Taurus. Due to its different appearance from the Southern Hemisphere, South Africans call its most prominent feature the ‘Three Sisters.’ Rigel and Betelgeuse are the brightest stars in what constellation, known for its ‘sword’ and ‘belt’?

ANSWER: Orion

12. This city was named for a Revolutionary War general whose plantation, Scuffle Hill, was located near the Smith River. It is the home of the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Piedmont Arts Association. DuPont built a nylon plant here in the 1930s, helping the city become the ‘Sweatshirt Capital of the World,’ but after the textile plants left, it now has one of the highest unemployment rates in Virginia. The shortest track in NASCAR is named for what city located within Henry County?

ANSWER: Martinsville, Virginia

13. When this four-letter word follows ‘bring into,’ it means to introduce something. When it is followed by ‘along,’ it means to cooperate. When it is followed by ‘at,’ it means to pretend to like something or not to do something unseriously. It also refers to performing with a musical instrument or in an athletic competition. It can refer to a child’s activity, but what word also refers to a drama, such as those of Shakespeare?

ANSWER: play

14. He noted that "this temple of democracy shines brightly" after his home state's electoral college voted for Barack Obama in 2008. The Mayor of Richmond from 1998 to 2000, this man served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia before defeating Jerry Kilgore 52-46 in 2005 to succeed Mark Warner in his current office. Who is this Democrat, the 70th and current Governor of Virginia?

ANSWER: Tim Kaine

15. A similarly-named personality disorder is ego syntonic – so sufferers of this ego dystonic disorder are aware their behavior is not normal. Freud believed it was caused by repeatedly occurring conflicts within the unconscious. The negative behavior may cause sufferers to lapse into depression. Panic attacks are suffered frequently, and sufferers can lapse into depression over guilt concerning their behavior or tics. What mental disorder is characterized by repetitive actions, such as hand-washing?

ANSWER: obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD

Spare questions

Be sure to mark off questions as they are used. Replace, when possible, a discarded question with a spare in that area (i.e. science for science, English for English, etc.)

1. THIS IS A 10-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Solve for y when y equals the base 6 logarithm of 216. Remember that this is equal to six to what power equals 216?

ANSWER: y equals 3

2. He came to office the first time after winning the War of the Reform, and intended to institute the ideas in his Plan of Ayutla. However, when he announced a moratorium on paying foreign debt, European powers intervened, and he was overthrown by the French. His eventual restoration was aided when Andrew Johnson invoked the Monroe Doctrine, and he returned to power after defeating the forces of Emperor Maximilian. Who was this liberal President of Mexico?

ANSWER: Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia

3. She was portrayed as a mermaid with several dog-heads extending from her waist. Servius said Amphitrite turned her into a monster. Ovid says she was turned into a monster after Glaucus rejected Circe. Odysseus was advised by Circe to lose six men to her, as opposed to losing an entire ship by sailing too far away from it. Tradition says she lived on one side of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Italy. What monster of Greek myth is paired with the whirlpool Charybdis?

ANSWER: Scylla

4. In 2006, this TV series released its Martinis and Medicine collection that included all eleven seasons. Several characters reunited in a Midwestern hospital for a short-lived spin-off. Its theme song was an instrumental version of ‘Suicide is Painless.’ Over sixty percent of American households watched its finale, ‘Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.’ Klinger, Hawkeye, and Trapper were part of the 4077th in what sitcom about combat doctors in the Korean War?

ANSWER: M*A*S*H

5. From the Latin for wandering, it is both a sensory and a motor nerve and is also known as the pneumogastric nerve. It plays a role in speech, peristalsis, and heart rate, and starts in the brainstem and extends all the way to the diaphragm and the viscera. Name this tenth cranial nerve.

ANSWER: vagus nerve

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