The conditions as expressed on the first page of District ...



These questions have been written for use by the Virginia High School League’s Scholastic Bowl competition at the District level by Shawn Pickrell. These questions are to be used by individual Districts to conduct their Scholastic Bowl competitions under the following conditions, which must be known by all coaches, competitors and spectators of the competition.

a) Release of these questions to any entity not affiliated with the District competition or the schools that are members of the given District before all District champions have been announced is prohibited. This is meant to keep question security.

b) Competitors may not discuss or otherwise reference these questions with other entities in the Commonwealth of Virginia that are associated in any way with the Scholastic Bowl competition before all District champions have been determined. This is also meant to keep question security.

c) After that, these questions may be freely released to entities within the Commonwealth of Virginia. These questions may also be discussed or otherwise referenced between entities within the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is meant to allow the proliferation of these questions so that all schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia may have practice material for future Scholastic Bowl competitions, and therefore this practice is encouraged.

d) These questions may not be released AT ANY TIME to entities outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, except with prior approval of Shawn Pickrell. Discussion of these questions, however, is permitted between entities within and without the Commonwealth of Virginia This will apply to ANY entity in the Commonwealth of Virginia that receives these questions, be it directly from Shawn Pickrell or indirectly through various means.

First period: 15 toss-ups

1. In this novel, Jeeter and Ada Lester live with Granma Lester and two of their children, Ellie May and Dude. The Lesters were once sharecroppers but now are reduced to stealing from their in-laws and begging from their children. What is this book by Erskine Caldwell, name for the road along which they lived?

ANSWER: TOBACCO ROAD

2. He is the first-ever opposition candidate to win a nationwide election in Mexico. Who is this man who was just inaugurated as President of Mexico?

ANSWER: Vicente FOX Quesada

3. A smooth membrane that joins the lining of the lips and cheeks cover this part of the mouth. What is this dense fibrous tissue surrounding the roots of the teeth, whose inflammation is called gingivitis?

ANSWER: GUMS

4. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. A 10-inch (in diameter) pizza is split into 8 pieces. How big, in square inches, is each piece of pizza?

ANSWER: 25 PI OVER 8 square inches (accept equivalents)

First period (continued)

5. A commander in the colonial army in Morocco, he quickly rose to lead the revolution that arose against the republican, secular government in 1936. Three years later, he seized power and ruled his country with an iron fist until his 1974 death, when Juan Carlos installed a constitutional monarchy. Who was this Spanish dictator?

ANSWER: Francisco FRANCO

6. Why am I so wise? Why am I so clever? Why am I a destiny? This philosopher closed his 1888 autobiographical work Ecce (eh-KAY) Homo with those words and then spent the duration of his life in an insane asylum. Who is this German philosopher, also known for Beyond Good and Evil and Thus Spoke Zarathrustra?

ANSWER: Friedrich NIETZSCHE

7. This scale goes from 0 to 17, and ranges from calm to moderate to gale to hurricane. What is this scale that measures wind intensity?

ANSWER: BEAUFORT scale

8. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. An investor put in $10,000 in a mutual fund and let it sit for two years, and the fund returned 10 percent per year. How much profit has the investor made off his investment?

ANSWER: $2,100 ($10,000 becomes $11,000 after one year, $12,100 after the second year)

9. When this ex-President died bankrupt, Congress resolved to give former Presidents a pension. His administration is largely regarded as a failure, with his first Vice-President being forced off the ticket due to corruption, and the Credit Mobilier scandal being the most notorious of his scandals. Who was this President, a victorious Civil War general?

ANSWER: Ulysses S. GRANT

10. What is the nine-letter word that is a final statement of terms from one party to another, especially in diplomacy, where severe penalties are threatened if the terms are not accepted?

ANSWER: ULTIMATUM

First period (continued)

11. What is the name given to the process of splitting a molecule by the action of water?

ANSWER: HYDROLYSIS

12. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. An isosceles triangle has two sides of length 20 and a base of length 10. What it its height?

ANSWER: SQUARE ROOT OF 375 or 5 SQUARE ROOTS OF 15

13. This Amorite ruled the Old Babylonian Empire between 1792 and 1750 BC. Who was this ruler, best known for erecting a pillar upon which was carved his famous Code of Laws?

ANSWER: HAMMURABI

14. His later work from the 1930s onward displays a religious theme, with works such as Ash-Wednesday and Murder In The Cathedral. Who is this poet also known for his earlier works such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and The Waste Land?

ANSWER: T.S. ELIOT

15. His last 1960s movie was Change of Habit. Others of his movies include King Creole, Loving You, Wild In the Country and Girl Happy. Who is this actor, also known for singing the theme songs to Viva Las Vegas, Jailhouse Rock and Love Me Tender?

ANSWER: Elvis PRESLEY (prompt on Elvis)

Second period: 10 directed questions

Read the questions marked with “A” to the team that selected question set A and the questions marked with “B” to the team that selected question set B.

1A. Linus Torvalds is the inventor of what alternate, UNIX-based operating system for personal computers?

ANSWER: LINUX

1B. What word is used to describe wreckage or cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk?

ANSWER: FLOTSAM (DO NOT ACCEPT FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, as jetsam is wreckage and cargo that either sinks or washes ashore.)

2A. Who was Henry VIII’s first wife?

ANSWER: CATHERINE OF ARAGON

2B. Who wrote the novel Portrait of a Lady?

ANSWER: Henry JAMES

3A. Who wrote the plays Peer Gynt and A Doll’s House?

ANSWER: Henrik IBSEN

3B. One of Pablo Picasso’s best-known paintings is a scene from the Spanish Civil War, the bombing and strafing of what Basque village?

ANSWER: GUERNICA

4A. On the TV series Felicity, what is Felicity’s last name?

ANSWER: PORTER

4B. What is the name given to the thread-like structure that extends from some bacteria and eukaryotic organisms?

ANSWER: FLAGELLUM

Second period (continued)

5A. Also known as wood alcohol, what is the simplest of the alcohols, containing one carbon atom, three hydrogen atoms and a hydroxide ion?

ANSWER: METHANOL

5B. What term is used to describe a triangle with no three sides of equal length?

ANSWER: SCALENE

6A. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. The Earth’s diameter is 8000 square miles. A satellite in an orbit 1000 miles above the Earth must then travel how many miles in order to circle the Earth entirely?

ANSWER: 10000 PI miles (remember the diameter is increased by 2000 – 1000 for each side of the orbit)

6B. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis served together in what 1832 war in Illinois against an Indian chief who had tried to move from Iowa to Illinois?

ANSWER: BLACK HAWK war

7A. What river forms much of the border between Texas and Oklahoma?

ANSWER: RED River

7B. What poet wrote The Negro Speaks of Rivers?

ANSWER: Langston HUGHES

8A. Identify the case of “thing” in the following sentence: Bob gave me a thing of great value.

ANSWER: ACCUSATIVE

8B. What American composer is best known for his works Fanfare for the Common Man and Appalachian Spring?

ANSWER: Aaron COPLAND

Second period (continued)

9A. Campbell’s Soup cans and 15 minutes of fame are associated with what American artist?

ANSWER: Andy WARHOL

9B. What is the name of a substance used to reduce friction between two surfaces that are moving in contact with each other?

ANSWER: LUBRICANT

10A. Rickets is generally associated with a deficiency of what vitamin?

ANSWER: vitamin D

10B. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. A company has 5% of its employees leave every year, fires another 3% of its employees, and can reduce its staff by 4% through cost-cutting measures. If it started the year with 3,000 employees, how many employees will still be around at the end of the year?

ANWER: 2,640 (5%+4%+3% = 12%, 12% of 3,000 us 360, 3,000 – 3,60 = 2,640)

Third period: 15 toss-ups

1. It is of indefinite composition, contains properties of its components and can easily be separated into its components. What is the chemical term for a combination of two or more substances that has those properties, as opposed to a compound?

ANSWER: MIXTURE

2. What is the name of either of the two pandas the People’s Republic of Chinas has donated to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.?

ANSWER: MEI SHANG and TIAN TIAN (accept reasonable pronounciations)

3. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Brad and Jeff are given two pieces from a pie which is 12 inches in diameter. If only half the pie remains after they are finished, and Brad’s piece is twice the size of Jeff’s how much pie did Brad eat?

ANSWER: 12 PI SQUARE INCHES (the pie is 36PI square inches, they both ate 18PI square inches, and so therefore Brad ate 12PI and Jeff ate 6PI)

4. “On the Mountains of the Prairie / On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry / Gitche Manito, the mighty, / He the Master of Life, descending,” are the opening lines of what poem of Chippewa life and love by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow?

ANSWER: The SONG OF HIAWATHA

5. What name was given to the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong offensive of 1968 timed to coincide with, and named for, the Vietnamese New Year?

ANSWER: TET offensive

6. What Italian opera composer is known for his adaptations of Shakespearean works such as Falstaff and Otello?

ANSWER: Giuseppe VERDI

Third period (continued)

7. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. What is the derivative of the function 13x squared minus 20x plus 4?

ANSWER: 26X MINUS 20

8. What five-letter word is used to describe a technique of engraving in relief on a gem or other stone, especially with stones of different colors, or a brief but notable appearance in a dramatic work, especially by someone famous?

ANSWER: CAMEO

9. In 1896, this nation humiliated Italy at the battle of Adowa. 40 years later, the Italians got their revenge as they conquered this nation and governed it for the next five years. What was this nation, ruled by Menelik II and Haile Selassie?

ANSWER: ETHIOPIA

10. Name any one of the three periods in the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

ANSWER: TRIASSIC, JURASSIC, CRETACEOUS

11. THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Multiply the polynomials 3x + 2 (three x plus two) and x – 5 (x minus five).

ANSWER: 3x2 – 13x – 10 (three x squared minus thirteen x minus ten)

12. In what book by Sir Walter Scott are the heroines the Jewess Rebecca of York and Rowena?

ANSWER: IVANHOE

13. In August and September 1786, the rebel army stormed courthouses in Northampton and Springfield to prevent them from imprisoning debtors. However, in January 1787, when the rebel army tried to capture the Springfield arsenal, the rebellion was stopped and its leaders arrested. What was this rebellion in Massachusetts?

ANSWER: SHAYS’ REBELLION

Third period (continued)

14. According to Ohm’s Law, it is the potential difference between two points carrying a current of 1 amp with a power of 1 watt. What is this SI unit of electrical potential difference, with a symbol of V?

ANSWER: VOLT

15. When his son asked where the ram for the sacrifice was, he told him, “God will provide the ram.” He then tied up his only son on the altar, preparing to sacrifice him, as God had commanded him. However, God intervened and told him that killing his only son would not be necessary, providing a ram. Who is this Biblical patriarch, the father of Isaac?

ANSWER: ABRAHAM

Spares

THIS IS A COMPUTATION QUESTION. Soccer teams get three points for a win and one point for a draw. If a team has played 12 games, and has 18 points, how many wins does it have if they have drawn three games?

ANSWER: FIVE (5 * 3 = 15, 15 + 3 = 18)

In Animal Farm, what pig eventually seizes power, throwing Snowball off the farm?

ANSWER: NAPOLEON

He sat and fumed while dozens of suitors to his mother, Penepole, partied at his father’s expense. Who was this young man just approaching adulthood, the son of Odysseus?

ANSWER: TELEMACHUS

It is composed of living cells and is responsible for transporting sap from the leaves to other parts of a plant. What is this tissue, related to the xylem?

ANSWER: PHLOEM

Psychologist Mortimer Adler coined what two-word term which describes a persistent sense of inadequacy or a tendency towards self-diminishment?

ANSWER: INFERIORITY COMPLEX

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