WUHSAC VI



WUHSAC VI

Round 1

Editors: Lori Currier, Joel Gluskin, Jon Pinyan, Sean Phillips, Jay Turetzky

Writers: Lori Currier, Steve Frappier, Joel Gluskin, Brad Houston, Ryan Jacobson, Jon Pinyan, Sean Phillips, Matt Schneider, Jay Turetzky

Tossups

1. This chemical exists as a white solid and can be manufactured by heating objects such as coral, chalk, or sea shells. When this substance is mixed with water and sand, it forms the building material mortar. It is best known for its ability to react with silicates and its association with the problem of hard water. For ten points, name this chemical also known as calcium oxide.

ANS: Lime or quicklime (accept calcium oxide early)

2. Named to Oprah’s Classics Book Club, minor characters include Dubula, Mr. Carmichael, and Arthur Jarvis. Taking place in South Africa in the 1940s, it tells the story of a pastor, Stephen Kumalo, who travels to Johannesburg in order to try to find his son. Filmed in 1995 with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris playing the major roles, this is, FTP, what novel written by Alan Paton.

ANS: Cry, The Beloved Country

3. Objects that have been previously placed into the giant tank of water during this include a bottle of Log Cabin maple syrup and a 50 pound bag of unpopped popcorn. Involving Grinder Girl, Hula Hoop Girl, and a catchy song, it is really nothing more than a test of an object’s density compared to the density of water. After the object is placed into the tank, the host of the show guesses what will happen. FTP, name this game played every Friday night on the Late Show with David Letterman, adapted from the British show Is It Buoyant?.

ANS: Will It Float

4. It was mostly negotiated by Robert R. Livingston, since the U.S.’s other envoy, James Monroe, had not yet arrived when the offer was put on the table. Despite his worries over its constitutionality, Jefferson was unable to pass up adding over eight hundred thousand square miles of land for only three cents an acre. FTP, identify this 1803 land transfer that doubled the size of the United States.

ANS: Louisiana Purchase

5. Her sister, Sally Phelps, and brother-in-law Silas live just south of Pikesville in Arkansas. She strongly believes in patent medicines and uses one to try to cure her nephew’s depression, though he just fed it to the cat. The guardian of two young boys and a girl, this is FTP what bespectacled aunt of Sid, Mary, and Tom Sawyer?

ANS: Aunt Polly

6. According to the FDA, this illness has been a concern since 1986, when it was first reported in the United Kingdom. This disease is fatal, affecting the central nervous system, but the risk to humans is very minimal. The human variant of it is called Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease. FTP, identify this disease, found in cattle, discovered in Washington state in December 2003.

ANS: Mad Cow Disease (Accept: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy)

7. In his time he was not well regarded as a philosopher because he refused to accept the tenets of the ancient Greeks. In his mind, all began with doubt. Everything can be doubted, the only exception being doubt itself. From there, he reasoned the existence of God, and then the existence of the physical world. A tutor for Sweden’s Queen Christina, this is, FTP, what philosopher and mathematician whose most famous phrase is “I think, therefore I am”?

ANS: René Descartes

8. In 1895, he actually failed an exam that would have allowed him to study for a diploma as an electrical engineer in Zurich, Switzerland. Soon after, he renounced his German citizenship and became a Swiss citizen. He turned down the Presidency of Israel, and won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work done on the photoelectric effect. FTP, name this founder of relativity.

ANS: Albert Einstein

9. Legend has it that the sapphire amulet found when his tomb was opened in 1000 AD contained hairs of the Virgin Mary. According to his biographer, Einhard, he spoke both Latin and Greek, and was exceptionally tall. FTP, name this first Holy Roman Emperor, who ruled France from 768 to 814 AD, the son of Pepin the Short and the grandson of Charles Martel.

ANS: Charlemagne or Charles the Great

10. Pictures of it are always of the right profile, because a left-facing profile would reveal a missing eye. In surprisingly good shape for being 3,400 years old, it is housed in a German museum that denies that it is defaming Egypt’s history. The corpse of the person it depicts was allegedly discovered last year. FTP, identify this sculpture subject, the wife of Akhenaten (ah-ken-AH-ton).

ANS: The Bust of Nefertiti

11. He has the second-longest hitting streak in Albuquerque Dukes history at 25 games, but he’s made his mark in the major leagues as well. After five All-Star appearances with the Dodgers, he was traded twice during 1998, the second trade sending Preston Wilson to the Marlins. The 1993 Rookie of the Year, he played a few games in late 2003 at first base, which many think will eventually be the position of, FTP, this current New York Mets catcher.

ANS: Mike Piazza

12. After the death of his father, his mother, Gilraen, took him into hiding, and he was known as Estel. Eventually his foster-father told him the truth of his lineage, and he traveled to the south, serving under Ecthelion and Thengel. It is he who captures Gollum and takes him to the elves for imprisonment, though he later escapes. FTP, identify this man, Isildur’s Heir and King of Gondor at the end of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.

ANS: Aragorn II or Strider or Elessar Telcontar

13. He studied law in England, then returned to India to practice for two years before he left for South Africa on a one year contract to do legal work. He stayed there for 21 years, fighting for Indian rights, and developed his ideology of nonviolent protest. FTP, name this Indian nationalist whose most famous action may have been his fast in 1948 to stop the violence between Hindus and Muslims of India and Pakistan.

ANS: Mahatma or Mohandas Gandhi (Prompt on Gandhi)

14. Pencil and Paper Ready; you will have 10 seconds to complete the following math problem. On the planet Hydroterra, the inhabitants use an unusual monetary system. Two bricks are worth ten cones, eight raisins are worth twenty acorns, and one acorn is worth two cones. FTP, how many raisins is one brick worth?

ANS: 1

15. Heterotrophs use it to release energy stored in the bonds of glucose and depending on the organism, it creates either 36 or 38 ATP molecules. Its steps include glycolysis, the citric-acid cycle, and the electron transport chain. FTP, identify this process, part of whose name also describes the process of breathing.

ANS: Cellular Respiration

16. It is said that he caused his subjects great distress as a result of his severe policies, so they asked the gods for a zikru, or an answer, to their problem. The gods obliged, sending Enkidu, a wild man, to act as a balance for this king. The two became the best of friends and went on many adventures together, slaying such monsters as Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. FTP, who was this ruler of Uruk, a city in Mesopotamia, about whom an epic was written?

ANS: Gilgamesh

17. Because of a spoken-word CD she released, a judge found she had standing to bring a recent lawsuit. She and her husband Raymond had been working quietly with the local chapter of the NAACP for some time before December 1, 1955, when she rocketed to national attention. FTP, identify this woman who helped spawn the Civil Rights Movement by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus.

ANS: Rosa Parks

18. He was invited to teach at the National Music Conservatory in New York, and, while traveling in America, wrote his most famous symphony. In 1894, he returned home and the Czechs honored him as an elder statesman of culture, while the Austrians made him a senator. FTP, identify this composer, most famous for his Symphony No. 9: From the New World.

ANS: Antonin Dvorak

19. She says, “I hate careless people,” while driving recklessly. She appears to have some sort of relationship with the narrator, though she tells him she has a boyfriend. Atypical for a female in the early 20th century, she plays golf and wears her hair short. She introduces the narrator to the title character at a party in West Egg. FTP, name this lady friend of Nick’s in The Great Gatsby.

ANS: Jordan Baker (accept either)

20. Among this state’s popular attractions is an ancient skyscraper, built in 1350, that contains an 11-room house and is called Casa Grande. It was also home to the first modern rodeo, which took place in Prescott in 1888. FTP, identify this state better known for its Saguaro (pronounced suh WAHR oh) cactus and the Grand Canyon.

ANS: Arizona

21. It’s named for the Massachusetts doctor who discovered it in 1942. The doctor published a report about men with enlarged breasts and an inability to produce sperm. It is one of the most common genetic abnormalities, affecting 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000 male births. This is, FTP, what genetic disorder, in which a male has an extra sex chromosome, XXY instead of the usual XY arrangement.

ANS: Klinefelter’s Syndrome

Bonii

1. Given the punishment meted out to sinners in Dante’s Inferno, and the sin it punishes, FTPE, name the circle.

a) Tossed about by searing winds; Second Circle

ANS: Lust

b) Buried in tombs of fire; Sixth Circle

ANS: Heresy

c) Frozen in a giant block of ice; Ninth Circle

ANS: Treason

2. Pencil and Paper Ready. FTPE, calculate the following trigonometry values. You will have 10 seconds for each part.

a) Sin(pi/4) (Read: sine of pi over four)

ANS: Square Root of Two Over Two

b) Sec(pi/3) (Read: secant of pi over three)

ANS: Two

c) Cos(pi/6)*Csc(3 pi/4) (Read: Cosine of pi over six times the cosecant of three pi over four)

ANS: Square Root of Six Over Two

3. FTSNOP, identify the term relating to acid-base chemistry.

a) (5 pts) This number is defined as the negative log base 10 of the proton concentration of a solution.

ANS: pH

b) (10 pts) This is any substance that accepts protons from solution.

ANS: Arrhenius base

c) (15 pts) This acid is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid, and is able to dissolve gold.

ANS: Aqua Regia

4. FTPE, name the following having to do with the French Revolution.

a) On July 14, 1789, crowds stormed and took this prison in Paris. The prison’s governor was bayoneted, and then his head was paraded on a pike.

ANS: the Bastille

b) Named for its inventor, a member of the Revolutionary Assembly, this device was created with the intention of providing a more humane way of executing criminals. It was used to behead Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, among many others.

ANS: the Guillotine

c) Appointed public accuser in 1791, he reigned over the Terror until he too went to the guillotine in 1794 on the tenth of Thermidor.

ANS: Maximilien Marie Isidore de Robespierre

5. Given a celebrity’s real name, identify their professional name (for example if we gave you Alicia Bridges, you would respond with Pink), FTSNOP.

a) (5 pts) Marshall Mathers III

ANS: Eminem

b) (10 pts) Curtis Jackson

ANS: 50 Cent (also accept “Fitty Cent”)

c) (15 pts) Michael Douglas

ANS: Michael Keaton

6. Answer the following questions about the 2003 Tony Awards FTSNOP.

a) (5 pts) Harvey Fierstein won Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in this musical

ANS: Hairspray

b) (10 pts) Brian Dennehy and Vanessa Redgrave won Best Actor and Actress in a Play for this work by Eugene O’Neill

ANS: Long Day’s Journey Into Night

c) (15 pts) The winner for Best Play was this work, featuring the story of a gay baseball player

ANS: Take Me Out

7. Identify the following about The Canterbury Tales.

a) The tales were written by this author.

ANS: Geoffrey Chaucer

b) This pilgrim tells the story of a knight of King Arthur’s Court who must discover what it is that a woman most wants.

ANS: the Wife of Bath

c) This pilgrim tells a story about three men who each seek to kill the others that they may have all of a treasure.

ANS: the Pardoner

8. Identify the following early explorers of the Americas from clues FTPE.

a) This English explorer claimed New York City for the Dutch before eventually disappearing in the bay that bears his name.

ANS: Henry Hudson

b) This Italian sailing for England discovered Newfoundland and laid the basis for English claims to Canada. His son Sebastian was also an explorer.

ANS: John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto

c) This French explorer sailed up the St. Lawrence River and paved the way for French exploration and claims.

ANS: Jacques Cartier

9. Answer the following questions about the physics of light FTPE.

a) The name given to a small bundle or quantum of electromagnetic energy. It is used when describing the particle-like behavior of electromagnetic waves (including light waves).

ANS: Photon

b) It is a phenomenon by which wavefronts of propagating waves bend in the neighborhood of obstacles.

ANS: Diffraction

c) This is the interaction of two or more waves at the same point. It can be either constructive or destructive.

ANS: Interference

10. I’ll give you a state and you tell me its largest city FTSNOP. In all of these answers, the state capital will not be the largest city.

a) (5 pts) Illinois

ANS: Chicago

b) (10 pts) Nebraska

ANS: Omaha

c) (15 pts) Connecticut

ANS: Bridgeport

11. On January 9, 2004, the government lowered the terror alert level after raising it on December 21, 2003. Answer the following questions about these events FTPE.

a) After January 9, 2004, what color was the alert level?

ANS: Yellow

b) Between December 21, 2003 and January 9, 2004, what color did the alert level become?

ANS: Orange

c) The change in color levels was announced by this man, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

ANS: Tom Ridge

12. Answer the following questions about the life of Upton Sinclair, FTPE.

a) This most famous novel depicts the horrors of the Chicago meat packing industry.

ANS: The Jungle

b) Sinclair ran for the governorship of this state in 1934.

ANS: California

c) Sinclair wrote eleven historical novels about this same character, this first of which was World’s End.

ANS: Lanny Budd (accept either answer)

13. Given a Presidential winner and year, identify the second place finisher FTPE.

a) James Buchanan, 1856.

ANS: John C. Frémont

b) Franklin Roosevelt, 1936.

ANS: Alf Landon

c) Woodrow Wilson, 1916.

ANS: Charles Evans Hughes

14. Answer the following questions about the building block of human life, FTSNOP.

a) FFPE, name all 4 main nitrogenous bases of DNA.

ANS: Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine (prompt on A, C, T, and G)

b) FFPE, name both the one DNA base not present in RNA, and the base used in place of it in RNA.

ANS: Thymine, Uracil

15. Pencil and Paper Ready. You are given the equation 78 equals thirteen Y plus 39 X. Answer the following questions about the line created by the equation FTPE. You will have 10 seconds for each part.

a) What is the slope of this line?

ANS: -3

b) What is the Y-intercept of this line?

ANS: 6

c) What is the X-intercept of this line?

ANS: 2

16. Answer the following about A Raisin in the Sun, FTPE.

a) The play was written by this female playwright.

ANS: Lorraine Hansberry

b) The title comes from a poem by this Harlem Renaissance writer.

ANS: Langston Hughes

c) The story surrounds this family living in Chicago.

ANS: Younger Family

17. FTPE, name the city in which you would find the original versions of these works of art:

a) The Scream, by Edvard Munch (moonk)

ANS: Oslo, Norway

b) Mona Lisa, as well as The Venus de Milo

ANS: Paris, France

c) The Elgin (el-jin) Marbles, also known as The Parthenon Marbles

ANS: London, England

(The 2004 Athens Olympic Committee is trying to get them back)

18. Given the number of moons that a planet has, name the planet FTSNOP.

a) (5 points) 2

ANS: Mars

b) (10 points) 8

ANS: Neptune

c) (15 points) 15

ANS: Uranus

19. The State of Texas certainly has more than its fair share of people. As a matter of fact, five cities in Texas rank among the 25 most populous cities in the United States. FFPE identify those five cities as well as the sixth largest in Texas.

ANS: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth

20. FTSNOP, answer the following about a region in the Middle East.

a) FTP, this two-word term describes the region, now mostly in Iraq, in which it is believed that civilization was born.

ANS: the Fertile Crescent

b) The Fertile Crescent lies between these two rivers. Name them FFPE.

ANS: the Tigris and the Euphrates

c) FTP, this is the Greek name for the region, which can be translated as “the land between the rivers.”

ANS: Mesopotamia

21. FTPE, identify Kant’s three Critiques. The first and second were of two types of Reason, and the third was of what Kant believed one could do after having completed these types of reasoning.

ANS: Critique of Pure Reason, Practical Reason, and Judgment

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