VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE



VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE

2008-09 VARSITY SCHOLASTIC BOWL

MATCH 28

First period: 15 tossups, 10 points each

1. Its minor characters include a teenager named Rolf and a man named Hans Zeller, the local Gauleiter [gow-light-ur] near Salzburg, Austria. Its more important characters include the siblings Friedrich, Gretl, Kurt, Liesl [LEE-zull], Louisa, Brigitta and Marta. Name this Broadway musical whose title in Greek is The Melody of Happiness.

ANSWER: The Sound of Music

2. It can be used to link items in a list if any of the items contain commas. Name this punctuation mark, most often used to link two independent clauses, that consists of a comma underneath a period.

ANSWER: semicolon

3. The ions "thiosulfate", "hyposulfite", "silicate", "dichromate", "carbonate: and "peroxide" all share--what oxidation number?

ANSWER: -2

4. She moved from Virginia to Nebraska at a young age, where she wrote her novel about an opera singer, The Song of the Lark, and an unflattering biography of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. Name this writer whose other novels include My Antonia! and Death Comes for the Archbishop.

ANSWER: Willa Cather

5. In about 3 billion years, it will collide with the Milky Way because it is approaching the Sun at about 300 kilometers per second. Name this spiral galaxy, known as M31, that is nearest to the Milky Way but is one of the farthest objects visible to the naked eye.

ANSWER: Andromeda Galaxy

6. Current Division I college basketball head coaches Tommy Amaker [AMM-a-kur], Mike Brey, Jeff Capel [KAY-pull] and Johnny Dawkins all spent time as assistant coaches under--what legendary coach who led the U.S. men's basketball team to the 2008 Olympic gold medal between seasons at Duke University?

ANSWER: Mike Krzyzewski [sha-SHEV-skee] (accept Coach K)

7. In New Age philosophy, a strong-willed child born in recent years who seems unusually creative and may have paranormal abilities possesses an aura that is-- what color that, in the color spectrum in physics, falls between blue and violet?

ANSWER: indigo child

8. They’re useful to the body in some cases, as many schizophrenics are low in them. But to people who suffer from hay fever or allergies, they're horrible and must be dealt with in order to enjoy the great outdoors. Name this class of chemicals that is fought against in the body by taking common medications like Chlor-Trimeton or Benadryl.

ANSWER: (anti)histamines

9. The characters Sleez, Manchester Black, Titano the Ape, Solomon Grundy, General Zod and Brainiac are all arch-enemies of--what comic-book superhero who also regularly duels Bizarro, the Prankster and Lex Luthor?

ANSWER: Superman

10. He once said, "In modern business, it is not the crook who is to be feared most; it is the honest man who doesn't know what he's doing." Name this British Romantic poet who succeeded Robert Southey as Poet Laureate of England in 1843 and also said, "The child is father of the man" and "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting."

ANSWER: William Wordsworth

11. Named for the British scientist who figured out the relationship between heat and work, one of these is equal to one kilogram meter squared per second squared, or to one newton-meter. Identify this unit that is equal to about ¼ of a calorie and is the SI unit of work.

ANSWER: (James) Joule

12. Prospectors mining the Comstock Lode on Gold Hill in 1857 kept finding bluish rock in their path. Though many ignored it on the assumption that it was worthless, the town of Virginia City, Nevada was built as a result of--finding what precious metal, contained in that bluish rock?

ANSWER: silver

13. She spent part of her childhood in Oakland, California, so her remark that Oakland has no there there was based on personal experience. She later received a medal for her World War I service to France and spent most of the rest of her life there. Name this American author whose “autobiography” about the literary life of 1920's Paris bore the name of her secretary and lover, Alice B. Toklas.

ANSWER: Gertrude Stein

14. THIS IS A 10-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. A group of 5 students takes a test and receives a mean score of 70. The students scored 2x + 6, x + 19, 2x - 2, x + 24 and 2x - 17, respectively. Give the value of x.

ANSWER: 40 [sum of all 5 = 350]

15. The "Infamous Decade" of Argentina's history, the Chaco War, the wars between Italy and Ethiopia, and the Spanish Civil War all took place during--what decade of the 20th century that also saw America's "Great Depression" ?

ANSWER: 1930's

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. Name the deciduous tree whose species include "live", "red" and "white".

ANSWER: oak

1B. Name the current Governor of Florida who was on John McCain's serious Vice-Presidential list before he picked Sarah Palin.

ANSWER: Charlie Crist

2A. Which original apostle of Jesus Christ has a name still used today to mean "someone who betrays a friend" ?

ANSWER: Judas Iscariot

2B. What mystery series that appeared on the PBS TV series Masterpiece in 2008 starred Michael Kitchen as a detective in the British town of Hastings in the early 1940's?

ANSWER: Foyle's War

3A. Name the planet whose satellites include Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

ANSWER: Jupiter

3B. Name the deciduous tree whose species include American, Slippery, English and Chinese.

ANSWER: elm

4A. Name the current Governor of Minnesota who co-chaired John McCain's Presidential campaign.

ANSWER: Tim Pawlenty

4B. Give the most common French word for "horse".

ANSWER: cheval [sha-VAL]

5A. THIS IS A 20-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Simplify this algebraic expression: "4, plus 3 times the quantity (5x + 7), minus 8 times the quantity (2x - 8)."

ANSWER: -x + 89 [4 + (15x + 21) - (16x - 64)]

5B. THIS IS A 20-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Calculate the product of the two expressions (3x2 + 6x - 7) and (5x + 9).

ANSWER: 15x3 + 57x2 + 19x - 63

6A. Which Constitutional Amendment allows the children of illegal aliens to be U.S. citizens if they were born in the U.S. ?

ANSWER: 14th

6B. What famed woman, often associated with the city of Philadelphia, suggested the 5-pointed star design on the U.S. flag before she sewed one in 1777 ?

ANSWER: Betsy Ross

7A. Name the man, often associated with the city of Philadelphia, whose namesake Institute there includes an Electricity Hall and an exhibit on bifocal glasses.

ANSWER: Benjamin Franklin

7B. Name the home country of South American author Isabel Allende [eye-YEN-day].

ANSWER: Chile

8A. What mystery series that appeared on the PBS TV series Masterpiece in 2008 features Kevin Whatley as the now-promoted former partner of the late Inspector Morse?

ANSWER: Inspector Lewis

8B. Which planet's satellites include Puck, Prospero [PROSS-pa-ro], Juliet and Desdemona?

ANSWER: Uranus

9A. Identify the James Michener novel that tells about the early settlers of eastern Maryland and is named for a nearby body of water.

ANSWER: Chesapeake (Bay)

9B. Identify the Constitutional Amendment that says, "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice-President shall become President."

ANSWER: 25th Amendment

10A. THIS IS A 30-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Give the center point of the circle whose equation can be written as x2 - 8x + y2 + 4y + 4 = 0.

ANSWER: (4, -2) [(x - 4)2 + (y + 2) 2 = 16]

10B. THIS IS A 30-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. Calculate the product of the complex numbers (3 + 6i) and (-1 - 4i).

ANSWER: 21 - 18i

Third period, 15 toss-ups, 10 points each

1. He was the first to use the terms "catalyst", "halogen" and "protein". Name this 19th-century Swedish chemist who postulated the law of constant proportions and created a method of writing chemical formulas that is still used today.

ANSWER: Jons Jakob Berzelius [bur-ZAY-lee-us]

2. In Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, the brothers Ivan, Dmitri, Alyosha and Smerdyakov all have--what middle name (or "patronymic"), which is based on both their father's first name and Dostoyevsky's own first name?

ANSWER: Fyodorovich [fee-a-DOOR-a-vitch] (as both were named Fyodor)

3. His illegitimate daughter Essie made herself publicly known only after his death at age 100, shortly after his retirement from the U.S. Senate. Name this politician who actually received 39 electoral votes when he ran for President in 1948 on the ticket of the States Rights Party (or Dixiecrats).

ANSWER: Strom Thurmond

4. For the numbers 10 and 6, it is equal to 7.5 because 7.5 is the result of dividing 2 by the sum of the reciprocals 1/10 and 1/6. Identify this type of mathematical mean which, for a set of N numbers, is defined as "dividing N by the sum of the reciprocals of each number in the set".

ANSWER: harmonic mean

5. In a piece written in sonata form, it is anything after the recapitulation. Sometimes marked by a zero with two crossed lines through it, it may be played on the second time through a piece upon reaching a D.S. or D.C. Give this musical term for the end of a composition.

ANSWER: coda

6. The title character of his story Tennessee's Partner digs a grave for his friend before dying himself. Mark Twain had absolutely no use for him after Twain worked with him on the 1878 play Ah Sin. Name this 19th-century author of The Luck of Roaring Camp.

ANSWER: Bret Harte

7. Though considered obsolete in biology these days, it's still a convenient term to use when referring to hippos, rhinos and elephants. Identify this group of mammals whose Greek name means "thick skin".

ANSWER: pachyderms [PACK-a-durmz]

8. Its location and mapping were the object of voyages by Sir Martin Frobisher, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, James Cook and Henry Hudson--though none of them ever found it. Name this once-mystical water route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that was completely traveled in 1906 by explorer Roald Amundsen.

ANSWER: Northwest Passage

9. In a play, this adjective describes dialogue that explains a series of events to a character or an audience. Considered the most common type of essay written by high-school students, it may give events in chronological order, describe a situation or a place, or compare or contrast two different things. Give this 10-letter word that describes any writing meant to convey information.

ANSWER: expository writing

10. You can cause some solutions to reach this condition by increasing the temperature or pressure, such as carbonated water (which reaches this state by the increased pressure in the bottle). Give this chemical term for a solution that contains more of a solute than the solvent can typically hold.

ANSWER: supersaturated

11. Its first Paris exhibition in 1905 shocked people as much as the Impressionist exhibitions of earlier years. Identify this early 20th-century art movement, founded by (among others) Henri Matisse [on-REE ma-TEESE], whose name comes from the French for "wild beasts".

ANSWER: Fauvism [fo-vizz-um] (accept forms of the word)

12. The English words "pedagogy" [ped-a-godge-ee], "pederast" [ped-a-rast] and "pediatrician" [peed-ee-a-trish-un] all begin with the Greek root "ped" [spell out], which means--what?

ANSWER: child(ren) (reader: be somewhat generous) [prompt on "ped"]

13. THIS IS A 10-SECOND COMPUTATION QUESTION. A triangle has its three vertices at (3, 6), (9, 2) and (7, 12). In square-root form, two of its three sides have the same length. Give that length.

ANSWER: √52 (or 2√13)

14. Dreams of a Spirit Seer, Perpetual Peace, Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Judgment, and Critique of Practical Reason are among the works of-- what 18th-century German philosopher who also wrote Critique of Pure Reason?

ANSWER: Immanuel Kant

15. It supervised the European Jews on Madagascar during World War II from its location in central France. Its leader was a French hero of the Battle of Verdun who, soon after taking power as Head of State, surrendered the country to Germany. Name this regime that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

ANSWER: Vichy France

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. Three answers required! According to the 2000 U.S. census, English and Spanish are the two most commonly-spoken languages in American homes. Name any three of the six other languages that are also commonly spoken in more than a million American homes.

ANSWER: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Tagalog, Vietnamese

2. Name the monster of myth whose top part was part lion and part goat, and whose bottom part was all dragon.

ANSWER: chimera [KY-ma-ra]

3. Give the recently popular term for a high interest rate, given to risky borrowers of money.

ANSWER: subprime rate

4. What metallic element's carbonate compound is also known as "limestone" ?

ANSWER: calcium or Ca

5. What country's border with China is marked by the mountain K-2?

ANSWER: Pakistan

END OF MATCH 28

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