Mastermind GK Set A Flashcards
Which bravery award was originally made from the metal of guns captured at Sevastopol during the Crimean War?
Victoria Cross
Which is the first county the River Severn flows through on entering England?
Shropshire
Which work, based on thirteenth century Latin secular poems, was set to music in 1937 by Carl Orff
Carmina Burana
Who entered parliament as MP for Doncaster North in 2005?
Ed Milliband
Desiríee is a red-skinned, yellow-fleshed variety of which vegetable?
Potato
The actress Ellen Andree and the engraver Marcellin Desboutin were the sitters for which painting by Degas, in which they are featured sitting in a bar
The Absinthe Drinkers
What is the name of the palace the Frederick the Great of Prussia had built at Potsdam between 1745 and 1747?
Sans Souci
Which religious movement grew out of a Bible study group formed by Charles Taze Russell in Pittsburgh in the 1870s, and took its current name in 1931?
Jehovah’s Witnesses
In chess, Fianchetto is a term for the development of which piece?
Bishop
Who was the first presenter of the TV programme Question Time
Robin Day
Spider, Squirrel Proboscis and Rhesus are species of which animal?
Monkey
The plot of which early Shakespeare comedy is based on the enmity between the towns of Syracuse and Ephesus?
A Comedy of Errors
Which word for the building in a sports ground in which players change their clothes and store their equipment comes ultimately from the Latin for a butterfly?
Pavilion
The British astrophysicist Fred Hoyle was a leading proponent of which theory of the universe that argues it has always existed in more or less the same form (with new matter being continuously created as it expands)?
Steady State Theory
Which film did the Coen Brothers remake in 2010 with Jeff Bridges playing Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn?
True Grit
In horse-racing, what is the name of the sharp left hand final bend on the Epsom Derby course?
Tattenham Corner
What term, used to describe the virtual reality created by computers, was coined by the science fiction writer William Gibson and popularised in his 1984 novel Neuromancer?
Cyberspace
Mahe Island is the largest of which archipelago in the Indian Ocean?
Seychelles
Which British band was formed in Birmingham in 1978 by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes?
Duran Duran
Which anti-pollution component of a car usually consists of a ceramic structure coated with a blend of platinum, rhodium and palladium?
Catalytic Convertor
The furniture designer Robert Thompson used what small rodent as his signature?
Mouse
What is the title of Shelagh Delaney’s first play, written when she was nineteen and set in her native Salford?
A Taste Of Honey
Which former Portuguese colony in Africa joined the commonwealth in 1995, the same year as Cameroon
Mozambique
What abbreviation of the Latin for “and others” is used especially in referring to academic texts that have more than one author?
Et al
Which spice consists of the unopened dried flower buds of a tropical evergreen tree of the myrtle family?
Cloves
In classical mythology, who is the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Mars
Ares
Which decimal coin was only in circulation from 1971 until 31 December 1984 (when it ceased to be legal tender)?
Half penny
The American anthem “My Country Tis Of Thee” is usually sung to which other well-known patriotic tune?
God Save The Queen
In which group of animals are young born prematurely, completing their development attached to teats usually covered by a pouch on their mother’s belly?
Marsupials
What term is widely used in the press for the police tactic of confining demonstrators for a long time, as used in the 2010 tuition fees protests?
Kettling
Seasonal allergic rhinitis, frequently caused by pollen, is commonly known by what name?
Hayfever
Which Italian fashion house uses the head of Medusa as its trademark
Versace
The price of crude oil from which North Sea field is widely used as a benchmark in Europe and the OPEC countries
Brent
In the TV Series The West Wing, who plays President Josiah Bartlett
Martin Sheen
Which relative of the giraffe is found only in the forests of central Africa, and was unknown to Europeans until around 1900?
Okapi
Which cocktails is made with vodka, lime juice, triple sec, and cranberry juice
Cosmopolitan
The mountain K2 gets its name because it was the second peak to be surveyed in which mountain range between the Pamirs and the Himalyas?
Karakoram
Which former leader of a political party had previously served as a Royal Marines Officer from 1959 to 1972?
Paddy Ashdown
In the Divine Comedy, which Roman poet conducted Dante through Hell and Purgatory?
Virgil
Which northern English city lies at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Fosse?
York
Which explorer let the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition which left England on the ship Endurance in August 1914?
Shackleton
The Parthenon was the chief temple of which Greek goddess?
Athena
Which hormone, secreted by the outer layer of the adrenal glands, has been synthesised and used as an anti-inflammatory agent for rheumatic arthritis and other ailments?
Cortisone
Which Yorkshire and England cricketer was the first bowler to take 300 test wickets?
Fred Trueman
Which woodwind instrument is described in the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as “the ill wind that no-one blows good”
Oboe
The name of which type of ceramic comes from the Italian for “Cowie shell” and was used by Marco Polo to describe the pottery he saw in China?
Porcelain
Which Irish poet’s first full volume of poetry, published in 1966, was called “Death of a Naturalist”
Seamus Heaney
What name was given to the speculative boom, centred on a company set up to trade with South America, whose collapse in 1720 ruined many British investors
South Sea Bubble
Which American director and screenwriter’s films include The Elephant Man and Dune
David Lynch
In 1981, which University Dramatic Club was the first winner of the Edinburgh Festival comedy award, with a review that featured Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie
Cambridge Footlights
The name of which small nocturnal lizard comes from the Malay imitation of its distinctive cry?
Gecko
“Noble rot” is a form of fungus that can affect which fruit, shrivelling it rather than actually rotting it?
Grapes
Which sea is bounded on the south by Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, and on the west by Central Amercia?
Caribbean
Which state was represented in the American Senate by John F Kennedy and his brother Edward?
Massacheusetts
In 1877, Spencer Gore became the first winner of which sporting championship?
Wimbledon
Which mathematician, who died in mid-thirteenth century, was also known as Leonardo of Pisa?
Fibonacci
Toxicology is the scientific study of what?
Poisons
In The Phantom of the Opera, what is the first name of the young soprano, originally played on stage by Sarah Brightman?
Christine
Which stately home in Wiltshire stands on the site of a ruined priory bought by Sir John Thynne in 1541 for the sum of fifty-three pounds?
Longleat
For cars registered on or after March 1 2001, the rate of vehicle excise duty bands are based on the type of fuel and what other criterion?
CO2 emissions
In pantomime, who was famously leaving London when he heard the bells telling him to “turn again”?
Dick Whittington
What is the name of Milan’s world-famous Opera House, which opened in August 1778 after the previous theatre had been destroyed by fire?
La Scala
The monitor, which can range in length from twenty centimetres to three meters, is a genus of which reptile?
Lizard
Who was born in Putney in 1485, and rose from a humble background to become Henry VIII’s chief advisor from about 1531 to his fall in 1540?
Thomas Cromwell
The name of which variety of pasta, normally served stuffed, literally means ‘big tubes’ or ‘pipes’?
Canneloni
In which city does Robert Adam’s Pulteney Bridge cross the River Avon?
Bath
Which film, based on a novel about a Vermeer painting, features Scarlett Johansson in the title role?
Girl With A Pearl Earring
In which organ of the body is bile produced?
Liver
At which golf course does the US Masters tournament take place during the first full week in April?
Augusta
In Greek myth, which Titan was forced to carry the sky on his shoulders as a punishment for taking part in a war against the Olympian gods?
Atlas
The chairman of which committee oversees Conservative Party leadership elections?
1922 Committee
Which science fiction writer’s first law of robotics is: “A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm”?
Isaac Asimov
In geology, what name, of Spanish origin, is given to a large crater formed by the collapse of the central part of a volcano after eruption?
Caldera
Which classic Bruce Springsteen song begins with the line, “In the day we sweated it out on the streets of a runaway American dream”?
Born To Run
Which soldier and statesman is credits with being the founder of the modern Turkish state? He became the first President of the Turkish Republic in 1923
Mustafa Kamal Attaturk
The forerunner of which cult radio comedy series, broadcast in 1951, was called Those Crazy People
The Goons
What term for a dealer in illicit alcohol, especially during Prohibition in America, is said to come from the place where illegal flasks of alcohol were concealed by early traders?
Bootlegger
Which sea creature is embedded in formaldehyde in Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility Of Death In The Mind Of Someone Living?
Shark
Which landlocked West African country has a name that approximately translates as “Land of incorruptible People” or “Land of Worthy Men”?
Burkino Faso
In Roman numerals, what letter represents the number 500?
D
Which of Shakespeare’s comedies has a heroine named Hero?
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Which anti-crime scheme was established in Britain after a group of police officers visited Chicago in 1982
Neighbourhood Watch
Which small marine creatures make up the genus hippocampus
Sea horses
Particularly associated with New York Jewish cuisine, which meat is commonly spiced to make the commonest version of pastrami?
Beef
In the film Sylvia, which poet was played by Daniel Craig, who starred opposite Gwyneth Paltrow?
Ted Hughes
With whom did Sir Isaac Newton have an increasingly bitter dispute with as to which of them should take credit for the invention of calculus?
Leibnitz
In which sport has Doggett’s Coat and Badge been competed for annually since 1715 (in one of the world’s oldest continuing races)
Rowing/Sculling
During the Spanish Civil War, the Nationist General Emilo Mola Vidal is credited with coining what term for a clandestine force of subversive agents?
Fifth Column
What name is given to the sleeveless outer vestment worn by priests and bishops of the Roman Catholic and some other churches while presiding at Mass or Holy Communion?
Chusable
Which country’s flag consists of a blue cross outlined in white on a red background with the vertical part of the cross shifted to the hoist side?
Norway
Which elite military unit was founded by the Scots Guard officer David Stirling in 1941
SAS
In horseracing, which jockey rode all seven winners in a meeting at Ascot in September 1996?
Frankie Dettori
The internal angles of any quadrilateral add up to how many degrees?
360
The the TV series Star Trek, what was the name of the Communications Officer on board the original Starship Enterprise, played by Nichelle Nichols?
Uhura
New York State lies on one side of Niagra Falls; which Canadian province lies on the other?
Ontario
Which former lawyer, now a bestselling writer of legal thrillers, served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990?
John Grisham
In English business law, what name is given to the insolvency process whereby a company’s debts are frozen while a rescue package is attempted by a person appointed by the court to take over the company?
Administration
Who said, on becoming Prime Minister in 1868, “I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole”?
Disreali
Which small fruit, that resembles an orange and originated in China, can be eaten whole as the rind is edible?
Kumquat
Which form on musical composition has a name derived from the past participle of the Italian verb meaning “to sound”?
Sonata
The name of which member of the cat family native to Central and South America comes from a Tup-Guarani word for any large carnivore?
Jaguar
Which influential Post-Impressionist artist once said that, “For an impressionist to pain from nature is not to paint the subject, but to realise sensations”?
Cezanne
What word for a large lorry comes from a stature of the god Krishna which is dragged through the streets on a heavy wagon during an annual festival at Puri in India?
Juggernaut
Which 1998 film stars Jim Carrey as an insurance agent whose life has been recorded on TV without his knowledge?
The Truman Show
What expression for noble descent comes from the spanish “sangre azul” and is thought to derive from the visible veins of pale skinned aristocracy?
Blue blooded
Which number puzzle first appeared in its modern form in a New York magazine in 1979 under the title “Number Place” before reappearing in Japan in 1984?
Sudoku
Which City of London institution is based at 10 Paternoster Square?
Stock Exchange
In which musical does the character Grizabella (originally sung by Elaine Paige) sing “Memory”?
Cats
Ludwig II, who was known as Mad King Ludwig, ruled which German state from 1864 to 1886?
Bavaria
What is the title of the allegorical fourteenth century poem usually attributed to William Langland?
The Visions Of Piers Plowman
What acid is secreted in to the stomach by the parietal cells, also known asthe oxyntic cells?
Hydrochloric
Which country co-hosted the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup along with India and Sri Lanka?
Bangladesh
Which bitter extract from the leaves of the plant Artemisia absinthium is an important ingredient in the flavouring of absinthe
Wormwood
Which name of Old French or Middle Dutch origin is given to an anchored float that serves as a navigation mark?
Bouy
The radio series The Archers is set in which fictional county?
Borsetshire
The name of which Norwegian army officer, who collaborated with the Nazis during WW2 has become a synonym for a traitor
Quisling
What answer did the French social thinker Pierre-Joseph Proudhon give to the question he posed in Chapter One of his work What Is Property?
Theft
Which small South Atlantic island group, a dependency of St Helena, is named after the Portuguese sailor who discovered it in 1506
Tristan de Cunha
In 1878, which soul singer became the first woman to be admitted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?
Aretha Franklin
In 1994, the Globe Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue was renamed in honour of which famous actor (as well as to avoid confusion with the reconstructed Shakespearean theatre)
Gielgud
The modern name of which planet comes from the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty?
Venus
Which bank was brought down by the dealings of the ‘rogue trader’ Nick Leeson
Barings
Who presented the programme Time Team and the series The Worst Jobs In History
Tony Robinson
Which animal was unknown in the west until 1869, when the French missionary Armand David obtained some furs?
Panda
The name of which orphan, created by the American novelist Eleanor H Porter, is now used for anyone of a particular sunny and optimistic disposition?
Pollyanna
Which American state is known as The Green Mountain State?
Vermont
Which jazz trumpeter recorded the albums Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain?
Mile Davis
According to the Bible, what is the name of the hill in Jerusalem on which the existing Jesubite fortress became King David’s royal capital?
Mount Zion
In Indian cuisine, what is the characteristic feature of the meat in a dish described as Keema
Minced
What description of the English was used by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations and has also been attributed to Napoleon?
A nation of shopkeepers
In which par of the body in the brachial artery found?
Arm
The Clore Gallery, an extension to what is now Tate Britain, was built to hold the works of which British artist?
Turner
In heraldry, what name is given to an X shaped cross usually occupying the entire field in which it is placed
Saltire
As part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the german company Bayer was made to surrender the brand name of which common painkilling drug to the Allies?
Aspirin
Which English football team, founded in 1862, claims to be the world’s oldest surviving professional Football League club?
Notts County
Which South American Republic derives its name from an Italian city after european explorers observed indian villages on stilts over water?
Venezuela
What name is given to the plant disease caused by fungi which produce a dusty white surface, particularly on leaves?
Mildew
What is the name of the top film award at the Cannes Film Festival?
Palm D’Or
What nickname was Margaret Thatcher given when she ended free school milk for the over sevens as Secretary of State for Education in 1971?
Milk Snatcher
In which ballet, with music by Tchaikovsky, has Odette been turned into a bird by the magician Rothbart?
Swan Lake
What name is given to the two instances each year when the Sun is exactly above the equator, making the day and night equal in length?
Equinox
Which French author wrote The Second Sex, which became a classic of feminist literature when it was published in 1953?
Simone de Beauvoir
Which cocktail of Mexican origin is made from tequila, an orange liqueur and lime or lemon juice? It is typically drunk from a glass whose rim has been coated with salt.
Margarita
In Greek mythology, the minotaur had the body of a man and the head of which creature?
Bull
Which album by the Rolling Stones, released in 1968, includes the tracks Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man
Beggar’s Banquet
Which painting by Velasquez, completed in 1635, shows the symbolic handing over of the keys of a Dutch city to the victorious Spanish army after a siege?
The Surrender of Breda
Anosmia is a loss of which of the senses?
Smell
In April 1998, which Northern Line underground station was reopened by the team of the BBC Radio Four game show I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue?
Mornington Crescent
Jack Slipper, known as Slipper Of The Yard, was particularly famous for his pursuit of which escaped criminal?
Ronnie Biggs
Who scored 766 runs during the 2010-2011 Ashes series in Australia, the second-highest total by any English batsman in a Test series?
Alistair Cook
Squire Tremawney and Benn Gunn are characters in which novel by Robert Louis Stevenson?
Treasure island
In 1864, which Prime Minister was responsible for the repeal of the Corn Laws that had restricted imports of grain?
Rober Peel
In which hit song for The Kinks does Terry meet Julie ‘every Friday night’?
Waterloo Sunset
Dutch is the official language of which South American republic?
Suriname
Which fish hatch in the Sargasso Sea, the larvae turning into immature adults as they are carried by current across the Atlantic before entering British rivers?
Eels
In 1903, Frenchman Maurice Garin became the first winner of which annual sporting contest?
Tour de France
What word that means “the act of throwing someone out of a window” is associated with an act that occurred in Prague in 1618?
Defenstration
Who played secret agent Harry Palmer in a trilogy of films in the 1960s?
Michael Caine
In computing, what does the acronym RAM stand for?
Random Access Memory
Which impressionist, noted for his admiration of the female form, said, “I never think I have finished a nude until I think I could pinch it”?
Renoir
In Greek mythology, which monster terrorised the Thebans by asking them a riddle and devouring them when they could not answer it?
The Sphinx
Which television hospital drama series was created by the novelist Michael Crichton?
ER
Which organ of the body is affected by hepatitis?
Liver
In which novel had the language “Newspeak” been invented to meet the ideological needs of “Ingsoc”, or English Socialism?
1984
Which town, now a city, was bypassed by the first stretch of motorway to be opened in Britain in 1958
Preston
On which musical instrument was Yehudi Menuhin a virtuoso performer?
Violin
Who was the chairman of the British Railways Board from 1961 to 1965, and gave his name to the plan under when Britain’s railway mileage was substantially reduced?
Dr Beeching
Which word for a plan of action designed to achieve an overall aim comes from a Greek word meaning “generalship”?
Strategy
The mouflon, native to Corsica and Sardinia, is a small wild form of which farm animal?
Sheep
In Sickness And In Health was the sequel to which television comedy series?
Till Death Us Do Part
What adjective meaning “disdainfully superior in manner” comes from the Latin for “eyebrow”?
Supercilious
What is the lightest chemical element?
Hydrogen
Sabres and Epees are types of which weapon?
Swords
In 1931, Sir Edward Elgar conducted “Land Of Hope And Glory” at the opening of which recording studios in St John’s Wood in London?
Abbey Road
In Islam, what name is given to the prophet Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina in 622?
Hejira
Which shipping forecast area off the easy coast of Scotland gets its name from the approximate depth in fathoms of its seabed?
Forties
In which part of the body are the cuboid and cuneiform bones?
Foot
Which novel by James Jones, about the experiences of a serviceman in Hawaii just before the attack on Pearl Harbour was made into an award-winning film starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr and Frank Sinatra?
From Here To Eternity
In which country did the WW2 battle of El Alamein take place?
Egypt
Which spicy soup originated in India and takes its name from the Tamil for “pepper water”?
Mulligatawny
DE is the Internet code abbreviation for which country?
Germany
Who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his consort Sophie in June 1914, triggering The Great War?
Gavrilo Princip
Which musical direction denoting a moderately slow tempo, literally means “going” in Italian
Andante
Which desert has a name meaning “waterless place” in Mongolian?
Gobi
Which Shakespearean character has been played on film by Sir Laurence Olivier in 1948 and Mel Gibson in 1990?
Hamlet
The battles of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenaarde and Malplaquet were principle engagements in which war?
Spanish Succession
Who played Mr Spock in the original Star Trek TV series?
Leonard Nimoy
In which city, the place of his birth, are most of the surviving works of the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh?
Glasgow
Who won the Whitbread Award for a first novel with Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
Jeanette Winterson
What name is given to the salted belly of pork that is an important ingredient in Italian cooking and is very similar to streaky bacon?
Pancetta
In Ancient Greece, which city-state in the southern Peloponnese was characterised by its rigorous military discipline?
Sparta
Which series of eight engravings by William Hogarth details the decline of a spendthrift young man?
The Rake’s Progress
