Quiz 14 Flashcards
In which book of the Bible will you find the story of Samson and Delilah?
Judges
In physics, what name is given to the fourth state of matter, whish displays distinct properties that are quite different from those of solids, liquids and gases?
Plasma
Because of an association with a particular piece of Handel’s music, the main character Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations is given the name Handel by his friend Herbert Pocket. Which piece of music is it?
The Harmonious Blacksmith
The peculiarly named thoroughfare Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is to be found in which English city?
York
Which two politicians’ names were combined in the work Butskellism, a term denoting a pragmatic agreement over a policy between two opposing parties?
Butler and Gaitskell
Woke up one morning half asleep, with all my blankets in a heap are the opening words of which pop song, the first ever to be played on Radio One?
Flowers in the Rain - The Move
What’s the name of the soldier with whom Tolstoy’s Anna Kerenina falls in love, their affair tragically ending in her death?
Count Vronsky
Which term for a megalith is derived from the Welsh words for Long Stone?
Menhir
In physics, which term is used to describe a particular temperature and pressure at which three different phases of one substance - normally solid, liquid and gas - can co-exist?
Triple point
The Marquis de Sillery has been credited with being the first man to ship which drink to London, some time in the 17th century?
Champagne
Decaying uranium finally becomes an isotope of which metal?
Lead
Which English racecourse at one time alternated with Silverstone as the venue for the British motor racing Grand Prix?
Aintree
Legend has it that the weather on St Swithin’s Day determines the weather for the next forty days. On which date does St Swithin’s Day fall?
July 15th
Edith Cavell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Raoul Wallenberg, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy, Dame Cicely Saunders and Aung San Suu Kyi are the eight subjects of Courage: Eight Portraits, a book published in 2007 by which politician?
Gordon Brown
Two of the best remembered poets of the First World War, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, met in 1917 whilst being treated for shell shock at which hospital in Edinburgh?
Craiglockhurst
In physics, the term Magic Numbers refers to the numbers of protons or neutrons generally present in a stable nucleus. What are the first two magic numbers?
2, 8
Thomas Gainsborough’s painting of the young Jonathan Buttall, now to be found in the Huntington Art Gallery in California, is usually known by what name?
The Blue Boy
Which incident in a Shakespeare play prompted Dr Johnson to write that he was so shocked by it that I know not whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I undertook to revise them as editor?
Death of Cordelia
Hidden beneath a layer of creamy, golden encrusted haricot beans, etc etc - This rich sounding concoction is how Elizabeth David described which rustic traditional French dish?
Cassoulet
Linus Pauling is the only man to have won two Nobel prizes in different disciplines. Which two?
Peace and Chemistry
Pianosa, an island off the west coast of Italy, is the setting for which novel first published in 1961?
Catch 22
Which English word meaning self-denying or temperate of appetite in unusual in containing all five vowels, used once each, in alphabetical order?
Abstemious
What ws the stage name of the music hall start born Goerge Edward Wade in Herne Hill in 1869, and most closely associated with the song If You Were The Only Girl In The World?
George Robey
While he was in prison for his part in a riot in the 1780, William Addis fashioned the first commercially successful example of a now common household implement, out of bone and animal hair. What implement?
Toothbrush
Ol’ Blood And Guts is a nickname associated with which US Army General of the Second World War?
George Patton
The only time tanks have been deployed against the public in mainland Britain was in Januarly 1919 in George Square, in which city?
Glasgow
The singer and broadcaster Guy Garvey fronts which British rock band?
Elbow
Although its not the state capital, which is the largest city in the US state of Nebraska?
Omaha
The Old Lady of Threadneedle St, an affectionate term for the Bank of England, was coined in a caption to a cartoon of 1797 by which satirical artist and illustrator?
James Gilray
In the 1930s, Mahatma Gandhi led a symbolic protest march against the government’s tax on which commodity?
Salt
Following the death of its composer, which unfinished opera was completed in 1926 by Franco Alfano?
Turandot
Which technological innovation, invented in 1876, was described by Ambrose Bierce as an invention of the devil with abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance?
Telephone
In a phrase coined by the 18th century poet Edward Young, what do you do if you join the great majority?
Die
In September 2008 the US government announced it was taking control of two huge mortgage companies in order to help shore up the economy. One was called Fannie Mae, what was the other called?
Freddie Mac
In 1911, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire was questioned as a suspect by French authorities investigating which major crime?
Theft of the Mona Lisa
Garralus glandarius is the latin name of which common member of the crow family?
The Jay
What is the title of Damien Hirst’s controverial artwork featuring a lamp in formaldehyde, first seen in public in 1994?
Away from the Flock
Which small type of French cake was supposedly named by Louis XV in honour of his father-in-law’s cook?
Madelaines (Paumier)
In a cultural initiative of the Austrian Presidency of the EU in 2006, typical cakes or sweetmeats from all 27 of the member countries were presented in cafes. Belgium contributed waffles, Cyprus baklava and Italy tiramisu. What was chosen to represent the UK?
Shortbread
Which five letter word, now familiar in a quite different context, is used in archeology for a monumental gateway to Egyptian temples or palaces, built in stone and usually decorated with relief figures and hieroglyphs?
Pylon
