Quiz 33

Question 1

In the 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo set before and during the First World War, what is the name of the animal known as the War Horse?

Answer 1

Joey

Question 2

The sentence “Colourless green ideas sleep furiously” was invented by which theoretical linguist to demonstrate that a sentence can be grammatically correct, but completely meaningless?

Answer 2

Noam Chomsky

Question 3

The first five chapters of which novel by HG Wells are entitled respectively: The Strange Man’s Arrival, Mr Teddy Henfrey’s First Impressions, The Thousand And One Bottles, Mr Cuss Interviews The Stranger and The Burglary At The Vicarage?

Answer 3

The Invisible Man

Question 4

Arizona’s Grand Canyon is the result of millions of years of erosion by which river?

Answer 4

Colorado

Question 5

The 18th and 19th century artists Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman are most closely associated with which artistic medium?

Answer 5

Watercolours

Question 6

Which innovative French film director was responsible for the films J’Accuse in 1918, La Roue in 1922 and what is most often regarded as his masterpiece, Napoleon, in 1927?

Answer 6

Abel Gance

Question 7

Which scientific process involves the lowering in temperature of a saturated solution without crystallization taking place, which then leads to the formulation of a super-saturated solution?

Answer 7

Supercooling

Question 8

Which of the shipping forecast areas of British coastal waters shares its name with the state capital of Delaware?

Answer 8

Dover

Question 9

The Ruffian on the Stair, first broadcast in 1964, is a radio play by which English playwright, who died in 1967?

Answer 9

Joe Orton

Question 10

One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in London, and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, are among the designs of which Argentinian born American architect?

Answer 10

Cesar Pelli

Question 11

What middle name is shared by the former Conservative politician William Hague and the former US President Bill Clinton?

Answer 11

Jefferson

Question 12

The Mercedes-Benz Museum on Mercedestrasse and the Porsche Museum on Porscheplatz are in which major German city?

Answer 12

Stuttgart

Question 13

Which meteorological instrument was the invention of the 17th century Italian scientist Evangelista Torricelli?

Answer 13

Barometer

Question 14

The member of the animal kingdom thought to have the longest life span of any on Earth, with some specimens thought to be 400 years old, Arctica islandica, is a species belonging to which phylum of invertebrates?

Answer 14

Clam

Question 15

In which US state is the vast majority of Yellowstone National Park?

Answer 15

Wyoming

Question 16

The writer JB Priestly, the composer Frederick Delius and the painter David Hockney were all born in which city?

Answer 16

Bradford

Question 17

Who or what is the Witch of Agnesi?

Answer 17

Mathematical curve

Question 18

The last prosecution for witchcraft in the UK took place in which decade?

Answer 18

1940s

Question 19

What are the coronaria dextra and the conoraria sinistra?

Answer 19

Arteries

Question 20

Which region of France is formed by the delta between the Grand Rhone and the Petit Rhone?

Answer 20

Camargue

Question 21

In Boswell’s Life of Johnson, which vegetable is being described when physicians in England advise it should be well sliced, and pressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out as good for nothing?

Answer 21

Cucumber

Question 22

At which summer Olympic games did Dick Fosbury win the gold medal in the high jump - using his revolutionary Fosbury Flop technique - to set a new Olympic record of 2.24m?

Answer 22

Mexico 68

Question 23

Between the late 1880s and the early 1900s, which major philanthropist oversaw a survey with the umbrella title of Inquiry Into The Life And Labour Of The People Of London?

Answer 23

Charles Booth

Question 24

The name of which French physicist was given to the radiation he first observed given off by uranium compounds in 1896, the emissions now being distinguished as alpha, beta and gamma rays?

Answer 24

Antoine Henri Becquerel

Question 25

In which American city would you find the Mystics basketball team, the Nationals baseball team and the Capitals ice hockey team?

Answer 25

Washington DC

Question 26

In 1782, the English portrait painter George Romney met his muse, and went on to paint over fifty portraits of her as various historical or mythological figures. Who was she?

Answer 26

Emma Hamilton

Question 27

A Streetcar Named Desire and Death Of A Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in consecutive years, in which decade?

Answer 27

1940s

Question 28

Cullet is a waste version, with impurities, of which material?

Answer 28

Glass

Question 29

The Reverend David Railton, latterly a vicar in Margate, is credited with the idea for what, inspired by his time serving as a chaplain in the First World War?

Answer 29

Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

Question 30

In Hindu thought, what are the Krita Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dwapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga?

Answer 30

Epochs

Question 31

Which Ukrainian cossack leader is the title character of an historical tale by Nikolai Gogol and a rhapsody for orchestra by Janacek?

Answer 31

Taras Bulba

Question 32

Although it’s changed location a few times, which great New York City jazz venue was to be found during its heyday, between 1949 and 1965, at 1678 Broadway?

Answer 32

Birdland

Question 33

What is the occupation of Mr Sludge in an 1864 poem by Robert Browning?

Answer 33

Medium

Question 34

The Spanish name for the percussion instruments known in English as the castanets, castanuelas, is derived from the diminutive form of castana, the Spanish word for which nut?

Answer 34

Chestnut

Question 35

To what was Benjamin Franklin referring when he claimed that George III and his ministers had made thirteen clocks strike as one?

Answer 35

Declaration of Independence

Question 36

Which score in darts is known as a bed and breakfast?

Answer 36

26

Question 37

In which Asian country will you find Tenzing-Hillary, also known as Lukla Airport, sometimes described as the most dangerous airport in the world?

Answer 37

Nepal

Question 38

According to the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, the lowest depth to which people can sink before God is defined by the word - what?

Answer 38

Journalist

Question 39

What would you conclude if you saw the name Alan Smithee in the list of credits at the end of a Hollywood movie?

Answer 39

So bad even the director disowns it

Question 40

Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, once the home of Sir Henry Verney and his second wife Parthenope, contains a room dedicated to the memory of Parthenope’s unmarried sister, who often visited the house. Which extremely well-known person was Parthenope’s sister?

Answer 40

Florence Nightingale