Questions

ROUND 1

1.

Which tragic hero killed himself kissing his dead wife?

2.

Who described this island as “made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish”?

3.

Sarah was the mother of Isaac and wife of which Hebrew patriarch?

4.

Which language gave us the words ‘coffee’ and ‘yoghurt’?

5.

How was the musician John Ritchie who died in February 1979 better known?

6.

Which country borders Turkey, Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan?

7.

What three species of snake are found in the British Isles?

8.

Name two of the men who accompanied Scott to the Antarctic.

ROUND 2

1.

Which Norwegian explorer, 1861 - 1930, almost reached the North Pole, gave Scott the advice to use dogs on the ice, which he ignored and subsequently became High Commissioner for refugees for the League of Nations?

2.

What is the common name for the animal of the order chiroptera, of which there are about a thousand species, forming the second largest mammalian order?

3.

Which country borders only Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia?

4.

How was the musician Charles Hardin, who died in February 1959, better known?

5.

Which language gave us the words ‘marmalade’ and ‘albatross’?

6.

In the bible, who was thrown out of a window and eaten by dogs?

7.

Who said of himself: “Few thought he was even a starter, there were many who thought themselves smarter, but he ended PM, CH and OM, an earl and a knight of the garter”?

8.

Which tragic hero was “the noblest Roman of them all”?

ROUND 3

1.

In which year did Harold Wilson become leader of the Labour Party, Richard Harris was short listed for an Oscar and Leicester City reach the FA Cup Final?

2.

Born 1899, died 1973, whose Westminster Abbey epitaph reads “A Talent To Amuse”?

3.

What is the name of the sunken car transport ship causing accidents in the English Channel?

4.

Which group had their only top ten hit with the song Turning Japanese?

5.

Which Italian restaurant can be found in Manchester at 4, Norfolk St?

6.

Starting with the youngest, put these four people in order of age: Juninho (footballer), Drew Barrymore (actress), Devon Malcolm (cricketer), Nigel Planer (actor).

7.

Which novel, made into a film in 1991, was the first part of Roddy Doyle's Barrytown trilogy?

8.

Which English Football League team plays its home games at York St?

ROUND 4

1.

Which English Football League team plays its home games at Whaddon Road'?

2.

Which novel, made into a film in 1997, was the first part of Pat Barker’s trilogy which also included The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road?

3.

Starting with the youngest, put these people in order of age: Bruce Forsyth (entertainer), Sheila Hancock (actress), Edward Kennedy (US Senator), Denis Law (footballer).

4.

Which modern British cuisine restaurant is located at 104, High St, Manchester?

5.

Which group had their only top ten hit with the song Tom Hark in 1980?

6.

Which ship was formerly known as the USS Phoenix, survived Pearl Harbour but was torpedoed 40 years later and sank with the loss of 323 lives?

7.

Born 1907, died 1973, whose Westminster Abbey epitaph reads: “In the prison of his days, teach the free man how to praise”?

8.

In which year: did Ted Heath become Leader of the Conservative Party, Leeds United reach the F A Cup final and Richard Burton get short-listed for an Oscar?

ROUND 5

1.

Which town was the birthplace of Charles Darwin and Thomas Bowdler?

2.

Which moon of Uranus shares its name with the daughter of Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest?

3.

Schwechat airport serves which European City?

4.

Which English motorway runs from Rotherham to Goole?

5.

The West End play ‘Pretending to me’ starring Tom Courtenay as the principle character is about which English poet?

6.

Clara Furse is the first Chief Executive of which 242 year old institution?

7.

What is the name of the Internet’s largest online auction site?

8.

Which three words appearing consecutively in the dictionary mean: the peak of perfection, a skin condition (usually of the face), and an assistant or beginner?

ROUND 6 

1.

Which three words appearing consecutively in the dictionary mean: a tortilla chip, mother of pearl and the lowest point in one’s fortunes?

2.

What is the name of British Midland’s economy airline?

3.

Who is the Chairman of the London Stock Exchange?

4.

This year’s Whitbread prize was a biography of which English historical figure?

5.

Which English motorway runs from Ross-on-Wye to Tewkesbury?

6.

Which moon of Jupiter shares its name with a character in Shakespeare’s As You Like It?

7.

Which European City is served by Barajas airport?

8.

Which city was the birthplace of David Garrick and Samuel Johnson?

ROUND 7

1.

In physics what is defined as: the rate of increase of displacement?

2.

What is the modern name of the Turkish town once known as Halicarnassus?

3.

What is the s.i. unit measuring inductance?

4.

Give a year in the life of Michael Faraday?

5.

The Monetary Policy Committee recently changed the Base Rate from what to what?

6.

Who won The Open Golf Championship in 1981?

7.

What name is given to a building support or pillar in the shape of a woman?

8.

Name three of the five freedoms granted by the first amendment to the United States constitution.

ROUND 8

1.

What was introduced by the eighteenth amendment to the US constitution?

2.

Name three of the five orders of classical architecture which describe types of columns.

3.

Who won the Open Golf Championship in 1974?

4.

In which city is the Dax share market index based?

5.

Give a year in the life of Benjamin Franklin?

6.

What is the s.i. unit measuring pressure?

7.

By what ancient name was The Dardanelles Strait known?

8.

In physics what is defined as: the rate of increase of velocity?

SPARES

1.

Which current Premiership player scored his first club goal on 21^st January 1984 as a 17 year old?

2.

Which is the only London Underground line that interconnects with all the other lines?

3.

Which early plastic made by reacting phenol with formalin was used for electrical insulation and wireless castings?

4.

Who was awarded a life time achievement award at last week’s Brits ceremony?

5.

What is the main alcoholic ingredient of the cocktail Horse’s Neck?

6.

What distinguishes the fanfare trumpet from a standard trumpet?

7.

Which company is the UK’s second largest mortgage lender?

8.

Born in India in 1913, died 1967, which actress won two Oscars in 1939 and 1951?

Answers

ROUND 1

1.

Othello

2.

Nye Bevan

3.

Abraham

4.

Turkish

5.

Sid Vicious

6.

Georgia

7.

Adder (viper), smooth snake and grass snake.

8.

Oates, Bowers. Evans. Wilson.

ROUND 2

1.

Nansen

2.

Bat

3.

Paraguay

4.

Buddy Holly

5.

Portugese

6.

Jezebel

7.

Clement Attlee

8.

Brutus

ROUND 3

1.

1963

2.

Noel Coward

3.

The Tricolour

4.

The Vapours

5.

Stock

6.

Barrymore (28), Juninho (30), Malcolm (40), Planer (50)

7.

The Commitments

8.

Boston United

ROUND 4

1.

Cheltenham Town

2.

Regeneration

3.

Denis Law (63), Sheila Hancock (70), Edward Kennedy (71), Bruce Forsyth (75)

4.

The Market Restaurant

5.

The Piranhas

6.

The Belgrano

7.

W H Auden

8.

1965

ROUND 5

1.

Shrewsbury

2.

Vienna

3.

Miranda

4.

M18

5.

Philip Larkin

6.

The Stock Exchange

7.

eBay

8.

Acme, acne and acolyte

ROUND 6

1.

Nacho, nacre and nadir

2.

BmiBaby

3.

Don Cruickshank

4.

Samuel Pepys

5.

M50

6.

Ganymede

7.

Madrid

8.

Lichfield

ROUND 7

1.

Velocity (do not accept speed)

2.

Bodrum

3.

Henry

4.

Any year between 1791 and 1867

5.

4% to 3.75%

6.

Bill Rogers

7.

Caryatid

8.

Freedom of religion, press, speech, assembly and petition

ROUND 8

1.

Prohibition

2.

3 from Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan and Composite

3.

Gary Player

4.

Frankfurt

5.

Any year between 1706 and 1790

6.

Pascal

7.

Hellespont

8.

Acceleration

SPARES

1.

Teddy Sheringham

2.

The Jubilee Line

3.

Bakelite

4.

Tom Jones

5.

Brandy

6.

It has no valves

7.

Abbey National

8.

Vivien Leigh