Question Paper 25th March 2009

set by Albert

To see the answers move the mouse over the area immediately to the right of each question whilst at the same time pressing the select button on the mouse -  when you print the page the answers show up on the printed copy

ROUND 1

1.

Which holiday island is served by Arrecife airport?

Lanzarote

2.

John Dryden (1631-1700) was the first person to hold which official post?

Poet Laureate

3.

Who said: “Marriage is an institution but who wants to live in an institution”?

Groucho Marx

4.

How many gallons are there in a peck?

Two

5.

How many pecks are there in a bushel?

Four

6.

Who said: “Bigamy is having one wife too many - monogamy is the same”?

Oscar Wilde

7.

John Flamsteed (1646-1719) was the first person to hold which official position?

Astronomer Royal

8.

On which island is Gander International airport?

Newfoundland

ROUND 2 – “Things are hotting up”

1.

What is the average temperature in Fahrenheit of the tip of a cigarette when a smoker is drawing on it (+/- 100°F)?

1292° F

2.

Who directed the film version of the novel Fahrenheit 451?

Francois Truffaut

3.

The centre of which American city was destroyed in 1871 when, allegedly, Mrs O’Leary’s cow kicked over an oil lamp?

Chicago

4.

The base of the monument to the Great Fire of London originally had four inscribed panels.  In the 19th century one panel was removed and is now blank.  Why was it removed?

Because it blamed Roman Catholics for starting the fire

5.

Which Birmingham group had a hit with Fire Brigade in 1968?

The Move

6.

Which German city was the first to experience a 'Fire Storm' raid in World War II?

Hamburg (in 1943)

7.

Which Hollywood actor, who also appeared in Sergeant York, starred in the comedy Ball Of Fire?

Gary Cooper

8.

The brand name of which electric light bulb is derived from the name of a Persian deity symbolised by fire?

Mazda (from Ahura Mazda)

ROUND 3

1.

When England played Italy in the Rugby Union international in February 2009, two sets of brothers were playing.  Give the surnames of each pair.

Armitage (Delun and Stefan) and Bergamasco (Mauro and Mirco)

2.

What name has been given to the United States policy of sending terrorist suspects to other countries for interrogation without formally extraditing them?

Extraordinary rendition

3.

Wild Bill Moore, Erline Harris and Paul Bascomb have at various times been credited with which phrase describing a form of 20^th century music.  What is it?

Rock ‘n’ Roll

4.

What do the initials stand for in the name T S Eliot?

Thomas Stearns

5.

What do the initials stand for in the name T E Lawrence?

Thomas Edward

6.

Jerry Wexler has been identified as the author of a phrase describing a form of 20^th century music.  What is the phrase?

Rhythm and Blues

7.

Who was given extraordinary powers by the Enabling Law?

Adolf Hitler (in 1933 - it allowed him to govern without Parliament)

8.

Which two teams met in the 2009 American Football Superbowl Final?

The Pittsburg Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals

ROUND 4 – Picture Round

1.

Name this ‘dictator’.

Gordon Brown

2.

Name this ‘flighty courtesan’.

Peter Mandelson (depicted as Mandy Antoinette after his suggestion that the poor could live on burgers)

3.

Name this celebrity revealing the inner man.

Mark Ramprakash (whose body has been painted to advertise the benefits of dietary fibre)

4.

Name this fellow who clearly has imperial ambitions.

President Dimitry Medvedev of Russia (portrayed as Tsar Ivan the Terrible)

5.

Name this little girl, or her mother, who was making a speech at the time.

Piper Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, at one of her mother's rallies (surely a new form of child abuse)

6.

Name this celebrity.

Paris Hilton (created from bits of pornographic magazines)

7.

Name this jolly celebrity.

Tom Cruise ('morphed' on an obese celebrity website)

8.

Alas, no need for any morphing here - who is this?

Boy George (arriving for his recent court case)

ROUND 5 – Themed

A back-handed homage to Fr Megson who has done for the Catholic church what Hitler did for town planning

1.

Which American actress wrote the semi-autobiographical novel Postcards from the Edge?

Carrie Fisher

2.

Who starred in the film The Postman?

Kevin Costner

3.

In which Shakespeare play does the heroine give two persistent suitors the elbow by means of letters in the caskets they choose to open?

The Merchant of Venice (Portia)

4.

Which Victorian novelist had a job as a junior clerk in the Post Office?

Anthony Trollope

5.

Which 1934 novel by James N Cain was filmed in 1946 and 1981?

The Postman Always Rings Twice

6.

Which royal personage was incriminated in the incident known as ‘The Affair of the Casket Letters’?

Mary Queen of Scots

7.

Which Hollywood film star appeared on a US stamp in 2008 to mark the centenary of her birth?

Bette Davis

8.

Pat Boone, Andy Williams and Kitty Wells have all had hits with which song?

Love Letters in the Sand

ROUND 6

1.

What are classed as 00, H0 and N?

Model railway track gauges

2.

Where do the abbreviations TF, F, T, S, W and WNA appear one above the other?

On the side of a ship (they mark the Plimsoll Line)

3.

Glen Cora and Malling Jewel are varieties of which fruit?

Raspberry

4.

Enorma and White Lady are varieties of which vegetable?

Runner Bean

5.

Who was the first female jockey to ride in the Grand National?

Charlotte Brew (in 1977)

6.

Who was the first female jockey to finish the Grand National?

Geraldine Rees

7.

Give the first names of two of the four children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

(2 from) Peter, Susan, Edmund or Lucy

8.

Give the first names of two of the three Railway Children.

(2 from) Peter, Phyllis or Roberta (also known as Bobby)

ROUND 7

1.

Which Chancellor of the Exchequer first introduced Value Added Tax into Britain?

Anthony Barber (in 1973)

2.

Which Chancellor of the Exchequer first introduced Premium Bonds into Britain?

Harold Macmillan (in 1956)

3.

What are dragees?

The small silver balls used in cake decoration

4.

What is an aglet?

The small piece of plastic or metal at the end of a shoelace

5.

In cockney rhyming slang what is ‘Uncle Fred’?

Bread

6.

For what is ‘brown bread’ cockney rhyming slang?

To be dead

7.

From which Shakespeare play did Aldous Huxley take the title of his novel Brave New World?

The Tempest

8.

Which rock band has the same name as the title of a Herman Hesse novel?

Steppenwolf

ROUND 8

1.

Which fictional schoolboy attended Neil Armstrong Comprehensive?

Adrian Mole

2.

In which Asian country is the Perfume River?

Vietnam

3.

Anton-Babinski Syndrome affects the eyesight of sufferers.  In what way are they affected?

They are blind but believe that they can see

4.

In which 18th century battle were both rival commanders killed?

Quebec (1759 - both Wolfe and Montcalm were fatally wounded)

5.

Who is the only actor to be nominated as best actor for playing three roles in the same film?

Peter Sellers (in Dr Strangelove)

6.

How many NATO call signs are also place names?

Three (India, Lima, Quebec)

7.

In which year was the concept of the British Empire replaced by the British Commonwealth of Nations?

1949

8.

Which dictator's followers were known as the ’Shirtless Ones’?

Juan Peron (the Descamisados)

Spares

]

How many NATO call signs are also dances?

Two (Foxtrot and Tango)

2.

In which American film musical does Rod Steiger sing?

Oklahoma

3.

How many times did Roger Moore play James Bond?

Seven

4.

Who played the Emperor Nero in the film Quo Vadis?

Peter Ustinov

5.

Which fictional schoolboy had Mr Quelch as his form master?

Billy Bunter

6.

Which is the oldest professional football club in London which is still in existence?

Fulham (founded in 1879)