Wednesday, November 26, 2008

First Round Of The Cup

Sorry - Blogspot doesn't like the numbering system for some reason - haven't worked out why yet

Round 1 – 25 November 2008

Questions 1 to 60 were set by the Church House Bollington

Questions 61 to 120 were set by the Ox-fford ‘C’

(but some have been swapped, in an attempt to even up the balance – and/or to protect the guilty!)

1.      Who performed the first heart transplant operation?

CHRISTIAAN BARNARD

2.      Who or what were known by the nickname Doughboys?

AMERICAN SOLDIERS

  1. Who wrote the sex-change novel Myra Breckinridge?

GORE VIDAL

  1. What is the name of the two-headed llama in Doctor Dolittle?

THE PUSHMI-PULLYU (in the books it’s an antelope)

  1. Who was nicknamed The Prime Minister of Mirth?

GEORGE ROBEY

  1. Which opera contains the song Mack the Knife?

THREEPENNY OPERA

  1. Which modern day country was once known as White Russia?

BELARUS

  1. Sir Ronald Ross won a Nobel Prize in 1902 for his work in connection with which illness?

MALARIA

  1. Which England cricketer became a bishop in the Church of England?

DAVID SHEPPARD

  1. What is the name of the small island just to the south of the Isle of Man?

CALF OF MAN

  1. Which puppet appeared on TV with Annette Mills?

MUFFIN THE MULE

  1. Who created the character The Talented Mr Ripley?

PATRICIA HIGHSMITH

  1. By what acronym is the European command centre of NATO, located near Mons in Belgium, known?

SHAPE (SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED POWERS IN EUROPE)

  1. What appropriate French slogan was adopted by the Dam Busters?

APRES MOI LE DELUGE

  1. In which German village is a Passion Play performed every ten years?

OBERAMMERGAU

  1. Who provided the voice of Bugs Bunny?

MEL BLANC

  1. Which dancer was strangled when her shawl caught in a car wheel?

ISADORA DUNCAN

  1. Jan Ludvik Hoch died at sea near the Canaries – by what name was he better known?

ROBERT MAXWELL

  1. What nationality was the former UN Secretary General U Thant?

BURMESE

  1. Who married Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in 1978?

PRINCE MICHAEL OF KENT (not the Duke of Kent – that’s his elder brother)

  1. Who first used the phrase “I cried all the way to the bank”?

LIBERACE

  1. In the human body, bile is produced in the liver; but where is it stored?

GALL BLADDER

  1. Who was the Roman god of fire?

VULCAN

  1. In literature, by what sobriquet or nickname was Sir Percy Blakeney better known?

The Scarlet Pimpernel

  1. When the Soviet Union was said to be ruled by “the B and K show”, K was Kruschev; who was B?

MARSHAL BULGANIN

  1. Who was Director of the FBI, from its foundation in 1924 until his death in 1972?

J. EDGAR HOOVER

  1. In which Canadian province is Toronto?

ONTARIO

  1. What is the name of the short leather strap which is attached to the leg of a bird of prey?

JESS

  1. Who was the last man to win three consecutive British Open Golf championships?

PETER THOMSON

  1. What is the name of the peninsula in southern Massachusetts which is one of the USA’s most popular tourist destinations?

CAPE COD

  1. For which film role is Richard Kiel best remembered? 

JAWS (the Bond villain – not the shark)

  1. What is the capital of Slovakia?                        

BRATISLAVA

  1. Of which 1960s group was Judith Durham the lead singer?       

THE SEEKERS (not the New Seekers!)

  1. Which world famous sports team uses Sweet Georgia Brown as its signature tune?                                                      

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS

  1. By what title is the Canadian newspaper mogul Max Aitken better known?

LORD BEAVERBROOK

  1. Which British Foreign Secretary made (and gave his name to) a declaration of support for a homeland in Palestine for the Jewish people?

Arthur BALFOUR

  1. In which country is the Horn of Africa, the most easterly point of that continent?

SOMALIA

  1. Which band was led by Herb Alpert?   

TIJUANA BRASS

  1. What was stolen from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950?

THE STONE OF SCONE (CORONATION STONE)

  1. Which waterway links the North Sea and the Baltic Sea?

KIEL CANAL

  1. Which TV series was set in Tannochbrae?

DR FINLAY’S CASEBOOK

  1. Which type of sherry is darker than fino but lighter than oloroso?

AMONTILLADO

  1. In which London street is the British film industry principally based?

WARDOUR STREET

44.  Which title did Tony Benn renounce in the 1960s?

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

  1. Which public figure was accused in 1979 of attempting to murder Norman Scott?

JEREMY THORPE (leader of the Liberal Party)

  1. In which South African township were 56 people shot dead by police in 1960?

SHARPEVILLE

  1. Which film features the detective Eddie Valiant?

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT

  1. In which English county is the village of Cranwell, site of the RAF College?

LINCOLNSHIRE

  1. Who defeated Adolf Hitler in the 1932 German presidential election?

PAUL VON HINDENBURG

  1. In which film did Sir Michael Caine play a German commando attempting to kill Winston Churchill?

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

  1. Which cartoonist created Fungus the Bogeyman?

RAYMOND BRIGGS

  1. Which cricketing legend had the middle name St. Aubrun?

SIR GARFIELD (GARY) SOBERS

  1. On which town did John Betjeman invite the friendly bombs to fall?

SLOUGH

  1. Which Rider Haggard novel is the story of an African queen with the secret of eternal life?

SHE

  1. About which Wild West figure did Aaron Copeland compose a ballet?

BILLY THE KID

  1. Which television series dealt with the adventures of a bomb disposal squad?

DANGER UXB

  1. If your band comprises a guitar, a tea chest and a washboard, what sort of music are you most likely to be playing?

SKIFFLE

  1. What was the first city south of the equator to stage the summer Olympic Games?

MELBOURNE

  1. Who was found guilty and hanged for the A6 murder?

JAMES HANRATTY

  1. Which comediennes created the characters Gert and Daisy?

DORIS & ELSIE WATERS (accept Doris or Elsie as forenames – but they must get at least one of them right)

 

 

61.   

Q

Which famous annual award was replaced in 2005 by the if.com (if dot com) award, sponsored by the Scottish-based bank Intelligent Finance?

 

A

The Perrier award (for best comedy act on the Edinburgh fringe)

62.       

Q

Who wrote the musical Blood Brothers – still running in London’s West End after twenty years?

 

A

Willy Russell

63.   

Q

In what field has Sir Liam Donaldson advised the British government since 1998?

 

A

Medicine (he’s the Chief Medical Officer for England) – accept Health

64.   

Q

Who was shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1957, when he described Premium Bonds as “a squalid little raffle”?

 

A

Harold Wilson

65.   

Q

In the Bible, whose wife was Zipporah?

 

A

Moses

66.   

Q

How or why is Willy Lott’s house familiar to millions?

 

A

It’s featured in Constable’s The Hay Wain (accept the name of either the artist or the painting)

67.   

Q

Who was the first president of the Royal British Legion?

 

A

Earl Haig

68.       

Q

Jean-Bertrand Aristide was returned to power in 1994, by a US invasion, as President of which country?

 

A

Haiti

69.       

Q

Which world leader famously described the threat of nuclear war as “a paper tiger”?

 

A

Mao Tse-Tung

70.   

Q

What name is given to the stoat in its winter coat, or the fur itself?

 

A

Ermine

71.       

Q

What is the more common name for Hansen’s disease?

 

A

Leprosy

72.   

Q

Which popular children’s TV character was named after the father of the apostles James and John?

 

A

Zebedee

73.       

Q

In chemistry, what is the reverse of oxidation – i.e. the removal of oxygen from a compound?

 

A

Reduction

74.       

Q

In physics, what is defined as the degree to which a body opposes the passage of an electrical current through it?

 

A

Resistance

75.       

Q

According to the lyrics of his recent No. 1 hit, which classic song was Kid Rock singing All Summer Long?

 

A

Sweet Home Alabama (recorded in 1974 by Lynyrd Skynyrd)

76.       

Q

Which band from Bury won this year’s Mercury Prize, for their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid?

 

A

Elbow

77.   

Q

Which country crash-landed an Impact Probe on the moon earlier this month?

 

A

India

78.   

Q

What sort of people hold power in a stratocracy?

 

A

The military (accept the army, etc.)

79.   

Q

Who in 1907 became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit?

 

A

Florence Nightingale

80.   

Q

Who was vice president of the USA under Gerald Ford?

 

A

Nelson Rockefeller

81.       

Q

Which actress has played Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth I, and Bob Dylan?

 

A

Cate Blanchett (in The Aviator, 2004, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, 2007, and I’m Not There, 2007, respectively)

82.       

Q

In The Archers, who married the vicar Alan Franks in August this year?

 

A

Usha Gupta (accept Usha)

83.       

Q

In Coronation Street, David Platt has recently been in trouble with a family that shares its surname with a journeyman footballer who is currently “fighting for his place” in Hull City’s first team.  What is that surname?

 

A

Windass

84.       

Q

Who is the only French driver to have won the Formula One drivers’ championship?

 

A

Alain Prost (retired 1993 having won it four times)

85.   

Q

What is the name of the Pope’s official summer residence?

 

A

Castel Gandolfo

86.       

Q

Who served as Minister of Propaganda under Adolf Hitler?

 

A

Josef Goebbels

87.       

Q

In whose reign were over fifty English martyrs, including Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, burnt at the stake?

 

A

Mary I (Tudor)

88.   

Q

Graham MacPherson was born in Hastings in 1961.  Under what nickname did he become famous?

 

A

Suggs (lead singer of Madness)

89.   

Q

Which popular US singer of the 1950s and 60s was nicknamed Little Miss Dynamite?

 

A

Brenda Lee

90.   

Q

Which Teletubby has the same name as a river?

 

A

Po

91.       

Q

Which club appeared in four FA Cup finals between 1949 and 1969, but lost them all?

 

A

Leicester City (they’re the only club that’s appeared in four finals but never won one)

92.       

Q

When Italy beat England at Wembley for the first time, in 1973, who scored the only goal of the game?

 

A

Fabio Capello

93.   

Q

Why was the death from cancer of Madelyn Dunham, on the 2nd of November 2008, so widely reported?

 

A

She was the maternal grandmother of Barack Obama (and died the day before he was elected to be the next US president)

94.   

Q

What’s the first name of the next “First Lady” of the United States (Mrs. Barack Obama)?

 

A

Michelle

95.   

Q

Who married Autumn Kelly in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in May this year?

 

A

Peter Phillips

96.       

Q

Which river forms the border between New York and New Jersey, at the point where it enters the sea?

 

A

The Hudson

97.       

Q

Which river joins the Weaver at Northwich?

 

A

The Dane

98.   

Q

In which town, now a city, was the constituency that Enoch Powell represented in parliament from 1950 to 1974?

 

A

Wolverhampton (South West)

99.   

Q

Which creatures were invented by Edward Lear, had green heads and grey hands, and went to sea in a sieve?

 

A

The Jumblies

100.           

Q

How long did Mary Poppins say she’d stay with the Banks family?

 

A

Until the wind changed

101.           

Q

Which German dish was known as “liberty cabbage” in the USA during World War Two?

 

A

Sauerkraut

102.           

Q

By what acronym was the Soviet news agency known from 1925 until 1992?

 

A

TASS (it stood for the Russian equivalent of “Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union”)

103.           

Q

By what name has the huge tree near Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire (said to be the site of Robin Hood’s headquarters) been known since the 18th century?

 

A

The Major Oak

104.           

Q

Who was married to Kevin Federline from 2004 to 2007?

 

A

Britney Spears

105.           

Q

What subject is covered by the encyclopaedic dictionary founded in 1878 by Sir George Grove, which is still a leading authority today?

 

A

Music (and musicians)

106.   

Q

Which city’s glassmaking industry moved in 1291 to the island of Murano?

 

A

Venice

107.   

Q

Cumbria was formed in 1974, when Cumberland was merged with which other county?

 

A

Westmorland

108.   

Q

Which 1960s TV program had the byline “The weekend starts here”?

 

A

Ready Steady Go! (it ran from 1963 to 1966)

109.   

Q

How was Benjamin Braddock described in the title of a blockbuster film of 1967?

 

A

The Graduate

110.           

Q

Name one of the two towns that give their names to the parliamentary constituency currently represented by Gordon Brown.

 

A

Kirkcaldy (ker-KODDY) or Cowdenbeath

111.           

Q

Only three people have been in the Cabinet continuously since Labour took office in 1997.  Gordon Brown is one; name one of the other two.

 

A

Jack Straw or Alistair Darling

112.   

Q

From which plant are linseed oil and linen obtained?

 

A

Flax

113.   

Q

Which popular fruit is a cross between a plum and a peach?

 

A

The nectarine

114.   

Q

How was university lecturer Jim Dixon described in the title of a famous 20th century novel?

 

A

Lucky Jim (by Kingsley Amis)

115.           

Q

Of which 19th century novel was Anne Catherick the title character?

 

A

The Woman in White (by Wilkie Collins)

116.           

Q

In Britain’s National Health Service, what post is junior to a consultant but senior to a houseman?

 

A

Registrar

117.           

Q

Which Arabic word, literally meaning “conflict”, is used by Muslims to mean a holy war?

 

A

Jihad

118.           

Q

Which world leader has allegedly been the target of 638 assassination attempts (or planned attempts) by the CIA, including an exploding cigar?

 

A

Fidel Castro

119.   

Q

In which track and field event did British athletes win both men’s and women’s gold medals, at the 1964 Olympic games in Tokyo?

 

A

Long jump (Lynn Davies and Mary Rand)

120.   

Q

Who won Britain’s only track & field (i.e. athletics) gold medal at this year’s Olympics?

 

A

Christine Ohuruogu

Supplementaries

1.       

Q

What government position did John Profumo resign from over the call-girl scandal?

 

A

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR

2.       

Q

Which two Shakespeare characters are named in the title of a Tom Stoppard play?

 

A

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN

3.           

Q

Whose books introduced the arts of Sportsmanship, Gamesmanship, and One-Upmanship?

 

A

STEPHEN POTTER

4.       

Q

“The Spanish Main” was a term once used for the coastline of which sea?

 

A

The Caribbean

5.       

Q

Who played George Smiley in the TV serialisations of two John le Carré novels (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People)?

 

A

Sir Alec Guinness

6.           

Q

Which item of office equipment has the same name as the arch-enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja stroke Hero Turtles?

 

A

Shredder

7.       

Q

How was the distinctive US blues singer Chester Burnett better known?

 

A

Howlin’ Wolf

8.       

Q

In Norse mythology, what name was given to the handmaidens of Odin, sent to battlefields to select those worthy of a warrior’s death?

 

A

The Valkyries

9.       

Q

Who did Jack Straw replace in 1979 as the MP for Blackburn?

 

A

Barbara Castle

Tie-breaker

Q

Up to the end of last month (October 2008), how many episodes of the BBC soap opera EastEnders had been broadcast?

A

3,666 (source: www.tv.com)