iiser-tvm cultural fest quiz finals 2011

ANVESHA

presents

GENERAL QUIZ

WHO AM I ?

‘ A speaker of fifteen languages and a successful businessman and computer expert, I am the youngest-ever contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal. I am also the founding member of the Democratic party of Russia’. Who am I?

Answer:Garry Kasparov

‘Living in the 1300s in Paris, I was a hermetic alchemist. I discovered the secrets of a book titled The Sacred Book of Abraham The Jew and, deciphering its secrets, discovered the “Philosopher’s Stone”, which could transform mercury into gold. Simultaneously, I accomplished the transmutation of my soul and discovered the secret of immortality. Who am I?

Answer:Nicholas Flamel, whose philosopher’s stone is the basis for J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book, Harry potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He is probably the only real person to feature in the Harry Potter series.

In 1993, I won a gold medal in the under-19 category of the national speed skating championship. I came home flaunting the medal. My father was furious and snatched the medal and threw it away. Who am I?

Answer:Yuvraj Singh

Which queen’s famous last words were supposedly,

‘ Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do that on purpose’ ,

as this person had accidentally stepped on the executioner’s foot?

Answer:Marie Antoniette.

‘My grandfather was known as the “Rice king of Burma”. My father declined an invitation from Jinnah to move to Pakistan. I finally completed my degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University at the age of fifty-five years.’Identify this person

Answer:Azim PremjiHe finished his degree late as his father died while he was studying and he had to return to take over the family business.

During Crimean War, a young Russian Soldier would entertain fellow soldiers around the camp fire at night by telling them stories. He later became a famous writer. His experiences in battle helped stir his subsequent pacifism and gave him material for realistic depiction of war's horrors in his later work.

Who was he?

Answer:Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy . He served as a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment during the Crimean War.

‘This one is about an object that I owned. Officials in Holland took this object apart to see if there was a magnet inside it. In Japan, they decided I used Superglue on this object. Hitler even offered to buy it. In Vienna, there is a statue of me with four arms, each holding this object. Who am I and what object am I talking about?’

Answer:Dhyan Chand and his hockey stick

‘ I shot to prominence when I wrote an article saying that Lindbergh was not the first person to make a Transatlantic flight. Following public outrage, I showed that over 100 people had made that journey in zeppelins and dirigibles, and that Lindbergh was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic.This made me a household name for bringing to light astonishing but true facts’. Who am I?

Answer:Ripley of Believe it or not fame.

‘Steven Spielberg described me as one of the seven genuine stars in the world. Son of a van driver, my early jobs included that of a bricklayer, bouncer and French polisher. At eighteen years of age, I joined the Navy but was invalided out after three years with stomach ulcers. I then took up bodybuilding and was once offered a place with Manchester United. The tattoo on my arm reads “Mum and Dad and Scotland forever”.Who am I?

Answer:Sean Connery

‘ I was so enamoured by my wife, Ratnavali, that when she left for her father’s house, I followed her. I had to cross a river in spate. As there was no boat, I used a floating corpse to cross it. I reached her house and climbed up to her room using what turned out to be a snake. On seeing me, she said,

“Had you loved God as intensely as you do this flesh and bones, you would overcome all mortal fears.”

I was speechless. I went away to Prayag and renounced the world. Who am I?

Answer:Tulsidas

INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

What was invented by IBM engineer Alan Shugart to initially hold microcode and diagnostics for the IBM mainframe systems, and got its popular name due to its flexibility?

Answer:The floppy disc.

If a hardware refers to the physical parts of a computer and software refers to its operating system and other programs, what does ‘wetware’ refer to?

Answer:

The Human brain, which uses the computer.

What is special about the ‘F’ and ‘J’ keys on the QWERTY computer keyboard and the number 5 key on the numeric keypad?

Answer:They are ‘feely’ keys, with a little bump or ridge.The tactile nibs on these key reference points on the keyboard allow touch typists to easily locate keys.

Connect:

Answer:

Google Logos for:1) Barcode Invention2) Samuel Morse's Birthday3) Tetris Anniversary

‘X’ was the first programmer in the history of computing.

She also happens to be the English poet Lord Byron’s daughter.

Her face is used as a hologram by Microsoft for authentification.

Name ‘X’.

Answer:Lady Ada Lovelace

Back in 1991, some lazy students in Cambridge set up this system to avoid pointless trips to the coffee machine. what did this inspire?

Answer:Xcoffee : later developed into the world’s first Webcam

What is special about this page dated 9 September 1945 from Grace Hopper’s logbook, now preserved at the Naval Museum in Dahlgren, USA?

Answer:It contains a moth removed from Harvard’s famous Mark II, the precursor of today’s computer which had failed and was investigated by Grace Hopper. She labelled the moth, ‘the first case of a bug being found’ in the system, which led to the term ‘bug’ being used to denote any glitch in a computer.

The term for such a test was coined by Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas J. Hopper (all of Carnegie Mellon University), and John Langford (then of IBM). (they invented the test).

What is the term?

Answer:

CAPTCHA

(Stands for: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart)

Name the company whose logo has been displayed and the reason why it is so-called.

The logo is a stylized form of the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco, where CISCO was founded. CISCO is short for San Francisco.

MIXED BAG

Mysore paints and Varnishes is the sole manufacturer of this product. The exact chemical composition of this product is a secret. Find the product

Answer:The indelible ink that is applied on a voter’s finger to ensure he doesn’t cast another vote.

When this Nobel Prize winner for Physics in 1938 wanted to emigrate to the United States the American Embassy devised a mental test for him;Officials asked him to add 15 and 27 and divide 29 by 2.

Name the scientist.

Answer:Enrico Fermi

The logo for X was designed by Paul Stansifer in 2003, who called it 'the global jigsaw'. Errors were later discovered in the logo. These included an incomplete Japanese character, an incorrect Kannada and Devanagiri character each.

The incorrect logo is still in use.

A founder of X said the symbolism may not be so unfortunate, given the nature of X.

Identify X

Answer:

One often finds RSVP written on invitations. Name the language it has been taken from, and expand the word.

Answer:From French. It stands for ‘ Repondez S’il Vous Plait’ (please reply)

Although he was a notoriously bad driver, he nonetheless enjoyed driving (frequently while reading a book) - occasioning numerous arrests as well as accidents. He reported one of his car accidents in this way:

"I was proceeding down the road. The trees on the right were passing me in orderly fashion at 60 miles per hour. Suddenly one of them stepped in my path.“

(He is said to have returned to Princeton at the beginning of every academic year with a new car, after accidents the previous year had forced him to scrap theprevious one).Identify.

Answer:Prof. John von Neumann, of the Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton.

In 1967, Sylvester Dacunha, Managing Director of ‘daCunhaAdvertising’ started an advertising campaign that runs till date. It is one of the longest running ads based on a theme, and also the longest running ad campaign ever. It is usually based on the latest news or current events. It still has many admirers, but controversies too followed. Which is this famous ad campaign that is famous for its “one-liners”?

Since 1967 Amulproducts' mascot has been the very recognisable "Amulbaby", a chubby butter girl usually dressed in polka dotted dress, showing up on hoardings and product wrappers with the equally recognisable tagline Utterly ButterlyDelicious, Amul

This is characterized by green flashing reversed Roman and Japanese katakana characters and Arabic numerals, as well as pictorial symbols, such as a bull's head, falling in a black screen while changing and fading. The effect resembles that of the older green screen displays, since the letters leave a fluorescent trace on the screen.

Answer:Matrix digital rain (Green rain)

Jean Nicot (1530-1600) was a French diplomat and scholar. He was appointed French ambassador to Portugal in 1559. When he returned, he brought with him something that gained him instant favour with Catherine de’Medici (the queen mother), the Father Superior of Malta, and many others.

What it is?

Answer:Tobacco plants and snuff (nicotnicotine)

On 22 July 1939, this world leader wrote to another international figure saying, ‘ You are today the one person who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to a savage state. Listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war, not with out inconsiderable success.’ There was no reply.Who wrote to whom?

Answer:Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler

In which item of everyday use would you find the following:Fluorescent fibres, security threads, reflective foils and a multi-tone watermark?

Answer:Currency Notes.

Nikolai Tesla propounded the theory that the human soul was formed of electricity and claimed that he could prove it mathematically.He formed this theory after extensive discussions with an Indian whose knowledge of electricity astonished him. Who was this Indian?

Answer:Swami Vivekananda

LITERATURE, WORDS AND PHRASES

Until the invention of this device in 1727, printing type had to be reset if a second printing was to be made. It was not economic to keep the type standing for prolonged periods of time. William Ged, a goldsmith in Edinburgh, took a plaster mould of the type and then cast the whole page in metal. What was this device called?

The same word has another meaning in modern English.

Answer:

Stereotype ,cliché

The word stereotype is of Greek origin literally meaning "solid-kind“- (stereos) "solid, firm" + (tupos) "blow, impression, engraved mark“ hence "solid impression“. Both cliché and stereotype were both originally printers' words, and in their literal printers' meanings, they were synonymous.

Specifically, cliché was a French word for the printing surface for a stereotype.

An English word was coined based on this festival/ event.

What is the word?

“Juggernaut”

The “Car of Juggernaut” as depicted in the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book

The Rath Yatra of the Jagannath of Puri in Orissa inspired the word juggernaut.

In rare instances in the festival's past, people were crushed accidentally as the massive 45-foot-tall, multi-ton chariot slipped out of control or suffer injury due to stampedes. This sight led the Britons of the time to contrive the word "juggernaut" to refer to examples of unstoppable, crushing forces. Certain Englishmen promulgated a falsehood that Hindu devotees of Krishna were lunatic fanatics who threw themselves under the wheels of these chariots in order to attain salvation

In the early days of shipping, anchors were little more than weighted hooks. Luck played a major part in securing a good anchorage. The splayed hooks on the anchor helped in getting a lucky hold.

What word comes from these hooks?

Answer:Fluke

He was an avid seeker of facts, and geography was his favourite subject. As a child, he developed a great interest in travel and exploration. At twelve, he snuck onto a ship that was bound for India, only to be caught and severely whipped by his father.

He, then famously stated, “I shall from now on only travel only in my imagination “

Identify this famous author.

Answer:Jules Verne

The dictionary lists various meanings for this word:‘ an odd or eccentric person’‘look curiously at’‘a hoax’‘unusually intelligent’

What word is this?

Answer:Quiz

"I'm sorry, Mr. --------, but you just don't know how to use the English language. This isn't a kindergarten for amateur writers".

This was the reason given by the Editor of San Francisco Examiner for sacking a journalist under its pay. The journalist went on to become one of the world's greatest writers and became the first British writer to win Nobel Prize for literature.

Identify the sacked journalist

Answer:Rudyard Kipling

In his book, A Biography for Beginners, this gentleman wrote,

‘The art of Biography; Is different from Geography;Geography is about maps; But Biography is about chaps.’

Who is the author?

Answer:Edmund Clerihew Bentley, for whom the short, nonsense verse called the ‘clerihew’ is named.

‘No people whose word for yesterday is the same as their word for tomorrow can be said to have a firm grip on the time.’Name the author and the book in which this line appears.

Answer:Salman Rushdie in Midnight’s Children, about the Hindi language in which the word for ‘tomorrow’ is the same as the word for ‘yesterday’ ---- kal

Who described whom thus, ‘Knowledge of literature: Nil;

of philosophy: Nil; of astronomy: Nil; of politics : feeble; of botany: variable; of chemistry :profound; of anatomy: accurate but unsystematic;

Of sensational literature: immense.

Answer:Sherlock Holmes as described by Dr. Watson

She published her autobiography, at the age of 22, titled The Story of My Life(1903).

An excerpt from the book reads,

“I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me.”Name the writer.

Answer:

Helen Adams Keller. She wrote 12 books and several articles during her lifetime.

(Picture in question-8-year-old Keller with Anne Sullivan)

Samba TIME!!

When his father died, this person placed his Olympic Gold medal in his coffin saying, “I want you to have this because it was your favourite event.” Seeing his mother’s surprise, he added, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get another one.’ He did! Who was this incredible sportsman?

Answer:Carl Lewis.

What was the origin of the word ‘service’ in Tennis?

Answer:

It dates back to the days of Real (or Royal) Tennis as played by Henry the Eighth. Serving the ball at the beginning of the game was considered ‘undignified’ by the Nobility and so the page boys obliged when asked for ‘service’.

The L'Auto was published on yellow newsprint.The La Gazzetta dello Sport is published on pink newsprint.What did these newspapers lend their colors to?

Answer:Jersey colors for the leaders in the Tour De France and Giro d'Italia, respectively. The newspapers were the original sponsors.

I used the name Robert D. James and live behind closed doors in Pasadena in fear that the Russians may kidnap me. I have given most of my money to the Worldwide Church of God, a religious sect that perhaps believes that Satan heads governments worldwide. Who am I?

Answer: Bobby Fischer

El Salvador and Honduras fought a short war in 1969, with both countries involving their air forces. Whatever the earlier disputes, what was the immediate, if very unusual provocation ?

Answer:A football match between the two countries – a disputed penalty resulting in a goal was the cause of great dissatisfaction and, finally, war.

Identify this sport.

Answer:Muggle Quidditch.

Answer:Australia versus New Zealand and the match was down to the wire with the Kiwis needing six runs to tie the match from the final ball, with only 2 wickets at hand . Greg Chappel, the then Australian captain, ordered the bowler (his brother Trevor) to bowl underarm, rolling the ball along the ground to prevent Brian McKechnie (the New Zealand batsman) hitting a six from the last ball to tie the match. This match was the deciding match of the series. Underarm bowling at that time was within the laws of cricket, but this incident was a spec on the Aussies.

Answer:Andrew flintoff , Brett lee “Hand of Friendship”Ashes 2005Flintoff magnanimously celebrated the narrow win in the Edgbaston Test - choosing to console Lee rather than go to his England team-mates after Steve Harmison took the final wicket of Michael Kasprowicz.

Answer:

Helipad of “Burj al Arab” hotel.It was converted into a tennis court for Roger federer and Andre agassi to play tennis when they visited Dubai during the Dubai open.

Simple:Name the mascot and the sporting event

Answer:“Stumpy”, the mascot of the ICC Cricket World cup 2011

TRIVIA ROUND

Bought at a "book value" of one pound, they were scrapped in 2003.

Richard Branson tried to prevent them from being scrapped by offering to buy them for the "original price of one pound".

What am I talking about?

Answer:The Concorde Supersonic Airplane

Who was the Time Magazine - Person of the year 2006?

Answer:

She was found on the streets and was chosen as she had already learned to endure conditions of extreme cold and hunger. She was called by different names such as; Little Curly, Little Bug, Little Lemonand finally "Howler".

A magazine described her temperament as phlegmatic, saying that she did not quarrel with others.

She died on November 3, 1957 and a monument for her was unveiled on April 11, 2008.

Who was she?

Laika ( a breed of dog, literally meaning "Barker" or "Howler") was a Soviet space dog, who became the first living mammal to orbit the Earth and the first orbital casualty.

Laika, a stray, originally named Kudryavka(Russian: а Little Curly-Haired One), underwent training with two other dogs, and was eventually chosen as the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft

In 1535, Henry VIII, King of England, taxed ‘X’ , in spite of having it himself.

His daughter, Elizabeth I, continued his father’s policy probably seeing it as a handy way of raising extra revenue. The tax imposed by Elizabeth I varied according to age and status.

In 1705 Tsar Peter I of Russia issued a decree in 1705 which prohibited ‘X’ for everybody except a member of the Orthodox clergy unless a tax was paid. And those who paid the tax were forced to carry a sign with them which stated that “ X are ridiculous”.

Which is this taxed item?

Answer:Beard!

Stamp of which country?

Answer :

A ‘chicken gun’ is used for the Chicken Ingestion test. What industry uses this test to certify the safety of its product?

Answer:The Aviation Industry.It is a stress test to certify bird-hit proof jet engines for aircraft. The carcass of a chicken or a turkey is shot at the engine at a speed of 180 miles per hour (the take-off or landing speed of an aircraft). The turbine should not disintegrate when the turbine hits the fan.

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction, from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

He once described the most dangerous chemical in the world as –“…a single exposure to this substance cause life long addiction, withdrawal for more than a few minutes can be fatal there is no cure and prognosis is death”.

What was he referring to?

Answer:Oxygen

William "Duff" Armstrong, the name may not ring many bells. But his claim to fame is that he was defended in a murder case (in 1858) by a famous personality. The case is famous for his lawyer’s use of judicial notice (a rule in the law of evidence that allows a fact to be introduced into evidence if the truth of that fact is so notorious or well known that it cannot be refuted),a rare tactic at that time, to show an eyewitness had lied on the stand. After a witness testified to having seen the crime in the moonlight, Armstrong’s lawyer produced a Farmer's Almanac to show that the moon on that date was at such a low angle it could not have produced enough illumination to see anything clearly. Based upon this evidence, Armstrong was acquitted. The case became so famous that Armstrong’s death was reported in the New York Times on May 14, 1899. Identify his famous lawyer.

Answer:Abraham Lincoln

A plaque is erected at Armstrong‘s gravesite which reads,

" WILLIAM DUFF ARMSTRONG accused slayer of Preston Metzker, freed by Lincoln in the Armandad Trial”

Honda created a number of these, with this being the eleventh. At 54kg and a top speed of 6km/h, it costs just under a million dollars to make.In May 2008, it conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.In March 2009, researchers at Honda demonstrated a helmet that allowed them to control it using thought alone.What are we talking about?

The ASIMO robot.

Answer:Lencois maranhenses national park, Brazil

Answer:

Clock tower at Padmanabhapuram palace.It is believed to be 300 years old and still keeps time.

First picture: With, Second picture: Without. Explain.

Answer:

Zero-gravity Wedding Dress designed by Eri Matsui.It was sponsored by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency