gen quiz prelims - nsit quiz fest 2010

PREFACEDhruv Sethi

Sharat Nambissan

1 Early cover of which magazine? 

LIFE Magazine

2 What do these photos show ?

Chandrayaan’s lunar water findings

3

• In 1934, V.K. Krishna Menon, stood as the Labour Candidate to the Borough Council of St. Pancras, won and remained the Councillor for the next 14 years. In recognition of his services, he was conferred the Freeman of the Borough in 1955. The first person to be conferred the same was X. X’s play Y was Krishna Menon’s favourite, and he saw it no less that 25 times when it was staged in London.

• When Krishna Menon was appointed High Commissioner, he often used to have supper parties with guests such as Sybil Thorndyke and Wendy Heller, who had both played one of the main characters in stage productions of Y.

Answer

X – G.B. ShawY – Pygmalion

4

Technophobia , the fear or distrust of advanced technology , especially computers, has its roots in the early 19th century movement that opposed the Industrial Revolution for displacing the jobs of skilled , costly textile artisans with cheap labour that could operate mechanized looms.

The movement takes its name from the legend of a person who was supposed to have broken two stocking frames in a fit of rage, and thus emerged as the leader of the movement.

Luddites, Ned Ludd

5 Controversial cartoon

Who is being depicted and what’s the incident ?

Jacob Zuma, SA President

2005 rape charges

6

____________ is a word that means someone who is super-sentimental and gushing, who cries easily and without much cause. The word _____________ is also applied to those who have been made silly and foolish by too much drinking.

  The word has an odd history. X who washed the feet

of Christ, has often been pictured with her eyes red from weeping. In time the name X was contracted in to the adjective ____________.

  X and the word.

Mary Magdalene, Maudlin

7

What specific feat is held only by Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane, Lance Naik Karam Singh, Major Dhan Singh Thapa, Major Hoshiar Singh, Naib Subedar Bana Singh, Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar ?

They are the only non-posthumous Param Vir Chakra awardees.

8

In Italy, an intermittent stream is termed a ______ . Typically _______ have Apennine rather than Alpine sources, and in the summer they are fed by little precipitation and no melting snow. In this case the maximum discharge will be during the spring and autumn.

The company with this logoderives its name from the above.

Torrent, BitTorrent

9

The Bad BeginningThe Reptile RoomThe Wide WindowThe Miserable MillThe Austere AcademyThe Ersatz ElevatorThe Vile VillageThe Hostile HospitalThe Carnivorous CarnivalThe Slippery SlopeThe Grim GrottoThe Penultimate PerilThe End

Together, these give a ‘most unfortunate’ literary series. Which one ?

Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

10

• Died due to cancer 3 February 1969, his funeral had the highest number of attendees until then, with an estimated 15 million people attending, as registered with The Guinness Book of Records. The place where his mortal remains were buried was renamed in his honour. Who?

Answer

C.N. Annadurai

11

Easy one. A Parody of a famous experiment. Which one ?

Pavlov’s classical conditioning

12

• A university academic degree, in the US. Australia, India and certain other countries , the degree is a higher doctorate, above the Doctor of Philosophy aka PhD and is issued on the basis of a long record of research and publication.

• In the US, it is almost always an honorary degree, with very few colleges like Drew University offering it on the basis of 30 graduate credit hours and a dissertation.

• Some notable recipients of it as an honorary degree include Gordon Brown, J.K. Rowling, Mark Twain, Enya, Condoleezza Rice, Alistair Maclean and J.R.R. Tolkien.

• What?

Answer

D. Litt. Or Doctor of Letters (Latin: Litterarum doctor)

13

5972 “Olton Hall” is a 4-6-0 Hall Class locomotive built in April, 1937 and withdrawn in December, 1963. How do we know it better today?

Hogwarts Express

14 Who is she ?

Madame Bhikhaiji Cama

15

Thomas Beatie is a 36 year old Oregon resident with a T-shirt business named Define Normal. He shares space with Will Smith, Miley Cyrus, Michael Phelps, Tom Cruise, Sarah Palin, Frank Langella( who played Nixon in Frost/Nixon) and Tina Fey ( of 30 Rock) amongst the Most Fascinating People of 2008 as per Barbara Walters on ABC. What is his claim to fame ?

First legally pregnant male

16 Name both creatures

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Johnny Carson, Marmoset

17

A Dead Shark isn’t Art ! Criticism of whose work ?

Damien Hearst

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

18 This is the Koneshwaram temple.

It lends its name to the Sri Lankan City where it is situated. Which one ?

Trincomalee

(from Thiru Kona Malai)

19

What unique record was held by Donkuper Roy, DD Lapang, JM Rymbai and Friday Lyngdoh as little as 3 weeks ago ?

All 4 were appointed Chief Minister of Meghalaya !!!

Who are these two and why have they been in the news recently ?

20

Adam Dell, Teddy Forstmann

Could-be fathers to Padma Lakshmi’s child

21 His name. What is he a mascot of ?

Duke, Java’s Mascot

22 Who is the bloke who’s playing Golf?

Answer

Sir W.G. Grace

23

The National Lampoon published a fake -VW Ad mocking the scandal which is believed to be the reason why Ted Kennedy didn’t run for President in 1972. Which scandal?

Answer

The "Chappaquiddick incident" refers to circumstances surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for the assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York.In July 1969, Kopechne's dead body was discovered inside an overturned car belonging to then Senator Ted Kennedy under water in a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. The incident became a national scandal.

24

Guess the Band. The Band lead A said that he coined the

name B because it "abbreviated easily", rather than for "any literal meaning". Other rumoured explanations have circulated, alleging that A chose to reference the objects used for Jesus' crucifixion , or Freddy Krueger's fingernails.

B has been a vocal advocate of keeping music free, and regularly releases its content freely on the Internet.

A – Trent ReznorB – Nine Inch Nails

25

X is a work of art depicting inanimate objects in a natural or man-made setting.

X paintings are believed to have originated with the Romans. X paintings have remained a part of all major art movements.

Many X paintings contain the phrase X as a part of the painting’s name

X with Jars Francisco de Zurbaran

X with Basket of ApplesPaul Cezanne

Still Life

Still Life : Vase with 12 Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh