ROUND

Question 1

• The ______s were priests and diviners who studied the flight pattern and behaviour of birds and told the kings or governors what the future had in store. The rulers usually listened to the words of these prophets.

• In these days, when a new ruler is _________ed, he does not receive help from any diviner and has to take decisions on his own.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Inaugurate

Latin: augur = diviner

Question 1

• The Egyptians believed in unlucky days, and apparently these so-called “Egyptian days” came into Rome and then into the rest of Europe. In France, two such days were marked on the calendar each month and were named after the Latin for “the evil days”.

• The word was made into an adjective to describe the unlucky days when it was wise to be very careful, since misfortune lurked at every turn.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Dismal

Latin: dies mali = evil days

Question 1

• In 1820s, the Missouri Question, whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave or as a free state, was being hotly debated in the Congress. Near the end of the debate, and amidst calls from the floor to have a vote, Felix Walker, the representative from a county in North Carolina rose to speak. Walker launched into a long and irrelevant speech. When asked by other members to desist, he replied that he was bound to make a speech for his county and continued to speak.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Bunk

The word bunk is short for bunkum which is in turn is an alternation of Buncombe.

Question 1

• The reason why this word isn’t spelled the way it is pronounced is because this word derives its origin to a Latin word, which in turn gets its name from what such a person would lead.

• All of them have their roots in the Latin word for a pillar. Just as the deacon is the pillar of the church, the _______ is the pillar of the regiment.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Colonel

From colonna

Question 1

• In 1820s, the Missouri Question, whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave or as a free state, was being hotly debated in the Congress. Near the end of the debate, and amidst calls from the floor to have a vote, Felix Walker, the representative from a county in North Carolina rose to speak. Walker launched into a long and irrelevant speech. When asked by other members to desist, he replied that he was bound to make a speech for his county and continued to speak.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Bunk

The word bunk is short for bunkum which is in turn is an alternation of Buncombe.

Question 1

• An _____ is a legal practice of ancestral British courts.

• If a defendant in the original _____ could carry a red hot iron without being burned, he was innocent.

• If he flinched at plunging his hand in boiling water, he was guilty.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Ordeal

The practice was called ‘trial by ordeal’

Question 1

• This flowering plant got its name because of the shape of the leaves.

• Being shaped like teeth, it reminded a few French people about the teeth of a certain carnivore and hence the name.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Dandelion

dent de lion or the tooth of the lion

Question 1

• After _________, King of Caria died, his wife Artemisia was grief stricken. After his body had been buried, she mixed his ashes with water and drank them off. To keep his memory alive, she erected a splendid tomb at Halicarnassus.

• The answer follows.

Answer

• Mausoleum

Mausolus : King of Caria (died 353 BC)