2004 ACF Fall
Tossups by Michigan
1. Combined with thorium, this element is used in lamps for wavelength calibration. Researchers at the University of Helsinki have gotten it to form a compound with hydrogen and fluorine, and it was discovered in 1894 by Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay. Its unreactivity is due to the 6 electrons that fill its 3p subshell, and it is an alternative to nitrogen because it will not conduct heat as well from tungsten filaments in light bulbs. FTP, name this noble gas with atomic number 18 and chemical symbol Ar.
Answer: Argon
2. Highlights in this play include the theft of a ring and the reunion of a Neapolitan family thought to be lost at sea. Minor characters include the designing woman Frosine, and the servants La Fleche and Master Jacques who treat the audience to numerous sotto voce [vo-chay] comments throughout the play. It turns out that Anselme is really Don Thomas and that the steward Valere [va-LARE], who is vying for Elise’s hand is really of noble birth. As a result, the title character rescinds his demands to marry Mariane, the sweetheart of his son Cleante, in order to find his lost treasure. FTP, name this Moliere play about Harpagon, the titular skinflint.
Answer: The Miser or L’Avare
3. Life among his people was described in the writings of Henry Flynn and Nathaniel Isaacs, two settlers of the Farewell Trading Company that passed through his lands. After his adoptive Mtetwa father was assassinated he gained power by destroying the Langeni. Though the death of his mother, Nandi, caused him to go insane late in his reign and he was eventually killed by his half-brother Dingane, in the early 1820s his standardization of the “assegai” allowed his regiments known as “impi” to dominate Southern Africa. FTP identify this legendary Zulu chieftain.
Answer: Shaka or Chaka
4. Chopin wrote one for piano in C major, Glinka composed one for piano in D minor, and Rossini produced a “tartare” version. Introduced by Sebastian Zerezo, this type of piece features the interplay between the “paseo” or walk portion and the “bien parado” or sudden stop. The most famous example begins with a snare drum and, with the exception of the shift in harmony from C to E towards the end, features a recurrent rhythmic obbligato throughout. Thatpiece of music was composed for a namesake ballet in 1928. FTP, identify this Spanish dance which also titles the most famous piece of orchestral music by Maurice Ravel.
Answer: Bolero
5. He was buried by God after dying on MountNebo, and his sister got leprosy after she showed her envy of him. The son of Amram and Jochebed, he was nursed by Yocheved and had a son, Gershom, after becoming a shepherd of Jethro, whose daughter he married. He took up this occupation for 40 years after he murdered an Egyptian for mistreating a slave, but God eventually revealed himself to this man on Mt.Horeb. FTP, name this brother of Aaron and husband of Zipporah, a prophet of the Old Testament who led the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments on Mt.Sinai.
Answer: Moses (or Moshe)
6. Lowe syndrome causes a deficiency of an enzyme which affects the metabolic processes that take place in this cell structure. One of its main functions is the remodeling of oligosaccharides, while other functions include the synthesis of lipids like sphingomyelin and the addition of sulfate groups to tyrosine. Often located near endoplasmic reticulum exit sites, it uses clathrin-coated vesicles to send certain proteins to lysosomes and other vesicles to secrete proteins from the cell. FTP, name this organelle divided into stacks of flattened, membrane-bounded cisternae, which packages and sorts newly-created proteins.
Answer: Golgi Apparatus/Body/Whatever
7. The ostensible villain of this work is the heir to the estate Coombe Magnon, and he must marry Sophia Grey to ensure that inheritance. The heroine briefly becomes the confidant of Lucy Steele, who had entered into a secret engagement with a man the heroine loves. However, that engagement is broken and the path becomes clear for the two weddings that end the novel, in which Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrars are the grooms. FTP, name this novel in which Elinor and Marianne Dashwood represent the title sentiments, a work by Jane Austen.
Answer: Sense and Sensibility
8. Its causes include one party’s unauthorized publication of “The Public Conduct and Character of John Adams,” a document in which the other party ragged on the president. It became inevitable when one participant’s statement that the other “ought not be trusted with the reins of government” helped Morgan Lewis win the governorship of New York in 1804. FTP, name this July 11, 1804 event that took place in Weehawken, New Jersey, in which the Vice President mortally wounded a former Secretary of the Treasury.
Answer: the Duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr [accept obvious equivalents for “Duel”, accept with names reversed, etc.]
9. The town of Calama and the La Silla and Paranal Observatories are located within this area, but Iquique and Antofagasta are more famous cities. The Escondida Mine exploits the sodium nitrate, gold, and copper resources that led to a series of border wars in the 1800’s. The Pan-American Highway passes through the region, lying south of the Altiplano in an ultra-dry rain shadow zone east of a region of the Andes. FTP, name this incredibly dry desert of northern Chile.
Answer: Atacama Desert (prompt on Chile before “rain shadow”)
10. The majority opinion cites the 1939 English case Rex v. Bourne. Earlier, it begins by citing Holmes’ dissent in Lochner v. New York, acknowledging that “one’s exposure to the raw edges of human existence” and other things “are all likely to influence” one’s thinking on the subject at hand. In addition to the main ruling, the court held that Dr. James Hallford did not have standing to sue. The court also cites the 1971 case U.S. v. Vuitch to infer that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply prenatally. Ruling that Article 1196 of the Texas Penal Code “sweeps too broadly,” FTP, name this 1973 Supreme Court case which struck down severe state restrictions on abortion.
Answer: Roe v. Wade
11. It was once known as the marine star due to its proximity to the river constellation Eridanus. It has a small B star companion which itself has a C star rotating around it, and its fate may be as a rare oxygen-neon dwarf, although a nova is more likely. Of spectral class B8, it radiates 100 times the energy of its constellations larger and cooler alpha star, and it is losing mass at about 70 trillion tons per second, giving it a relatively short life span of several million years. With a name meaning “left foot” in Arabic, FTP, name this blue-white supergiant, the Beta star to Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion.
Answer: Rigel (accept “Beta Orionis” before “Beta”)
12. He briefly associates with Fulton Bemis, Carrie Nork, and Minnie Sontag, a group he refers to as “the Bunch” and a group that he eventually finds not worthwhile. He learns of an affair between May Arnold and his best friend and later engages in his own affair with Tanis Judique. This is during the period after he is shaken by his best friend Paul Riesling’s crime and he continues to rebel until his wife Myra falls seriously ill. FTP, name this middle-aged real estate broker from Zenith, the title character of a novel by Sinclair Lewis.
Answer: George F. Babbitt (prompt on first name)
13. When asked to give a eulogy on the death of the Duke of Wellington, he nearly copied word for word Thiers’s eulogy for marshal St. Cyr. He served in the government of Lord Derby as Chancellor of the Exchequer but his first budget was torn apart by his chief rival, who replaced him. His first term as prime minister followed the Tory takeover of the 1867 Reform Bill but only lasted 10 months. Representing Britain at the Congress of Berlin, FTP, name this Conservative Prime Minister from 1874 to 1880, a longtime opponent of William Gladstone and the first British prime minister of Jewish ancestry.
Answer: Benjamin Disraeli (accept 1st Earl Beaconsfield or Viscount Hughenden)
14. The interplay of separately lit spaces, in the foreground versus the background, was anticipated by the artist’s earlier painting The Tapestry Weavers. The pairing of the nun and man-servant on the right of the canvas parallels the shadowy and silvery depiction of the royal couple in the center. Two large Ruben-like paintings hang above the scene as a young boy threatens to kick a contented looking dog and a painter tries to work in his studio. But the most enigmatic parts of the painting are the man in the open doorway in the background and the dwarf whose pose echoes that of the Infanta. FTP, identify this 1656 depiction of “The Maids of Honor” by Velazquez.
Answer: Las Meninas (accept early buzz of Maids of Honor)
15. Early events in this philosopher’s life include his father Icesias involving him in the debasing of the metal in his hometown, for which he was banished, and his subsequent abandonment by his slave Manes. Late in life he was kidnapped by pirates and sold to the nobleman Xeniades. Famous anecdotes involving him include his plucking of a fowl to demonstrate Plato’s claim of man being a “featherless biped” and his famous anachronistic meeting with Alexander the Great, described by Plutarch. FTP, identify this philosopher said to have used a lamp in broad daylight to search for an honest man, a man considered to be the founder of Cynicism.
Answer: Diogenes of Sinope
16. Particle detectors that utilize this effect can emit pulses with widths as low as 10-10 (read: 10 to the minus 10) seconds and can be used in time-of-flight measurements. The angle of emission is related to the speed of light and the index of refraction of the medium, and measuring the angle can determine the particle’s speed. Discovered by Frank and Tamm and predicted by its namesake, FTP, identify this effect where a blue light is emitted from a particle when it passes into a medium at a speed greater than the speed of light in that medium.
Answer: Cherenkov radiation
17. St. Peter is called upon as “the pilot of the GalileanLake” who shakes his keys “of metals twain.” This poem’s narrator asks if it would not be better to play with the tangles of Nearea’s hair or sport with Amaryllis in the shade rather than ply his homely trade-- and then rails against unworthy clergy who don’t tend their flocks. It also tells us “to look homeward, and melt with ruth” and commands dolphins to “waft the helpless youth,” from the watery depths. Introduced as a Monody for a learned friend who drowned “on his passage from Chester on the Irish seas,” FTP, identify this elegy written in 1637 for Edward King, a work by John Milton.
Answer: Lycidas
18. He began construction on a number of aqueducts including the Anio Novus which were completed under his successor. Among the casualties of his reign was the joint heir at his succession, Gemellus, and the prefect of the Praetorian Guard Macro. Another prefect, Marcus Clemens, joined a band of conspirators including his assassin Cassius Chaerea. He dined with and showered gifts upon Incitatus who, unfortunately, was a horse. With a name meaning “little boots”, FTP, name this son of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus who ruled as Roman emperor from 37-41 A.D. after succeeding Tiberius.
Answer: Caligula or Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
19. A Jorge Luís Borges short story with this name describes a dream in which figures such as Thoth and Janus are shot with revolvers. Described in the poem Völuspá, some accounts state that afterward, Lif and Lifthrasir will emerge to repopulate Earth. Most agree that Hati eats the moon, Skoll or Fenris swallows the sun, Heimdall blows his Gjaller horn, and the gods battle the forces of Surt and Loki to the death. FTP, name this apocalyptic event of Norse mythology.
Answer: Ragnarok [don’t accept or prompt on “Twilight of the Gods” or “Gotterdammerung” or any of that jibba-jabba because they aren’t the titles of those works]
20. In this method, if one molecule is larger than another, its increased mass will cause it to move more slowly toward the cathode or anode. Spraying the end result with ninhydrin will cause previously colorless amino acids to form colored spots. Amino acids with an isoelectric point greater than the buffered solution will move toward the cathode because of their positive charge. FTP, name this method of separating molecules by applying them to filter paper or gel and subjecting them to an electric field.
Answer: electrophoresis
21. Critical works of this writer include The Time of the Assassins, a study of Rimbaud, and To Paint is to Love Again, which features many of his own watercolors. But it was for more earthy works like Black Spring and Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch for which he is better known. Willing to push the envelope in his depictions of sex, his affair with Anais Nin produced a celebrated set of letters, and his Rosy Crucifixion trilogy was censored for more than a decade in the U.S. His most famous work was a scatological homage to Parisian bohemian life. FTP, name this author of the once controversial novel The Tropic of Cancer.
Answer: Henry Miller
22. Contemporary followers of his included the Scamozzi brothers, but it was the poet Count Trissino who gave this man his nickname. He had already designed the Godi House by the time he won the commission for the Vicenza town hall at which point he began to mimic Vitruvius more overtly. Projects like the Villa Barbaro and the Palazzo Chiericato were designed as he was writing his Four Books of Architecture. Eventually he settled in Venice where he designed the classically inspired churches Il Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore. FTP, identify this architect who sparked a namesake revival in 18th century Britain, the Renaissance creator of the Villa Rotonda.
Answer: Andrea Palladio or Andrea Di Pietro Della Gondola
23. Key conflicts in this war were the fall of Abu-Ageila and the capture of Sharm El-Sheikh although the losing side was crippled by a surprise attack on their air-force in the opening minutes of the fighting. Two controversial events were the execution of POWs at El Arish alleged by Gabby Bron and the attack on the USS Liberty. Like a war eleven years earlier the major cause was the blockading of the port of Eilat and the closing of the Straits of Tiran. During the campaign Israel gained control of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula while beating Egypt, Jordan and Syria. FTP, identify this 1967 war named for the number of days it lasted.
Answer: Six Days War (prompt on “1967 War”)
24. He studied scientific farming under George Geddes several years after his vision recovered from the sumac poisoning he suffered as a youth. After heading the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the war, he became chair of Yosemite property for California where he implemented ideas like the “parkway.” An outspoken essayist, works like The Cotton Kingdom expressed his abolitionist politics, while his urban designs, often with Calvert Vaux, were meant to bring nature to the masses. He planned the terrace of the U.S. Capitol, the Stanford Campus, and Jackson Park in Chicago, but FTP, what engineer and landscape architect remains best known for designing Central Park?
Answer: Frederick Law Olmsted
2004 ACF Fall
Bonuses by Michigan
1. Answer the following about a novel and its author, FTP each:
A. (10) Set in Key West, this 1937 work follows the adventures of Harry Morgan, a man who resorts to smuggling during the Great Depression and ends up paying the price for it when he is killed assisting a band of bank robbers.
Answer: To Have and Have Not
B.(10) To Have and Have Not was written by this author of Fifth Column and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Answer: Ernest Hemingway
C. (10) This other Hemingway novel also ends with the death of a main character, when the love of Frederic Henry, a young Catherine Barkley, dies giving birth.
Answer: A Farewell to Arms
2. Answer the following about the history of Southeast Asia, FTP each:
A. (10) This site of several capitals is located north of Tonle Sap and was first used as a seat of power by emperor Yasovarman I during the 890s. The temple complex, or wat, associated with its name was built 200 years after its founding
Answer: Angkor(do not accept “Angkor Wat”)
B. (10) The Ankgor Wat was created by Suryavarman II to house the remains of this Cambodian empire’s monarchs. Its name survived in a 20th-century political group of the region