VETO 2007: Consolation Prize for Furthest-traveled Team
Questions by: Shauna McNally, Jordan Stopciati, Tamara Vardomskaya
Tossups
1. Babies who are exclusively breastfed for a long period of time without this vitamin added to their diet risk developing rickets. Diets deficient in it are often evidence of a milk allergy, lactose intolerance, or strict vegetarianism. Overabsorption can raise calcium levels in the blood and cause calcium and phosphorus to be deposited in the soft tissues of the body. For ten points, name this vitamin, whose recently-discovered cancer-prevention effects have caused a massive run on supplements.
Answer: Vitamin D
2. The narrator and title character of this novel always wears red as a sign of her status, while the Wife Serena Joy wears blue. The narrator belongs to the Commander, so she can bear children in place of Serena Joy. The novel is inspired by the story in Genesis when Zilpah and Bilhah bear children for Rachel and Leah, and is named after Zilpah and Bilhah's profession. For ten points, name this narrative by Offred, perhaps Margaret Atwood's most famous dystopian novel.
Answer: The Handmaid's Tale
3. While studying in 1774 on a scholarship, this man delivered a speech to the reigning king and queen, who remained in their carriage in the pouring rain and departed in the middle of his monologue. He was appointed by the bishop as criminal judge in Arras in 1782, but resigned the position so he would not have to sentence anyone to death. Seven years later he was elected to the Estates-General, and would eventually become involved in the Society of the Friends of the Constitution. For ten points who was this member of the Jacobin Club and leader of the French Revolution nicknamed “the Incorruptible”?
Answer: Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore Robespierre
4. This oral hygiene brand comes in many varieties, including Luminous, Fresh Confidence, Herbal White, and MaxFresh. While the toothpaste in question may promise “icy fresh breath”, it is not referring to diethylene glycol, or antifreeze, replacing glycerin. For ten points, name this brand of toothpaste that comes in a red package, whose poisonous Chinese counterfeits have appeared on dollar-store shelves in the US and Canada.
Answer: Colgate (not Colgate-Palmolive; that is the manufacturer)
5. A memorable chapter in his autobiography deals with his hobby of picking locks on safes, some of which contained critical secret documents. He is renowned for his work on quantum electrodynamics and superfluidity, and developed a namesake diagram method now widely used in string theory. However, he is also considered the "most brilliant" physics teacher, and held many lectures explaining its concepts in an accessible manner. For ten points, name this former Los Alamos physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1965, and author of an autobiography that begins Surely You're Joking...
Answer: Richard Feynman (the autobiography is Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman)
6. This show featured a character named Tommy Fraser played by a young Mike Myers in its debut season in 1979. It was a revival of a 1963 series which lasted for two seasons, which in turn was based upon a 1958 film starring Wendy Stuart and Buddy Hart. The new series ran for six years on CTV and featured a theme song written by John Crossen and Terry Bush which was featured on a 2005 Corner Gas episode. For ten points, what is this Canadian TV program with a theme song entitled “Maybe Tomorrow”, whose title refers to a dog named “London” wandering from town to town?
Answer: The Littlest Hobo
7. This Canadian building is a Victorian manor, northwest of Sussex Drive and visible from the Ottawa River. Notable features include the conservatory, added in 1930, and the River Room, which was added in the 1950s. The back stairs also house a landing where the disabled daughter of the house’s most famous subletter could sit and watch all the parties going on in the dining room. For ten points, name this building, the former residence of Sir John A. MacDonald and the current residence of British High Commissioners to Canada.
Answer: Earnscliffe
8. Despite Thomas Chippendale's implementation of this movement in his furniture design, it remained relatively unpopular in England. A gilt-brass clock case designed by Charles Cressent, showing Cupid at the top of the case and Time collapsed at the bottom, embodied its taste for dissymmetry, as did the Table d'appartement by J.A. Meissonnier which incorporated multitudes of curves associated with the style. Thomas Gainsborough, Jean-Honore Fragonard, and Antoine Watteau are generally classified as visual artists in, for ten points, what early 18th-century art movement that takes its name from the French word for shell work, rocaille?
Answer: Rococo
9. The colony that would become this country was ceded to Spain by Portugal in the Treaty of El Pardo. The Illuminatus! trilogy claims its main island is the last part of Atlantis. Teodoro Obiang has been president of it ever since he deposed his own uncle in 1979, although he alleges there was a coup attempt against him in 2004, involving the son of Margaret Thatcher. For ten points, name this very small continental African country, formerly called Spanish Guinea, which does not actually contain any part of the Equator.
Answer: Equatorial Guinea
10. This ailment first establishes itself by its virus binding to the C155 receptor on cells in the tonsils or intestines. Its bulbar variant can result in respiratory difficulty, requiring treatment with pressure ventilators. Though the virus' three serotypes are all virulent, as many as 1 of 100 cases in its type 1 form result in acute flaccid paralysis, frequently leaving the legs permanently disabled due to the attacks on the central nervous system. For ten points, identify this infectious disease whose vaccines were developed by Albert Sabin and Jonas Salk.
Answer: Poliomyelitis
11. In this play, Elyot, in a bold feminist statement, opines that "Certain women should be struck regularly, like gongs." The woman to whom he is referring is his ex-wife, Amanda, recently married again to Victor. Elyot, meanwhile, is married to Sibyl. Both couples are honeymooning at the same hotel, and Elyot and Amanda rekindle their romance. For ten points, name this Noel Coward play, whose 1931 movie version starred Norma Shearer and Robert Montgomery.
Answer: Private Lives
12. This name is given to clay figurines of fat or pregnant women, which may be the first pieces of representational art. The most famous of them is the one of Willendorf. More traditionally, in Roman mythology, the goddess of this name was sometimes called Genetrix or Obsequens, and was a combination of the Etruscan goddess Turan and the Greek goddess who was the wife of Hephaestus. For ten points, what name is shared by an armlessstatue found on Milo, the second planet from the sun, and the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite?
Answer: Venus
13. Namco developed this series' first arcade game in 2005, featuring crossover characters such as Blinky and Pac-Man. In the original game of the franchise, vehicles that drove off-track were charged two coins to be returned to the course. In all its titles, driving through item boxes on tracks like Rainbow Road yields items such as lightning bolts, fake item boxes, and the homing red shell. For ten points, name this Nintendo racing game series whose titles include Super Circuit and Double Dash!!.
Answer: Mario Kart
14. Having been in the New World since 1502, he joined the expedition to cross Panama led by Balboa. Interestingly, he later arrested Balboa while serving the new governor. Access to the Pacific Ocean allowed for easy trips south to investigate rumours of El Dorado, and his 1532 expedition saw him seize Atahualpa and demand a ransom room of gold. For ten points, name this Spanish conquistador who trounced through Peru and conquered the Inca.
Answer: Francisco Pizarro
15. A contender for the title of "world's first novel", this work is famous for most of its characters lacking actual names. This is because identification by name was too familiar by the rules of etiquette at court where the novel is set. The main character, the son of an Emperor, marries the heroine whose name is given to the author of the work, as the author's real name is also unknown. However, for ten points, we know as Lady Murasaki the writer of what Japanese novel, the "tale" of a shining prince?
Answer: The Tale of Genji
16. These species play an active role in the RAFT and ATRP reaction processes, which both mediate their reaction to develop longer polymer chains. The triphenylmethyl one of those was first to be discovered, but diatomic oxygen is a naturally occurring stable one. Their chain reaction steps are classified by whether there is an increase, no change, or decrease in their number, known as initiation, propagation, and termination respectively. For ten points, name these reactive chemical species whose outermost shells contain unpaired electrons, dude.
Answer: Free radicals
17. This novelist, playwright and translator was honoured at the University of Ottawa’s 2007 Spring Convocation. Translations include the works of Shakespeare into French, such as La nuit des rois, an adaptation of Twelfth Night, and Richard III. Her plays include Poire-acre, Les crasseux, Gapi et Sullivan, and her best-known play, which is about a washerwoman. For ten points, name the Bouctouche, New Brunswick native who penned Pélagie-la-charrette and La sagouine [SAG-oo-EEN].
Answer: Antonine Maillet [my-ay]
18. “Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me” and “He Has Risen” are featured as parts of his Easter Suite, published in 1984. Selections such as “Laurentide Waltz” and “Land of the Misty Giants” are featured on the more-well known Canadiana Suite. He began performing with Charlie Smith and Ray Brown in the early 1950s, who were the first lineup of what would become a namesake trio. He became the third recipient of the Glenn Gould Prize in 1993, and in the same year his left side was weakened due to a stroke. For ten points, name this famous Canadian jazz pianist.
Answer: Oscar Peterson
19. A possible meaning for this country's name is "river of colourful chinchillas" in Guaraní. It has had to struggle for independence from first Spain and then Brazil, on whose side it fought in the War of the Triple Alliance. Its capital's name comes from the shout "I see a mountain!" For ten points, name this South American "Oriental" republic with capital Montevideo.
Answer: Uruguay
20. Microsoft and Gillette are two companies that have successfully practised this strategy – the former in the pricing of their Xbox units, which allowed for more profit off video-game sales, and the latter in the virtual giving away of their razor handles, but making profit on the blades. Grocery stores are the most proficient at this strategy, selling bulky and perishable items below cost to encourage multiple trips – hopefully including many unnecssary, more expensive purchases. For ten points, give this two-word alliterative term.
Answer: loss leader
21. The astrological meaning of this planet is associated with unconventionality, individuality, and radical ideas, and is the ruler of Aquarius. It orbits the Sun in a period of about 84 years. Many of its 27 natural satellites are named after Shakespearean characters, including Titania, Miranda, and Oberon. It possesses a ring system, and is known for having a very dramatic axial tilt, of 98 degrees. For ten points, in 1781, William Herschel discovered what gas giant planet, the seventh from the sun?
Answer: Uranus
22. Though Titus served in this during his father's rule, Lucius Aelius Sejanus was the most notable of its prefects. Retirees from it received 5,000 denarii, and its members were entitled to sesquiplex stipendum, or one and a half times the pay of their counterparts. Diocletian disempowered them by replacing them with the Jovians and Herculeans, while Constantine I destroyed their barracks and disbanded them completely in the 4th century A.D. Established by Augustus at the beginning of his rule, for ten points, name this personal army responsible for protecting the Roman emperor.
Answer: Praetorian Guard (prompt on “Roman Army” or similar)
23. In “Doctor Who”, this creature is known as a Skarasen and is featured in the 1975 story arc “Terror of the Zygons”. It has variously been described as having a “hump like an upturned boat” and “an eel-like head”, or simply as “a horrible great beastie.” For ten points, name this mythological creature said to inhabit a Scottish body of water.
Answer: the Loch Ness Monster (also accept “Nessie”)
24. In Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel Good Omens, this angel appears along with Beelzebub to get Adam Young to accept Armageddon, and appears as a young man made of golden fire. Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass potrays Mrs Coulter seducing this angel, the Regent of Heaven, reminding him that he was once a man named Enoch. Alan Rickman portrayed him in the movie Dogma. For ten points, a folk etymology uses the Greek words for "behind" and "throne" to form the name of this angel who is the Voice of God.
Answer: Metatron
Bonuses
1. German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen gave it the German name “seidenstrasse” when reporting on his travels to China in 1877. For ten points each:
A. What is the English name of this ancient trade route on the Asian continent, so named because a natural fiber was one of the commodities it was used to transport?
Answer: Silk Road or Silk Route
B. Though commodities such as silk were transferred along the road, artwork from this Chinese dynasty of the 7th century can now regularly be seen in the West.