Oasis Quiz Lonewolf Edition - 2011

Name: ____________________________________________________________

Category: College Open

Institution: _______________________________________________________

Phone No.: _________________ Email: ________________________________

90 minutes, 120 questions

*s settle ties

No negative marking

No electronic media, phones OFF

Total: *s:

English Language Activities Society – BITS Pilani

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1.

In the DC Multiverse, the Riddler has an antimatter counterpart who

makes up for his lack of superpowers with his incredibly high IQ

and knowledge of almost all disciplines. What‘s he called?

2.

It used to be the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a and

famous for being the major marketplace for coffee. Coffee beans

from here continue to be prized for their distinctive flavor—and

remain so even today.

3. In 1998, Page & Brin went to attend the Burning Man festival. What

did they do to indicate their absence from office?

4. Campanology is the study of which musical instrument?

5.

She was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. This

titaness was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus and the mother of the

nine Muses by Zeus. Either name her or a word she has given us.

You surely remember this.

6.

This book, the sequel to the famous Three Men in a Boat, brings

back the three companions, this time on a bicycle tour through the

German Black Forest. It is called Three Men on the ________. A

German word please.

7.

The Greeks referred to this Indian region as Pentapotamia. In the

sacred text of Zoroastrians, this region is associated with the ancient

Land of Seven Rivers. The British called it "Our Prussia."

8. What dish takes its name from the past participle of a Spanish word

meaning "season (or decorate) with chili"?

9.

A pun on a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage

from 264 to 146 BC is used to describe the rivalry between two adult

magazines during the 60s and 70s. Name both.

10.*

He was born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants. He

was raised on the family's farm. He grew up to become the largest

milk producer in Sullivan County, New York. Famous for an

important contribution (literally so) in the music field. Identify.

11.

This poet makes an appearance in the 1990 alternative history novel

The Difference Engine, which also features Charles Babbage and

Ada Lovelace, who also happens to be his only legitimate child in

real life. In a Britain powered by the mechanical computers of

Charles Babbage, he is leader of the Industrial Radical Party,

eventually becoming Prime Minister.

12. What word, common in Bharatanatyam, comes from Tamil for

climbing a raised platform?

13.

This film begins with images of camera equipment and projectors

lighting up and projecting brief cinematic glimpses, including a

crucifixion, an erect penis, clips from a comedic silent-film reel and

the slaughter of a lamb. The last glimpse features a boy who wakes

up in a hospital, reading Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time, and

caressing the blurry images of two female faces.

14.

Give one word that connects:

A taxon that disappears from one or more periods of a fossil

record, only to appear again later.

The phenomenon of seeing an unusable semiconductor

detector fix itself at cryogenic temperatures.

The unexpected return of spontaneous circulation after

resuscitation has been abandoned.


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15.

When Robert Clive wished to pay thanks for his victory in the Battle

of Plassey, he was unable to do so in a Church because the only

church in Calcutta at that time was destroyed by Siraj-ud-Daulah.

What was organised for the first time by Raja Nabakrishna Deb of

the Shobhabazar Rajbari of Calcutta in honour of Lord Clive in the

year 1757?

16.*

When he was thirteen, his mother committed suicide by drowning in

the river. It is claimed that he was there when her body was retrieved

and saw her face covered by her dress, which is believed to have

inspired one of his famous paintings.

17.*

It is a 1953 Merrie Melodies cartoon by Chuck Jones, featuring Bugs

Bunny and Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. It is widely considered

among Jones' best and most important films. Its naming is possibly

inspired by a concept made famous by philosopher Ludwig

Wittgenstein, illustrating the difference between ‗Seeing that‘ and

‗seeing as‘.

18.

This game uses a special glove that extends into a long pointed

curved basket. Hence it is called cesta-punta in Spanish meaning

'edged basket'. It is considered the fastest sport in the world because

of the ball speed. It features in the 1982 cult film Tron.

19.

This animal has the largest brain among all animals. It gets its name

from a milky-white waxy substance found in its head, which is used

in cosmetics, leatherworking, and lubricants.

20.

X was a gaily decorated cap, usually with a number of loose peaks

tipped with bells, formerly worn by court jesters and clowns. In the

18th century folio-sized paper had a watermark of an X on it, and

thus a paper of that size has now come to be known as Y. Give Y.

21. The ending of the Tintin comic The Castafiore Emerald is inspired

by the name of which Rossini opera?

22.

X is a cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture,

popular as an inexpensive substitute to cigars. The word X comes

from Tamil ‗shuruttu‘- meaning roll. This word was absorbed into

the French language from Tamil during the 18th century and thence

into English. Identify X.

23.

What was the name given to the supposed sunken landmass

connecting Madagascar, South India and Australia which has been

identified by some historians with ‗Lemuria‘, a hypothetical lost

continent posited in 19th century to account for biogeographical

discontinuities?

24.*

She was a mathematician, physicist, and author most famous for

translating Newton's Principia into French. She predicted the

existence of infrared radiation and also showed that the energy of a

moving object is proportional to the square of its velocity. Voltaire,

one of her lovers described her as ―a great man whose only fault was

being a woman.‖

25.

X was a 1966 movie by Y about a photographer who accidentally

photographs a murder in a park. This plot element was repeated in

the Hindi movie Jaane bhi do yaaron, and in tribute to X the park

where the murder happens was called Y Park. Gimme X & Y.


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26.

_______ is a Russian wartime song, composed in 1938, about a girl

longing for her beloved, who is away on military service. _______ is

a tender diminutive from the female name Ekaterina. ________ also

gave its name to the BM-8, BM-13, and BM-31 rocket launchers

that were fielded by the Red Army in WWII.

27.

Born in Germany, his father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek

ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath. His surname led to

him being taunted at school for killing Christ. He developed what he

called Contrology, a method which he believed uses the mind to

control the muscles.

28.

It is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used

primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII

characters to replace Latinate letters. One theory is that it was

developed to defeat text filters created to discourage the discussion

of forbidden topics, like cracking and hacking.

29.

This surname usually refers to members of the Kshatriya caste from

the hills of Nepal. They are the largest caste group in Nepal,

comprising about 15.5% of the total population. It is a colloquial

derivative of the word kshatriya.

30.

X is a food spread made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer-

brewing. The product took its name from the French term for a large,

covered earthenware or metal cooking pot. X was originally supplied

in earthenware pots, but since the 1920s has primarily been sold in

glass jars that approximate the shape of such pots.

31.

Hemlock water dropwort was a neurotoxic plant used for the ritual

killing of elderly people in pre-Roman X. These people were

intoxicated with this herb and then dropped from a high rock or

beaten to death. Y is a commonly used two word phrase, which was

apparently used to describe their countenances when this happened.

X is a present day Italian province. Give Y.

32.

This German mathematician is credited with the modern formal

definition of a function, apart from other achievements. His surname

is derived from French for "the youth from Richelette" as his family

was from a small community called Richelette in Belgium.

33.

Martin Lahart, Samuel Seager, Bernard Cloonan, Lyle Chapman,

William Gardner and others, led by X were charged with bringing

down Al Capone. They came to be known as ‗Y‘ for their legendary

courage and incorruptibility. Identify X and Y.

34.

This was an extremely sought-after role during this movie‘s making

with even Eleanor Roosevelt writing to David Selznick to let her

maid play the role. The woman X who played it won an Oscar for it,

thus achieving a certain first. Identify X.

35.

This club is based in the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan.

Due to Islamic insurgency, the players train in Moscow and have to

travel 2,000 km to play their home games. It has come into the

spotlight with the recent signing of Samuel Eto'o. Name.

36.

It is one of the Mahavakyas in Vedanta. It originally occurs in the

Chandogya Upanishad in the dialogue between Uddalaka and his

son Śvetaketu. It can be translated as ‗Thou art that‘ and influenced

the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and is mentioned throughout

his book, The World as Will and Representation.


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37.

Extract from the song ―Skull Beneath The Skin‖

‖Prepare the patients scalp

To peel away

Metal caps his ears

He'll hear not what we say

Solid steel visor

Riveted across his eyes

Iron staples close his jaws

So no one hears his cries‖

Who is being described here?

38.

X is a method of extraction, by boiling, of dissolved chemicals, or

herbal or plant material. It involves first mashing, and then boiling in

water to extract chemical substances. X is also the name for the

resulting fluid. In South India, this word is used for a certain drink

prepared in a certain manner.

39.

The Island of Port Lligat is located at the entrance of a small bay in

Catalonia, Spain. A famous painter lived here and both the bay and

the island have been represented in several of his paintings as a

rocky landscape background. Identify painter.

40.

This educator and librarian was a supporter of spelling reform. He

was also active in arranging the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake

Placid. Most famous for introducing a new system for something,

which he devised by improving on something first outlined by Sir

Francis Bacon.

41.*

She was the last of the postwar conventional aircraft carriers

commissioned into the Royal Navy. Served as one of four Royal

Navy strike carriers mainly in the Indian Ocean area until 1970 and

was made the flagship of the British forces during the Falkland wars.

Paid off in 1985 and refitted and sold to another navy.

42.

This word derives from the inaccurate reading of the Arabic

expression samt ar-ra's, meaning ―direction of the head‖, by

Medieval Latin scribes. It was incorrectly reduced to ‗samt‘

("direction"), and later, via Old French and Middle English, gained

its current form. What's the word?

43.

In ocean lore, the sight of this phantom ship is a portent of doom.

This legend has influenced various works, including supposedly

Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the opera X by

Richard Wagner. X is also a nickname given to various

sportspersons from a particular country.

44.

In 1742 Pierre Martel visited a valley in the Alps. He attributed the

dispersal of erratic boulders to the fact that the glaciers had once

extended much farther. This was followed by research expeditions

by various scientists and eventually led to Louis Agassiz's ___ ___

theory.

45.

This word, now used mainly in an informal context to mean intense

criticism, is an abbreviation from the German ‗Flugabwehrkanone‘

meaning (anti-)aircraft defense cannon, possibly as a metaphor

derived from intense bursts of fire from the same. Identify

46.

It is a medium blue-green color. It is named after a member of the

duck family, whose eyes are surrounded by the color. The post-2004

redesigned version of the United States $100 bill features this as its

primary background color.


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47.

Before he was born, his parents had three sons and a daughter, with

all three boys dying in their infancy. Fearing a curse that targeted

male children, he was brought up as a girl for the first few years of

his life, including being made to wear a nose-ring, because of which

he came to be called by a certain nickname. This nickname stuck and

he is still famous by this name. Who?

48.

Also known as Japanese horseradish, this plant is a member of the

family which includes cabbages and mustard. Its root is used as a

condiment and has an extremely strong flavor which is a result of

complex chemical mixtures from the broken cells of the rhizome.

What is it commonly known as?

49.*

It is a term for a motivating element in a story that is used to drive

the plot and serves no further purpose. The term was popularized by

Alfred Hitchcock, who described it as ―In crook stories it is almost

always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers".

A Scottish name gives you the answer.

50.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

The first stanza of which famous poem of nonsense verse written by

Lewis Caroll as part of his novel ―Through the Looking Glass‖?

51.

―________ charges‖ was the term applied to human wave attacks by

the infantry of the losing Imperial Japanese Army during the WWII

when surrender or death were the only options. The Japanese word

________ literally means ―Ten thousand years‖ and is a common

exhortation of long life or celebration in Japan.

52.

This word is the feminine passive past participle of a French verb

meaning ―to melt‖. It is used as a noun and was first attested in

French in 1735, in Vincent la Chapelle‘s ―Cuisinier Moderne‖.

Today used to describe dishes where food is dipped into a communal

pot of hot liquid.

53.*

He was a general of the Russian army during the Napoleonic Wars.

He features in Tolstoy‘s War and Peace. He led the left wing at the

Battle of Borodino, where he constructed a number of fleches. He

was mortally wounded in this battle. An operation in WW2 which

cleared the German forces from Belorussian SSR and eastern Poland

is named after him.

54.

The term "XY" might have originated in Pennsylvania in 1888,

when an Act raised the state's fee for a saloon license. Kate Hester

refused to pay the new license fee and wanted to keep from drawing

attention to her illegal business. So when her customers got too

rowdy, she would hush them by whispering, "X Y, boys! X Y!".

Give XY.

55.

Give one word for:

The British English term for a high spiral slide

A song from the album ―The Beatles‖ (better known as The

White Album)

The term given by Charles Manson for an apocalyptic war

which he believed would arise between whites and blacks.


6

56.

The ______ effect refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the

expectation placed on people, often children or students and

employees, the better they perform. It is named after a Cypriot

sculptor in a narrative by Ovid in Greek Mythology who fell in love

with a female statue he had carved out of ivory. Fill in the blank.

57.*

This animal, colloquially called the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian

Wolf, was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern

times. Native to continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it

is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century. It was one of

only two marsupials to have a pouch in both sexes.

58.

X is a 1973 American sci-fi film directed by Richard Fleischer. It is

set in a dystopian future. Much of the population survives on

processed rations including X, which, advertised as being produced

from "high-energy plankton" turns out to be processed human meat.

Identify X.

59.

X, German for ‗Night of (broken) Glass‘ was a pogrom against Jews

throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–10,

1938 and was triggered by the assassination of German diplomat

Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a German-born Polish Jew

in Paris, France. Give X.

60. "Little twines", "Little worms", "Rifles", "Cooking Pot", "Large

canes", "Pens" and "Squashed" are some of the famous types of?

61.

He was the inventor of the first portable fully automatic machine

gun. He also laid a claim to inventing the light bulb and

experimented with powered flight. He is also the inventor of the

ubiquitous mousetrap.

62.

X's wheel was invented in 1150 by Indian mathematician X, in an

attempt to create a perpetual motion machine. The wheel consisted

of curved or tilted spokes partially filled with mercury. Once in

motion, the mercury would flow from one side of the spoke to

another, thus forcing the wheel to continue motion.

63.

He was the son of Helios and Clymene. Seeking assurance that

Helios was indeed his father he obtained his father's permission to

drive the sun chariot as proof. He failed to control it and the Earth

was in danger of burning up when he was killed by a thunderbolt

from Zeus to prevent further disaster.

64.

When the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to see the far

side of the moon in late 1968, they were tempted to radio back the

discovery of a large, black _______.

65.

He was called the "Atom Smasher", and the man who "held the key"

to atomic energy. The invention that brought X to international fame

started out when X was once intrigued by a diagram which proposed

to produce very high-energy particles by means of a succession of

very small "pushes."

66.

This indigenous tribe is found mostly in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Their name is derived from a word meaning "piece of land" or

"field". Their mural paintings are famous and similar to those done

between 500 and 10,000 BCE in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, in

Madhya Pradesh.


7

67.

X emerged as the lead character in Hogan's Alley, drawn by Richard

F. Outcault. X was a bald, snaggle-toothed boy who wore a

nightshirt and hung around in a ghetto alley filled with equally odd

characters, mostly other children.

68.

Which webcomic generally characterized by the juxtaposition of

whimsical childlike imagery or fantasy with morbid, sudden or

unexpected surreal humor, takes its name from the name of a church

in Maine?

69.

The author of this book has emphasized that the book is not about

mathematics, art, and music but rather about how cognition and

thinking emerge from well-hidden neurological mechanisms.

Identify the book.

70.

While with the French Resistance during World War II, this director

adopted a pseudonym as a tribute to his favorite American author.

Jean-Luc Godard used him as a minor character in Breathless. When

Godard was having difficulty editing the film, he suggested that he

just cut directly to the best parts of a shot, which inspired Godard to

use the extremely famous jump cuts.

71.

It is the practice of having more than one intimate relationship at a

time with the consent of everyone involved. The infinity heart, a red

and white heart combined with a blue infinity is often used as a

symbol by people who practice this. The French philosophers Jean

Pierre Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir were famously involved in

such a relationship.

72.

In 1726, Jonathan Swift described tensions in Lilliput and Blefuscu:

whereas in Lilliput people cracked open a soft-boiled egg at the

small end, inhabitants of the rival kingdom of Blefuscu cracked it at

the other end. What term, used in computing, derives from this?

73.

Marcus Garvey, Jr. was a 20th century Jamaican journalist and

orator. A staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-

Africanism movements, he founded a shipping line which promoted

the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands. This line

derived its name from a well-known shipping line, whose success

Garvey felt he could duplicate. Name the line.

74.

In music, X is a motif or phrase which is persistently repeated in the

same musical voice. X is to classical music what a riff is to popular

music, though a riff doesn't necessarily have to repeat. The term X

comes from the Italian word for "obstinate", owing to the phrase's

unwillingness to leave.

75.

Xs are referred to by the Chinese as Yuan-yang, where yuan and

yang respectively stand for male and female Xs. In the eyes of the

ancient Chinese, Xs form a life-time couple, unlike many other

species. Hence they are frequently featured in Oriental art and are

regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity.

76.

X was a French-Italian cardinal, diplomat, and politician. He was a

noted collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds, and he

bequeathed the "X diamonds" to Louis XIV in 1661, one of which

featured in a Sherlock Holmes case.

77.

He is a great King of the nagas and is known in Chinese and

Japanese mythology as being one of the "eight Great Naga Kings".

During Samudramanthan, he was used as the churning rope to

extract the ambrosia of immortality from the ocean of milk.


8

78.

In an 1865 speech in Oakland, California, Rev. W. B. Brown of New

Jersey, in a satirical reference to a famous phrase, quipped that the

reason the ___ ___ _____ ___ __ ___ ______ was that God did not

trust the British in the dark. Gimme a seven word phrase.

79.

X and Y were both authors and lifelong friends. X based the

character of Idabel in Other Voices, Other Rooms on Y, and was in

turn the inspiration for a character in Y‘s 1960 Pulitzer Prize

winning novel. Y was also X‘s research partner in X‘s most famous

book, a journalistic work about the murder of a Kansas farm family.

80.

This Australian came to Mumbai to meet Parveen Babi whilst

awaiting a work permit to work in Muscat. He got his first break as a

type-cast villain in the Hindi movie Abdullah in 1980. His film

career restricted him to be typecast and portray stereotypical roles

such as a henchman, prisoner, the villain's sidekick or a British

officer in pre-war related movies.

81.

He studied medicine and worked at the Department of Obstetrics and

Gynaecology at the University of Kiel, where he published papers

on cancer metastasis and the physiology of egg implantation. He

also developed the first intrauterine device in 1929.

82.

Give one word:

a historical term for pawn shops or moneychangers in the

Middle Ages

a musical rhythm, especially used in Baroque music

a phenomenon in which a speaker or singer involuntarily

raises his or her vocal intensity in the presence of high levels

of sound

a medieval alliance of some 30 cities in Northern Italy

formed to counter the Holy Roman Empire's Frederick I

83. _______ (hate), Akheron (sorrow), Kokytos (lamentation) and

Phlegethon (flaming), Lethe (forgetfulness). Just fill in the blank.

84.

This British actor won the academy award for best supporting actor

twice – for Spartacus and Topkapi. He was unintentionally a part

witness to the assassination of India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

She was on her way to be interviewed by him for a documentary for

Irish television when she was assassinated.

85.

A X, also known as a X helmet or ski mask, is a form of cloth

headgear that covers the whole head, exposing only part of the face.

The name comes from a Ukrainian town of the same name. It‘s

commonly called a monkey cap in India. What is it?

86.

A fellow of the Royal Society, he made pioneering studies in

anthropometry in India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute,

and contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys. He is

perhaps best remembered for a multivariate distance measure, named

after him, which is independent of measurement scale.

87.

He is one of the earliest Indian playwrights in Sanskrit. His works

were discovered in 1912 by Ganapati Shastri, a Sanskrit Scholar in

Kerala. His plays do not follow all the dictates of the Natya Shastra,

which has been taken as a proof of their antiquity. His plays are still

very much popular in Kutiyattam, the only surviving Sanskrit drama

tradition in Kerala.


9

88.

An army of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150

cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits, was

discovered by farmers in 1974. The purpose of this army was to

guard an emperor in his afterlife. Which army?

89.

The name of this town is an Iroquois word, meaning either "two

moccasins tied together", "bag tied at the middle", "where the fish

are taken out" or "jumping fish." It lent its name to an adult

education movement featuring lectures, plays, and musical

performances, which Theodore Roosevelt described as "the most

American thing in America."

90.

Norris McWhirter came to particular public attention while working

for the BBC as a sports commentator. On 6 May 1954, he kept the

time when Roger Bannister ran the four-minute mile. Which famous

publication did he go on to co-write with his brother?

91.

____ is a strategic board game, invented by French film director

Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du

Monde ("The Conquest of the World") in France. The object of the

game is "to occupy every territory on the board and in so doing,

eliminate all other players." What is it?

92.

Once popular throughout the North American region, its numbers

declined rapidly owing to the bio-magnification of DDT in its prey.

The DDT resulted in abnormally thin egg shells. However, with

restrictions on DDT use, its population has stabilized once again.

What creature are we talking about?

93.*

He was a Spanish priest who wrote one of the first definitive books

about modern chess in Europe. Considered by many to be the first

unofficial world chess champion, he is today remembered as having

studied in detail an extremely popular chess opening, named after

him. Who?

94.

Connect with a word: Potatoes, Tomatoes, Eggplants, Tobacco and

Belladonna. Most likely, albeit ironically, the name comes from the

perceived resemblance that some of the flowers bear to the sun and

its rays.

95.

Give two words for:

Indian Cobra, Russell‘s Viper, Krait and Saw Scaled Viper

Deloitte Touche (M.E), Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG

Alberta cattlemen Patrick Burns, George Lane, A. E. Cross

and Archie McLean who together founded the Calgary

Stampede

96.

The term __________ (Greek for "having four letters") refers to the

name of the Lord of Israel, YHWH, used in the Hebrew Bible.

Observant Jews write it down but do not pronounce it as it is

considered too sacred to be used for common activities.

97.

The etymology of this phrase, used as a euphemism for having died

in war is unclear, but it has been theorized that the death benefits

paid to the beneficiaries of soldiers who died in battle were often

enough to pay off the mortgage of the family home or farm, hence

the deceased was said to have "________ the ______".


10

98.

Probably the greatest Brazilian footballer to have never won a World

Cup, he was described as the most rugged footballer of the Cold War

era. Name this attacking midfielder who was noted for being an

intellectual, and was a co-founder of the Corinthians Democracy

movement, wherein the players took over the management of the

club.

99.

X was formed in 2001, and based in Moyock, North Carolina as a

company that would train US Navy SEALs for combat. X later

evolved and diversified, and claims to have been absolutely

successful in certain theatres. ID X.

100.

Which famous book has chapters such as "On the Arrangements of a

House, and Household Furniture", "Of Different Kinds of Gain",

"How to Begin and How to End the Congress" and "On Pressing or

Marking with the Nails"?

101.

X: They came in or, you know, told him or they must have spoken to

him and Prime Minister spoke to him.

Y: No. Prime Minister did not. I was the one who was talking with

him. I was on the phone and he – Prime Minister said a few words,

that‘s all. And see, Prime Minister can‘t talk on a phone to dad and

convey, there is obviously… Prime Minister is also, you know, very

soft spoken and dad can‘t hear that clearly also.

Just gimme Y.

102.

This drink is believed to get its name because it was made for the

workers in a steel works in Glasgow. These workers were dying

from the large amounts of beer drunk to quench their thirst from the

heat of the steel works and this was introduced as an alternative by

A.G. Barr.

103.

X, sometimes called "the father of algebra", was an Alexandrian

Greek mathematician and the author of a series of books which deal

with solving algebraic equations. It was while studying these that

Pierre de Fermat formulated the famous Fermat‘s Last Theorem.

104.

When Erle Stanley Gardner created this fictional attorney, he

borrowed the name of the company which published his favorite

childhood magazine. Name this fictional character, who famously

described himself as "I'm a specialist on getting people out of

trouble".

105.

_______ _____ is a common name for over 1,000 species of

flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae. The seeds of many

of these contain alkaloids such as the hallucinogenic ergonovine and

ergine (LSA). The seeds of at least two species are used as

psychedelics and can produce a similar effect to LSD when taken in

the tens.

106.

This animal was brought to prominent European attention by

speculation on its existence in popular press reports, where it was

called the ‗African unicorn‘. Remains of a carcass were later sent to

London by the English adventurer Harry Johnston and became a

media event in 1901.

107.*

X was a Parisian punch-cutter and publisher. He was one of the

leading type designers of his time. The French court adopted X‘s

Roman types for their printing and their influence spread across

France and Western Europe. Give me X.


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108.

A photo album with pictures of X was recently discovered in Y‘s

compound. During X‘s visit to Y‘s country, Y presented X with a

diamond ring, a lute, a locket with an engraved likeness of himself

inside and an inscribed edition of "The Green Book," a personal

political manifesto that explains his "Third Universal Theory for a

new democratic society." Gimme X and Y

109.

A controversial figure among cricketers, he was well known for his

dislike of Australian players and crowds and was unpopular in

Australia. He was the captain of the English team during the 1932-

33 Bodyline series. Who?

110.

Sir Francis Galton defined it as "the study of all agencies under

human control which can improve or impair the racial quality of

future generations". It advocates the use of practices aimed at

improving the genetic composition of a population. It has been

called ―the self-direction of human evolution‖. What?

111.

He is one of the Trinity in Carnatic music. At a young age, he was

also exposed to the music of the Western bands at Fort St. George.

He composed some forty songs to several western folk tunes. This

corpus is now known as Nottuswara Sahitya. The influence of Celtic

and Baroque styles in these compositions is quite evident. Who?

112.

This astronomer, according to legend, died of complications

resulting from a strained bladder at a banquet as it was considered

bad etiquette to leave the table before the meal was finished. This

version of events has since been brought into question as other

causes of death (murder by Johannes Kepler, suicide, and mercury

poisoning among others) have come to the fore.

113.

He was the father of the Devas, Asuras, Nagas and all of humanity.

He married Aditi, with whom he fathered Agni, the Adityas, and

also Vamana. With his second wife, Diti, he begot the Daityas. He

received the earth, obtained by Parashurama's conquest of King

Kartavirya Arjuna.

114.

The Sealed Air Corporation was founded in 1960 by inventors

Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes. Their most famous product

was created by sealing two shower curtains together, which they

originally tried to sell as wallpaper. What product?

115.

In psychology, the X effect is a demonstration of the reaction time of

a task. When the name of a color is printed in a color not denoted by

the name, naming the color of the word takes longer and is more

prone to errors. The effect has been used to create a psychological

test (X Test) that is widely used in clinical practice and

investigation. What is X?

116.*

Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman was a Khoikhoi woman who became

famous after being exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th

century Europe under the name ________ _______, owing to the

unusual bodily features she possessed. Since 1994, Baartman has

become an icon in South Africa as representative of many aspects of

the nation's history. Fill in the blanks.


12

117.

Give one word:

In Cambridge, a student who has completed the third year of

the mathematical tripos with first-class honours

a profession of handling animals, especially horses and cattle

a clothing brand owned by the VF Corporation

an SUV and off-road vehicle manufactured by Chrysler

under its Jeep marquee.

118.

______ ______ is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. Its

eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of

Russian literary heroes (so-called superfluous men). The novel

served as the basis for Tchaikovsky‘s 1879 opera of the same name.

119.*

X is an early electronic musical instrument named after its Russian

inventor. It consists of two metal antennas which sense the position

of the player's hands. So it can be played without being touched. It

features in soundtracks of movies like Spellbound, The Machinist,

The Day the Earth Stood Still among others.

120.

It is a form of propaganda where a few people attempt to give the

impression that mass numbers of enthusiasts advocate a specific

cause. It gets its name from the fact that it is often in support of a

political or corporate agenda but is designed to give the appearance

of a "grassroots" movement.

This quiz is conducted by the English Language Activities Society, BITS Pilani.

Quizmasters: Srisha Haridas, Nachiketa Adhikari, Pavan Bharadwaj, Mayank Kowshik

We would like to express our immense gratitude to the following people:

Dr. Anurakshat Gupta, International Quizzing Association

Karnataka Quiz Association

Odisha Quiz Association

The Coimbatore Quiz Circle

QFI, Chennai

Kutub Quizzers, Delhi

SEQC, Goa

IIT Kharagpur Quiz Club

Mr. Gautam Ghosh, Kwizmaniax, Kolkata

Quizzing Commoners, Lucknow

The Bombay Quiz Club

Mr. Ramanand of the Boat Club Quiz Club, Pune and Mr. Amit Patil

About OASIS and the Theme:

As the clock strikes 2:00, the texture of the winter sky gets murkier, but faces are still spotted entering through the rusty gates into the hallowed portals of BITS Pilani. You might mistake them for lost wanderers attracted to the azure oasis in the middle of the unforgiving desert, but not when there’s so many of them. The chilly wind blows sand into their faces, but they aren’t really bothered, partly because they have already fistfuls of it in their shoes and on their skin, but mostly because they have been through a thoroughly exhilarating experience during their drive to the shanty town of Pilani. And the road trip is just the start of it. October is as good a time as any to be in Pilani. The sun looks down with considerably less fury, the pesky insects that came with the rain are all gone, and then there’s Oasis. Oasis, the annual cultural festival of BITS Pilani, now in its 41

st edition, is one of the

most eagerly anticipated college festivals in the country. It’s 96 hours of unadulterated thrill, a ceaseless euphoria that overwhelms every being at hand to witness it. Oasis ’11 – The Roadtrip, as the theme goes, is about capturing and preserving the endless sense of motion that comes with a long hard trip on an alien path, with briskly changing landscapes, with a heart yearning in the expectancy of something grand awaiting us at the end of the road. The feeling of being in constant motion does not stop there, though, as the following 96 hours are best spent mindlessly roaming around every nook and corner of the historic yet majestic campus, which is typically bursting with activity at this time. Academics are on hold, classrooms serve as rehearsal spots, and every student is busy adding sheen to the grandeur of the college festival, with nothing but a sense of fulfilment to expect in return. Oh, that and a whole lot of fun. Students are busy with their work, looking after every aspect of the fest, right from gathering sponsors to setting up stage lights, and also organizing events for the outstation participants to relish. Yes, Oasis is a completely student-organized cultural fest, and every member of the BITS Pilani fraternity takes tremendous pride in that fact. The places and events for you to indulge yourself in are aplenty. There is always something or the other going on in pretty much the entire campus. Rock concerts, plays, mime, street dance, workshops, music competitions, spoofs, quizzes, cyber gaming wars, solo guitar challenges, talent hunts, a DJ night, a mock parliament, games, a treasure hunt, photography contests, journalism events, writing challenges, exhibitions, oratory jams, debates and fashion parades: basically, if you can think up of an interest, we will have an event lined up for you. Visit us at:

www.bits-oasis.org

Keep up with the latest goings-on at:

www.facebook.com/OasisTheRoadtrip

Contact:

For Publicity: Saurabh Sachdeva saurabh[at]bits-oasis.org Ph:+918890407860

For Participation: Rohit Garg pcr[at]bits-oasis.org Ph:+91-9928460668

For Sponsorship: Sachin Sethi sachin[at]bits-oasis.org Ph:+91-9772975338

Events and Misc.: Arunav Kanoria arunav[at]bits-oasis.org Ph: +91-9772976161

http://www.bits-oasis.org/

http://www.facebook.com/OasisTheRoadtrip

Entertainment & Humor

Oasis Quiz Lonewolf Edition - 2011