Collaborative Middle School Tournament

Question 1

One character in this story is sold by her father and is partially deaf. The protagonist reveals himself to Princess Pea and is then sentenced to death in the dungeon. Spoons, bowls, kettles, and soup are outlawed after the queen dies of fright when a rat falls in her food. For 10 points, name this 2004 novel which became a 2008 film, a Newberry Medal winner by Kate DiCamillo

Answer 1

the TALE OF DESPEREAUX

Question 2

This women allied with Walter White to push the failed Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill, but the President refused to publicly endorse it. She and Wendell Wilkie were the first honorary chairpersons of Freedom House. She arranged Marian Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial. As a delegate to the UN from 1945-1952, she also helped draft the Declaration of Human Rights. For 10 points, name this first lady, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer 2

(Anna) Eleanor ROOSEVELT

Question 3

One former player for this team was the 1986NFL MVP as well as the defensive player of the year, but that player may be more famous for the hit that broke Joe Theismann’s leg. Lawrence Taylor played for this team that also defeated Tom Brady-led Patriots team to win the 2012 Super Bowl. Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruiz play on, for 10 points, what NFL team that features Eli Manning at quarterback

Answer 3

new york GIANTS

Question 4

One structure in this organ, the Bowman’s capsule, is divided into several layers including the visceral and parietal layers. The adrenal glands are located just above this organ, whose loop of Henle helps concentrate urine. Dialysis is used as an alternative when this organ fails. For 10 points, name these organs composed of nephrons whose main function is to filter blood and produce urine

Answer 4

KIDNEYs

Question 5

In this work, Unferth boasts about beating the protagonist in a swimming contest. As his dying action, the protagonist gives Wiglaf a royal gold collar. Partly taking place in the mead hall Heorot, this work presents Hrothgar, the king of Danes, as helpless I battling a monster who comes nightly to eat warriors. For 10 points, name this Old English epic poem in which the title hero kills Grendel and Grendel’s mother

Answer 5

BEOWULF

Question 6

At the beginning of this country’s fight for independence, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes freed his slaves, and they fought together in the Ten Years’ War. Its Revolt of the Sergeants was reversed by the 26th of July Movement, which ended the rule of Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara helped move this Caribbean country to Communism in 1959. For 10 points, name this nation that has been led by Raul and Fidel Castro

Answer 6

CUBA

Question 7

The IBM Model M is particularly highly regarded example of this type of device. They sometimes use the Dvorak layout, but the most popular arrangement for them was designed by Christopher Sholes and is deliberately inefficient to avoid jamming. For 10 points, name these devices that often use the QWERTY layout, and are used to enter numbers and letters into a computer

Answer 7

(computer or typewriter) KEYBOARDs

Question 8

In Jainism, this object’s central point is Mount Meru. In Chinesem mythology, this object is the lower half of a cosmic egg split by Pangu, which in ancient Egypt the original form of this object was the primordial mound. This region will be reborn from a massive flood after Rangarok. For 10 points, name this planet subjected to a massive flood that Noah escaped

Answer 8

EARTH [accept equivalents like WORLD or LAND before “planet” is mentioned]

Question 9

This work includes the aria “Un bel di,” describing a beautiful day when a ship will arrive with the singer’s husband after three years away. Unfortunetly, the consul Sharpless informs the title character that her husband has married Kate, an American women. Lieutenant Pinkerton abandons the title character of, for 10 points what Giacomo Puccini opera about Cio-Cio San, a Japanese women known by an insect nickname?

Answer 9

MADAME BUTTERFLY [or MADAMA BUTTERFLY]

Question 10

This geographical feature has its lowest point at Bently Trench. A lake here lies under Vestok Station. Mt. Erebus is found on Ross Island off its coast, between Marie Byrd and Victoria lands. The Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains contains its highest peak, Vinson Massif, located on the Ronne Ice Shelf. Getting only 5-10 inches a year, it is considered a desert. For 10 points, name this southernmost continent that contains the icy South Pole

Answer 10

ANTARTICA

Question 11

The announcement of this object’s existence was hinted at by a shadow on invitations to an event at the Yerva Buena Center for the arts. Disputes over strict quality control demands threatened production at the Foxconn facility that manufactures it. This devise comes with Earpods and introduced the Lightening connector, as well as a longer screen than its processor, the 4s. For 10 points, name this latest version of Apple’s cell phone product

Answer 11

iPHONE 5 [prompt on “IPhone)

Question 12

Lee Deforest is considered one of the inventors of this technique in this early 1990s when he was working on space telegraphy. This form of radio communication involves the transmission of sinusoidal waves that have varying strength over time. Most early commercial radios used this technique due to its simplicity. For 10 points, name this radio transmission methodology contrasted with frequency modulation

Answer 12

AMPLITUDE MODUCLATION or AM radio [prompt on “radio” or similar answers”

Question 13

This king was in owner during the Affair of the Diamond Necklace. His advisor Maurepas appointed Turgot as finance minister, and he was later served by the author of the compte rendu, Jacques Necker. When his ministers were unable to raise enough revenue, this king was forced to call the Estates-General. For 10 points, name this husband of Marie Antoinette deposed in the French Revolution

Answer 13

LOUIS XVI [THE 16th] of France

Question 14

In one novel by this author, Robert Cohn and Jake Barnes both pursue Lady Brett Ashley as they travel through Spain. IN another novel by this author, Catherine loves an American soldier fighting in World War I, Fredric Henry. In one of this man’s novellas, Santiago goes 84 days without catching a fish. For 10 points, name this author of “The Sun Also Rises,” “A Farewell to Arms,” and “The Old Man and the Sea”

Answer 14

Ernest HEMINGWAY

Question 15

These objects have only three externally verifiable properties: mass, charge, and angular momentum, according to the no-hair theorem, and their size can be determined using the Schwarzschild radius. They can be formed following a supernova, and one of them is believed to be at the center of the Milky Way. For 10 points, name these astronomical entities from which light cannot escape

Answer 15

BLACK HOLE

Question 16

Name this person who lent their name to astronomical objects: two dwarf galaxies visible from the Southern Hemisphere are named for this Portuguese explorer who did not discover them, but documented them in 1519

Answer 16

ferdinand MAGELLAN [accept (large and small) MAGELLANIC clouds]

Question 17

Name this British astronomer who correctly predicted that a comet would appear 16 years after his death: that comet with a 76-year period now bears his name

Answer 17

Edmond HALLEY [accept HALLEYs COMET]

Question 18

Over Earth’s equator are two concentric belts of intense ratiation named for this American physicist who found them in 1950s

Answer 18

james VAN ALLEN [accept VAN ALLEN BELTs]

Question 19

This part of speech often is used to join two clauses together. name these words, examples which include but, or, and and

Answer 19

CONJUNCTIONs

Question 20

this name is given to commas thaqt immediately precede a conjunction. these commas are sometimes left off before the end of a list

Answer 20

SERIAL commas [accept OXFORD commas or HARVARD commas

Question 21

this mood, sometimes called a conjunctive mood because it often follows conjunctions, is used to express possibilities that have not yet occured

Answer 21

SUBJUNCTIVE mood

Question 22

the largest number of solutions a quadratic equation may have

Answer 22

TWO solutions or zeroes or roots

Question 23

number of solut8ions of a quadratic equation can be determined by evaluating this expression which for the equation ax^2 + bx + c = 0 is computed as b^2 - 4ac

Answer 23

DISCRIMINANT

Question 24

if a quadratic equation has only one distinct solution, then this is the value of the discriminant

Answer 24

ZERO

Question 25

This queen ruled England longer than any other monarch. name this queen who ruled England from 1837 to 1901

Answer 25

VICTORIA

Question 26

Victoria’s husband was this man, who was from Germany. His early death so upset her that she used the pronoun “we” rather than “I” for the remainder of her life

Answer 26

Prince ALBERT

Question 27

This man was Victoria’s son and succeeded her. His lavish lifestyle became emblematic of his reign

Answer 27

EDWARD VII

Question 28

It has been claimed that on September 11th, 2012, Muslims rioted in protest of the production of the film The Innocence of Muslims. This film is considered offensive by Muslims as it features an unflattering portrayl of this prophet of Islam

Answer 28

MUHAMMAD

Question 29

It has been claimed that on September 11th, 2012, Muslims rioted in protest of the production of the film The Innocence of Muslims. Initial news reports indicated a protest over the film occurred at an American government building in Benghazi, the 2nd largest city in this North African nation

Answer 29

LIBYA

Question 30

It has been claimed that on September 11th, 2012, Muslims rioted in protest of the production of the film The Innocence of Muslims. This protest may have provided cover for an organized terrorist attack that killed four people, including this American Ambassador to Libya

Answer 30

chris STEVENS

Question 31

In this novel, the protagonist’s friend Jim Conklin states that he would desert in battle. Name this Civil War novel about Henry Fleming, who himself flees from battle

Answer 31

The RED BADGE OF COURAGE

Question 32

The Red Badge of Courage was written by this author of “The Open Boat”

Answer 32

Stephen CRANE

Question 33

Another work set during the Civil War is this Louisa May Alcott work about the March sisters, whose father fights in the war

Answer 33

LITTLE WOMEN

Question 34

This man’s brother was Aaron and he created water from a rock by striking it with his staff. Name this man who, according to the book of Exodus, led the Israelites forth from Egypt and parted the Red Sea. He is also said to have written the Torah

Answer 34

MOSES [also accept Moshe]

Question 35

Moses received this list of requirements from God. When Moses saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf, he broke the original stone tablets these were written on

Answer 35

TEN COMMANDMENTS

Question 36

Moses received the Ten Commandments on this mountain, where it is said Moses spent fourty days and fourty nights receiving the commandments

Answer 36

mount SINAI [or har SANAI]

Question 37

This author’s “Northanger Abbey” and “Persuasion” were both published posthumously, and she also wrote “Sense and Sensibility”. Name this author who wrote a novel about Emma Woodhouse, who falls in love with George Knightley

Answer 37

jane AUSTEN

Question 38

One of Austen’s characters is this women who refuses a marriage proposal from William Collins and eventually learns to appreciate Fitzwilliam Darcy

Answer 38

ELIZABETH bennet

Question 39

Elizabeth and her sisters are major characters in this Jane Austen novel

Answer 39

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Question 40

This man led the Continental Army and would later become the first President of the United States

Answer 40

george WASHINGTON

Question 41

This man was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence; according to legend, he wanted King George to be able to see it without his reading glasse son

Answer 41

john HANCOCK

Question 42

This founding father argued that the colonies were sovereign in their internal affairs in his “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania”

Answer 42

john DICKINSON

Question 43

This active stratovolcano last erupted in 1707 and is one of Japan’s “three holy mountains”

Answer 43

mount FUJI

Question 44

This mountain is one of the four highest peaks in the Alps and is also one of the deadliest to climb. Its name derives from the German words for “meadow” and “peak”

Answer 44

MATTERHORN [or MONTE CERVINO or MONT CERVIN]

Question 45

This “white mountain’ is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe, and the European Union

Answer 45

MONT BLANC

Question 46

COPI vesicles depart from this organelle’s cis face, while at its trans faces, proteins being sent to the lysosome are tagged with mannose-6-phosphate. B-cells rely on these organelles to secrete antibodies, and most products of rough ER are sent here for modification. name this organelle made of cisternae that serves as the sorting and packaging center of the cell

Answer 46

GOLGI apparatus/ complex/ body

Question 47

This mountain range is home to the threatened spectacled bear, and large silver mines were found near this range’s city of potosi. The farthest point on the surface from Earth’s center is this range’s Chimborazo. Its highest peak is Aconcagua, and it is ome to Lake Titicaca. Cities in this mountain range include Sucre, La Paz, and Quito. Name this mountain range along the Western Coast of South AMerica

Answer 47

the ANDES

Question 48

iris once forced this god to reveal his name in return for healing a snakebite. this god was the ancestor of all members of the Ennead, which included his children Shu and Tefnut and his grandchildren Geb and Nut. This god’s base of worship was Heliopolis, and with the help of Set, this god fends off the attack of the snake Apep as he travels across the sky in his solar barge. name this Egyptian sun god

Answer 48

RA [or RE or AMUN-RA or ATUM-RA]

Question 49

In book one of this work, the word Pandemonium is first used to described Satan’s palace. Satan eventually tricks Uriel into letting him escapee, and he makes his way to earth to Tempt mankind. The archangel Michael leads mankind out of the garden in what John Milton epic poem that chronicles the fall of Adam and Eve?

Answer 49

PARADISE LOST

Question 50

This unit has gram and kilogram types depending on the amount of water used to define it. Its name is based on the Latin word for “heat”. the gram type is a little over four joules, a unit that has in many contests become a more common unit of energy than this one. name this unit whose kilogram type is also known as the dietary type and is still used to measure the energy content of food

Answer 50

CALORIE

Question 51

during this war, Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoed Bend. Tecumseh died during the Battle of the Thames in this war. The White House was burned by the British Army during this war. Francis Scott Key composed the “Star Spangled Banner” during this conflict. Impressment of U.S. soldiers was a major cause of this war. what 19th century war between U.S. and Britain was named for the year it began?

Answer 51

war of 1812