Quiz 48 Flashcards
The massive 20-novel sequence by Emile Zola set during the French Second Empire, which includes such works as Nana, La Bete Humaine and Germinal, is often known collectively by the names of the two families whose stories it traces. What are those names?
Rougon-Macquart
What was the name of the British cleric, a reader of Geology at Oxford University from 1818, who identified the fossil bones of a prehistoric reptile that he called the Magalosaurus, the first dinosaur to be given a scientific name?
William Buckland
In the periodic table, which hard, brittle, pinkish-white metal has, at 83, the highest atomic number of all the stable elements?
Bismuth
The contraction Interpol actually only utilises two of the four words in the organisation’s name in English. What is the full four word name?
International Criminal Police Organisation
Which powerful poison is extracted from the seeds of the castor oil plant?
Ricin
When signing a letter in place of someone else, it is common to place the abbreviation pp before one’s signature. What do the letters pp stand for?
Per procuratiomen
Although derived from different sources, which term for an argument is the same as that for a short heavy arrow shot from a crossbow or arbalest?
Quarrel
Two pop groups, both with their origins in Sheffield, released hit albums with the title Hysteria within three years of each other in the 1980s. Which two?
Human League, Def Leppard
The word Eureka, which Archimedes reputedly exclaimed on lighting upon a hydrostatic method of assessing the amount of alloy in the crown of the King of Syracuse, was adopted as the motto of which US state?
California
Named after the 5th Marquis of Salisbury, the Salisbury doctrine or convention relates to what policy regarding the House of Lords?
Peers do not impede manifesto legislation
Which controversial novel of 1928 opens with the line: “Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically”?
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Which of the wives of Henry VIII died last, surviving until 1557?
Anne of Cleves
The children’s novels Dick Willoughby and The Otterbury Incident are the work of which British Poet Laureate?
Cecil Day Lewis
Taking its oxygen supply directly from the air, which part of the body uniquely has no blood supply?
Cornea
An exhibition of reclining nudes, judged obscene by Parisian police officials and shut down in 1917, was the work of which Italian painter?
Amadeo Modigliani
Which film of 1950 completes the director John Ford’s so-called Cavalry trilogy of westerns, the first two being Fort Apache in 1946 and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon in 1949?
Rio Grande
The Neandertal, the German valley in which skeletal remains discovered in 1856 proved to be those of a palaeolithic hominid, is crossed by which river?
Dussel
Which colonial soft coral, with the scientific name Alcyonium digitatum, gets its popular name from its fleshy pink appearance?
Dead Men’s Fingers
Terry, who starred as Toto in the film The Wizard of Oz, was what breed of dog?
Cairn terrier
Computers routinely use USB connections and devices. What do the letters USB stand for?
Universal Serial Bus
The line “Play up! Play up! And play the game” comes from a poem called Vitai lampada by which Victorian poet?
Henry Newbolt
The novelist William Golding, the 19th century world heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons and the chemist and inventor Humphrey Davy were all born in which English county?
Cornwall
Which British artist was a founding father of the Pop Art movement and became famous for canvases incorporating collage, such as My Marilyn and Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?
Richard Hamilton
Scofula, which affects the lymph glands, especially in the neck, and was once known as the King’s Evil, is a form of which chronic infectious disease?
Tuberculosis
