Trivia Questions, given for Churchill MCR Freshers' week on Oct 6 2009.

by Joseph Bonneau

ROUND 1: WHAT's the biggest item from these 4 choices? Hint: the biggest is at least twice the size of any other value.

1) Bigger island by land area: Big Island of Hawaii, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, or Sardinia?

2) More land used in the cultivation of: Barley, Cocoa bean, Coffee, or Tobacco?

3) Most total banknotes currently in circulation: Chinese Yuan, EU Euro, Indonesian Rupathi, or US Dollar?

4) Largest animal by average weight: Bobcat, Common Octopus, North American Beaver, or Red Fox?

5) Most populous city (total urbanized area)? Istanbul, Jakarta, Karachi, or Rio de Janeiro?

6) Highest-volume restaurant chain (gross worldwide revenue)? Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Starbucks, or Subway?


ROUND 2: WHEN did these sets of events occur? (all happened in the same calendar year, name the year)

1) (Within 8 years) Peter the Great become Tsar, Philadelphia founded, Louis XIV moves his court to Versailles

2) (Within 6 years) The British Musem Opens in London, George Washington is married, Guinness Brewery founded, Robert Burns born

3) (Within 4 years) Mark Twain born, first railway opened in continental Europe (Brussels-Mechelin), Charles Darwin reaches the Galapagos Islands aboard the Beagle, invention of Morse code

4) (Within 2 years) Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) born, Leo Tolstoy died, first delivery of mail by airplane, South Africa first receives independence (as Union of South Africa)

5) (Exact calendar year) Channel Tunnel project begins, Rafael Nadal is born, Challenger Space Shuttle explodes

6) What event, which has only occured 30 times in recorded history, occurred in ALL of these years?

ROUND 3: WHO did the following things?

1) Whose 1889 essay on philanthropy came to be known as "The Gospel of Wealth" and advocated that one should give away all of one's earnings and leave no inheritance to children?

2) Whose physical constant has the approximate value 1.38 * 10 ^-23 Joules/Kelvin?

3) Whose disease, technically known as granulmatous colitis, causes severe inflammation of the intestinal tract?

4) Whose 1998 publication stated that: "We believe the issue of advertising causes enough mixed incentives that it is crucial to have a competitive search engine that is transparent and in the academic realm."

5) Whose 1577 expedition aboard the flagship Pelican (and 5 other ships) and was the first English expedition to sail around the world?

6) Who served as a witness for the 1947 US Citizenship examination for his fellow Princeton professor Kurt Gödel?

ROUND 4: WHERE would a person described by the following adjectives come from? (ie, a San Franciscan comes from San Francisco)

1) Muscovite
2) Burkinabé
3) Varsovian
4) Novocastrian
5) Bajan
6) Malagasy

ROUND 5: WHY .... do the following scientific effects have their names? Each question describes an effect and a hint about the origin of the effect's name.

1) In mechanics, when a series of objects of similar density and varying size are placed in a container and shaken, the larger objects rise to the surface. What nut, which is often the largest in mixed nut packages, is this effect named for?

2) In psychology, children have been shown to perform better when higher expectations are placed on them. What mythical Greek artist who fell in love with his statue is this named for?

3) In computing, when a small website is linked to from a very larger one, it often collapses due to a sudden increase in traffic. What popular technology news website is this effect named for

4) In psychiatry, female poets have been found to suffer from severe mental illness more frequently than any other type of writer. Which Pulitzer-prize winning American writer, who killed herself at age 31 in 1963, is this effect named for?

5) In robotics, Humans have been found to attach emotionally to machines with minimal human characteristics given enough time. What popular late-1990's toy is this effect named for?

6) In neuroscience, when people devote sufficient attention to an activity it begins to show up visually while they peform other activities or have dreams. What classic video game is this effect named for?

ROUND 6: WHICH country is in second place after the USA?

1) The USA has won 7 Miss Universe titles. Which country has won the next most with 6? It is considered a "megadiverse" country biologically and gained independence from Spain in 1821.

2) The USA has hosted 8 Olympic games total. Which country has the next most with 5 (2 summer 3 winter)? It is the 5th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the largest exporter of electricity.

3) The USA has won or shared 314 Nobel prizes. Which country is second with 114? It is the sixth-most visited country in the world and has the fourth highest defense spending in the world.

4) The USA produces 41% of the world's almond supply. Which country is second with 13%? It contains a similar Mediterranean climate to the almond-growing region of California, and also is the world's leading producer of olive oil.

5) The USA has received more European immigrants than any other nation in the 20th century. Which country is second? It is also one of only two G20 countries which currently has a female head of state.

6) "The United States of America" contains all 5 vowels. Which country is the only country to have all 5 vowels in its one-word English name? It gained independence from Portugal in 1975, and is a major producer of aluminum and titanium.

TIEBREAKER: In 2016 Rio de Janeiro will become the 10th city to host both an Olympics and a World Cup Finals championship match. Name the other 9.