British Quiz Championship 2000
Alexandra Palace, London
21-22 August 2000

GRAND FINAL

Round 1
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 To what did the Kazakhstan capital of Akmola change its name in May 1998 ?

Answer: Astana

Q2 Which popular American entertainer's act included Eddie Anderson in the guise of his chauffeur and valet, Rochester ?

Answer: Jack Benny

Q3 Complete the last line of this popular stanza published in 1957 ?
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought...

Answer: And not waving but drowning (accept not waving but drowning)
(The poet was Stevie Smith)

Player 2

Q1 What is the name of the Inuit territory, created in April last year in part of north-west Canada, whose name means 'our land' ?

Answer: Nunavut

Q2 In which Classic television comedy did Paula Wilcox refer to pre-nuptial philandering as 'Percy Filth' ?

Answer: The Lovers

Q3 Complete the last line of this Clerihew by E. C. Bentley ?
George the Third
Ought never to have occurred
One can only wonder...

Answer: At so grotesque a blunder

Player 3

Q1 Owing to the introduction of Global Positioning Systems equipment, the height of Mount Everest was re-calculated last year as 29,035 feet. What is the difference, in feet, of this latest measurement and the previous established height ?

Answer: Seven feet (previous height was 29,028 feet)

Q2 Which celebrated British comedian, who died in 1992, started out as a straight man for Reg Varney before going solo in 1949 and becoming the first major television comedian, his popular shows running for more than 30 years ?

Answer: Benny Hill

Q3 Give the line which follows this extract from Tennyson
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:....

Answer: Into the valley of death rode the six hundred

Player 4

Q1 In which town, the capital of the Uri canton of central Switzerland, does a bronze statue of William Tell mark the spot where he is traditionally believed to have shot an apple from his son's head ?

Answer: Altdorf

Q2 How was the 1991 film 'The Pope Must Die' starring Robbie Coltrane, retitled for American audiences ?

Answer: The Pope Must Diet

Q3 Give the line which follows this extract from Blake
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,....

Answer: Could frame thy fearful symmetry

Round 2
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 In a recent interview in Vanity Fair magazine, who described the Dalai Lama as 'a very political old monk shuffling around in Gucci shoes' ?

Answer: Rupert Murdoch

Q2 For what do the initials of the creator of the best-selling Harry Potter books, J. K. Rowling stand ?

Answer: Joanne Katherine

Q3 What name was given to the voluntary schools set up in 1818 for the education of destitute children by John Pounds, a Portsmouth shoemaker ?

Answer: Ragged Schools

Player 2

Q1 Edward Alleyn, the leading actor of the Elizabethan 'Admiral's Men', performed many of the lead roles in the plays of which playwright ?

Answer: Christopher Marlowe

Q2 Born in Bristol in 1821 who is generally considered to have been the first female doctor of medicine in modern times ?

Answer: Elizabeth Blackwell

Q3 Which religious sect, founded by John Thomas in 1848, was given its formal name during the American Civil War when its members met to declare their opposition to military service ?

Answer: Christadelphians

Player 3

Q1 Which leading neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution wrote 'Brain Story' recently published by the BBC to accompany its six-part series on the brain ?

Answer: Susan Greenfield

Q2 During the Christmas period, which British School publishes its annual general knowledge test in the 'Guardian' ?

Answer: King William's College (Castletown, Isle of Man)

Q3 Which organisation was formed in 1947 by the amalgamation of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and Queen Anne's Bounty ?

Answer: Church Commissioners

Player 4

Q1 Who was the eponymous Prince of Abyssinia in Dr Johnson's short novel ?

Answer: Rasselas

Q2 Between which ages is schooling compulsory for children in Northern Ireland ?

Answer: Four and 16 years

Q3 What is the name of the organisation of lay evangelists within the Church of England, founded on the model of the Salvation Army in 1882 originally to serve the slum areas of London ?

Answer: Church Army

Round 3
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 Which racing-driver had the first Formula 1 success of his career in July 2000, after 124 attempts, when he won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim ?

Answer: Rubens Barrichello

Q2 In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, why did Friar Laurence administer a distilling liquor to Juliet to make her appear to be dead ?

Answer: To prevent her from bigamously marrying Paris

Q3 The male officers of the Church Army are known as Captains; as what are the female officers known ?

Answer: Sisters

Player 2

Q1 Ernie Els was one of the two joint runners-up to Tiger Woods in this year's Open Golf Championship; who was the other ?

Answer: Thomas Björn

Q2 Which of Charles Dickens's novels was divided into two parts, entitled 'Poverty' and 'Riches' ?

Answer: Little Dorrit

Q3 Which establishment, given its Royal Charter by Richard III in 1484 was formerly situated in Coldharbour House until it moved to Derby House in 1555 ?

Answer: The College of Arms (Herald's College)

Player 3

Q1 On 29th July 2000, Martin Dugard of Eastbourne became the first-ever British winner of the British Grand Prix - in which sport ?

Answer: Speedway

Q2 In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, who was the host of the Tabard Inn who acted as guide and master of ceremonies ?

Answer: Harry Bailly

Q3 Which London hospital in Hampstead was established in 1828 by a young surgeon who, after finding a young woman almost dead on the steps of a church, was unable to get her admitted to any hospital ?

Answer: The Royal Free Hospital
(the surgeon was William Marsden, who later founded the Royal Marsden)

Player 4

Q1 Which nation defeated Great Britain in the Davis Cup in July 2000, thereby relegating Britain from the 16-nation World Group ?
Answer: Ecuador
Q2 Two of the three top-security prisons on the Isle of Wight are Parkhurst and Albany: what is the name of the third ?

Answer: Camp Hill

Q3 Which 20th century literary critic founded the quarterly review 'Scrutiny' and, with his wife, Queenie, edited it throughout its 20-year run ?

Answer: F. R. Leavis

Round 4
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 Although many prime ministers have occasionally chosen to live elsewhere than No. 10 Downing Street during their term, who was the only incumbent never to have lived in Downing Street at any time ?

Answer: Lord Salisbury (Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess )

Q2 Which recently released film, produced by the makers of 'Wallace and Gromit', tells the story of a plucky gang of hens attempting to escape from a battery farm.

Answer: Chicken Run

Q3 Which celebrated mystic who was cured of a serious illness after experiencing a series of visions of Christ's suffering, wrote 'Revelations of Divine Love' ?

Answer: Julian of Norwich (also called Juliana of Norwich)

Player 2

Q1 Who was the first general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union who went on to become a member of Churchill's wartime Cabinet ?

Answer: Ernest Bevin

Q2 Which film starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson is about a married couple struggling to conceive a baby ?

Answer: Maybe Baby (semi-autobiographical account of director Ben Elton's plight)

Q3 Which substance used by athletes to enhance their performance is a product of protein metabolism found in the muscles, its name deriving from the Greek word for meat ?

Answer: Creatine (Kreas = meat + ine)

Player 3

Q1 What is the name of the mountainous district in the Peloponnese of southern Greece, the mythological home of the Greek god Pan, represented as an idyllic rural paradise by Sir Philip Sydney ?

Answer: Arcadia

Q2 What political term described a member of the Conservative Party, particularly during Margaret Thatcher's premiership, who did not share the party's hard-line politics ?

Answer: Wet

Q3 Give one of the three countries which formed the Central African Federation between 1953 and 1963 ?

Answer: Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland (not Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi)

Player 4

Q1 Following a meeting in Prague in July 2000 which group of people declared themselves a nation and founded their own supreme court and parliament ?

Answer: Gypsies (accept Roma or Romany)

Q2 What is the name of Stephen King's latest novel which he is publishing on the Internet and selling at a dollar a chapter ?

Answer: The Plant

Q3 Which controversial Evangelical Christian movement was founded by the American Lutheran pastor, Frank Buchman in 1938 ?

Answer: Moral Rearmament (previously the Oxford Group)

Round 5
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 Which actor who played Darius Jedburgh in the award-winning series Edge of Darkness, made his film debut in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke ?

Answer: Joe Don Baker

Q2 In the Greek Alphabet, which Greek character looks like the English letter 'p' ?

Answer: Rho

Q3 Which book subtitled 'A Study of Economics as if People Mattered' gave its name to a three-word slogan used by environmentalists in their campaign against the wasteful use of resources by industry ?

Answer: Small is Beautiful

Player 2

Q1 Which actor, who played Mike Nelson in the long-running television series Sea Hunt, made his film debut in the 1941 film They Dare Not Love ?

Answer: Lloyd Bridges

Q2 What was the name of the first supersonic passenger plane, whose NATO code-name was charger ?

Answer: TU-144 (designed by Andrey Tupolev and test flown in 1968)

Q3 What two-word term is given to an adverse visible balance when taking into account invisible exports to form a balance of payments figure ?

Answer: Trade Gap

Player 3

Q1 Which actress who played Christine in the classic science fiction series A for Andromeda, made her film debut in the 1962 film Crooks Anonymous ?

Answer: Julie Christie

Q2 Spell 'Teeshak', the name for the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland ?

Answer: T A O I S E A C H

Q3 In which Puccini opera does does the slave girl Liu beg Calaf not to take on the challenge of the three riddles which could result in his death ?

Answer: Turandot

Player 4

Q1 Which actor, who played Sir Giles Lynchwood in the TV adaptation of Tom Sharpe's Blott on the Landscape, made his big screen debut in the 1941 film Cottage to Let ?

Answer: George Cole

Q2 Which economic term, coined by Iain Macleod in November 1965, describes a situation in which sluggish levels of growth and employment coincide with rising inflation ?

Answer: Stagflation

Q3 The target of persistent bombing campaigns throughout the 1950s, the islands of Quemoy and Matsu lie in which Asian stretch of water ?

Answer: Taiwan Strait (accept Formosa Strait)

Round 6
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 The Roman Emperors Galba, Vitellius, Otho and Vespasian all ruled in which year ?

Answer: 69 AD

Q2 The 17th century Dutch uncle-and-nephew landscape painters, Salomon and Jacob Ruysdael, signed their names slightly differently. Which letter of his surname did Jacob change when signing his work ?

Answer: He changed the 'y' to an 'i'

Q3 Which two world record-breaking sprinters both failed to make the American 200 metre team for the Sydney Olympics after pulling up with injuries during their trials ?

Answer: Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson

Player 2

Q1 Which Spanish poet published his 'Epigrams' in 82 AD ?
Answer: Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis)
Q2 Which politician preceded James Callaghan as Chancellor of the Exchequer but went on to suceed him as Home Secretary ?

Answer: Reginald Maudling

Q3 Which of the two athletes who paced Roger Bannister when he ran the first sub-four-minute mile in 1954 became a Member of Parliament ?

Answer: Chris Chataway

Player 3

Q1 What was celebrated by the games held in Rome in the year 248 AD ?

Answer: Rome's millennium

Q2 What was the name of the treaty of May 1420 by which Charles VI of France betrothed his daughter Catherine to Henry V of England ?

Answer: Treaty of Troyes

Q3 The Live Aid concerts on 13 July 1984 were held in two stadiums simultaneously. One was Wembley Stadium - what was the other ?

Answer: JFK Stadium, Philadelphia

Player 4

Q1 Which edict in 313 AD permitted Christian worship in the Roman Empire ?

Answer: Edict of Milan

Q2 Which French World Cup-winning goalkeeper, recently signed by Manchester United, issued a directive than no one is to 'plant a smacker' on his head ?

Answer: Fabien Barthez
(the bald-headed goallie allows only Laurent Blanc that privilege)

Q3 What is the name of the Upper House of the German Parliament ?

Answer: Bundesrat (the Bundestag is the lower house)

Round 7
Three questions per player. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Player 1

Q1 Roy Orbison had three British Number One hits in the 1960s. 'Only the Lonely' and 'Its Over' were the first two but what was the title of the third ?

Answer: Oh Pretty Woman

Q2 What is the name given to the verse collection, compiled in the late 10th or early 11th century, containing poems such as 'The Wanderer' and 'The Wife's Lament' ?

Answer: The Exeter Book

Q3 Which bird of the thrush family has a distinguishing cry sometimes called a Pipe, Warble, or Jug-jug ?

Answer: Nightingale

Player 2

Q1 'I am a Cider Drinker' was a top-ten hit single for the Wurzels in 1976; it took the tune from which hit of the previous year ?

Answer: Una Paloma Blanca (by Jonathan King)

Q2 In Greek mythology who was the son of Prometheus who repopulated the Earth with his wife Pyrrha after its destruction by Zeus ?

Answer: Deucalion

Q3 What is the name of the tree with fan-shaped leaves and yellow flowers, originally from the far east but now grown in Europe as the Maidenhair Tree ?

Answer: Ginkgo

Player 3

Q1 Which pioneer of the English madrigal was a pupil of Thomas Tallis and, despite being a Catholic, was favoured by Queen Elizabeth to the extent that she granted him a monopoly of all sheet music in England ?

Answer: William Byrd

Q2 In the Celtic legend of Tristan and Isolde who did Isolde's mother intend the love potion to be drunk on their wedding night ?

Answer: Isolde and King Mark of Cornwall

Q3 Which wading-bird has 14 species, the whooping variety being the tallest American bird and one of the world's rarest ?

Answer: Crane

Player 4

Q1 Which English composer who lived at Dorking in Surrey for nearly 25 years wrote nine symphonies and is often cited as the founder of the nationalist movement in English music ?

Answer: Ralph Vaughan Williams

Q2 Which short-tailed member of the cat family of the forests of Europe, Asia and North America is distinguished by its tufted ears, hairy soles and broad, short head and mottled fur ?

Answer: Lynx (Felis Lynx)

Q3 In Norse mythology who was the son of Burr and the giantess Bestla who, along with his brothers Vili and V‚, succeeded in slaying the great Ymir ?

Answer: Odin

Round 8
20 questions on the buzzer. These questions are open to be picked up on bonus.

Q1 Which two-word alliterative term is used to describe any great increase in population but particularly that which took place in the USA and the UK between the late 1940s and the early 1960s ?

Answer: Baby Boom

Q2 Which word precedes 'Bobby Joe' and 'Las Vegas' in the titles of two top-twenty British hits of the 1960s ?

Answer: Viva

Q3 Who was the mother of the so-called 'Princes in the Tower' ?

Answer: Elizabeth Woodville

Q4 From which popular stage-show are the songs 'One Night in Bangkok' and 'I Know Him So Well' ?

Answer: Chess

Q5 Which British pop-group derived its name from the Answer: to the meaning of life in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy ?

Answer: Level 42

Q6 The adjective 'anserine' refers to which bird ?

Answer: Goose

Q7 Viridescent describes an objects tendency to turn which colour ?

Answer: Green

Q8 Which 'A' number denotes a paper size of 297millimetres by 420 millimetres ?

Answer: A3

Q9 Which letter of the alphabet is denoted by a single dash in Morse Code ?

Answer: T

Q10 In surveying, which unit of length is equal to 7.92 inches ?

Answer: Link

Q11 Which state of the USA is bordered by Georgia and Alabama ?

Answer: Florida

Q12 In which year were railways in the United Kingdom nationalised ?

Answer: 1948

Q13 In which year was the German battleship 'Tirpitz' sunk by RAF bombers ?

Answer: 1944

Q14 Which British motorway runs from Edinburgh to Dunblane ?

Answer: M9

Q15 Which number follows 'Beverly Hills' in the title of a television series starrin Shannon Doherty and Jason Priestley ?

Answer: 90210

Q16 Which two cricketing nations compete for the Worrell Trophy ?

Answer: West Indies and Australia

Q17 Which British monarch was born in St James Palace on 30 April 1662 ?

Answer: Mary II

Q18 Who wrote the 67-line elegy The Phoenix and the Turtle ?

Answer: William Shakespeare

Q19 Which two colours are depicted on the flag of Guatemala ?

Answer: Blue and White

Q20 In which country was the 27-year-old sportswoman Stephanie Graf born ?

Answer: Austria