International Matches Semi-finals

 

Musical Colours

 

Which band?

 

A: White Stripes

 

Who is singing?

 

A: Macy Gray

 

Which band?

 

A: Indigo Girls

 

 

Sailing

 

Between 1993 and 2004 this man set 23 official world records in sailing, of which 12 still stand. Among them are the fastest transatlantic sailing from West to East and fastest Pacific Ocean crossing from East to West (San Francisco-Yokohama). He also owns the record for fastest single-handed transpacific sailing (West to East, Yokohama-San Francisco). Who is this record-breaking sailor?

 

A: Steve Fossett (also holds numerous other records in ballooning, gliding, flying etc.)

 

Which boat class made it’s olympic debut in Athens 2004? It’s name means ’youngster’ in Norwegian and it was built in 1967 by designer Jan Linge for his son Øyvin. It is sometimes called the younger sister of Soling, which was also designed by Linde. The boat is designed to sail with three crew and it is unsinkable. It has been an International Sailing Federation International Class since 1979.

 

A: Yngling

 

What was the name of the Fernão de Magalhães’ (Magellan’s) flagship in his circumnavigation of the globe? It was one of the two remaining ships that reached Moluccas, but was found taking on water shortly after leaving the islands. The crew tried to discover and repair the leak, but failed. Then they left the Moluccas to attempt to return to Spain via the Pacific route, but the ship was captured by the Portuguese, and was eventually wrecked in a storm while at anchor under Portuguese control.

 

A: Trinidad

 

 

M

 

Since it was published in 2001 the erotic book and literary sensation called „The Sexual Life of Catherine M.“ became a bestseller throughout Europe. The book details her sexual history, from childhood masturbation to an adult fascination with group sex and is a study of one woman’s lifelong pursuit for sexual gratification. The author of this book is a French art critic and editor fo the magazine Art Press. Who?

 

A: Catherine Millet

 

In the first German sound film „M“ (1931) a psychotic child murderer stalks a city. The police crackdown makes it nearly impossible for the organized criminal underground to operate. So they decide that the only way to get the police off their backs is to catch the murderer themselves. The director of this movie was born in Austria, worked in Germany and after he was invited by Joseph Goebbels to supervise Nazi film production, he fled to Paris. Later he moved to USA, and his Hollywood debut, "Fury" (1936), a study of mob violence starring Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney, was a huge commercial and critical success. Who is this director?

 

A: Fritz Lang

 

What does the „M“ in the name of Richard M. Nixon stand for?

 

A: Milhous

 

 

 

Linked with a murderer

 

After an unofficial ten year moratorium on executions in the US, a 36 year old man was shot by a firing squad in January 1977 after having killed a motel manager in Provo, Utah. The sentence would normally be transferred to life imprisonment but the appeal of the convict himself that the death sentence was the only just punishment convinced the jurors. What was his name?

 

A: Gary Gilmore

 

Gary Gilmore’s story was documented in 1979 by the American writer Norman Mailer in what Pulitzer prize-winning non-fictional novel?

 

A: The Executioner’s Song (FIN - Pyövelin laulu)

 

Gilmore requested that following his execution his eyes would be used for transplant purposes. Within hours of the execution, two people received his corneas, which inspired an English punk rock band to write and release the song ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’. What band?

 

A: The Adverts

 

 

Tropical Fevers

 

In 1999 this virus made it’s first appearance in the western hemisphere, causing a few deaths in a New York hospital. Since then it has rapidly spread across the North American continent into all 48 continental states, seven Canadian provinces, and throughout Mexico. It is spread by mosquitos, and although most people have no symptoms, sometimes the virus can cause severe illness, resulting in hospitalization and even death. Under what name is this flavivirus best known?

 

A: West-Nile virus

 

Although it is caused by a different virus, this haemorrhagic fever is clinically almost indistinguishable from ebola. It has no vaccine or treatment and is highly fatal. It was initially detected in 1967 in Germany and Yugoslavia, where lab workers caught that from monkeys imported from Uganda. There is an ongoing epidemic of this fever in Angola. What fever?

 

A: Marburg

 

This mosquito-borne fever affects most Asian countries and has become an major international public health concern. It is caused by four distinct, but closely related viruses. World Health Organisation currently estimates that there may be 50 million cases worldwide every year. The first reported epidemics of this fever occurred in 1779-1780 in Asia, Africa, and North America. Now, its global distribution is comparable to that of malaria. Which fever?

 

A: Dengue (NED - knokkelkoorts)

 

 

People Behind Units

 

What is the unit of work or energy in the SI system, named in honour of a 19th-century physicist? It is equal to the work done by a force of one newton acting through one metre.

 

A: (James Prescott) Joule

 

The SI unit of radiation dose equivalent is named after a Swedish medical physicist famous for work on radiation dosage measurement and research into the biological effects of radiation. The unit attempts to reflect the biological effects of radiation as opposed to the physical aspects, which are characterised by the absorbed dose, measured in grays. What was the name of the Swedish physicist?

 

A: (Rolf) Sievert

 

What is the SI unit of magnetic flux, defined as the amount of flux that, linking an electrical circuit of one turn (one loop of wire), produces in it an electromotive force of one volt as the flux is reduced to zero at a uniform rate in one second? It equals 108 maxwells and was named in honour of an 19th-century German physicist.

A: (Wilhelm Eduard) Weber

 

 

The Supermodel

 

What is the name of this famous German-born supermodel?

 

A: Heidi Klum

 

Heidi Klum raises a daughter Leni in the absence of the child’s father.  He is an Italian who formerly dated Naomi Campbell and for whom a chance meeting with the Benetton family sparked an interest in Formula 1 motor racing.  Now, after more than a decade of patrolling the paddock and the pit-lanes, he is one of the sport's major players, renowned for his talent-spotting instincts and marketing skill. Name him?

 

A: Flavio Briatore

 

Since splitting with Briatore, Heidi Klum has been romantically linked with a famous recording artist who, among other things, is famous for a song he wrote and performed for the Hollywood film ‘Batman Forever’.  Who is he?

 

A: Seal (‘Kiss From A Rose’)

 

Brothers in Hollywood

 

The 27-minute long Boy and Bicycle (1965) was the debut film of a successful British director. The title role was played by his brother, who also became later a film-maker. The first brother has been nominated for the best director award at the Oscars three times, but has never won. The second brother was behind Top Gun, True Romance, Enemy of the State and Crimson Tide. Who are they?

 

A: Ridley and Tony Scott

 

These brothers have co-written and/or co-directed movies as Dumb and Dumber (1994), Kingpin (1996), There's Something About Mary (1998), Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Shallow Hal (2001), Stuck On You (2003) and Fever Pitch (2004). What is their name?

 

A: Bobby and Peter Farrelly

 

These three Irish brothers – Tom, Matt and Owen - were all popular film romancers in the early days of Hollywood. Of them, Owen is probably the best known for his marriage with Gladys Smith, also known under the screen name Mary Pickford. His wife's meteoric rise to fame, drastically affected him and alcohol became a problem that led to violent behaviour and his physically abusing Pickford. Before long, the marriage ended and Mary Pickford left him for actor Douglas Fairbanks. Although Owen was a good actor, his talent for singing and music went to waste during the silent film era. By the time "musical talkies" came along, it was too late for him to take much advantage of his gifts. What was the last name of the brothers, who all have a personal star on Hollywoods Walk of Fame?

 

A: Moore

 

 

Musical Pictures

 

In 2004, aged 47 she passed away from a brain aneurysm while sleeping, who just missed the number one spot on the US Billboard pop chart in 1982 with Gloria’ ?

 

A: Laura Brannigan

 

Born in 1947, who was this satirical US singer songwriter who succumbed to inoperable lung cancer in 2003?

 

A: Warren Zevon

 

Once described as “one of the greatest voices of her generation”, who is this US singer who died aged 33 of melanoma in 1996?

 

A: Eva Cassidy

 

 

French Cinema

 

Which Luc Jacquet natural history film shot in Antarctica has become France’s 2nd most successful cinema export to the USA and - after Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ - the 2nd most successful documentary in US box office history?

 

A: March Of The Penguins or The Emperor's Journey (La Marche de l'empereur; FIN - Pingviinien matka, NOR - Pingvinenes marsj)

 

Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ was only the second documentary to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes.  Which 1956 Jacques Cousteau film was the first?

 

A: Le Monde du silence (The Silent World, FIN - Hiljaisuuden

Maailma)

 

The very successful 2001 film ‘Le Pacte des Loups (‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’) was inspired by stories of a ‘beast’ that slew over 100 people in a now defunct French region during the reign of King Louis XV. What was the name of this region?

 

A: Gevauden

 


Political poets

 

This German satirical essayist, poet, and critic, best-known for his cabaret songs came to Sweden in the early 1930s as a refugee from the Nazi regime in Hitler's Germany. Still waiting to have his application for political refuge granted, he committed suicide in 1935. The Swedish PEN established in 1984 an annual award baring his name to a writer or publisher who is being persecuted, threatened or is living in exile. Who?

 

A: Kurt Tucholsky

 

This poet and essayist (1853-1895) became the symbol of Cuba's struggle for independence from Spain. He organized and unified the movement for Cuban independence and died on the battlefield fighting for it. As a writer, he was distinguished for his personal prose and deceptively simple, sincere verse on themes of a free and united America. Who?

 

A: Jose Marti

 

He was one of the most important and influential figures in 20th-century Turkish literature. After studying at the University of Moscow he returned home as a Marxist in 1924 after the advent of the new Turkish Republic and began to work for a number of journals and started Communist propaganda activities. In 1951 he left Turkey forever after serving a lengthy jail sentence for his radical and subversive activities. His mastery of language and introduction of free verse and a wide range of poetic themes strongly influenced Turkish literature in the late 1930s. Who?

 

A: Nazim Hikmet

 


Silent Movies

 

As of 1896 the Lumière brothers’ Cinématograph took the world by storm. But pretty soon their small company could no longer meet demands and their patents were sold to a Parisian entrepreneur who also distributed Edison’s films in Europe. This entrepreneur built up the world’s first cinema empire producing one or two films per day, among them ‘Les Misérables’ in 1909. He was going strong until the outbreak of WW I, which ruined his business. Between 1900 and 1914 he had distributed more than twice as many films as all the American producers combined. What was his name?

 

A: Charles Pathé

 

One of the first great film stars was a Danish woman who gained great popularity especially in Scandinavia and Germany until the advent of the sound film. Under the direction of her husband Urban Gad she was the preferred actress to star as the tragic lover or the persecuted innocence, for instance in ‘Abysses’ (1910). What was her name?

 

A: Asta Nielsen

 

The historic epic ‘Napoléon’ was one of the most ambitious film projects of the 1920’s. In this monumental film, with an original length of 12 hours, the director used revolutionary film techniques: distorting mirrors, double exposures, rapid cut sequences and very free use of the hand-held camera, which was even in one scene mounted on the back of a horse. What was the name of the legendary French director?

 

A: Abel Gance

 

 

Similar Flags

 

The flag of Liechtenstein used to be identical to that of another country. This became clear at the 1936 Olympic Games. Liechtenstein promptly added a golden crown to its flag and the other country added a coat of arms. Which country?

 

A: Haiti

 

Left you see the flag of Chili, on the right a flag of an US state. Which?

 

A: Texas

 

This is not a distorted Swiss flag but the flag of a French overseas territory in the Pacific Ocean about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and New Zealand. Name this island group with as capital Mata-Utu?

 

A: Wallis and Futuna (Islands)

 

 

Extinct species

 

This flightless seabird (Pinguinus impennis) is extinct since 1844. They bred in colonies on rocky islands off North Atlantic coasts. Utterly defenseless, they were killed by rapacious hunters for food and bait, particularly during the early 1800s. Which bird?

 

A: Great auk (EST – suuralk, NED – Reuzenalk, FIN - siivetön ruokki, NOR - Geirfugl)

 

These marine animals first appeared at the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 540 million years ago, when they dominated the seas. They made their last appearance in the Permian as a part of the most extensive extinction in the history of life on Earth. Their had a distinctive three-segmented form and their exoskeletons are relatively common as fossils. Which creatures?

 

A: Trilobites

 

Megatheriums were animals approximately the size of modern elephants, who underwent a highly successful evolutionary radiation in South America in the Cenozoic Era (beginning 66.4 million years ago). What kind of animal was Megatherium?

 

A: Ground Sloths (EST – laisik, NED – grondluiaard, NOR – kjempedovendyret, FIN - Jättiläislaiskiainen)

 

 

European Regions ABC

 

While the heir to the British throne automatically takes the title Prince of Wales, the crown princes of Spain become prince of which autonomous region? During the years of the Franco regime the region was known as 'the province of Oviedo'.

 

A: Asturias

 

Which historic region, largely situated in todays Moldova and Ukraine is bounded by the Dniester River on the north and east, the Prut on the west, and the Danube and the Black Sea on the south? It was named after a Wallachian ruler of the 14th century.

 

A: Bessarabia

 

The southermost province of Austria is home to the highest mountain of Austria, the Grossglockner (3797 m) and a popular tourist attraction the Lake Wörthersee. The capital of this province is Klagenfurt and the current governor is the scandalous right-wing politician Jörg Haider. Name this province!

 

A: Carinthia (Kärnten)

 

 


Three Wise Men

 

This football player (b. 1954) was educated as a pediatrician and achieved PhD in medicine. As a young and talented doctor he was offered a position of a chief doctor, but as he was at least as talented in football, the national squad manager promised to make him captain. He chose the latter and perforemed as a team captain in World Cups of 1982 and 1986. He was especially noted for his philigranic headplay. Who? 

(picture)

 

A: Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira aka Sócrates

 

Which legendary businessman made his first million by trading tobacco in Argentina?

 

A: Aristotle Onassis

 

This billionaire and one of the fiercest critics of president Vladimir Putin now lives in London and travels under the name of Platon Elenin. By what name was he previously known?

 

A: Boris Berezovski

 

 

Cast your votes

 

A poll was held in 2005 to find the greatest Czech person of all time. 52 000 votes and 3rd place went to the only living person on the 10-person shortlist published in May.  So who was 3rd?

 

A: Vaclav Havel

 

55 000 votes and 2nd place went to the founder of Czechoslovakia.  Who was he?

 

A: Tomas Garrigue Masaryk

 

68 000 votes and 1st place went to which 14th century Prague-born Holy Roman Emperor?

 

A: Charles IV

 


Berlin Olympics 1936

 

The marathon of Berlin Olympics was won by a Korean runner. Because Korea was occupied by Japan at that time, he had to compete under the Japanese flag. In the winners ceremony, he turned away his head, not to look at the Japanese flag. One of Korea's local newspapers purposefully got rid of the Japanese flag in the photo of him receiving the award. This act so enraged the Japanese regime that 8 newspaper personnels were imprisoned, and the East Asia Daily was forced to stop operation for 9 months. Who was the first Korean medal-winning Olympian?

 

A: Sohn Kee Chung

 

He was the Germany's athletic superstar of the time - a brilliant long jumper who easily fitted into the image of blond hair, blue eyed Aryan racial superiority. For the upset of the Nazis, Jesse Owens narrowly beat him in long jump finals, mostly thanks to advice given to Owens by him. For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, he was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal. He died on the front in Sicily. Who?

 

A: Lutz Long

 

Anti-fascists planned to host a "People's Olympiad" as an alternative games to protest the Berlin Olympics. The games were scheduled to be held from July 19 to July 26 and would have therefore ended six days prior to the start of the Berlin games. In addition to the usual sporting events, the games would have also featured chess, folkdancing, music and theatre. 6000 athletes from 22 nations registered for the games with the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Algeria planning the largest contingents. There were also German and Italian teams made up of exiles from those countries. Due to a reason I don’t want to mention now, the games were hastily cancelled. Where were they supposed to take place? This city lost to Berlin in the final vote for the 1936 Olympics.

 

A: Barcelona (was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War)

 


New Jobs 2005

 

In April, Michael Griffin replaced Sean O’Keefe as the chief of which organisation?

 

A: NASA

 

In August, US president George W. Bush forced through his choice for the position of US Ambassador to United Nations. The candidate was previously heavily criticised by Democrats for being too hard-lined, so Bush decided to appoint him while Congress was in recess. What is the name of this man?

 

A: John Bolton

 

Joseph Ratzinger, the man elected the new pope in April, served previously as the Archbishop of which city?

 

A: Munich

 

 

Painting Instruments

 

The name of this painting is „Harlequin with Violin“. Who is the painter?

 

A: Juan Gris

 

This painting with a piano is called ’Party’? Name the artist!

 

A: Mark Rothko

 

Who has painted this ’Man with a Cello’?

 

A: Odilon Redon