Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Greycells Open Quiz Prelims

1. To start with….Kerala has 21280, Maharashtra 50400,Tamilnadu 41184,West Bengal 44394……what are we talking about ?

2.The meaning expressed by this observation is that if two coins have the same face value but are made from metals of unequal value ,the cheaper will tend to drive the other out of circulation . The more valuable coin will be hoarded or used for foreign exchange instead of domestic transaction. Either name it or state the theory.**

3. He was born in Ambala, India in 1912. He worked as a correspondent for TheTimes of London, covering the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and filed a lot of pro-Fascist reports. Between 1944 and 1946, he served as head of anti-Communist counter espionage at MI6. By 1949, he was first secretary of the British Embassy in Washington. He resigned from the service in 1952. In1956, he returned to journalism, and became a foreign correspondent of The Observer and The Economist. In 1968, he published My Silent War, an accounto f his activities while in the employ of MI6. Who is he?

4. In 1952, he became the first boxer to win three consecutive golds at the Olympics. His career was cut shot when the communist Government denied him an exit visa to play the World Championship. Which legendary boxer?*

5.World organization of the scout movement has X as its logo. Robert Baden Powell, founder of the scouting movement explained that they adopted this symbol from its use in the compass rose , a tradition started by Flavio Gioja , because “it points in the right direction and upwards turning neither to right nor left , since these lead backward again”. To make it simpler, it has got a mention in the Hunchback of Notredam and in The three musketeers.*

6. How do better know T-800 and T-1000 manufactured by Cyberdyne Systems?

7.Who follows next.Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse(Ger),Count Maurice Polidore Maeterlinck(Belg), Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann(Ger),-------X--------

8.This term was originally used to describe the technique of engraving in relief on gemstones. It was first used in cinema by Mike Todd to describe about 44 roles in his 1956 film Around The World in Eighty Days. What term?

9. What is the bar at a golf club called?

10. What was name of the policies of peaceful co-existence first put forth by Premier Zhou Enlai of China at the start of negotiations that took between the Delegation of the Chinese Government and the Delegation of the Indian Government on the relations between the two countries with respect to Tibet ?

11.Which two US states were separated by the Mason-Dixon line?

12.’Who wrote 1984 ?’ is a fact well known to all.Then who wrote 1985 ?

13.Who was the first to be ranked No.1 in men’s ATP ranking ?

14.The winners for the prize Y, for the most humanlike conversation by a machine are judjed by the Turing test, devised by the British mathematician Alan Turing in 1950. The test assesses a computer’s ability to ”think” or to be Artificially intelligent.The competition will end when the gold medal ($100,000) is awarded to the creator of the machine that judges fail to distinguish from a real person. Don’t count on this happening any day soon: the last level of the Turing tast demands that the machine decipher and understand text; as well as visual and auditory input. Name the prize.**

15.A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice-versa as in ‘England defeated India by six wkts’ where Eng and Ind represents their respective cricket team and not the nation as a whole is known as-------.*

16.Among the lesser famous novels of this writer are "Valperga (1823)", a historical romance that according to critics, is her best literary work and "The Last Man", a piece of science fiction which was popular book for many years. Her middle name was Wollstonecraft. She was the second wife of a very famous Englishman who was still married to his first wife when he eloped with her. Who is the lady in question?

17.What is the title given to a student of the University of Cambridge who has completed the third year of the Mathematical Tripos with first-class honors. Incidentally this title shares its name with a denim brand.*

18. Which movie was released in Spain as Brilliantina and in Venezuela asVaselina and received a one word review from`Variety' which said "slick!"?

19. Rum Rebellion is the name usually given to events that took place in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1808, when the New South Wales Corps illegally arrested and deposed the Governor. Shortage of coins prevented farmers from selling their crops for money. Instead, they had to barter their grain for other commodities, including rum. Many of the military officers were rum traders, making enormous profits from dealing in liquor. To help the farmers, the Governor issued an order prohibiting this sort of trading in spirits which led to the rebellion. Who was the governor ?*

20. Identify the first name in the following particular list of people:-----X-----,Walter Chrysler, Owen Young, Mahatma Gandhi.

21.In England, cotton spinning was done by women and weaving by men. The women failed to catch up with the weaving process. So they had to work more to meet the demand and hence their way of life contributed -----Z-----to the English vocabulary.

22. The "-----X------ phenomenon" refers to the necessity that planetary conditions such as size or temperature be "just right" in order to sustain life. The term derives from the story of X, who preferred porridge which was "not too hot, and not too cold".

23. In 1946, he starred in "Holiday in Mexico" playing a "Cigarsmoking gun-totting" gentleman. Who ?

24. Which movie was based on a short story "Hand me downs" by WajidaTabassum ?

25. In carnatic music, it is referred to as the Nadabrahma.The productionof this sound by the human voice or any musical instrument is perceived to contain totality of all vibrations which can be caught by human ear.What ?

26. The Robin Hood of modern crime: he robs from the evil and heartless rich, andgives to the wronged and deserving poor -- in the process, keeping a percentage for his own expenses. Uses several disguises and aliases, the most famous one being Sebastian Tombs. Usually drives a Volvo P1800. Long time companion named Patricia Holm. Long time patsy, frequent foe and occasional friend named Claude Eustace Teal. Recognizable instantly through a trademark sign left at the scene of his crimes.

27. The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a nationalist general during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. As four of his army columns moved on Madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "-----y----," intent on undermining the Republican government from within. The term is also used in reference to a population who are assumed to have loyalties to countries other than the one in which they reside, or who support some other nation in war efforts against the country they live in, which makes them traitors.

28. X was a royal courtesan (or nagarvadhu) of the republic state of Vaishali (around 500BC), ancient India. She finds mention in the old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions. Etymologically, her name is derived from two Sanskrit words, meaning mango and leaves – thus, the literally meaning of her name is “(a child) of the mango grove”. She was so named, as she was of unknown parentage, and was found at the foot of a mango tree, at one of the royal gardens of the republic state of Vaishali .*

29. This act earned him wide admiration when he pulled it off in a friendly game against England in September, 1995.The chap in the receiver’s end was Jamie Redknapp.Who is he ? or What was the act?

30. In 1985,he teamed up with former chiefministerr C.Achutha Menon,noted economist K N Raj & T R Chandradutt to set up the Centre Of Science & Technology For Rural Development-COSTFORD.Who am I talking about?**

31.The International court of Justice cleared this state/country of charges of genocide,early this year. Name the state/country

32.This director in question has also got the following credits: 1) planned The Long Walk To Freedom based on Mandela’s autobiography but no longer associated with the project due to disagreements with the producer over the script direction. 2) announced the project Buddha with great fanfare in 2004 for which a trekking was made to seek the blessings of Dalai Lama. It is on hold at the moment until ‘the Golden Age’ is completed. 3) Nicholas Cage will play a soldier turned mystic in the film The Sadhu to be produced by the virgin comics. Identify.

33.One of the highlights of the inauguration ceremony on Oct 12,1931 was supposed to be the activation of the lighting system by the Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi from his yatch far away in Naples.Bad weather however affected the strength of the signal & the lights had to be switched on manually by workers at Corcovado.what is being described here?

34. Her father gave his consent soon after her death in an hospital where she was carried to from a road traffic accident in which her mother died on the spot. Her kidneys were given to Jonathan van Wyk. Due to the Apartheid era,the kidney donation was controversial because he was coloured, while she was white.Either name her or for what first is she known for?

35.The women’s wing of which organization is known as ‘SUTHANTHIRAP PARAVAIKAL’?

36-40 A-V Questions

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others ,whenever they go
-Oscar Wilde

Suggestions & queries to sarin.quizme@gmail.com Mob:9895921915,9249872643

Answers:

1. Respective value of votes in presidential election
2. Gresham's law
3. Kim Philby
4. Lazlo Papp, the Hungarian boxer.
5. Fleur-de-lis
6. Terminators
7. Tagore(nobel prize winners from 1910-1913)
8. Cameo
9. 19 th hole
10. Panchsheel
11. Maryland & Pennsylvania
12. Anthony Burgess
13. Ille Nastase
14. Loebner prize
15. Synedoche
16. Mary shelly
17. Wrangler
18. Grease
19. Captain Bligh of the "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame
20. Charles Lindberg (time man of the year)
21. Spinster
22. Goldilocks phenomenon
23. Fidel Castro.
24. Kamasutra
25. "Om"
26. The Saint aka Simon Templar
27. Fifth column
28. Amrapali
29. Rene Higuita's scorpion kick
30. Laurie Baker
31. Bosnia
32. Shekar Kapoor.
33. The Statue of Christ the Redeemer at Crocovado, Rio-de-Janeiro.
34. donor of the 1st transplanted heart, Denise Ann Darwal
35. LTTE

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