Wikiquiz: General Knowledge Quiz #4

1. Which ancient kingdom in Central Asia gives its name to a species of two-humped camel?

ANSWER: Bactria

2. What is the first name of the child born to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on June 4, 2021?
ANSWER: Lilibet

3. The last two letters in the initialism IPCC (an intergovernmental body of the UN) stand for which common phrase?

ANSWER: Climate Change

4. Which American rock band has released the albums Murmur, Out of Time, and Automatic for the People?

ANSWER: R.E.M.

5. The Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque are located in which city?

ANSWER: Jerusalem

6. Which operation in calculus measures the rate of change in a function? Formally, it is equal to the slope of the tangent line of a function at a given point.

ANSWER: Derivative

7. Joe Biden has nominated which American attorney to replace the vacate seat of Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court?
ANSWER: Ketanji Brown Jackson

8. Code Red, Voltage, and Live Wire are flavors of which soda?
ANSWER: Mountain Dew

9. What is the first name of the pink starfish character who is a friend of the title character on the show SpongeBob Squarepants?

ANSWER: Patrick

10. Halldor Laxness is a Nobel-winning writer from which nation?

ANSWER: Iceland

11. Which Australian cricketer, often considered the best batsman of all time, captained “The Invincibles” during their 1948 tour of England?

ANSWER: Don Bradman

12. Nevsky Prospect is a notable street in which city?

ANSWER: St. Petersburg

13. What type of animal is Elsa in the 1966 film Born Free?

ANSWER: Lion

14. IPA is a chemical compound commonly found in disinfectants and hand sanitizers. The ‘A’ stands for alcohol; what one word is represented by the ‘IP?’

ANSWER: Isopropyl

15. In 2018, news broke Facebook data was secretly collected by what British consulting firm co-founded by Nigel Oakes, primarily to be used for political advertising purposes?

ANSWER: Cambridge Analytica

16. Which European politician has served since 1993 (with a break from 2000-2003), as the leader of the right-wing populist Fidesz party?

ANSWER: Viktor Orban

17. Which collection of religious ideas, who emphasize personal spiritual knowledge and often believe that the universe was created by a malevolent demiurge, takes its name from the Greek word for ‘Knowledge?’

ANSWER: Gnosticism

18. A Nazi plan (begun in 1944) to operate as a guerrilla resistance movement behind occupied Allies lines is named for which folkloric creature?

ANSWER: Werewolf

19. Which American-born actress co-wrote and starred in Fawlty Towers alongside here then-husband John Cleese?

ANSWER: Connie Booth

20. The city of King’s Landing on the series Game of Thrones was filmed in which Croatian city on the Adriatic Coast?

ANSWER: Dubrovnik

21. What is the Latin title of the letter written in 1897 by Oscar Wilde to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas?

ANSWER: De Profundis

22. The Waves are the mascot of which private university in Malibu, California?

ANSWER: Pepperdine University

23. Which 1990’s police procedural starred Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison?
ANSWER: Prime Suspect

24. What is the capital city of Tristian da Cunha? Its five word name contains the name of a notable European city.
ANSWER: Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

25. Which type of monosaccharide sugar, a C-4 epimer of glucose, gives its name to a certain type of large-scale astronomical structure?

ANSWER: Galactose

26. Which Kashmiri meat dish is made with red meat, chili, and, perhaps most distinctly, alkanes flower?

ANSWER: Rogan josh

27. Which 1959 novel, written by Walter M. Miller Jr, revolves around an order of monks who preserve scientific knowledge in a post-apocalyptic world?

ANSWER: A Canticle for Leibowitz

28. Which Czech composer is known for his Glagolitic Mass, his rhapsody Taras Bulba, and his opera The Cunning Little Vixen?

ANSWER: Leos Janacek

29. From 1700-1727, Isaac Newton ran which governmental organization in England?

ANSWER: Royal Mint

30. Which company headquartered in Munich is Germany’s largest insurance company?
ANSWER: Allianz

31. Which American writer won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad?

ANSWER: Jennifer Egan

32. During which notorious 1969 rock concert, which attempted to brand itself as “Woodstock West” were members of the Hell’s Angels gang asked to provide security?

ANSWER: Altamont Free Concert

33. What is the common name of Hypericum perforatum, a flowering plant often used in folk medicine as an antidepressant?

ANSWER: St. Johns wort

34. Jomo Kenyatta was a member of which Bantu ethnic group of Central Kenya?

ANSWER: Kikuyu

35. Which conservative economist and author of a notable economics textbook (titled Principles of Economics) served as an economic advisor to George W. Bush from 2003-2005?

ANSWER: Greg Mankiw

36. Which Italian composer created the soundtrack to the film Scarface, as well as the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis?

ANSWER: Giorgio Moroder

37. What is the name of the vertical-axle machine on sailing ships typically operated by multiple seamen walking in circles, used to haul ropes and cables?

ANSWER: Capstan

38. From 1641-1948, Brno served as the capital of which region east of Bohemia?

ANSWER: Moravia

39. Which Biblical figure, the son of Cush and grandson of Noah, is sometimes considered to have commissioned the Tower of Babel?

ANSWER: Nimrod

40. Simon Martini and Duccio were painters from which Italian city?

ANSWER: Siena

41. Which 1967 film starring Harvey Keitel was the directorial debut of Martin Scorsese? It is often compared to his later film Mean Streets.

ANSWER: Who’s That Knocking at My Door

42. The 2019 single “China” by Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, and Karol G interpolates the melody of which hit 2000 single?

ANSWER: It Wasn’t Me (by Shaggy)

43. What is the common term in the game of Go for a whole board opening strategy? It is contrasted with the corner-based joseki.

ANSWER: Fuseki

44. In biology, what theory, proposed by Steven Jay Gould in 1972, posits that once a species appears in the fossil record, it will stabilize for most of its geological history? Give a two-word answer.

ANSWER: Punctuated equilibrium

45. Which jazz pianist, known for his work with John Coltrane, won Grammys for his albums The Turning Point, Illuminations, and Infinity?

ANSWER: McCoy Tyner

46. Midgar is a fictional metropolis in which media franchise?

ANSWER: Final Fantasy

47. Rangiroa, Anna, and Fakarava are islands in which archipelago, a part of French Polynesia?

ANSWER: Tuamotu Islands

48. Which structure in Newport, Rhode Island is the oldest standing synagogue in the United States?

ANSWER: Touro Synagogue

49. Which legendary figure in Korean culture, believed to be the son of a bear, founded the Gojoseon dynasty?

ANSWER: Dangun

50. Which 2008 Stephen King novel centers on a man who moves to an estate on the titular Florida island after losing his arm in a car accident?

ANSWER: Duma Key