THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N, 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
"Disavowing spacism."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, March 4, 2016
Quiz: Brain of Portland 2016 II
Yes, another synapse-straining but spirit-elevating "Brain of
Portland" quiz! Based on BBC Radio 4's venerable "Brain of Britain"
quiz show, "Brain of Portland" quizzes take questions from about every
intellectual pursuit from aerodynamics to zoology. Since we
introduced "Brain of Portland" last year, it has undergone some
changes, under the sage advice of some helpful subscribers. Each
question now has three answer choices. Also, we divide the quizzes
into 10 question rounds, as opposed to listing all the questions
together. This division will aid you, we hope, in taking this quiz as
"Brain of Portland" quizzes become progressively longer throughout the
year. The last Brain of Portland quiz contained 20 questions.
This one has thirty. The next, scheduled to post in April, will
offer forty. Eventually, at the very end of the DA school year in
early August, we'll delight you with a 200-question "Brain of Brains"
quiz.
ROUND 1:
1. Who granted King Midas his wish to have everything he touched
transformed into gold?
a. Dionysius
b. Zeus
c. Hera
2. What country would you be visiting if you were climbing along the
"Giant's Causeway?"
a. Scotland
b. Ireland
c. Norway
3. The Egyptian goddess Bastet assumed the form of what animal?
a. Flamingo
b. Crocodile
c. Cat
4. The National Prohibition Act that made alcohol illegal in America
during the early twentieth century was also known as what?
a. The Volstead Act
b. The Mothers Act
c. The Dow Act
5. Ganymede, Io, Callisto and _________ are the four Galilean moons
in orbit around Jupiter.
a. Titan
b. Amalthea
c. Europa
6. How tall is Mount Everest?
a. 29,035 feet
b. 28,985 feet
c. 31,890 feet
7. The body's smallest muscle, the stapedius, is found in which part
of the body?
a. ears
b. fingers
c. eyes
8. The Irish rock band U2 entitled the last track of their first
album "Shadows and Tall Trees." This song title was taken from a
chapter title in which book?
a. Robinson Crusoe
b. Lord of the Flies
c. Old Man and the Sea
9. Who had to completely re-write his book "The Seven Pillars of
Wisdom" after having misplaced his manuscript in 1919?
a. Arthur Conan Doyle
b. F. Scott Fitzgerald
c. T.E. Lawrence
10. Which state was the first one to ratify the U.S Constitution?
a. Delaware
b. Virginia
c. New York
ROUND 1 ANSWERS
1. a. Dionysius
2. b. Ireland
3. c. Cat
4. a. The Volstead Act
5. c. Europa
6. a. 29,035 feet
7. a. ears
8. b. Lord of the Flies
9. c. T.E. Lawrence (Also known as "Lawrence of Arabia.")
10. a. Delaware
ROUND 2:
11. The Sun appears to occupy which constellation on the December
solstice (first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere)?
a. Scorpius
b. Sagittarius
c. Capricornus
12. Born in Alexandria around 300 BCE, who is considered the "father
of geometry?"
a. Euclid
b. Pythagoras
c. Hipparchus
13. In the South Pacific, the Solomon Islands are between Vanuatu and
which other country?
a. Australia
b. New Zealand
c. Papua New Guinea
14. Which musical word derives from the Greek term meaning "agreement
or concord of sound?"
a. symphony
b. oratorio
c. orchestra
15. A" florilegium" is a collection of what?
a. literary works
b. poisonous plants
c. squares used in mosaic art work
16. What is the highest numbered element in the "Periodic Table of
the Elements" that has only a single letter as a symbol? (No choices
for this one.)
17. The brachial artery is the main artery in which part of the body?
a. lower leg
b. upper arm
c. lungs
18. Jim Wickwire is noted for being the first American to have done what?
a. climbed to the summit of K2
b. circumnavigated the world
c. flown in a hot air balloon
19. In the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, "Charlie," for instance, stands for
"C." What city name stands for the letter "L?"
a. Lisbon
b. London
c Lima
20. What is room temperature expressed on the Kelvin temperature scale?
a 277 K
b. 293 K
c. 311 K
ROUND 2 ANSWERS
11. b. Sagittarius
12. a Euclid
13. c. Papua New Guinea
14. a. symphony
15. a. literary works
16. U (Uranium, element 92)
17. b. upper arm
18. a. climbed to the summit of K2
19. c Lima
20. b. 293 K = 68 degrees (approx)
ROUND 3:
21. Let's pretend you did have a laser powerful enough to shoot into
outer space for a great distance. How far would the beam have
traveled exactly one minute after you turned it on?
a. about 7.1 million miles
b. about 11. 2 million miles
c. about 186 million miles
22. The branch of zoology that studies tissue is known as what?
a. histology
b. pathology
c. physiology
23. What does the "DC" stand for in relation to airplanes, such as the DC-3?
a. District of Columbia
b. Douglas Commercial
c. 600
24. What is the most widely spoken language on the continent of Africa?
a. Arabic
b. Swahili
c. English
25. If a person was said to have been afflicted with "morbus
cyclometricus," what was his problem?
a. he kept attempting to square a circle
b. he drew circles on their foreheads each morning to prevent death
c. he could only sleep in a coffin
26. "The Bach Quadrangle" is a feature on which planet?
a. Mars
b. Mercury
c. Venus
27. What was Don Juan's last name?
a. Tenorio
b. de Molina
c. He didn't have a last name
28. The Białowieża Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the
border of which two countries?
a. Greece and Bulgaria
b. Poland and Belarus
c. Ukraine and Russia
29. Who was credited with having invented the lyre?
a. Apollo
b. Orpheus
c. Daedalus
30. Which baroque composer was known as the "Red Priest?"
a. Antonio Vivaldi
b. Jean-Philippe Rameau
c. Arcangelo Corelli
ROUND 3 ANSWERS
21. b. about 11. 2 million miles
22. a. histology
23. b. Douglas Commercial
24. c. English
(Note: Arabic is the most widespread official language in Africa.
However, about 700 million Africans have English as their primary
language.)
25. a. they kept attempting to square a circle
26. b. Mercury
27. a. Tenorio
28. b. Poland and Belarus
29. a. Apollo
30. a. Antonio Vivaldi
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