Round one: Events of 2009
1. Breaking Pete Sampras’ previous record, how many Grand Slam Titles
has Roger Federer won (as of July 2009)?
15
2. Which two celebrities died on 25 June 2009?
Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett
3. On her tour ‘The Circus’, during her gig in Manchester, which singer addressed
the audience with ‘What’s up London?’
Britney Spears
4. In January, all 148 passengers on US Airways Flight 1549 were saved when
the plane was brought down after colliding with birds by crash landing where?
Hudson River (off Manhattan)
5. As of 1 July 2009, for a period of six months, which Member State assumed
the presidency of the European Union?
Sweden
6. Which two cities became European Capitals of Culture of 2009,
succeeding Liverpool?
Linz (Austria), Vilnius (Lithuania) (just need the cities)
7. Beating over 34,000 other applicants, Ben Southall, 34, a charity fundraiser
from Petersfield, was named the successful candidate for which job?
Caretaker of an island off the Australian coast
8. Lasting approximately six minutes, what took place on 22 July 2009?
The longest total eclipse of the sun this century
9. What was deemed the biggest democratic poll in history with more than
700 million voters over 28 days, involving 250,000 police?
Indian Election
10.Which country adopted the Euro as their national currency in 2009 from their
previous currency the Koruna (Crown)?
Slovakia
Round two: General knowledge
1. What are the names of the five oceans of the world?
Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern (also accept Antarctic)
2. Who played Fleance in Roman Polanski’s 1971 film Macbeth?
Keith Chegwin
3. In which vehicle was the highest ever speed a human has travelled at achieved?
Apollo 10
4. What did Nicholas Breakspear do in 1154 which no Englishman has ever done
before or since?
Become Pope
5. In which decade did the London Underground open?
1860s
6. How many floors are there in the Empire State Building?
102
7. What animal does the term ‘Ovine’ refer to?
Sheep
8. Who is the current editor of Private Eye magazine?
Ian Hislop
9. The Trans-Siberian railway links Moscow with which other city?
Vladivostok (pronounced Vlad-iv-os-tock)
10.Who is the youngest person to become US President?
Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt (need first name as well for the point because
of F. D Roosevelt)
Round three: The Arts
1. Which playwright wrote the play Equus?
Peter Shaffer
2. What do the T and S stand for in T.S. Eliot?
Thomas Stearns
3. Which artist painted Restaurant de la Sirène, at Asnières?
Vincent van Gogh
4. The film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People was based on the memoirs
of which British journalist?
Toby Young
5. Which statue was discovered by a peasant in the 19th century on the Aegean
island of Melos?
The Venus de Milo
6. Who composed the music to the ballet Giselle?
Adolphe (Charles) Adam
7. The painter Canaletto is famous for painting landscapes of which two European cities?
London and Venice
8. Who is the artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London?
Kevin Spacey
9. What is the biggest-selling fiction book to be written in English, having sold
approximately 200 million copies?
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
10.What is the name of Sherlock Holmes’ elder brother?
Mycroft Holmes
Round four: Science and nature
1. Ariel and Miranda are moons of which planet?
Uranus
2. What does NASA stand for?
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
3. Solid carbon dioxide is commonly known by what name?
Dry ice
4. What is the heaviest organ in the human body?
The liver
5. What sort of animal is a Rhodesian Ridgeback?
Dog
6. Which period came before the Jurassic?
Triassic
7. What is a female bear called?
Sow
8. What is the chemical symbol for Mercury?
Hg
9. What is the collective noun for a group of moles?
A labor
10.What insect is also known as the ‘Devil’s darning needle’?
Dragonfly
Round five: Geography and history
1. Who briefly became the first female ruler of England in 1141 (although she was never
crowned), during the period known as ‘The Anarchy’?
Empress Matilda (sometimes known as Maude or Matilda of England)
2. In which city would you find the areas of Thurmaston, Blaby and Birstall?
Leicester
3. Which South American country was named after the Italian city of Venice?
Venezuela
4. Which Roman Emperor, who ruled from AD 54–68, was ruler during the Great Fire
of Rome and is perhaps best known for murdering his mother?
Nero
5. In which country would you find Aconcagua (pronounced Ah-con-ca-gwa),
the world’s highest mountain outside Asia?
Argentina
6. What is the smallest country in mainland Africa?
The Gambia
7. What was the capital city of West Germany between 1949 and 1990 before
the fall of the Berlin Wall?
Bonn
8. In which year did the Spanish flu pandemic, which killed over 50 million people
worldwide, begin?
1918
9. Which Polynesian island, governed by Chile, is known by the natives as Rapa Nui?
Easter Island
10.When questioned by US Intelligence, whose younger sister Paula said: ‘I would have
preferred it if he’d followed his original ambition and become an architect…it would have
saved the world a lot of worries’?
Adolf Hitler’s
Round six: Film and television
1. Which 2002 Eddie Murphy film has made the largest financial loss of all time,
(over $65 million to date)?
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
2. The film Black Hawk Down was loosely based on a true incident that took
place in 1993 in which country?
Somalia
3. How many boxes are used in the UK version of ‘Deal or No Deal’?
22
4. Who is set to replace David Tennant as Dr Who for the 2010 series?
Matt Smith
5. In which 2008 Disney film did Russell Brand star as Adam Sandler’s best friend?
Bedtime Stories
6. Which band has had the most UK Top 40 Singles, 43 in total, without ever having
a number one hit?
Depeche Mode
7. What is the real name of superhero Daredevil?
Matt Murdock
8. Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Dr Dre were key members of which seminal gangsta rap group?
N.W.A
9. Which soap opera is set in the fictional town of Letherbridge?
Doctors
10.In the film Sex and the City, what is the real name of character ‘Mr Big’?
John James Preston
Round seven: Sport and leisure
1. What was the World Record time Usain Bolt set for the 100m at the 2008 Olympics?
9.69 seconds (need both decimal places)
2. In boxing, whose nickname was the ‘Clones Cyclone’?
Barry McGuigan
3. Which horse won the 2009 Grand National at Aintree?
Mon Mome
4. In a game of Scrabble how many points could the word quiz earn if played
on the first turn?
44 (Q and Z are worth 10 points each, U and I are worth 1 point each = 22.
The score is doubled because it’s the first turn = 44).
5. How is the sport of tauromachy better known?
Bullfighting
6. The name of which sport means `empty hand` in Japanese?
Karate
7. What is the highest checkout possible with three darts?
170 (Treble 20, Treble 20 and Bull)
8. Which sport would you practice if you were a toxophilite?
Archery
9. In what sport would you use the terms ‘fried egg’, ‘mashie’ or niblick?
Golf
10.What is the lightest weight division in boxing?
Strawweight
Round eight: Nostalgia round – 1966
1. Tofik Bakhramov was thrust from obscurity into the public eye for what reason?
He was ‘The Russian linesman’ in the World Cup Final (accept just linesman)
2. The BBC announced Britain would be the first country in Europe to offer which
new technological advance?
Colour television
3. The Moors Murderers, sentenced to life imprisonment in May 1966, gained their name
due to their disposal of bodies on which moor?
Saddleworth Moor
4. Which space exploration first was achieved in January 1966 by the Soviet Union’s
probe Luna 9?
Landing on the moon
5. On 15 December 1966 Walt Disney died at the age of 65, whilst in the middle
of producing which classic animated film?
The Jungle Book
6. Which 1966 drama directed by Ken Loach-was voted in 2000 as the second-greatest
British television programme of all time?
Cathy Come Home
7. Throughout 1966 who held the positions of British Prime Minister and President
of the United States?
Harold Wilson and Lyndon B. Johnson
8. 1966 saw the debut of which television programme which would later spawn five more
spin-off TV series and eleven films?
Star Trek
9. Which famous actor was born on 2 November 1966 and has starred in the hit comedy
show Friends and films including Apt Pupil and Madagascar?
David Schwimmer
10.Which Beatles album, often cited as their best, was released in July 1966?
Revolver