West High School Scholar’s Cup Information
Scholar’s Quiz is a contest where teams of 4 students or faculty members work together to answer
questions from various categories during 3 rounds of competitions. The winning team will be
designated the WHS Scholar Quiz Champion of the year, and team members’ names/WHS
affiliations will be engraved on a Scholar Quiz Trophy or Plaque that will be displayed on campus.
Individual winners will receive medals, certificates and gift baskets, club winners will receive club
funds, faculty winners will receive classroom supplies.
Competition Guidelines:
 Each team consists of a maximum of 4 members; team members may not be substituted during
the competition
 Teams may represent clubs, classes, academic disciplines or may consist of students not affiliated
with any organization.
 The entry fee for each team is $20.00; individuals may also enter for $5 whereupon they will be
placed upon a team with other individual entrants (based on availability).
 All teams will compete during Round 1. Half of the teams will advance to Round 2.
 The top 2 teams from Round 2 will advance to the Championship Round.
 Questions will be read aloud by the moderator and projected on the large screen in the pavilion.
 Team members will sit together and will be able to confer to answer the questions.
 Questions will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer.
 Questions will be drawn from the following subject areas:
o Humanities (language, literature, art,
o Sports
music)
o Popular Culture (music, film, fashion,
o Science and Math
etc.)
o Social Science (including geography)
o WHS Trivia
 Questions must be answered within a minimum time period (5 - 15 seconds depending on the
question) for Round 1 and Round 2. Proctors will verify, record, and report scores.
 The championship round will include some questions (toss-ups) where the first team to answer
(within a minimum time period) will receive the point and the additional opportunity to answer
bonus questions without competition from the other team. If the toss-up winner answers the
question incorrectly, the same question will be given to the other team who will have 5 seconds
to answer it correctly.
o Teams will raise flags anytime during the reading of the toss-up question to indicate that they
are ready to answer. A judge will determine the first team to raise their flag.
Competition Schedule:
 ASAP - form your team, choose a team name, make a team t-shirt or sweater!
 By May 19th, fill out an entry form and pay the $20 entry fee to student activities (you will
receive a set of example questions of a similar style, difficulty level, and topic area as the
competition questions).
 Practice, practice, practice.
 May 24 – First round competition in the Pavilion at lunch; top 50% of teams advance.
 May 25 – Second round competition in the Pavilion at lunch: top two teams advance.
 May 26 – Championship round in the Pavilion at lunch.
Sample Questions
Note: The difficulty level of the questions will increase with each round.
Social Studies
1. King Henry VIII was a notable figurehead in the Protestant Reformation. Which of the following did
he do to contribute to the Reformation?
a. Attempted to swear loyalty to the Pope
b. Broke away from the Catholic Church and founded the Anglican Church
c. Published the 33 Theses
d. Spread the word of the Protestant Bible
2. What current day country was NOT part of the British Empire in the 19th Century?
a. India
b. Vietnam
c. Malaysia
d. Hong Kong
3. Which of the following is NOT a country?
a. Togoland
b. Africa
c. Kyrgyzstan
d. Azerbaijan
4. Which city is located in both Europe and Asia?
a. Aleppo
b. New Delhi
c. St. Petersburg
d. Istanbul
Sports
5. Often referred to as “His Airness,” which Basketball Hall of Famer play(ed) for the Chicago Bulls?
a. Kobe Bryant
b. Michael Jordan
c. Stephen Curry
d. Lebron James
6. Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky is often referred to as
a. The Chosen One
b. The Second Coming
c. The Wise One
d. The Great One
7. Who holds the record for the most home runs in MLB history?
a. Babe Ruth
b. Ted Williams
c. Hank Aaron
d. Barry Bonds
8. Who was the 2013-2014 NBA Season MVP?
a. Kevin Durant
b. Stephen Curry
c. Derrick Rose
d. LeBron James
Humanities
9. Which of the following Shakespearian plays is NOT a tragedy?
a. Hamlet
b. Othello
c. The Tempest
d. Macbeth
10. Who wrote White Fang?
a. Jack London
b. Agatha Christie
c. John Steinbeck
d. Mark Twain
11. Which of the following is not a Maya Angelou quote?
a. If you don't like something, change it.
b. Nothing will work unless you do.
c. I know why the caged bird sings.
d. Grab the broom of anger and drive off the beast of fear.
12. Which ancient civilization created the Pantheon?
a. Greek
b. Roman
c. Etruscan
d. Egyptian
13. (Short Answer) What color is complementary to red?
Science and Math
14. Light bends as it enters a different medium. This process is known as
a. Reflection
b. Deflection
c. Refraction
d. Diffraction
15. Find the missing term in the sequence: 3125, 256, 27, _____, 1.
a. 1
b. 4
c. 8
d. 9
16. Which of the following numbers is NOT a perfect square?
a. 12016
b. 22017
c. 32018
d. 42019
17. In a class of 50 students, 45 students earned 100% on their tests and 5 students earned 0% on their
tests. What is the class average for that test?
a. 75%
b. 80%
c. 90%
d. 95%
18. (Short Answer) What mRNA sequence is complimentary to the following DNA sequence?
TAT AGC
___ ___
TGA
___
Pop Culture
19. Which movie did not win an Academy Award for Best Picture?
a. The Apartment
b. The Sting
c. Singing in the Rain
d. Rocky
20. Which Disney characters were voiced by the same voice actor?
a. Sher Khan and Thomas O’Malley
b. Wendy and Alice
c. Moana and Young Anna
d. Jasmine and Ariel
21. What band sang “Eye of the Tiger”?
a. Foreigner
b. Journey
c. The Clash
d. Survivor
22. Who is NOT a band member of Led Zeppelin?
a. John Paul Jones
b. John Bonham
c. Jim Morrison
d. Jimmy Page
23. What is Anna Wintour’s nickname?
a. “Nuclear Wintour”
b. “Ice Queen of Fashion”
c. “Wild Wintour”
d. “Empress of Fashion”
West High Trivia
24. What year was West High School founded?
a. 1956
b. 1964
c. 1953
d. 1962
25. Which Olympian attended West High School?
a. Paula Weishoff
b. Louis Zamperini
c. Steve Sarkisian
d. Townsend Saunder
26. West High School is the setting for what book?
a. Patricia Goes to California
b. Pobre Ana
c. Fama va en Californie
d. Look, I Can Talk!
Scholar’s Cup Registration Form
Team Name: _______________________________________________ *
* If entering as an individual wishing to be placed on a team check this box:
Contestant Names and Contact Info
1. _________________________
Name
2. _________________________
Name
3. _________________________
Name
4. _________________________
Name
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Email
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Email
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Phone
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Affiliation (Club, Class, Department, etc.) *
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* affiliated organizations may enter more than one team but each team must register separately