New Scaratings

15 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 20 seconds after appearance of Question & 5 Choices, and with 3 Clues:

1. The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval engagement in this war:_____________________.
[Choices: Hundred Years' War, Spanish-American War, War of 1812, World War I, Carthaginian War ]

2. At first, Matilda of Flanders wouldn't marry this future king because he was a bastard:______________________.
[Choices: William the Conqueror, Frederick the Great, Charles V, Louis XIII, Richard II ]

3. Amharic is one of the main languages of this nation:______________________.
[Choices: Guatemala, Morocco, Iceland, Iran, Ethiopia ]

4. Born in 1882, Vincas Kreve became an important name in:______________________.
[Choices: Polish politics, Lithuanian literature, Bulgarian ballet, Swedish science, Mexican medicine ]

5. Which character is the adversary of Sir Denis Nayland Smith?__________________________
[Choices: Dr. Fu Manchu, Professor Moriarty, Charlie Chan, Jack the Ripper, Mr. Hyde ]

6. This city in western Colorado was founded by the railroad during a mining boom in 1880:________________________.
[Choices: Durango, Greeley, Farmington, Moab, Trinidad ]

7. Which of these is a musical instrument?__________________________
[Choices: Boo-loo, Dum-dum, Tam-tam, Nik-nak, Kan-san ]

8. Which living things would most likely be attacked by thrips?_____________________
[Choices: Amphibians, Sharks, Songbirds, Humans, Plants ]

9. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos:_________________________.
[Choices: Saturn, Mercury, Pluto, Mars, Jupiter ]

10. Pyrrho of Elis is known to be the Founder of:_____________________.
[Choices: Pharmacology, Zoology, Geometry, Skepticism, Catholocism ]

11. What country is home to the Okavango Delta and the Tsodilo Hills?______________________
[Choices: Bhutan, Tajikistan, Suriname, Algeria, Botswana ]

12. Cottonwood, aspen and balsam are all species of ___________________ trees.
[Choices: Walnut, Poplar, Oak, Mahogany, Elm ]

13. The novel "Middlemarch" is considered the masterpiece of which author?________________________
[Choices: George Eliot, Willa Cather, Eudora Welty, Alexander Pope, Ezra Pound ]

14. Benjamin West is considered one of America's first great:___________________.
[Choices: Orators, Painters, Writers, Scientists, Composers ]

15. What company bought Getty Oil in 1984 in one of the largest business mergers in U.S. history?____________________
[Choices: Texaco, Bulova, Exxon, Tandy, Chevron ]






Answers:

1. World War I [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland ]

2. William the Conqueror [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Flanders ]

3. Ethiopia [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic ]

4. Lithuanian literature [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincas_Kreve-Mickevicius ]

5. Fu Manchu [see the section "Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Manchu ]

6. Durango [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango,_Colorado ]

7. Tam-tam [see the section "Traditional suspended gongs" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gong ]

8. Plants [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrips ]

9. Mars [see the section "Moons" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars ]

10. Skepticism [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrho ]

11. Botswana [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_Delta and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsodilo ]

12. Poplar [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populus ]

13. George Eliot [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlemarch ]

14. Painters [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_West ]

15. Texaco [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Oil ]

A few years ago a young friend was graduating with a BA in English. For her graduation I gave her a copy of the novel, which she hadn't read. I stuffed the book with post-it notes, annotating historical events she wouldn't know, translating the epigraphs at the head of each chapter as appropriate, and included a map of Middlemarch, which displayed the location and prosperity of the various households in relation to each other. Feel free to infer that I really like this novel.

So I confess to a sigh of melancholy when I saw this question in Brainbuster. This is, or should be, a challenging quiz, and yet I've seen several questions in Countdown which dig deeper into George Eliot's oeuvre, naming Dorothea Brooke as the heroine of the novel, Gwendolen Harleth as a love interest of Daniel Deronda, questions regarding "Silas Marner" or "The Mill on the Floss."

And so I sighed, while nearly everyone else at my table piped up in recognition of an author only one of them would confess to have read.

"Daniel Deronda" was one of the first rumblings preceding the seismic event which, by way of the Balfour Resolution, produced the nation of Israel - much as "Fathers and Sons" would be read by the Decembrists - or Harriet Beecher Stowe became the little lady who started the US Civil War. But I'm growing windy. Anyone who wants to argue Victorian literature can PM me. Anyone who has experienced a similar sadness, please don't hesitate to share. I'm leaving now. Really I am. The couch is open.

Middlemarch was one of several questions last week not deserving of BB. Phobos and Deimos anyone?

TV has pro golf at Edina, MN. Good to see no snow on the ground.

_________________
Merkin