Zippy Zooms VI Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stamp Duty

Stamp duties are applied to documents such as transfers of ownership contracts, passports, cheques, and deeds. Usually, when the tax is levied, a stamp is affixed (adhered) to the document in question.

Per diem is a Latin term that means "by the day". In accounting terms this usually relates to daily allowances that a taxpayer may receive, for example, a travel or uniform allowance. A "gift inter vivos" is a gratuitous transfer of an asset that occurs during the lifetime of the donor. In some countries this may be subjected to a gift tax. Finally, a rebate is akin to return of tax credits.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 placed his stamp of approval on this question.

Answer: Proteins

Proteins are distinguished from the other two main foodstuffs, carbohydrates and fats, by the presence of nitrogen. Waste nitrogen is converted into ammonia but this is toxic, so two ammonia ions bond with carbon dioxide to form urea which is then able to be safely excreted. In a normal urine output of 1.4 L/day (though the volume may differ markedly by person and circumstances), about 60g of solid material is excreted of which urea is approximately half of the total solids.

This question was crystalised and metabolised by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who hopes the question will not end up being a waste product.

Answer: Coco Lee

Born in Hong Kong in 1975, Coco Lee moved to San Francisco with her family in 1984. At the 73rd Academy Awards held in 2001, she performed the song "A Love Before Time", which was nominated for the Best Original Song award. Lee was also renowned for her rendition of the Chinese version of "Reflection", the theme song of "Mulan" (1998).

"Coco" (2017) follows the story of Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez), as he embarks on a poignant journey to uncover the reasons behind his family's aversion to music.

This question is written by Phoenix Rising team member Matthew_07, who admires Lee's musicality and has a fondness for vibrant Pixar animated films.

Answer: New France

New France ("Nouvelle-France") was the name of the part of the North American continent that was a French territory between 1534 and 1763. At its peak (1712), this immense area consisted of five colonies, which included much of present-day eastern Canada, all of the Great Lakes region, and most of the Mississippi River basin, which was called Louisiane. The capital of New France was Québec, which is now the only remaining North American walled city north of Mexico. In the mid-18th century, a series of wars fought by France against the British led to the loss of the colonies, which were officially ceded to Britain and Spain by the Treaty of Paris (1763).

New Ireland (which was also called "New France" for a brief time in the late 19th century) and New Britain are the two largest islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, which is part of Papua New Guinea. New Caledonia (meaning "New Scotland") is a collectivity of overseas France located east of Australia and south of Vanuatu. Like New Guinea, it is geographically part of the Melanesia subregion of Oceania.

This not-so-insular question was compiled by notorious geography buff LadyNym of the Phoenix Rising team.

Answer: Dall sheep

The Dall sheep (also called thin-horned sheep) is the other North American ovine. It is thought that both the Dall and bighorn sheep evolved from snow sheep which crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia. The mouflon is found in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. The urial is native to central and southern Asia. Dall sheep prefer alpine habitat and range through Alaska and northwestern Canada. Often confused with mountain goats, they are off-white with thick wool coats, and stand about one meter tall at the shoulder.

Phoenix Rising's pusdoc sheepishly added this question to the quiz.

Answer: He composed it in New York City

Czech composer Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) accepted an offer from the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York City to become its director, with an extremely large salary for the time (1892) of $15,000 per annum. Earlier in his career, he had received support and encouragement from Johannes Brahms, which contributed to his famous Opus 46, "Slavonic Dances", which helped establish his international reputation. Some of Dvorak's most famous works, which included "From the New World" (first performed in New York City in 1893), 1894's "Cello Concerto in B minor (Op. 104)" and "String Quartet in F major (Op. 96)", were all written in the USA in a very productive three-year period. He returned to Bohemia in 1895 due to homesickness and the financial difficulties of the Conservatory arising from the economic crisis which commenced in 1893.

Neil Armstrong took a copy of "From the New World" on Apollo 11's voyage to the moon in 1969.

This question was composed with very modest virtuosity, by Phoenix Rising's MikeMaster99 who regularly listens to this, one of the world's most famous symphonies.

Answer: Antarctica

Bellingshausen was a Baltic German explorer who began his career with the Russian Baltic navy and was part of Russia's first effort to circumnavigate the globe in the years 1803-06. In 1819, Bellingshausen was tagged to command an expedition to explore the Southern Ocean while again circling the earth. On January 27th, 1820, they sighted the Antarctic Peninsula, and in the course of circling the continent twice on the voyage, also discovered and named a number of islands (Peter I, Zavodovski, Leskov, Alexander, and Visokoi).

This chilly question was crafted by Phoenix Rising's reedy as he sweltered in the heat of summer, wishing for cooler weather.

Answer: Langkawi

Legend has it that Mahsuri was a great beauty who lived in Langkawi in the early 1800s. She was married to a warrior and while her husband was away at war she was falsely accused of adultery by those jealous of her; she was sentenced to death. However, no blade could harm her and Mahsuri finally suggested using her father's keris, or ceremonial dagger.

When she was stabbed, white blood flowed from her wound, proclaiming her innocence. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi with ill fortune for seven generations to come. Soon after her death, Langkawi was beset by adversity such as invasions, droughts and floods. It was only in the late 1900s after seven generations had passed that Langkawi started to prosper and become a popular tourist destination. Mahsuri's descendants still live on in neighbouring Thailand and they occasionally visit Langkawi and Mahsuri's tomb.

This question was retold by Phoenix Rising loremaster purelyqing.

Answer: Goliath

I Samuel 17:4 tells us Goliath stood six cubits and a span. That would be 9 feet 9 inches or almost 3 meters tall. Deuteronomy 3:11 states that Og's bed was 9 cubits long and 4 cubits wide (13 ft 6 inches by 6 feet or a little over 4 meters by a little less than 2 meters) which would imply he was a very tall man, but it never states his actual height. It does say he was the last of the Rephaites, a term most scholars believe refers to a race of giants. The Nephilim are first mentioned in Genesis 6 and refer to a race of men, not any one man. Again, many scholars and many translations of the Bible use the term giant or giants for Nephilim. Samson was a very strong man, but his height is never explicitly mentioned.

The cubit was generally defined as the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. That is a rather imprecise definition and considering it was used for the construction of rather immense structures including Solomon's Temple, it clearly had a more precise definition. The cubit was not only used by the Israelites, but also the Egyptians and Sumerians.

This question was measured twice then cut once into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Mission: Impossible

Based on the 1966 TV series of the same name, the film "Mission: Impossible" was released in 1996 and it starred Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. In the film series, Ethan Hunt was a member of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). Later films in the "Mission: Impossible" series have included "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000), "Mission: Impossible III" (2006), "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (2011), "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015), "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018) and "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023).

This question was cruised into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer whose quiz ideas typically self-destruct within five seconds.