Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Classical Mythology : Said to have been the most beautiful of mortals, this youth was abducted by Zeus while he was tending to his father's flock of sheep in the mountains near Troy. On Mt Olympus, he served as the cupbearer to the Gods, and gives his name to a Jovian moon. Who is he?
2. Astronomy : Traditionally, black holes have been regarded to possess such immense gravitational fields that not even light could escape from them. Theoretical physics, however, now believes that they are capable of emitting radiation like any black body. After which eminent scientist is this particular type of radiation named?
3. Philosophy: George Bernard Shaw's 'Man and Superman', which parodies the Don Juan story by Lord Byron, also borrows heavily from this German philosopher's concept of the 'Ubermensch'. Who are we referring to?
4. Art: The artistic association known as the Blue Rider (der Blaue Reiter) was established in pre-WW1 Germany, mainly consisting of artists who were inclined to produce works with a spiritual element in them. The name of the group derives from a painting by one of its members, probably the most famous of them. Who is he?
5. Explorers: 'Ruins of such grandeur .. that, at the first view, one is filled with profound admiration, and cannot but ask what has become of this powerful race, so civilized, so enlightened, the authors of these gigantic works?' These lines came from the French explorer Henri Mouhot - what ancient site was he describing?
6. Comics: The story of Batman a.k.a. Bruce Wayne is well-known - how he witnessed his parents being murdered by a vicious mugger and subsequently dedicated his life as a vigilante against crime. This particular character, however, can be considered the 'anti-Batman': orphaned when his criminal parents were gunned down by the police, he became a hero-hunter, fixated on the destruction of the agents of justice. He stays in a Crooked House within the Ghost Zone, and single-handedly infiltrated the Justice League's Watchtower, almost defeating the superheroes. Who is he?
7. People: Born in 1900 in Russia, little Hyram Rickover came to America with his family at the age of six to start a new life. When he passed away in July 1986, his foster country and her armed forces would forever owe him a debt of gratitude. Which special branch of the US military was he chiefly associated with, and of whom he is considered the founding father?
8. Sports: 29th May, 1985 must surely rank as one of the darkest days in the history of European soccer. On that day, 39 fans lost their lives and hundreds more were injured when a retaining wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels collapsed during the European Cup Final. Liverpool was the English team involved; who were their Italian opponents?
9. Animals: This member of the cat family can be found in parts of Africa, Arabia and the Middle East as far as Pakistan. It has a uniformly reddish-brown coat, with white underbelly. Similar to the lynx, it has distinctive long tufts of hairs on its ears. Can you name this nocturnal hunter, which jumps very well and often catches birds by jumping up?
10. Computer games As usual, a not-so-serious question to end the quiz. Can you name this computer adventure game, released by Infocom in 1981, that spawned a whole genre? It begins thus, 'You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.'
Source: Author
taygt
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natsim before going online.
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