RSPS Academic Challenge: Rounds 4-5

I hope your brains were prepared yesterday for the mind explosion that was the first three rounds of the RSPS Academic Challenge.  Today we continue our quest for academic supremacy here at Caputo's Corner with the 4th and 5th preliminary rounds.  In the actual tournament, the 6 teams with the best records advanced to the semifinal rounds.  In our case, six teams had 5-0 records, so it worked out perfectly.  In the event of ties, the first tiebreaker was total number of questions answered correctly. 

Tomorrow we look at the semifinal round and Thursday is the final round.  Let's get on to rounds 4 and 5 right now!

Round 4   This First part is brought to you by the letter O:

Team A

1)      What is the last letter of the Greek alphabet?

A: Omega

2)      What is the postal abbreviation for Oregon?

A: OR

3)      Harpo Productions was created by what TV talk show host?

A: Oprah Winfrey

4)      What movie title was an anagram of Rocket Boys, the Homer Hickam book it was based on?

A:  October Sky

5)      On which Hawaiian island is Honolulu?

A: Oahu

Team B

1)      Which controversial American sportsman had the first names Orenthal James?

             A: OJ Simpson

2)      What is the farthest east of the Great Lake States?

A: Ohio

3)      The study of bird eggs is called what?

A:  Oology

4)      This member of the chalcogen group on the periodic table of elements has an atomic number of eight, and is necessary for all living animals

A: Oxygen

5)      What game originally made by Milton Bradley, contain pieces like brain freeze, wish bone and bread basket?

A:  Operation

XXV -  Toss ups---Since today is February 25^th,  the following five questions have something to do with the number 25.

1.   This 25^th president of the United States, a republican, is one of three presidents who was in office at the start of a new century.  He is also one of four presidents to be assassinated while in office.   The high school in the TV show Glee is named after him.

                                                                        William McKinley

2.  This 25^th state joined the union on June 15, 1836.  It is the home of the largest diamond mine in the United States, which is why it has a diamond on the back of its state quarter.  One of its favorite sons is former president Clinton.

                                                                        Arkansas

3.  This is the 25^th letter in the alphabet.

                                                                        Y

4.  This person was born on February 25^th, 1943.  He joined the Beatles in 1960 as the lead guitarist, and stayed with the band until it dissolved.  He then joined the Travelling Wilburys and also enjoyed a successful solo career.  He died of lung cancer in 2001.

                                                                        George Harrison

5.  This is how Julius Caesar would have written the number 25.

                                                                        XXV

Subs In: (verify scores)

Round 4 Questions 16-25

 16) Under what president’s administration did the USA implement the Interstate Highway System?

            -Dwight D. Eisenhower

17) Apple Computer’s signature product is what line of personal computers, first introduced in a famous advertisement at the 1984 Super Bowl?

            -Macintosh (Accept Mac, Do NOT accept iMac)

18) The play “A Man for All Seasons” is about which famous saint?

            -Sir Thomas More

19) What punctuation mark consists of a period on top of a comma?

            -Semicolon

20) What videogame company manufactured consoles such as the “Genesis” and the “Dreamcast?”

            -Sega

 21) What is the name of the online music store that got its start as a file sharing service, and was the main focus of a lawsuit from various recording artists over copyright infringement?

            -Napster

22) Who currently holds the National Football League’s record for passing yards in a single season?

            -Drew Brees

23) Quick Math: In simplest form, ¾ + 2/8 = ?

            1

24) Diamonds and graphite are two allotropes of what element?

            -Carbon

25) What am I describing: damaging liquid precipitation with a pH of less than 5.6?

            -Acid Rain

Extra Questions:

1)      Who is the current Speaker of the House?

a.       John Boehner

2)      Who is the current Vice President of the United State?

a.       Joe Biden

3)      Who is the current governor of Maryland?

a.       Martin O’Malley

Round 5 - These answers all begin with the letter U

Team A

1)      Which band recorded the album Joshua Tree?

A:  U2

2)      Entebbe international airport is in which African country?

A: Uganda

3)      What was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope in 1781?

A: Uranus

4)      What is the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder?

A:  Ureter

5)      What kind of legend is a form of modern folklore that consists of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true?

A:  Urban

Team B

1)  Where does the professional sport’s team the Jazz hail from?

A: Utah

2)  What is the term for a break in skin or mucous membrane with loss of surface tissue, disintegration and necrosis of epithelial?

A: Ulcer

3)  The English call this a bumbershoot, but we use it to keep dry in a rainstorm.

Umbrella

4)  What is the innermost & darkest part of the shadow, where the light source is completely blocked by the occluding body?

A: Umbra

5)  This instrument is a member of the guitar family and consists of four nylon strings.  It is usually associated with Hawaiian music.

A: Ukulele

Toss up time-  Ring in when you know the answers.  Now we are cooking really cooking.   These next questions all deal with food:

1.  This B word means to cook with a direct heat source—usually a gas flame or an electric coil—above the food

                                                                             Broil

2.  This means to cook over high heat in a small amount of fat in a pan or skillet. 

                                                                             Sauté (accept panfry)

3.  This means to moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid to prevent foods from drying out. 

                                                                             Baste

4.  This “S” word is used to describe maintaining the temperature of a liquid just below boiling.

                                                                             Simmer

5.  This K word is used to describe preparing food at every stage in strict observance of the Jewish dietary laws.  It also names a salt that does not contain magnesium carbonate.

                                                                             Kosher

SUBS IN: (verify score)

Round 5: Questions 16-25

16) On a standard clock, what time is it when the little hand is between the 3 and 4, and the minute hand is pointing to the 6?

            -3:30

17) In timekeeping, what do the letters “PM” stand for?

            -Post Meridiam

18) What does GMT stand for?  The G is the first letter in a city in England through which the Prime Meridian passes?

            -Greenwich Mean Time

19) North America, South America, Australia, or Antarctica: Which continent are you LEAST LIKELY to find penguins?

            -North America

20) The Mason-Dixon Line serves as the boundary between what two states?

            -Maryland and Pennsylvania

21) The 49^th Parallel and the St. Lawrence Seaway serve as two of the primary boundaries between what two countries?

            -United States and Canada

22) Whose famous diary chronicles the story of two Jewish families hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust and World War II?

            -Anne Frank

23) What number is defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter?

            -Pi

24) Hillary Howard replaced this longtime host of the Washington, DC edition of It’s Academic , who has retired after 50 years of hosting.  Who is he? 

            - Mac MacGerry

25)  The five rounds in today’s competition have all started with a single letter.  What do these five letters have in common?

                                                                        They are all vowels  (A,E,I,O,U)

Extra Questions:

1)      The longest chord of a circle is known as the what?

a.       Diameter

2)      What is the formula for area of a circle?

a.       Pi r-squared

3)      What is the formula for the volume of a cylinder?

a.       Pi r-square times height

Whew!  Are your brains made of mush yet?  We ramp up the difficulty a notch tomorrow when we take a look at the semifinals.