Part of IIT BHU Quiz Championship 2013-14. For other quizzes of the championship, visit the IIT BHU quiz club profile in Slideshare.

1. The Not-so-funny
General Quiz
prelims
RESEARCHED AND CONDUCTED BY
MAHENDRA “LORD” MOHAN DAS
UTKARSH SHARMA
Mahendra Mohan Das

2. Disclaimer
 This is a Google doodle, Amul ad, Oreo ad and
minimalist poster-free quiz. Really. Now shut up.
 I couldn‟t get enough sleep for the last few days, you-
know-why. For your own sake, don‟t angry me.
(Grammatical mistake, you say? Dare you show me.)
 I may be on the side of the angels, but don‟t think for
one second that I am one of them. Don‟t angry me. I
am thy God. I am Sherlock Holmes Jr.
Mahendra Mohan Das

3. Elementary, dear friends.
Preliminary
Investigation
 26 questions.
 A to Z.
 No negative.
 Starred Q for tie-breakers.
Mahendra Mohan Das

4. And here we go…
Mahendra Mohan Das

5. A) Which monument? Where is it situated?
Mahendra Mohan Das

6. B) Which term?
 In 1896 the American writer, Richard Harding,
wrote: „The Central Americans are like a gang of
semi-barbarians in a beautifully furnished house, of
which they can understand neither its possibilities of
comfort nor its use.‟
 Three years later the American-owned United Fruit
Company was founded, and grew ____s on an
industrial scale in Central America. The company
acquired such power over the governments of these
countries that they came to be known as ___ ___.
 Quoted in David Spurr, The Rhetoric of Empire,
1993.
Mahendra Mohan Das

7. C) Pretty easy.
 There are two island nations in Mediterranean sea. If
one is Malta, what is the other?
Mahendra Mohan Das

8. D) ID.
 This recreated version is
preserved and exhibited in
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
What is this?
 Hint: Florence.
Mahendra Mohan Das

9. E) Which famous company?
 This flower, called Thistle
is the national flower of
Scotland and features on
many a national symbols
of Scotland like coins,
awards etc.
 The most significant presence of this flower is found
on the logo of a company, founded in Scotland in the
1770s. The company claims to have been successful
due to contributions from more than 110 Nobel
Laureates and five American presidents. Which
company?
Mahendra Mohan Das

10. F) Connect. One word is enough.
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11. G) Who?
 William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical
romance “___ ___” portrays ___ in a generally
sympathetic light, and transformed him in the public
perception into an "acceptable fictional character".
___ subsequently appeared as "essentially an action
hero" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such
as The Boyhood Days of ___ ___; or, The
Conspirators of Old London, published in about
1905.
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

12.  This is George
Cruikshank's
illustration of ___
___, published in
William Harrison
Ainsworth's novel.
Mahendra Mohan Das

13. H) Id.
 Who was made an honorary member of the Bradford
City Supporters‟ Club because of the huge boost he
gave to the sales of club scarves since his arrival in
2002?
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

14. Mahendra Mohan Das

15. 9) Logo of which event?
Mahendra Mohan Das

16. J) Which Indo-Chinese personality?
 X‟s father Kranti ___, hailed from a family of
freedom fighters and Leftists. X‟s mother, Yelan
___, was born in Tianjin, and is a granddaughter of
a Gandhian named Tseng. Yelan first came to India
in 1977 with her grandfather to visit the Sevagram
ashram, where she translated Gandhi's
autobiography and other works into Chinese
language.
 Born on 1980, X is a 7 times national champion in
his/her field.
Mahendra Mohan Das

17. K) Which famous poster?
 X was a motivational poster produced by the British
government in 1939 during the beginning of the
Second World War , intended to raise the morale of
the British public in the aftermath of widely
predicted mass air attacks on major cities. The poster
was third in a series of three. The previous two
posters from the series, "Freedom Is In Peril. Defend
It With All Your Might" and "Your Courage, Your
Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory"
were issued and used across Britain for motivational
purposes.
Mahendra Mohan Das

18. L) Connect these two firsts (hints?).
Mahendra Mohan Das

19. M) Whose car?
 X has a long-running feud with the unseen driver of
a light blue Reliant Regal Supervan III. This conflict
originated when the Reliant's driver held the Mini up
on the way to a mathematics exam.
 The Mini was used for a 1997 feature film. After
filming ended, the original Mini used in filming was
sold to Kariker Kars to be hired for various events. It
was then temporarily displayed as a major attraction
at the Rover Group's museum. In 1997, it was
purchased by the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum
and is now on display at the National Motor
Museum, Beaulieu.
Mahendra Mohan Das

20. N) Who is he?
 After the death of his father, who was a former chief
minister, he was elected as a member of parliament
for the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election. He was a
member of the Consultative Committee of Ministry
of Steel & Mines, Member of Standing Committee on
Commerce, and Member Library Committee of
Parliament. A year later when the party he
represented split, he founded a new party named
after his father and has been elected as the chief
minister of the state three times.
 Id the person.
Mahendra Mohan Das

21. O)
 He gave various explanations for the origin of his pen
name. In 1909 he gave an interview to The New York
Times, in which he gave an account of it:
 It was during these New Orleans days that I adopted
my pen name of ___. I said to a friend: "I'm going to
send out some stuff. I don't know if it amounts to
much, so I want to get a literary alias. Help me pick
out a good one." He suggested that we get a
newspaper and pick a name from the first list of
notables that we found in it. In the society columns
we found the account of a fashionable ball. (contd.)
Mahendra Mohan Das

22.  "Here we have our notables," said he. We looked
down the list and my eye lighted on the name ___,
"That'll do for a last name," said I. "Now for a first
name. I want something short. None of your threesyllable names for me." "Why don‟t you use a plain
initial letter, then?" asked my friend.
Mahendra Mohan Das

23. P)
 What‟s the Thai word for sapphire, which is in news
for not-at-all-a-good-reason in Thailand, Myanmar,
Nepal and the India?
Mahendra Mohan Das

24. Q)
 This company is backed by Matrix Partners India,
Omidyar Network, Norwest Venture Partners and
invested in by eBay Inc.
 It was formerly known as Kijiji.
 What‟s the present name?
Mahendra Mohan Das

25. R) What is X?
 X was invented in 1974 and Hungarian patent
HU170062 was obtained for the X in 1975 . The first
test batches of the product were produced in late
1977 and released to Budapest toy shops. In
September 1979, a deal was signed with Ideal Toys to
bring the X to the Western world, and the X made its
international debut at the toy fairs of London, Paris,
Nuremberg and New York in January and February
1980. "The Gordian Knot" and "Inca Gold" were the
other names considered but it was marketed as X.
Mahendra Mohan Das

26. S)
 Identify the structure.
Mahendra Mohan Das

27. T) Who is he? Hint is in the picture.
 He is an Indian
columnist,
humorist, writer
and playwright.
In 2008, SAB
TV started a
show that is
based on his
column.
Mahendra Mohan Das

28. U) Logo of what?
Mahendra Mohan Das

29. V) Id X.
 In Norse mythology, a/an X (meaning "chooser of
the slain") is one of a host of female figures who
decide which soldiers die in battle and which live.
Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the
other half go to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field
Fólkvangr), the Xs bring their chosen to the afterlife
hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin.
 Who are they?
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

30. Mahendra Mohan Das

31. W)
 These are 2 paintings by German romantic landscape
painter Caspar David Friedrich. These are have said
to inspired the setting for something. What?
Mahendra Mohan Das

32. X) What is being talked about?
 These jokes often feature university-level subjects,
although many are written in such a way that a clear
understanding of the subject is not required to get
the punch line. Romance is another subject often
visited in the comic, with many strips not intended to
be humorous
 some recurring characters can be identified by their
visual features (for example, hats) and mannerisms:
 Black Hat, a man who looks like a normal stickfigure; A recurring female character, known as
Megan; A beret-wearing existentialist and eccentric
Psychotic female
Mahendra Mohan Das

33. Y) Who?
Mahendra Mohan Das

34. Z) Who and what?
 Argentina's Pedro Monzón was the first to receive it
in 1990 and was quickly followed by Argentina‟s
Gustavo Dezotti.
 Marcel Desailly of France received it in 1998 and
John Heitinga of Netherlands received it in 2010.
 Who received it in 2006? What (rather infamous)
feat?
Mahendra Mohan Das

35. Answers
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36. A) Which monument? Where is it situated?
Mahendra Mohan Das

37. Answer
 Biwi Ka Maqbara.
 Aurangabad.
 You seriously didn‟t think that I‟d give the picture of
Tajmahal for you to identify, did you?
Mahendra Mohan Das

38. B) Which term?
 In 1896 the American writer, Richard Harding,
wrote: „The Central Americans are like a gang of
semi-barbarians in a beautifully furnished house, of
which they can understand neither its possibilities of
comfort nor its use.‟
 Three years later the American-owned United Fruit
Company was founded, and grew ____s on an
industrial scale in Central America. The company
acquired such power over the governments of these
countries that they came to be known as ___ ___.
 Quoted in David Spurr, The Rhetoric of Empire,
1993.
Mahendra Mohan Das

39. Answer
 Banana republic.
Mahendra Mohan Das

40. C) Pretty easy.
 There are two island nations in Mediterranean sea. If
one is Malta, what is the other?
Mahendra Mohan Das

41. Answer
 Cyprus.
Mahendra Mohan Das

42. D) ID.
 This recreated version is
preserved and exhibited in
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
What is this?
 Hint: Florence.
Mahendra Mohan Das

43. Answer
 Death mask of Dante Alighieri.
Mahendra Mohan Das

44. E) Which famous company?
 This flower, called Thistle
is the national flower of
Scotland and features on
many a national symbols
of Scotland like coins,
awards etc.
 The most significant presence of this flower is found
on the logo of a company, founded in Scotland in the
1770s. The company claims to have been successful
due to contributions from more than 110 Nobel
Laureates and five American presidents. Which
company?
Mahendra Mohan Das

45. Answer
 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Mahendra Mohan Das

46. F) Connect. One word is enough.
Mahendra Mohan Das

47. Answer
 Facebook.
Mahendra Mohan Das

48. G) Who?
 William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical
romance “___ ___” portrays ___ in a generally
sympathetic light, and transformed him in the public
perception into an "acceptable fictional character".
___ subsequently appeared as "essentially an action
hero" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such
as The Boyhood Days of ___ ___; or, The
Conspirators of Old London, published in about
1905.
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

49.  This is George
Cruikshank's
illustration of ___
___, published in
William Harrison
Ainsworth's novel.
Mahendra Mohan Das

50. Answer
 Guy Fawkes.
Mahendra Mohan Das

51. H) Id.
 Who was made an honorary member of the Bradford
City Supporters‟ Club because of the huge boost he
gave to the sales of club scarves since his arrival in
2002?
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

52. Mahendra Mohan Das

53. Answer
 Harry Potter.
Mahendra Mohan Das

54. I) Logo of which event?
Mahendra Mohan Das

55. Answer
Mahendra Mohan Das

56. J) Which Indo-Chinese personality?
 X‟s father Kranti ___, hailed from a family of
freedom fighters and Leftists. X‟s mother, Yelan
___, was born in Tianjin, and is a granddaughter of
a Gandhian named Tseng. Yelan first came to India
in 1977 with her grandfather to visit the Sevagram
ashram, where she translated Gandhi's
autobiography and other works into Chinese
language.
 Born on 1980, X is a 7 times national champion in
his/her field.
Mahendra Mohan Das

57. Answer
 Jwala Gutta.
Mahendra Mohan Das

58. K) Which famous poster?
 X was a motivational poster produced by the British
government in 1939 during the beginning of the
Second World War , intended to raise the morale of
the British public in the aftermath of widely
predicted mass air attacks on major cities. The poster
was third in a series of three. The previous two
posters from the series, "Freedom Is In Peril. Defend
It With All Your Might" and "Your Courage, Your
Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory"
were issued and used across Britain for motivational
purposes.
Mahendra Mohan Das

59. Answer
Mahendra Mohan Das

60. L) Connect these two firsts (hints?).
Mahendra Mohan Das

61. Answer
 Lux ad.
Mahendra Mohan Das

62. M) Whose car?
 X has a long-running feud with the unseen driver of
a light blue Reliant Regal Supervan III. This conflict
originated when the Reliant's driver held the Mini up
on the way to a mathematics exam.
 The Mini was used for a 1997 feature film. After
filming ended, the original Mini used in filming was
sold to Kariker Kars to be hired for various events. It
was then temporarily displayed as a major attraction
at the Rover Group's museum. In 1997, it was
purchased by the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum
and is now on display at the National Motor
Museum, Beaulieu.
Mahendra Mohan Das

63. Answer, Mr. Bean!
Mahendra Mohan Das

64. N) Who is he?
 After the death of his father, who was a former chief
minister, he was elected as a member of parliament
for the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election. He was a
member of the Consultative Committee of Ministry
of Steel & Mines, Member of Standing Committee on
Commerce, and Member Library Committee of
Parliament. A year later when the party he
represented split, he founded a new party named
after his father and has been elected as the chief
minister of the state three times.
 Id the person.
Mahendra Mohan Das

65. Answer
 Naveen Patnaik.
 Biju Janata Dal, named after Biju Patnaik after the
split of Janata Dal.
Mahendra Mohan Das

66. O)
 He gave various explanations for the origin of his pen
name. In 1909 he gave an interview to The New York
Times, in which he gave an account of it:
 It was during these New Orleans days that I adopted
my pen name of ___. I said to a friend: "I'm going to
send out some stuff. I don't know if it amounts to
much, so I want to get a literary alias. Help me pick
out a good one." He suggested that we get a
newspaper and pick a name from the first list of
notables that we found in it. In the society columns
we found the account of a fashionable ball. (contd.)
Mahendra Mohan Das

67.  "Here we have our notables," said he. We looked
down the list and my eye lighted on the name ___,
"That'll do for a last name," said I. "Now for a first
name. I want something short. None of your threesyllable names for me." "Why don‟t you use a plain
initial letter, then?" asked my friend.
Mahendra Mohan Das

68. Answer
 O. Henry.
Mahendra Mohan Das

69. P)
 What‟s the Thai word for sapphire, which is in news
for not-at-all-a-good-reason in Thailand, Myanmar,
Nepal and the India?
Mahendra Mohan Das

70. Answer
 Phailin.
Mahendra Mohan Das

71. Q)
 This company is backed by Matrix Partners India,
Omidyar Network, Norwest Venture Partners and
invested in by eBay Inc.
 It was formerly known as Kijiji.
 What‟s the present name?
Mahendra Mohan Das

72. Answer
 quikr.
Mahendra Mohan Das

73. R) What is X?
 X was invented in 1974 and Hungarian patent
HU170062 was obtained for the X in 1975 . The first
test batches of the product were produced in late
1977 and released to Budapest toy shops. In
September 1979, a deal was signed with Ideal Toys to
bring the X to the Western world, and the X made its
international debut at the toy fairs of London, Paris,
Nuremberg and New York in January and February
1980. "The Gordian Knot" and "Inca Gold" were the
other names considered but it was marketed as X.
Mahendra Mohan Das

74. Answer
 Rubik‟s cube.
Mahendra Mohan Das

75. S)
 Identify the structure.
Mahendra Mohan Das

76. Answer
Mahendra Mohan Das

77. T) Who is he? Hint is in the picture.
 He is an Indian
columnist,
humorist, writer
and playwright.
In 2008, SAB
TV started a
show that is
based on his
column.
Mahendra Mohan Das

78. Answer
 Taarak Mehta.
 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma.
Mahendra Mohan Das

79. U) Logo of what?
Mahendra Mohan Das

80. Answer
Mahendra Mohan Das

81. V) Id X.
 In Norse mythology, a/an X (meaning "chooser of
the slain") is one of a host of female figures who
decide which soldiers die in battle and which live.
Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the
other half go to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field
Fólkvangr), the Xs bring their chosen to the afterlife
hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin.
 Who are they?
 (pic on the next slide)
Mahendra Mohan Das

82. Mahendra Mohan Das

83. Answer
 Valkyrie.
Mahendra Mohan Das

84. W)
 These are 2 paintings by German romantic landscape
painter Caspar David Friedrich. These are have said
to inspired the setting for something. What?
Mahendra Mohan Das

85. Answer
 Waiting For Godot.
Mahendra Mohan Das

86. X) What is being talked about?
 These jokes often feature university-level subjects,
although many are written in such a way that a clear
understanding of the subject is not required to get
the punch line. Romance is another subject often
visited in the comic, with many strips not intended to
be humorous
 some recurring characters can be identified by their
visual features (for example, hats) and mannerisms:
 Black Hat, a man who looks like a normal stickfigure; A recurring female character, known as
Megan; A beret-wearing existentialist and eccentric
Psychotic female
Mahendra Mohan Das

87. Answer
 xkcd.
Mahendra Mohan Das

88. Y) Who?
Mahendra Mohan Das

89. Answer
 Yelena Isinbayeva.
Mahendra Mohan Das

90. Z) Who and what?
 Argentina's Pedro Monzón was the first to receive it
in 1990 and was quickly followed by Argentina‟s
Gustavo Dezotti.
 Marcel Desailly of France received it in 1998 and
John Heitinga of Netherlands received it in 2010.
 Who received it in 2006? What (rather infamous)
feat?
Mahendra Mohan Das

91. Answer
 Zinedine Zidane.
 Red card in WC final.
Mahendra Mohan Das

92. Be patient.
Finals in 5 minutes.
 Hail Sherlock Holmes.
Mahendra Mohan Das