Pauls Quiz 231

Posted in general knowledge

1. Which region in the Pacific ocean is also the name of a character in the Dr. Doolittle stories?

2. Spell that atrocious and precocious word from the film 'Mary Poppins'.

3. In Venice, what is a 'vaporetto'?

4. What nickname was given to Baron von Richthofen's fighter squadron in World War I?

5. What is the name of the art form that translated means 'beauty writing'?

6. The Andromeda Strain was a 1971 Hollywood film and a 2008 mini-series. Which famous writer wrote the novel?

7. What are the five largest countries in the world with a population density of 15 people or less per square mile? One point for each correct answer.

8. What is the difference between venom and poison?

9. The small Russian buckwheat pancakes that are often served with caviar are called what?

10. The following lyrics are found in which songs? One point for each correct answer.
a. February made me shiver
b. Late December back in 63
c. A winters day in a deep and dark December
d. September 77 Port Elizabeth weather fine

ANSWERS

1. Polynesia In the series of books, Polynesia is Doctor Dolittle's parrot, a Blue-and-yellow Macaw. She is able to speak English and first taught Doctor Dolittle the language of animals. She always says she can never remember how old she is, but she remembers that when she came to England, she saw Charles II hiding in an oak tree from the Roundheads: "he looked very frightened".

2. SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS According to Richard M. Sherman, co-writer of the song with his brother, Robert, the word was created by them in two weeks, mostly out of double-talk. The roots of the word have been defined as follows: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and docious- "educable", with the sum of these parts signifying roughly "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty." According to the film, it is defined as "something to say when you have nothing to say".

3. Waterbus A vaporetto is a waterbus in Venice, Italy. There are 19 scheduled lines that serve locales within Venice, Italy, and travel between Venice and nearby islands, e.g., Murano and Lido. The name, vaporetto, could be translated as "little steamer", and refers to similarly purposed ships in the past that were run by steam. The natives used to call the vaporetto Batèo. The waterbus line is operated by Azienda Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (ACTV), the Venetian public transportation system. The system is necessary in Venice as the deep canals prohibit the building of underground railways, and there is no space for overground trains, leaving the canals as the only viable rapid transport system.

4. Flying Circus or Richthofen's Circus Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1) of World War I, was a fighter unit of the German Luftstreitkräfte, comprising four Jastas or 'fighter squadrons'. It was formed on 24 June 1917, with Manfred von Richthofen as commanding officer, by combining Jastas 4, 6, 10 and 11. JG 1 became known as "The Flying Circus" or "Richthofen's Circus" because of the bright colours of its aircraft, and perhaps also because of the way the unit was transferred from one area of allied air activity to another - moving like a travelling circus in trains, and frequently setting up in tents on improvised airfields.

5. Calligraphy

6. Michael Crichton The Andromeda Strain (1969), by Michael Crichton, is a techno-thriller novel documenting the efforts of a team of scientists investigating a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism which rapidly and fatally clots human blood, while inducing insanity in some people. The Andromeda Strain appeared in the The New York Times Best Seller list, establishing Michael Crichton as a genre writer.

7. Mongolia (4 people per sq. mile), Canada (8), Australia (8), Libya (9) and Kazakhstan (15)

8. Venom is injected. (poison is ingested or inhaled)

9. Blini A blin, blintchiki or blini is a type of thin pancake. Blintzes are thin pancakes that typically lack a leavening agent and are similar to crêpes, whereas blinis are typically thicker and include a leavening agent. Blins or blini were symbolically considered by early Slavic peoples in pre-Christian times as a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Butter Week, or Maslenitsa, also called "pancake week"). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church and is carried on to the present day. Blini were also served at wakes to commemorate the recently deceased.

10. Four answers
a. American Pie (Don McLean)
b. December 63 (Oh What A Night) (Frankie Valli)
c. I Am A Rock (Simon & Garfunkel)
d. Biko (Peter Gabriel)