Mastermind Club
Quiz 2024
Number 7
General Knowledge
Set by Mel Kinsey
Answers
1/ Which desert occupies most of the country of Botswana in Southern Africa ?
Kalahari
2/ Glenn Miller wrote which piece of music that was recorded by his Orchestra in 1939 and was adopted as their signature tune?
Moonlight Serenade 
3/ Which 16th century Flemish cartographer is famous for his map projections in which lines of latitude and longitude are represented by parallel lines?
Geradus Mercator
4/ What generic name is commonly given to French aperitifs such as Pernod and Ricard that are flavoured with aniseed and turn a cloudy yellow when water is added?
Pastis
5/ In a speech on nuclear disarmament in 1987 which labour politician said “I would die for my country but I would not let my country die for me”
Neil Kinnock.
6/ Which British architect designed the new Wembley Stadium which was opened to the public in 2007?
Norman Foster
7/ In which Charles Dickens novel does the title character go to America to seek his fortune accompanied by his servant Mark Tapley
Martin Chuzzlewit
8/ In Norse mythology, which god could change his shape and sex was chained to a rock as punishment for slaying Balder?
Loki
9/ What piece of sporting equipment has limbs, a belly and a nocking point?
Archery (The bow)
10/ Which singer was the top of the UK charts for 10 consecutive weeks in 2007 with the song “Umbrella”?
Rihanna
11/ Cliff Barnes became President of the United States in the final episode of which TV series?
Dallas.
12/ which Renaissance artist had the surname Sanzio though he is sometimes referred to as Santi?
Raphael.
13/ The Battle of Navarino which is believed to be the last major sea Battle involving only wooden sailing ships was fought in 1827 as part of which countries war of independence?
Greece.
14/ What name is given to a large scale musical work, typically on a religious subject, for solo voices, chorus and Orchestra that is normally performed without scenery costumes or acting?
Oratorio
15/ Who wrote the poem “Islanders” at the end of the Second Boer War ” in which he refers to “flannelled fools at the wicket” and “muddied oafs in the goals”?
Rudyard Kipling.
16/ Ken Russell described which of his films as ‘the story of a marriage between a homosexual and a nymphomaniac’?
The Music Lovers (a biopic of Tchaikovsky)
17/ Which word for a person who sets too much value on social standing was originally a slang term for a cobbler?
A Snob
18/ In which country is the city of Schaffhausen which was mistakenly bombed by the Americans on April Fools’ Day 1944?
Switzerland
19/ Which playwright on being released from prison in 1897 went to live in France under the alias Sebastian Melmoth?
Oscar Wilde
20/ What is the name of the Stone Age village on Mainland in the Orkneys that was exposed by a storm in the 1850s after being covered for thousands of years by sand?
Skara Brae
21/Which crime of buying and selling ecclesiastical benefits is named after the biblical sorcerer who according to the Acts of the Apostles, tried to buy spiritual powers from Peter and John?
Simony
22/ Which document was introduced in its modern form, after the passing of the British nationality and Status Aliens act of 1914?
Passport
23/ Which football league team are known as the “Chair Boys” because of the local furniture making tradition?
Wycombe Wanderers
24/ On the first of December 1955, who was arrested after refusing to give up a seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The resulting boycott by passengers ended with the cities buses being desegregated?
Rosa Parks
25/ In an essay of 1756, which French writer described the Holy Roman Empire as ‘neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire?
Voltaire