General Knowledge Quiz 409

Questions

1. What six-letter two-word French expression was adopted into English in the mid 1700s referring to a witty remark?

2. The formula 4/3pr3 (four-thirds x pi x radius cubed) is used to calculate the volume of a what?

3. What marketing term, a portmanteau word, refers to a news or information article which also carries publicity or promotion for the organization which provided it?

4. What is the meaning of the Latin term, ergo?

   1. Therefore
   2. After
   3. Before
   4. Mistake

5. A pneumatic motor converts potential energy in the form of what into mechanical work?

6. Most commonly what note is the highest pitch open (unfretted) string on a standard/soprano ukulele?

7. On a standard English 'qwerty' keyboard, which key is between Z and C?

8. What N American slang term, alluding to an item of religious security, referred to an old-style cheap pressed steel bottle/can-opener which commonly carried advertising?

9. What is seven-eighths of sixteen?

10. What was the (2011 reported) average annual salary of a UK ('county') Council Chief Executive?

    1. £42k
    2. £61k
    3. £75k
    4. £186k

11. Jerry and Mike are the first names of what famous pairing of 1950s hit songwriters?

12. Fruit Importers of Ireland Limited acquired (in 1986) and later adopted the name of what company, said to be the oldest fruit brand in the world?

13. The 'Travel Bookshop' bookstore in North London served as a location for what successful 1999 film?

14. Snow, the world's biggest selling beer (at 2011), is based in and dominates the market of which nation?

15. What is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey?

16. Spell?

    1. Grafitti
    2. Graffitti
    3. Grafiti
    4. Graffiti

17. The fixing of what to bridges and street furniture by courting couples became a nuisance craze for authorities in Italy (spreading elsewhere), prompted by Frederico Moccia's 2006 novel I Want You?

18. What item of clothing, known as a 'topi', was popularised by Indian leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Jaraharlal Nehru, and later by anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare?

    1. Cap
    2. Cape
    3. Sarong
    4. Socks

19. By about 2010 what more centrally meaningful word (and technology) had replaced 'router' for the internet connection hardware unit typically installed in homes and small businesses?

20. The opposite to nadir, what word refers to directly overhead, or more generally the highest point?

21. The abbreviation SIM, as in SIM card, stands fully for what?

22. What geological term refers to granular material sized between sand and clay, derived from soil or rock?

23. What Swiss physicist introduced the notion of mathematical function and notational 'f' symbol, and among other bigger discoveries also solved the 'Seven Bridges of Königsberg' problem?

24. In the mid 1700s Swede Carl Linnaeus devised the modern day taxonomy (category structure) for, and was first to catalogue what?

    1. Life on Earth
    2. Chemical elements
    3. Colours/colors
    4. Planets and stars

25. What hour does a clock-hand point to when it equates to 270 degrees on a conventional compass?

26. On what island did tycoon Richard Branson's holiday retreat burn down in August 2011?

27. Alfred Pennyworth was whose butler?

28. In a 2011 survey, publicised in national press by a UK 'leading family law firm', what were pronounced often to be 'deal-breakers' in divorce settlements?

    1. Carpets and curtains
    2. Golf-clubs and ski-gear
    3. Cats and dogs
    4. Clubcard points and airmiles

29. What is the old name (Latin, meaning 'strong water') for a solution of nitric acid in water, used in alchemy and other ancient processes?

30. What species of shark featured as the killer in the book/film Jaws?