Asia sweep2014 questions only

92
ASIASWEEP 2014

Transcript of Asia sweep2014 questions only

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ASIASWEEP 2014

Set byDibyendu Das & Arul Mani

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Our thanks to:

QFI-Chennai, K-Circle, SEQC, BQC, BCQC, Kutub Quizzers,

Coimbatore Quiz Club,

and the quizzing fraternities in

Kolkata, Thrissur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, and Tezpur.

Thanks also to quizzing communities in Dubai, Singapore,

Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Bay Area, Paris, and Berlin

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Rules

Three sections

Section I: 10 questions

Section II: 25 questions

Section III: 25 two-pointers

85 points, not counting bonuses

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SECTION I

10 questions based on Google Doodles

1 point each

Bonus of 2 points if you crack more than 4

Bonus of 3 if you crack more than 7

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1. Identify the director to whom this Doodle

pays tribute.

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2. This is a tribute to the Duanwu observance,

commonly called the ______ ______ festival. Fill

blanks.

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3. The origins of the name of this festival are traced back to

India. The doodles shown refer to two observances—water,

symbolising the new, and the freeing of animals, to acquire

merit. Either name the festival, or identify the Sanskrit

word from which it is derived.

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4. This Doodle pays tribute to a real-life story of

fidelity and dedication that inspired mass adulation

in a certain Asian country, and a Richard Gere film

in 2009. A 7-letter name will do.

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5. This Independence Day tribute appeared on 22

November, and contains a representation of the

Pigeon Rocks, a natural formation in the

Mediterranean Sea, outside the capital. Which

city?

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6. This doodle pays tribute to a certain country’s first that

did not run to a fairy-tale ending. Who?

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7. The subject of the tribute is Honinbo Shusaku,

immortal among followers of a certain pursuit.

What pursuit?

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8. This 2nd October observance is held to mark

UNESCO giving intangible heritage status to a

certain tradition. Name either the tradition or the

country.

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9. This Doodle appeared on 9th October, the date

on which a 15th century monarch announced a

script for the language. By what name is this day

known?

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10. The subject of this Doodle wrote a book on

optics in 1015. His work will receive worldwide

attention as part of the International Year of Light

in 2015. Who?

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SECTION II

25 questions1 point each

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1.

Ukichiro Nakaya was a physicist who devoted his career to

a fascination with objects that he described as ‘letters sent

from heaven’. The museum dedicated to his memory in

Kaga, Japan was built so as to pay tribute to this

fascination. What did Nakaya study?

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2.

Abu’l Hasan Ahmad ib’n Ibrahim Al-Uqlidisi wrote a

work on the use of decimal fractions in 952 AD.

The title of this work is often translated as

Chapters in Indian Mathematics.

He took (or was given) his name in tribute to

whom?

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3.

This building on Zi Wa Ka Street attracts devout local

Muslims who believe that the man who died here in 1862

had special powers. The numbers grew after the actual

grave was discovered in 1991. Either name this person

OR the city where the building is located?

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4. From this visual, you can see that some effort

has gone into preserving a particular feature of Sir

Charles Pawsey’s residence from the 1940s. Why

OR what are we talking about?

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5.

Ken Jennings, in his book Maphead, refers to an

anomaly caused by socioeconomic factors. A

certain country, viewed from a spaceship, can

seem like an island by night while visibly being part

of a peninsula by day.

Which country are we talking about?

Visuals follow.

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6.

Andy Kirkpatrick’s book PsychoVertical, Robert

McFarlane’s The Wild Places and Audrey

Salkeld’s biography of Leni Riefenstahl have all

been awarded the Boardman Tasker Prize in the

recent past. This prize for a specific book category

was set up in memory of Peter Boardman and Joe

Tasker who passed away in 1982 while pursuing

this interest.

For what is the prize awarded?

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7. If you look at the areas marked in stand-out

colours, these two maps present slightly different

accounts of what phenomenon?

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8.

These are two similar monuments, located in

Baojia Caozi village of Ürümqi city, Xinjiang

province, China and Kyzyl, capital of Tuva.

What middling distinction are these places

battling for? Visuals follow

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9.

The Greek word for work is a forgotten unit

now, but its Arabic homophone still finds use

as the preferred term for areas of mobile

sand that stretch beyond 125 square

kilometres.

What word?

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10.

The simple explanation is that the locals figured

out a way of using the hollowed out trunks of the

betel-nut species to guide Ficus elastica’s

propensity to traverse small distances rather

elaborately. Each transit may have taken about ten

years, and the entire system is thought to be five

hundred years old or more.

What are we talking about?

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11.

The Dalang must sit behind a screen (kelir) made of white

cotton stretched on a wooden frame.

He sits cross-legged for nine successive hours and cannot

get up from his seat until six o'clock the next morning. He

must strike a rattle with his right foot almost incessantly.

Both his hands are constantly busy; he must speak in

different voices, tell jokes, and even sing every now and

then.

What does the Dalang practise thus, nearly all by

himself?

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12. The subject of this painting by Velázquez is an

Austrian princess who was married off to her own

uncle, Philip IV of Spain. This marriage was

definitely responsible for her one deep claim to

fame. Just name her.

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13.

This company wears its heart not so much on its

sleeve as on its tail—the last letter of their logotype

is a scrawled heart. Their best-known brand first

appeared on a vinyl coin purse, and usually has its

height and weight described in a certain number of

apples.

Name the company or the brand.

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14.

For British historian Neil MacGregor, the

precariously poised boats symbolise the anxieties

of a nation under pressure from foreign gunboats.

For local critics, the three boats symbolise serenity

under pressure.

What are they disagreeing about?

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15.

When Hu Jintao met George W. Bush in 2006,

many believed that his choice of gift was a

delicately poised barb aimed at a helplessly over-

committed man. The gift was several copies of a

6000-word booklet in expensive Zheijiang silk. This

choice drew much comment and analysis.

What did Hu give Dubya?

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16.

Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s book Three

Apples Fell from Heaven, set in the years 1915-

1917 period, is an account of a massacre.

Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer, was explicitly

moved by this annihilation to coin the word

genocide.

Which massacre is the subject of Marcom’s

book?

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17.

This iconic hotel, believed to be the oldest hotel

east of Suez, is named after a five-hectare stretch

of ocean-side urban park along the coast of the

Indian Ocean. The hotel is in news for the death

of its 94-year old popular doorman, Kottarappu

Chattu Kuttan, who has graced the cover of

numerous travel magazines and has personally

ushered famous dignitaries.

Name the hotel. Visuals follow

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18.

His first name means ‘peaceful flight’. Dubbed the

Superman, after winning gold at the London

Olympics he has earned the reputation as one of

the greatest male gymnasts of all time; many even

rate him as the greatest. Identify him.

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19

This 2013 biopic, directed by Halil Erfat,

titled Album 61, is named after the 61 photo

albums his father meticulously maintained till

the championship match that he lost.

Name this person who popularized the

sport to a large extent in his adopted

country.

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20.

The name of this place literally translates to

‘Father of the Deer’ though some of the

Bedouins also referred to it with a name that

means ‘Mother of the Deer’. A branch of

Beni Yas Bedouins now rules this place.

Name it.

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21.

These visuals are projections for the

Doha World Cup 2022 and the Baku

Olympics 2016 stadiums. Which

architect firm, run by the grandson

of the chief architect of the Third

Reich, has done the designs ?

(Visuals follow)

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22.

Considered one of the most dangerous according

to a program titled ‘Most Extreme Airports’ (by

History Channel), the Lukla airport in Khumbu,

eastern Nepal is used primarily by enthusiasts

engaged in a particular activity. The airport was

renamed in 2008 to honour whom in a double-

barrelled way ?

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23.

This chess-set is part of whose first homeware

collection, launched at Harrods in 2014, with the

chess pieces representing city skylines ?

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24

The Epic of ___’ is regarded as the most treasured

expression of the national heritage of the Kyrgz

people. It is considered to be a great example of

epic poetry, that is composed and sung entirely in

oral form by various singers throughout the

centuries. The epic is a biographical cycle of three

generations of heroes, ____, his son Semetei and

grandson Seitek. Identify this great warrior who

united 40 clans of nomads against the Uyghurs. Fill

the blank. Visual follows.

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25

Milky Way-2 (English name) of China leads the

latest list published in November, a list that is

published in June and November every year.

Others in the current Top-10 include Titan, Sequoia

and Mira from US, K from Japan, Piz Daint from

Switzerland and JUQUEEN from Germany.

What is this list about ?

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SECTION III

25 questions2 points each

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1.

“ _______ dragged us for 40 years through the

desert to bring us to the one place in the Middle

East where there was no ______.”

This is an iconic former Prime Minister talking

about a culture-hero.

Who is she talking about?

Fill the other blank as well.

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2.

In 1974, he was arrested and sentenced to five years in a

hard-labour camp for ‘homosexual behaviour and trafficking

art objects’ and other trumped-up charges. This resulted in

a decade-long hiatus from film-making. He busied himself

with collages and other artistic experiments before making

The Legend of Suram Fortress in 1985. Most notable

among his artistic experiments is a series titled Episodes

in the Life of ____ _____, shown in the next slide.

Name the director. Also fill the blanks.

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3. His office has released released several

pictures in the recent past showing him hard at

work, possibly in response to trending images

such as this one. Who? What is the trend

called?

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4. This group of 230-odd structures was declared a World

Heritage site along with a more well-known location in the

Song mountains. What is the common name for this

location? What is the more well-known location?

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5.

There are at least a hundred different species of

this plant genus listed on Wikipedia. It derives its

English and Latin names from a Persian word.

Botanists/gardening enthusiasts in China found it

unusually difficult to access information about the

genus for some time after January 2011.

Which species? Why?

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6.

He moved to New York and in 1980 became a

photographer for The Times, where he was noted

for his imaginative pictures of city scenes and

news events. He coined a metaphor to describe

events in the country he left behind that has

achieved a kind of immortality. When he returned,

he found that “the trees had grown taller, and

greener”.

Who? What phrase?

Visual follows—from his days with the NYT

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7.

There are approximately 1.33 million X in Burma’s

Rakhine province, but the country's 1982

Citizenship Law denies them citizenship in spite of

the fact that they have lived in Burma for

generations. The government calls them “Y"

instead-- a way of implying that they are illegal

immigrants.

Identify the ethnicity X.

What term Y does the government prefer?

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8.

The water shortages in this sporadically monsoon-

fed country are exacerbated by the fact that 40%

of the available water supply is diverted to the

cultivation of the species Catha edulis.

Which country? How is the species better

known?

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9.

This is one of the symbols associated with a sect

of Christianity. It symbolises the Trinity, but some

people also choose to see it as a representation of

the species Cedrus libani, a national/cultural

symbol.

Which sect? Identify the species.

Visual follows

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10. This port city’s name appears at least twice in

Shakespeare’s plays—probably because it was on

the Silk Route. Read this excerpt and identify

the play it is taken from. Also name the port.

“Set you down this;

And say besides, that in _ _ _ _ _ _once,

Where a malignant and a turban’d Turk

Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,

I took by the throat the circumcised dog,

And smote him, thus.”

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11.

This 2-hour long documentary takes its title from

the Nepal temple which is supposed to grant your

heart’s desire. It is split up into eleven 10-minute

segments because that's how long each trip on the

only available mode of transport takes. It's also the

exact amount of time the directors could film their

subjects with 16mm film.

Name the film/temple. Also name the mode of

transport. Visual follows.

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12. What’s missing? Also explain the left-right

connections.

?

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13.

According to The Economist, there are probably

more people of this ethnicity within one of China’s

provinces than in the country that takes its name

from people of that ethnic grouping.

Name the province and the country.

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14.

Bloggers in Japan made wry remarks about having

to rename a particular group of people flyjin on

account of their responses to the events of March

2011.

Which group of people?

Why was this name proposed?

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15.15. Who ? Depicted as part of which group ?

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16.

Christopher Doyle is a cinematographer born in

Australia, but has spent most of his adult life in

Asia. Going by the Chinese name Du Kefeng, he

has collaborated with many top-notch Asian

directors. But he has worked fully or partially on

most of this particular director’s movies. Who ?

He was also responsible for the cinematography

of the music video titled ‘Dumbass’. Who is

featured in the video ? (Stills from the video

on next slide

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17.

17. These two legendary players (on the left) shared a

famous rivalry from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.

Identify both.

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18.

The English name of the book may appear like that of a

Clint Eastwood-directed, Angelina Jolie starrer. The plot-line

deals with the relationship of an author (who has a disabled

child) with his brother-in-law, a well-known film director,

who allegedly committed suicide, though several sources

claim that it was staged by a faction of Yakuza. Actually, the

story is a fictionalized account of Kenzaburo Oe’s

relationship with his brother-in-law.

Name the a) the book and b) the famous director, well-

known for films like Tampopo.

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19.

On a trip to Japan in the early 1980s, (a)____ asked Sony's

chairman Akio Morita why everyone in the company's factories wore

uniforms. He found that Sony had asked designer Issey Miyake to

create its uniform.

So (a)____ called Issey Miyake and asked him to design a vest for

him, "I came back with some samples and told everyone it would be

great if we would all wear these vests. Oh man, did I get booed off

the stage.“ In the process, however, he became friends with Miyake.

"So I asked Issey to make me some of his (b) ___ ____that I liked,

and he made me like a hundred of them.“

Who and what did Miyake design for him ?

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20.

a) Who is featured in the ad ? b) Ad for which

company ?

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21.Located in the Andaman Sea, this island comprises of a dormant

volcano. Some say that its name is derived from the Sanskrit term for

‘pit of hell’. The bird shown in the picture is endemic to this island and

is endangered. Name the island and the bird.

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22.

"Pinoy-grams?“ "Here’s how it works. You are an Overseas Contract Worker.

Before you leave home for Saudi or Singapore, you buy or rent a little gizmo

from us. It’s about the size of a paperback book and encases a video camera,

a tiny screen, and a lot of memory. The components come from all over the

place—they are shipped to the free port at Subic and assembled in a

Nipponese plant there. Whenever you feel like communicating with home,

you turn it on, aim the camera at yourself and record a little video greeting

card. Then you plug the gizmo into a phone line and let it work its magic. …

The difference here is our software. We don’t try to send the video in real

time—that’s too expensive. We store the data at central servers, then take

advantage of lulls, when traffic is low ."

Two parts:

a) Pinoy is a term for the people of which country ?

b) Identify the 1999 techno-thriller by Neal Stephenson from which this

excerpt is taken.

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23.

Which famous person with an endangered species that is found

only in an island province of Indonesia? Also name the species.

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24. He began dating her in 1989 and they starred

in several films together. In 2008, they got married

in Bhutan, after being advised by the 17th Karmapa.

Identify the power couple.

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25.

These two interpretations (roughly) have been at the heart of a

controversy that has been raked up by a world leader:

Remarking on the position of the river and port, to which he gave

the name of San Salvador, he describes its mountains as lofty and

beautiful, like the Pena de las Enamoradas, and one of them has

another little hill on its summit, like a graceful mosque.

October 21, 1492 CE while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the

north-east coast of Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful

mountain.

What is the controversy about?

Also name the world leader

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Hand your sheets in

Thank you!