A general quiz with answers which (we hope) can be worked out. Originally run for various batches of XLRI Jamshedpur by Ritwik Ghosh (2018-20) and Sahil Gupta (2017-19)
Making communications land - Are they received and understood as intended? we...
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In-Access Quiz 2020: A General Quiz
1. The In-Access Quiz
Quizzing Fraternity of XLRI | Ritwik Ghosh & Sahil Gupta
"We can work it out" - The Beatles
"1 + 1 = 2" -Bertrand Russel
2. Infinite Bounce - I
⢠11 questions
⢠+10 on the direct
⢠+10/-5 on pounce
3. 1
Management professor Douglas McGregor was delving into motivation and organizational
behaviour when he developed two theories describing contrasting settings, behaviours,
and actions.
X assumes workers to be internally motivated and has a more trusting and personal
relationship between the workers and their managers. Criticism of this system is centred
around the lack of consistency and order at the cost of creativity and individualism.
Y rests on the assumption that the typical worker lacks ambition and shirks responsibility.
Managers who subscribe to this line of thought use the typical carrot and stick, and lay
focus on efficiency.
Identify X and Y, and in that order.
6. 2
⢠This Post-Impressionist titled most of his works on musical features, such as
âSymphonyâ, âArrangementâ and âHarmonyâ as he suggested a strong
inspiration for his variations in colour tone to musical notes. This was also an
effort to draw the viewerâs attention to the artistâs manipulation of paint and
colour gradients.
⢠ID the artist, most famous for a side profile depiction of a certain Anna Matilda
⢠After he travelled across the Pacific, he painted several works on the banks of
the Thames. Going by his naming standards, what 8-lettered name did he give to
this depiction of the Battersea Bridge pictured on the next slide â meaning a
musical piece that is evocative of the night?
10. 3
It is widely believed that X showed prodigious talent even as an elementary student
in late 18th century Germany.
When his teacher asked him to work out a mathematical expression involving 50
consecutive numbers, he simply wrote down the expression in reverse below the
original expression. This representation made the answer rather obvious and to this
day, it is used to demonstrate the proof for this quick-and-easy formula.
Identify X and also state what the expression is or the formula.
13. 4
⢠Volunteers at the Ulster Museum decided to pay tribute to a certain entity in a
rather unusual but a special way
⢠The team of 30 embroiderers from Belfast created a 90 foot work of art which
encompasses the work in its entirety
⢠From the images that follow, ID the work that is being paid tribute to
⢠Also, identify the inspiration of the style â the original artwork depicting an 11th
century conquest
16. Scenes from Game of Thrones; Bayeux Tapestry
⢠Coronation of Sansa, The Red Wedding are the scenes depicted
17. 5
On the next slide are images for the seal of the President of the United States.
Because of changes introduced in 1916 and 1945, a popular myth came about
which was only helped by remarks of Winston Churchill, "âŚI would prefer the
American eagle's neck to be on a swivel⌠as the occasion might demand".
What is this myth which might remind some of a famous 1869 novel? How does
the symbolism of two objects on the seal help give meaning to this myth?
20. Direction that the eagle faces changes based
on whether it is a time of war or peace
⢠Olive wreathe in the right talon represents the power of peace
⢠Arrows in the left talon represent the power of war
21. 6
⢠Deepa Bhatia stated in an interview with The Hindu that her original
inspiration came from the childhood of a legendary filmmaker, whose artistic
genius was ignited by his first school teacher.
⢠She goes on to reference a specific moment in his biography where he began
to excel in school due to the progressive practices of his teacher, specifically by
harnessing his innate creativity towards drawing.
⢠What 2007 project did Deepa Bhatia and her husband help develop?
⢠Which director, famous for bringing the cowboy flavour to the continent?
23. Taare Zameen Par; Akira Kurosawa
⢠Kurosawa was, in fact, dyslexic as a child
⢠His teacher helped him overcame this challenge
24. 7
⢠Ironically so, this product was first intentioned to be a cleaning product.
Positioned as a Dr. Fixit, but for filthy wallpapers.
⢠The product, made out of a flour based material, was a marketing disaster and
the Cincinnati based company was almost heading towards bankruptcy, when
in a serendipitous change in its target audience, made it a household
phenomenon.
⢠By removing the wall cleanerâs cleanser component and adding different
pigments and a fresh scent, the company had a great turnaround and changed
the cleaning product into a nuisance of sorts.
⢠Which product?
27. The phrase _______ ___ _______ (8-3-7) finds origins in naval warfare.
International law required stating one's allegiance via a particular display and would require
retaining this throughout hostilities unless one intended to surrender.
A related phrase _______ ___ _______ (7-3-7) arose from the brave acts of Captain Richard
Pearson of HMS Serapis when pitted against the smaller Bonhomme Richard captained by John
Paul Jones. This action, he thought, would ensure the ship could never surrender â its fate
nailed and sealed. However, when the time came â Pearson himself had to go some trouble in
order to surrender.
For points, give either of the two phrases.
8
29. Striking the colours / nailing the colours
⢠Striking the colours means lowering the flag
⢠Pearson, in a fit of chutzpah, had nailed the flag to the mast, which he
eventually had to tear down himself
30. 9
Though first used by industrial giant Alcoa in the 1940s, the portmanteau has been trademarked by
Disney and used for its research division, which is key to its widely acknowledged stronghold on the
#1 position when it comes to theme parks.
The members of this division are involved with various aspects of theme park design and have
created experiences such as Pandora & Flight of Passage, Cars Land, Expedition Everest, Remy's
Ratatouille Adventure across various Disney properties.
If it helps, late CMU professor Randy Pausch described working with this team as one of his dreams
growing up in The Last Lecture. To arrive at the word picture a drab-sounding profession (its
etymology would suggest otherwise) come alive with some fantasy.
33. While the most common classification of this is sinistrodextral and
dextrosinistral, there are some which cannot be classified as either. An
example is the Greek boustrophedon, meaning ox-turning, which
alternates between the two. There are still some others that do not
follow such patterns at all â like the one you will find in a landlocked
country just north of China.
Two parts:
⢠What are we talking about?
⢠How is this different for the landlocked country north of China?
10
35. Systems of writing / scripts; the Mongolian
script is written top to bottom
⢠Classified based on the direction of writing
⢠Sinistrodextral is left to right; dextrosinistral is the opposite
⢠Boustrophedon alternates after each line
⢠Further, the Mongolian script is written top to bottom
36. 11
⢠His previous directorial work consisted of six features, two short segments,
and a collaboration with another director, his compatriot - Alberto.
⢠Knowing the above stated facts helps provide logic to the naming of his
surrealist comedy, which was also autobiographical in nature, as it depicted
a leading film director of the times suffering from 'director's block.'
⢠Which work?
39. Differential Round
Five quotes by eminent thinkers in their original language. For
each quote, identify the thinker and the English translation.
⢠If you choose to answer a question, indicate so
⢠Scores to be calculated as n where n is the number of teams that do
not answer correctly
⢠A penalty of -5 if you attempt wrongly
48. Kalo asmi loka-ksaya-krit pravardho
Lokan samartum iha pravattah
5
(Name the personality who famously quoted the English translation in the 1940s.)
49. I am become Death, destroyer of the worlds
5
- Robert J Oppenheimer
quoting the Bhagwad Gita
50. Infinite Bounce - II
⢠11 questions
⢠+10 on the direct
⢠+10/-5 on pounce
51. 1
Although unfulfilled, the aim of a rather prolific Mr. Alexander was not to
surpass fellow Andrei, better known as the Rostov Ripper, who had
"achieved" a feat of 53 as the media suspected.
Instead, as he confessed, his aim was to reach a number intricately
connected with a childhood hobby of his that his grandfather had
encouraged. He believed that it was essential for Alexander to develop
intellectually outside of his studies at school and the said hobby stayed with
the boy until he became a young adult.
What two-word name did Alexander become known by, thanks to his actions
between 1992 and 2006?
54. 2
ID the eponymous term that has been blanked out (image on the left), used
to simplify real-world logic requirements so that they can be implemented
using a minimum number of physical logic gates?
The person who lends his name to such visualization techniques was himself
inspired by the works of a certain Allan Marquand whose device (image on
the right) was named such that it reflected what it was purposed for as well
as what it resembled. What did he call it? (5, 5)
58. 3
Mark was on the board of the San Francisco Art Institute, and to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of the Summer of Love, proposed an art museum to
honor the flower children of San Francisco of 1967.
He calls his house âInstitute of Illegal Imagesâ alluding to the millions of
âartifactsâ that heâs been collecting since the 1970s, a fraction of which are
also available on his website â------- Barnâ, an alliteration which is a reference
to the generic medium with which his artifacts are made.
With the help of the images that follow, ID what these artifacts are and fill in
the blank
62. 4
Several theories exist for this including a popular one which asserts that it was a
result of target practice with cannonballs by Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in his
campaign in a foreign land.
However, the most widely accepted theories point towards iconoclasm beginning in
the 10th century.
What is being talked about? A violent rejection of a marriage proposal in a TV
series that has found life again recently might serve well as a clue.
65. 5
⢠The plot of a Larry Niven sci-fi novella centres around a TV journalist who, after
being fired for his role in inciting a post-robbery riot in LA, seeks to independently
investigate the teleportation system for the flaws in its design allowing for such
spontaneous riots to occur.
⢠What two-word 21st century phenomenon was inspired by the events of the
story and named after the said teleportation device?
⢠The first incidence of this phenomenon in India happened in November, 2011 and
was supposed to be a tribute to a group of people. Where did it happen, for
which services were stopped for 10 minutes for the first time in 3 years?
68. 6
⢠The purpose of this creation was to go against the trend of artworks in honour of
certain victories and instead served as a composition of defeat as said by the
manager of the gallery.
⢠It was unveiled in 2012, six years after the spurt of madness happened, and
watched live by more than 700 million people
⢠What was depicted in the statue, labelled as an example of âEurope grappling
with multiculturalismâ?
71. 7
The reason behind the ambiguous taxonomic identity lies in the language
through which the âbirthâ was described, carefully chosen to avoid
specificity. The creator was very adamant that there should not be any
illustration of the creature, leading to different translators identifying it
as different species.
Most biologists even doubt the very possibility of existence of this
creature because such a large exoskeleton cannot be supported by the
creature and also, its circulatory systems are not well developed to
provide nutrients to such a scaled up version.
What is being talked about?
74. 8
David Scott is an American citizen who trained first as an engineer at
University of Michigan and later attended West Point. And well, he
didn't stop there.
Seventh in an illustrious list of which the first two are most famous, he
seized the opportunity to conduct an experiment first described in the
16th century as the conditions for this were ideal in his setting, unlike
the location proposed in the original description of the experiment.
What experiment was this? Where did he conduct it?
76. The Leaning Tower of Pisa experiment
⢠David Scott was the seventh man to walk on the moon
⢠He conducted Galileo's famous experiment there using a hammer and
a feather
⢠The results were as Galileo had described them
77. 9
⢠The most fundamental maxim of this religion comprises a trinity of words, that
translates to âGood thoughts, Good Words, Good Deedsâ.
⢠Name the religion, taking clues from the famous utterance of the said maxim
from a 2018 film (image follows)
⢠The movie depiction saw it used as an oft repeated piece of paternal advice to
his rebel son, urging the son to stay true to his familyâs values. The line is also
repeated when this prodigal son returns home, buoyed by success and
burdened by his problems, only to find acceptance from his father, something
he had been seeking his entire life.
⢠ID the famous son
81. 10
⢠Researchers at BYU University have been working on a research project to solve a
problem that causes auditory inconvenience and is rather 'uncomfortable',
especially for young children who may ďŹnd it frightening when engaged in a
certain activity.
⢠The problem arises because of the modern vacuum based variants, which
reduces weight slightly when compared to chemical pouch based variants. The
challenge arises because speeds greater than 300 miles/hr are involved.
⢠The researcher's solution involved breaking it down into different parts,
increasing the piping and changing the angle of piping. The researchers believe
this could also be used on cruise ships and trains.
⢠What design problem are they trying to address, in an essential element of
modern day travel?
84. 11
Scientists and thinkers such as Newton and Descartes believed in the idea which was later phrased
famously by William Paley in his book titled 'Natural Theology' called the _____X_____ ___Y___.
This suggests that the intricate and well-coordinated workings of nature can only be the work of an
intelligent designer and hence support the idea of the existence of God. X is a profession that has
long been believed to involve great precision.
A famous author and biologist challenged this idea with arguments for the theory of evolution in his
1986 book The __Z___ _____X_____. He suggested that nature was not perfect and hence, the
process of evolution was key in its constant improvement.
What is ZX? For brownie points, who is the author?
86. Blind Watchmaker; Richard Dawkins
⢠The Watchmaker Analogy: the argument was the design of nature is
perfect and precise, much like the work of a watchmaker
⢠The Blind Watchmaker: the argument was that the flaws in nature
(evidenced in evolution) suggest that the watchmaker must be blind
⢠Richard Dawkins
87. Tie Breaker
When four British lads approached photographer ace Mick Rock for a
project, he found inspiration in an outtake on the sets of a 1932 movie
starring a German born actress. Under top light with her arms crossed
and fingers spread, the shot conveyed strength and boldness â
something the lads thought they could use after a lukewarm response
to their previous project.
What came about thus that the world saw in 1974? The image was
recreated the following year in something that has found fame multiple
times â in the 1990s and more recently a year or 2 back.