NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Tossups

1. One character in this novel is disturbed when he finds an empty suit at a desk when he goes to meet
with the chairman of the commission on light entertainment. A character in this novel uses her one wish
to free a woman she met at a ball who committed infanticide instead of reuniting with her
institutionalized lover. In this novel, a man is decapitated by a streetcar after being warned that Anushka
has spilled (*) sunflower oil. A poet with the pen name Homeless learns about a manuscript by one of this
novel's title characters which tells the story of Yeshua Ha-Nozri and Pontius Pilate. Azazello, the giant cat
Behemoth, and other members of the Devil's entourage arrive in Moscow in, for 10 points, what novel by
Mikhail Bulgakov?
ANSWER: The Master and Margarita
<Mayer, Literature - European - Long Fiction> ~16254~

2. On account of this man, Erich Leinsdorf interrupted the program of a Boston Symphony Orchestra
concert to play a movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s third symphony. Samuel Pisar often performed
in the scherzo finale of a symphony dedicated to this man that depicts God dreaming before a boys' choir
sings a prayer in Hebrew. In an interview with Life, this man's wife recalled his love of a Lerner and
Loewe record whose closer recalls "one (*) brief shining moment." The National Symphony Orchestra's
empty hall performance of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings was in honor of this person; that orchestra now
plays at a Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. named for him. For 10 points, Leonard Bernstein wrote his
Kaddish Symphony to lament what president's assassination?
ANSWER: John F. Kennedy [or JFK or John Fitzgerald Kennedy]
<Smith, Fine Arts - Music - 1900 to 1970> ~17238~

3. An icon of this city located next to the Gefion Fountain was commissioned by a beer tycoon and had its
head briefly replaced with that of a cow in 1986. This city claims to have the "longest and oldest"
shopping boulevard in Europe, the Stroget. This city's Restaurant Ida Davidsen offers "tongue with fried
egg" and 279 other varieties of smørrebrød (“smore-ay-broad”). Many straw-roofed homes in this city were
destroyed by Congreve rockets following an 1807 (*) bombardment by the British. Restaurant magazine has
repeatedly celebrated the New Nordic cuisine at its Noma restaurant. Next to this city's Kastellet fortress is
Edvard Eriksen's sculpture of a Hans Christian Andersen character, The Little Mermaid. For 10 points, name
this capital of Denmark.
ANSWER: Copenhagen [or København]
<Bentley, Geography - Europe> ~17499~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 1 of 12

4. Imidacloprid (“uh-mid-uh-CLO-prid”) is part of a class of insecticides named for resembling this compound
that may cause colony collapse disorder. Regular exposure to this compound can exacerbate the
symptoms of myasthenia gravis, which typically targets a cation channel with no affinity for muscarine.
Benzoate salts of this compound enter the blood more quickly than its freebase variety and are less prone
to causing irritation. This compound acts as an agonist for a namesake type of (*) acetylcholine receptor,
which triggers release of dopamine into the ventral tegmentum. Replacement therapies can treat dependence to
this compound using long-lasting patches or short-term consumption of gum. For 10 points, name this tobacco
alkaloid frequently consumed via cigarettes.
ANSWER: nicotine [or nicotine salts; accept neonicotinoids]
<Kevin Wang, Science - Biology> ~17804~

5. One of these places nicknamed Henderson High was the target of the so-called "Valentine's Day Open
House" that left Kenneth Kraus in a prison cell for a week. Paul Brodeur wrote a book about a
microwave "Zapping" that was alleged to have taken place at one of these places in Russia. Operation
Infinite Reach, a cruise missile strike against Sudan, was launched in the aftermath of the bombing of
two of these places within minutes of each other in 1998 by al-Qaeda. The (*) "Canadian Houseguests"
escaped one of these buildings thanks to a plot involving a fake science fiction film. Students stormed one of
these buildings in 1979, starting the Iran hostage crisis. For 10 points, name these buildings whose diplomatic
missions cable back to Washington.
ANSWER: United States embassies [or American embassies; or American consulate buildings; accept more
specific answers that mention US embassy buildings in Moscow, Tehran or Africa; accept US missions before
the end; prompt on embassy buildings; prompt on American government buildings or American diplomatic
buildings; prompt on prisons by asking "what was the main purpose of those buildings?"]
<Bentley, History - American - 1945+> ~15416~

6. An abandoned project by this author investigated the story of Willie Maxwell, a Black preacher with a
penchant for taking out multiple life insurance policies and then killing people. Casey Cep (“sepp”)’s
Furious Hours details this author's abandoned attempt to write a true crime book called The Reverend.
This woman did extensive research in Holcomb, Kansas for another author's "non-fiction novel" about
the quadruple murder of the (*) Clutter family. This native of Monroeville, Alabama contributed research for
that novel, In Cold Blood, written by her childhood friend Truman Capote. Capote inspired the character of Dill
in her best-known novel, whose sequel was Go Set A Watchman. For 10 points, name this reclusive author of
To Kill a Mockingbird.
ANSWER: Harper Lee [or Nelle Harper Lee]
<Bentley, Literature - World and Miscellaneous> ~15636~

7. A sociologist at the Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies in this country applied his
encoding/decoding model of communication to television viewers. In the 1930s, hundreds of researchers
studied how ordinary people in this country lived their lives as part of Mass-Observation. Seven Up was
the first in a long-running documentary series tracking the lives of children from different social classes
in this country. A book on poor (*) mine workers from this country tries to answer why everyone is not a
socialist and is titled The Road to Wigan Pier. An earlier study of this country's working poor was written by
Friedrich Engels. For 10 points, name this European country home to the Birmingham School of Sociology.
ANSWER: United Kingdom [or UK; or Great Britain; or England; or Wales] (the sociologist in the first
sentence is Stuart Hall who was born in Jamaica; The Road to Wigan Pier is by George Orwell)
<Bentley, Social Science - Sociology> ~17514~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 2 of 12

8. This operation plus the flow velocity dotted with the gradient defines an operation used to link
Eulerian and Lagrangian perspectives. The continuity equation for continuum mechanics states that this
operation applied to the density plus the divergence of the product of density and velocity all equals zero.
This operation or higher orders of it appear on the left-hand side of differential equations describing (*)
particle motion, like the simple harmonic oscillator equation, in which mass times this operation applied twice
to x equals minus the spring constant times x. In more formal statements of Newton's second law, this operation
is applied to momentum. For 10 points, acceleration is the product of applying what operation to velocity?
ANSWER: time derivative [accept partial time derivative; accept total time derivative; accept derivative
with respect to time; prompt on derivative with "with respect to what quantity?"] (The first clue is the material
derivative)
<Settle, Science - Physics> ~21945~

9. In a painting by this artist, a boy in red garb appears to be looking at a palace made out of clouds in
the sky. That work by this artist was popularized by prints by James Smillie. In the background of a
painting by this artist, logging scars on a hill spell out "Noah" in Hebrew. A series by this artist opens
with the depiction of an angel emerging out of a cave on a golden boat. A contemporary painted this man
overlooking a (*) gorge alongside William Cullen Bryant. This artist of The Voyage of Life painted a
thunderstorm behind a certain geographic feature that is viewed from Mount Holyoke. For 10 points, name this
19th century artist who painted a bend in the Connecticut River in his painting The Oxbow.
ANSWER: Thomas Cole (The unnamed painting is Kindred Spirits by Asher Durand.)
<Parameswaran, Fine Arts - Painting - U.S.> ~15498~

10. For a 2019 Boston MFA exhibit about cultures on this river, Peter Leue made a replica of the leather
cots on which monarchs were placed sideways when they died. Queen Amanirenas, who ruled as a
"kandake" in a kingdom on this river, signed a peace treaty with the Romans. One civilization on this
river had a culture center at Napata after the fall of the earlier Kerma culture. Another culture based on
this river wrote in the still-undeciphered (*) Meroitic script. A civilization based on this river invaded its
northern neighbor during the Third Intermediate Period. The ancient civilization of Nubia was based along the
upper stretches of this river, beyond its first cataract. For 10 points, name this river which flows through Egypt.
ANSWER: The Nile [accept Blue Nile; prompt on the Atbarah River by asking "What is the larger river on
which this civilization is based?]
<Bentley, History - World - African> ~17045~

11. The 1847 "Reading ("RED-ing") edition" of this collection was found to be a forgery crafted by Thomas
James Wise. The speaker of a poem in this collection reminisces about running from "innocent play" and
leaving "the cowslips piled" before advising, "Gather the north flowers to complete the south." Another
poem in this collection contains the claim that one action is performed (*) "freely, as men strive for right"
and "purely, as they turn from praise." The speaker of this collection measures the "depth and breadth and
height my soul can reach" in one poem, and implores the reader to "call me my pet name" in another. For 10
points, name this collection featuring love poems such as "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" by
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
ANSWER: Sonnets from the Portuguese
<Smith, Literature - British - Poetry> ~17038~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 3 of 12

12. It's not Calcutta, but this city's namesake district was home to the so-called "Ajnala Black Hole"
where Frederick Henry Cooper intentionally suffocated unarmed prisoners. An incident in this city
investigated by the Hunter Inquiry took place after a celebration of the Baisakhi New Year's festival by
people angry about the Rowlatt Act. Winston Churchill criticized the "un-British" response to protestors
at Jallianwala Bagh in this city by its (*) "butcher," Reginald Dyer. A building in this city was attacked
during Operation Blue Star, which led to the later assassination of Indira Gandhi. For 10 points, name this city
in northwest India where hundreds of protestors were killed in a 1919 massacre, also home to a sacred Sikh
Golden Temple.
ANSWER: Amritsar [accept Amritsar massacre]
<Bentley, History - Cross, Historiography, and Miscellaneous> ~15607~

13. Because of the person for whom it was made, this place has been equated to a dancing ground that
Homer mentions while describing the shield of Achilles. Coins were engraved with "seven-coursed" or
"unicursal" patterns to represent this location, also depicted with the "Greek key" pattern. A ritual in
this place began after Androgeus' death in the Panathenaic games. It may have been named for a special
(*) double axe, and one of its residents was named after his grandfather Asterion. Every few years, seven young
men and women were sent into this structure, a practice ended after one hero used a ball of thread to navigate
this structure on Ariadne's advice. For 10 points, name this structure in which Minos housed the Minotaur.
ANSWER: the Labyrinth [or labyrinthos; prompt on maze; prompt on Crete; prompt on Knossos]
<Smith, RMP - Greco-Roman Mythology> ~17413~

14. One of the only words known from these people's language is "strava," meaning "funeral." One
leader of these people sent a search party to find an escaped dwarf and court favorite named Zerco.
Christian writers often compared a unifier of these people named Rua to a prophecy from the Book of
Ezekiel. Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II paid a tribute of 6,000 pounds of gold to a ruler of these
people who married Valentinian III's sister (*) Honoria and who may have died celebrating a later wedding
from a bloody nose. Bleda was a leader of these people, whose greatest ruler may have been persuaded by Pope
Leo I not to invade Italy and was called the "Scourge of God." For 10 points, name these people led by Atilla.
ANSWER: The Huns [or Hunni; or Chuni]
<Bentley, History - European - Classical> ~15977~

15. This musician interspersed J. S. Bach's Fugue in C major into an improvisational piano solo in a
performance of "Love Me or Leave Me." Characters such as "Sweet Thing" and "Saffronia" are
depicted in a song by this musician that ends with a shrill scream declaring, "My name is Peaches!". This
musician popularized a song that describes "fish in the sea" and "blossom on a tree" on her 1965 album
I Put a Spell on You. This artist of "Four (*) Women" sang about how it would be "a lovely precious dream"
to possess the three title attributes of a Lorraine Hansberry play. She proclaimed that "Alabama's gotten me so
upset" in "Mississippi Goddam." "Feelin' Good" was popularized by, for 10 points, what musician of "To Be
Young, Gifted and Black"?
ANSWER: Nina Simone [or Eunice Kathleen Waymon]
<Jang, Fine Arts - Jazz> ~22179~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 4 of 12

16. Measurement of carbon nanotubes undergoing this process allows their quality to be assessed by
comparing the D and G signals. The rule of mutual exclusion governs which technique is suited to probe
this process. The Morse potential successfully models the increasingly closely-spaced energy levels of this
process, but at low energies it can be approximated by a quadratic potential. In non-linear molecules all
but six (*) degrees of freedom are associated with this process, which can change either the dipole or
quadrupole moment. Low wavenumber modes of this process are modeled with the QHO and produce the
chaotic fingerprint region in IR spectroscopy. Bends, wobbles, and stretches are varieties of, for 10 points, what
type of molecular motion?
ANSWER: vibration [or vibrating; accept vibrational modes or vibrational motion; prompt on breathing
modes; prompt on bends, wobbles, stretches, or word forms before mentioned]
<Kevin Wang, Science - Chemistry> ~21575~

17. Bee Gees member Robin Gibb composed the song "Don't cry alone" for a requiem titled for this
event. A data set about this event with features such as "sibsp" for "siblings and spouses" is commonly
used in machine learning classes. A poem about this event describes a "grotesque, slimed, dumb,
indifferent" creature and ends, "And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres." The 1958 film A
Night to Remember features an orchestra playing (*) "Nearer, My God, to Thee" prior to perishing in this
event. Thomas Hardy's "The Convergence of the Twain" commemorates this event, which was survived by
Molly Brown, nicknamed "Unsinkable." For 10 points, name this 1912 sinking of a White Star Line ship on its
maiden voyage.
ANSWER: the sinking of the Titanic [accept anything involving the RMS Titanic]
<Bentley, Other - Other Academic and General Knowledge> ~21224~

18. Ultramafic rocks react with this molecule in the metamorphic process of serpentinization, which
occurs frequently at convergent plate boundaries. This molecule can be identified as meteoric if its
isotope ratio is on the Global Meteoric Line when plotted relative to the Vienna Standard. A deep cycle of
this molecule's movement begins with oceanic crust saturated with this molecule (*) subducting into the
mantle. Direct contact between magma and this molecule can produce explosions during volcanic eruptions that
touch the phreatic zone. Percolation through polluted soil can leach heavy metals into the porous rock where
this molecule is stored underground. For 10 points, name this molecule found in the crystal structure of mineral
hydrates.
ANSWER: water [or H2O; accept meteoric, ocean, ground, or surface water; accept fresh or salt water;
prompt on ice]
<Kevin Wang, Science - Earth> ~17677~

19. A feminist text written for this holiday by Esther Broner and Nomi Nimrod declares "This holiday we
take for ourselves [...] leaving 'The Narrow Place' together." A Sephardic custom on this holiday is for
guests to be touched on the head three times with one of its ritual objects. This holiday hearkens to a
Second Temple practice with the recitation of Psalms 115-118. Songs for this holiday include one that
asks (*) "Who knows One?," and another about a father who buys a goat. A ritual from this holiday includes the
yahatz step, and the spilling of ten drops of wine. Traditional foods for this holiday include karpas, a green
vegetable; and maror, a bitter herb. For 10 points, what Jewish holiday celebrating the Exodus involves eating
matzo?
ANSWER: Passover [or Pesach] (Broner and Nimrod wrote The Women's Haggadah. The Sephardic custom is
to touch seder guests' heads with the seder plate.)
<Hankin, RMP - Jewish Practice> ~17244~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 5 of 12

20. In a novel by this author, a TV station broadcasts an old film in which Baby Igor and his St Bernard
die in a submarine mission during the Gallipoli Campaign. The bones of murdered Lost Guard members
are sunk in a lake in The Courier's Tragedy, an elaborate Jacobean play described by this author in a
novel whose protagonist begins to notice the underground (*) Trystero organization's W.A.S.T.E. symbol. In
another of his novels, an object with the unusual serial number of 00000 is made from Imipolex G by one
Laszlo Jamf. Roger Mexico investigates the connections between Tyrone Slothrop's sexual encounters and V2
rocket launches in his best-known novel. For 10 points, name this American author of The Crying of Lot 49 and
Gravity's Rainbow.
ANSWER: Thomas Pynchon [or Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr.]
<Bentley, Literature - American> ~16336~

21. Chéng Hào ("chung how") was the first to combine this concept with lǐ ("lee"), a word meaning
"principle" or "pattern," in a phrase that equated lǐ with this concept. A religious complex dedicated to
this concept centers on a three-tiered Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. In the Analects, Confucius
claimed that this concept endowed him with virtue, and that at age fifty he understood this concept's
"decree." During the Zhōu ("joe") dynasty, this concept was identified with the supreme god (*) Shàngdì
("shong dee"). Chinese emperors were traditionally referred to as tiānzǐ ("tien zuh"), or "son" of this concept. This
concept combined with xià ("hsia") denotes a universal political order of "all under" this concept. For 10 points,
Chinese imperial dynasties were legitimized by the "mandate" of what concept?
ANSWER: Heaven [accept tiān before "tiānzǐ" is read; accept cosmos or sky before they are read]
<Cheng, RMP - East Asian Religion> ~20762~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 6 of 12

 NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Bonuses

1. In a parable devised by Leslie Lamport, this condition must be reached by a group of deceitful Byzantine
generals. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this condition that must be achieved each time something is added to a distributed ledger. A
proposed protocol for achieving this condition is proof-of-stake.
ANSWER: consensus [accept permissionless consensus protocols]
[10] Though consensus has been studied for decades, it is best known for its role in the blockchain of this
pioneering cryptocurrency, which introduced proof-of-work.
ANSWER: Bitcoin [or BTC]
[10] The process of mining involves running nonces through this kind of function twice until the result has
enough leading zeroes. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 example of these functions, which is secure enough for most
uses.
ANSWER: hashes [or cryptographic hash functions]
<Kevin Wang, Science - Computer Science> ~17435~

2. The plurality of the UK's postwar Windrush Generation traveled from this modern-day country. For 10 points
each:
[10] Identify this country once home to British sugar plantations whose immigrants popularized rocksteady and
reggae in the UK.
ANSWER: Jamaica
[10] In 2018, the BBC controversially re-aired this Enoch Powell speech that asserted that continued
immigration would lead to a time when "the black man will have the whip hand over the white man."
ANSWER: "Rivers of Blood"
[10] Many West Indian immigrants were attacked in a 1958 race riot named for this London district. This
district contains North Kensington, site of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
ANSWER: Notting Hill [accept Notting Hill race riots]
<Bentley, History - Cross, Historiography, and Miscellaneous> ~13641~

3. Because of a 1928 law, women in Thailand may become maechi but not full members of this vocation. For
10 points each:
[10] Name this vocation, members of which usually wear saffron kasaya and are collectively referred to as the
Sangha.
ANSWER: Buddhist monks [or Buddhist nuns; or bhikkhunis or bhikkhus]
[10] This global Buddhist monastic community practices the "engaged Buddhism" coined by its founder, Thich
Nhat Hanh (“tick not han”). It is named after a namesake "village" monastery in France.
ANSWER: Plum Village Tradition
[10] Nhat Hanh was a longtime exile from this modern country, where Thích Quang Duc (“tick kwong dook”)
self-immolated to protest Ngo Dinh Diem's (“nyo zin zyen”) persecution of Buddhists.
ANSWER: Vietnam [accept South Vietnam]
<Smith, RMP - Buddhism> ~15989~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 7 of 12

4. After Alexas lies about Cleopatra's death in this play, the Roman General Ventidius kills himself. For 10
points each:
[10] Name this 1677 heroic drama that ends with Serapion delivering a eulogy honoring Antony and Cleopatra,
which imitates an earlier Shakespeare tragedy.
ANSWER: All for Love; or, the World Well Lost
[10] All for Love was written by this author, who wrote about the lovers Palmyra and Leonidas in his
Restoration comedy Marriage a la Mode.
ANSWER: John Dryden
[10] Dryden's earliest play, The Wild Gallant, drew heavily from this earlier playwright's Every Man out of His
Humour. He wrote about a Venetian "Sly Fox" in his play Volpone.
ANSWER: Ben Jonson
<Sheidlower, Literature - British - Drama> ~15999~

5. James Baldwin quipped that this term really "means Negro removal." For 10 points each:
[10] Give this two-word term sometimes synonymous with "slum clearance" where city neighborhoods were
demolished and replaced with new areas like Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle.
ANSWER: urban renewal [or urban regeneration; or urban redevelopment]
[10] One of the more notorious urban renewal schemes was Ed Logue's transformation of a city in this state.
Eminent domain was expanded in a case originating from this state, Kelo v. City of New London.
ANSWER: Connecticut
[10] Jane Jacobs, a fierce opponent of Logue, wrote about the "uses" of these parts of streets, which promote
togetherness. "Cuts" in the edges of these structures make them more accessible to wheelchair users.
ANSWER: sidewalks [accept curb cuts]
<Bentley, Social Science - Sociology> ~15306~

6. One section of this opera is an invention on the single note B-natural, which is ominously crescendoed by the
orchestra during a murder scene. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this opera whose title character, a soldier, stabs his wife under a blood-red moon.
ANSWER: Wozzeck (VOT-seck)
[10] Wozzeck was written by this Austrian composer, a student of Arnold Schoenberg. He also wrote the opera
Lulu.
ANSWER: Alban Berg [or Alban Maria Johannes Berg]
[10] Berg and Schoenberg were both members of the Second Viennese School and thus were associated with a
"technique" centering on this number of tones, which is also the number of distinct chromatic pitches.
ANSWER: twelve [accept twelve-tone technique]
<Li, Fine Arts - Opera> ~13601~

7. In a posthumous review of an Arkham House collection of this author's stories, critic Edmund Wilson
declared, "The only real horror in most of these fictions is the horror of bad taste and bad art." For 10 points
each:
[10] Name this contributor to Weird Tales who created a character with an octopus-like head that, when "the
stars are right," will plague humanity.
ANSWER: H. P. Lovecraft [or Howard Phillips Lovecraft. (The monster referred to was Cthulhu.)
[10] Lovecraft's racism motivated Daniel José Older's 2014 campaign to remove Lovecraft's name from an
award for this genre of speculative fiction exemplified by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
ANSWER: fantasy literature
[10] This author's novella The Mist is sometimes categorized as Lovecraftian horror. He also wrote the 2000
part-memoir and part-self-help book On Writing.
ANSWER: Stephen King [or Stephen Edwin King]
<Bentley, Literature - American> ~15402~

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8. These molecules were discovered by analyzing soot and they can be mass produced from graphite electrodes.
For 10 points each:
[10] Name these polyhedral allotropes of carbon named for a designer of geodesic domes. These molecules
include nanotubes and various spherical cages.
ANSWER: fullerenes [or buckminsterfullerenes; prompt on buckyballs]
[10] A rule of thumb for fullerene stability isolates faces with this many sides. Faces with this many sides have
slightly longer edges than the 6:6 ("6 6") bonds that separate hexagonal faces from other hexagons.
ANSWER: five [accept pentagons or isolated pentagon rule; prompt on IPR]
[10] The spherical structure of C60 has prompted theories of a three-dimensional form of this property. The
homotropylium (homo-tro-"PILL"-ium) cation has one form of this property despite having an sp3-hybrized
carbon.
ANSWER: aromaticity [or aromatic; accept homoaromaticity; prompt on resonance]
<Kevin Wang, Science - Chemistry> ~17399~

9. Richard Taruskin dubbed a dark theory about the "hidden program" of this piece the theory of the "symphony
as suicide note." For 10 points each:
[10] Name this 1893 symphony dedicated to Bob Davydov. The music slowly dies away after a tam-tam hit in
this symphony's closing adagio lamentoso movement.
ANSWER: "Pathetique" Symphony [or "Pathetic" Symphony; or Pyotr Tchaikovsy's Symphony No. 6 in B
minor]
[10] Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" contains a "limping" second movement in this unusual time signature. "Mars,
the Bringer of War" is also in this time signature.
ANSWER: 5/4 ("five-four")
[10] The bass clarinet is often used in place of this large double-reed instrument for a section of the Pathetique
symphony marked with six p's. Its "contra" variety is the lowest-pitched woodwind in a standard orchestra.
ANSWER: bassoon [or fagotto; accept contrabassoon]
<Smith, Fine Arts - Music - Romantic> ~15281~

10. Antoine Lavoisier made his fortune investing in a company that provided this service for the French
monarch. For 10 points each:
[10] Identify this service in which private individuals collected levies such as the taille for the French crown.
ANSWER: tax farming [accept Ferme générale; prompt on tax collection or revenue collection]
[10] Tax farmers like Lavoisier collected the unpopular gabelle tax on the consumption of this good. Although
the Latin word salary derives from this good, it's not true that Roman troops were directly paid in this good.
ANSWER: salt [or table salt; or sodium chloride]
[10] The French tax farming system was reformed under Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister to this "Sun
King."
ANSWER: Louis XIV (14) [or Louis the Great or Louis le Grand]
<Bentley, History - European - 1500-1900> ~13698~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 9 of 12

11. In a story by this author, a soldier realizes he has lost his arms and legs shortly after finding that he has been
brought back to his high school. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this author whose story "Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We…" exemplifies the "rubble
literature" movement he headed after World War II.
ANSWER: Heinrich Böll [or Heinrich Theodor Böll]
[10] This writer reflected on his time in the Waffen-SS in Peeling the Onion. A trilogy by this author named for
a Polish city includes the novella Cat and Mouse.
ANSWER: Günter Grass [or Günter Wilhelm Grass; or Gunter Graß]
[10] World War II was the "dominant point of reference" for a collection of stories Jhumpa Lahiri translated
from this language in 2019. Elsa Morante and Luigi Pirandello wrote in this language.
ANSWER: Italian [or Italiano]
<Smith, Literature - European - Short Fiction> ~15983~

12. A deficiency of this enzyme can lead to hemolytic anemia in newborns as well as the production of "burr"
cells. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this final enzyme of glycolysis, which produces its namesake molecule by phosphorylating PEP.
ANSWER: pyruvate kinase [or PK]
[10] The M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase plays a key role in the Warburg effect in which these cells prefer to use
glycolysis even under aerobic conditions. These rapidly dividing cells form tumors and spread through
metastasis.
ANSWER: cancer cells [or cancerous cells]
[10] Pyruvate kinase is inhibited by buildup of this amino acid, which is formed from pyruvate by ALT (A-L-T).
Substituting this amino acid's beta carbon with a phenyl group produces an amino acid which cannot be
metabolized in PKU.
ANSWER: alanine [prompt on ala or A; do not accept phenylalanine]
<Belal, Science - Biology> ~15223~

13. A British agent known as Mr. H. paid a bribe to a telegraph operator to obtain a copy of this document so as
to not reveal the fact that the British were tapping American diplomatic cables. For 10 points each:
[10] Identify this document named for the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the German Empire.
ANSWER: Zimmerman Telegram [or Zimmerman Note; or Zimmerman Cable]
[10] The Zimmerman Telegram was sent to this country and offered it territorial gains at the expense of the US.
ANSWER: Mexico [or United Mexican States; or Estados Unidos Mexicanos]
[10] Three years before the cable was sent, the ABC powers of Argentina, Brazil and Chile had met in this city
to keep the Mexican Revolution from escalating into a conflict with the US. This city's Love Canal
neighborhood later became a Superfund site.
ANSWER: Niagara Falls [prompt on Niagara]
<Bentley, History - American - 1865-1945> ~13369~

14. This philosopher wrote an epistolary novel that satirically observes French Ancien Regime society from the
perspective of two visitors, Usbek and Rica. For 10 points each:
[10] Identify this author of the Persian Letters, a French political philosopher.
ANSWER: Baron de Montesquieu [or Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu]
[10] Montesquieu may be best-known for recommending this type of political arrangement in The Spirit of the
Laws. Montesquieu defines this concept as dividing the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of the state.
ANSWER: separation of powers
[10] In The Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu offers a partial defense of slavery in countries where this variable
"renders men...slothful." Montesquieu advocated adjusting laws based on this variable.
ANSWER: the temperature [or the climate; or the excess of heat]
<Bentley, RMP - Philosophy> ~14299~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 10 of 12

15. A short story collection by an author born in this country is titled for the local practice of answering a
storyteller's request "Krik?" with the single word "Krak!" For 10 points each:
[10] Name this country, the setting of a Spanish-language novel centering on the slave Ti Noel.
ANSWER: Republic of Haiti (The novel is Alejo Carpentier's The Kingdom of This World.)
[10] Haitian author Edwidge Danticat’s book sales got a boost by being selected for this woman’s book club.
Jonathan Franzen expressed his displeasure with his book The Corrections being selected by this talk show
host.
ANSWER: Oprah [or Oprah Gail Winfrey]
[10] This Nobel-winning Trinidadian included "Tell Me Who to Kill" in his collection In a Free State. He wrote
an English-language novel in which the six-fingered Mr. Biswas tries to buy a house.
ANSWER: V.S. Naipaul [or Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul]
<Smith, Literature - World and Miscellaneous> ~15262~

16. Bright multicolored trees and various figures appear in Andre Derain's depiction of a Turning Road in this
village. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this French village that was frequently painted by Paul Cézanne. Louis Vauxcelles (“voh-SELL”)
coined a derogatory name for a non-Fauvism movement after seeing a fragmented painting of houses in this
village.
ANSWER: l'Estaque ("lay-STAHK") [accept Turning Road, L'Estaque or Houses at l'Estaque or Maisons à
l'Estaque]
[10] Vauxcelles coined the name of this movement after seeing Houses at l'Estaque. This movement, which is
split into Analytic and Synthetic forms, focuses on simple geometric shapes.
ANSWER: Cubism
[10] Houses at l'Estaque is a painting by this Cubist. Instruments appear throughout many of his works, like in
La guitare and Violin and Candlestick.
ANSWER: Georges Braque [or Georges Braques]
<Shanmugam, Fine Arts - Painting - European> ~13530~

17. Lady Dai's funeral banner features two dragons weaving their way through a type of these objects, which
most scholars believe symbolize heaven. For 10 points each:
[10] Identify these objects, whose "bi" ("bee") form were made in ancient China.
ANSWER: discs [accept bi discs; or bi circles; accept anything involving a circular artifact or a donut-shaped
artifact or rings]
[10] Bi discs are typically made of this type of precious stone. This green mineral appears in the title of the
mythical emperor known as Yu Huang prior to his traveling to heaven and vanquishing a demon.
ANSWER: jade [or nephrite; or jadeite; or yu; accept Jade Emperor]
[10] For centuries, this modern-day country's Jade Tract has been a key source for jade. Most of what is now
this modern-day country was unified by the Pagan Kingdom. Its largest minority ethnic group is the Shan
people.
ANSWER: Myanmar [or Burma; or Republic of the Union of Myanmar]
<Bentley, History - World - Asian> ~13598~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 11 of 12

18. Whether this quantity is positive or negative determines if it is spacelike or timelike. For 10 points each:
[10] Name this quantity which is indifferent to the inertial frame of reference. It equals the difference of the
square of c delta t and the squares of the displacements.
ANSWER: spacetime interval [accept s2]
[10] The interval is regularly illustrated on Minkowski space while illustrating concepts in this theory of
Einstein's which describes effects at relativistic speeds.
ANSWER: special relativity [or SR; prompt on relativity]
[10] Two events separated by a spacelike interval cannot have this relationship due to reference frames existing
in which their positions are reversed.
ANSWER: causality
<Yang, Science - Physics> ~17212~

19. For 10 points each, identify the following about witchcraft in contemporary India.
[10] These people are frequently accused of being dayan or witches. The Indian government offers about
$4,000 to people who marry into this group beneath the Shudra caste, although it limits the grants to just 500
per year.
ANSWER: Dalit [or untouchables; or Harijan; or Adi Dravida; or Adi Karnataka; or Adi Andhra; prompt
on scheduled castes]
[10] In 2017, Kanya Devi was subjected to this punishment for her supposed witchcraft before being beaten to
death. Between 2016 and 2018, pellet guns caused this affliction in at least 1,200 Kashmiris.
ANSWER: blinding [accept equivalents like not being able to see]
[10] This state passed a strict law against accusations of witchcraft in 2015, but as of 2018 had not prosecuted
anyone. This state that borders Pakistan is the largest by area in India.
ANSWER: Rajasthan
<Bentley, Current Events - World> ~13464~

20. A relief in the Acropolis of Apollo accompanied by this group was legendarily attributed to the philosopher
Socrates. For 10 points each:
[10] Give this collective name for these figures, who are usually named Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia. Their
domains included creativity, charm, and beauty.
ANSWER: the three Graces [or Charites; or Gratiae]
[10] The Graces often accompany Aphrodite and this son of hers. He shares his name with the Greek word for
romantic love.
ANSWER: Eros [accept Cupid]
[10] In the Iliad, Hera lets this god marry a Grace named Pasithea so he will participate in the "Deception of
Zeus." Along with his harsher twin brother, he carries off the body of Sarpedon in the Iliad.
ANSWER: Hypnos [or Somnus] (The Oneiroi are personifications of dreams.)
<Smith, RMP - Greco-Roman Mythology> ~15199~

21. For 10 points each, identify the following about some quotable mathematicians.
[10] G. H. Hardy quipped "every fool can ask questions about [these numbers] that the wisest man cannot
answer." These numbers have only themselves and one as factors.
ANSWER: prime numbers [or primes]
[10] Rényi's description of a mathematician as "a machine for turning coffee into theorems" is often attributed
to this colleague. Collaborators with this prolific Hungarian have a value of one for a number named for him.
ANSWER: Paul Erdős (“err-dush”) [or Erdős Pál; accept Erdős number]
[10] Erdős claimed math was set back a month after this friend of his bet he could not give up Ritalin. This
mathematician's work in Ramsey theory briefly held the world record for the largest number used in a proof.
ANSWER: Ronald Graham [or Ronald Lewis Graham; accept Graham's number]
<Bentley, Science - Math> ~13716~

NSC 2021 - Round 19 - Page 12 of 12