Test your knowledge with Nichols Schools' 2011 Lucy and Sherman Maisel General Information Test. The test is a tradition that began in the 1911 Nichols School yearbook. It is compiled from questions submitted by the Nichols faculty and is given to students in grades 9 through 12 as a measure of general knowledge. The highest score of record is 81, earned by four-time winner George Binette (Class of '78). The GIT is created and coordinated by English teacher Richard Stratton. Answers can be found on Page B8.
1. Which of these Western states was not ceded, in whole or in part, to the United States by Mexico after the Mexican War?
California
Arizona
Montana
New Mexico
Nevada
2. In what Western state is the Grand Teton National Park located?
3. Which of these American Civil War battles did not take place within the borders of one of the Confederate states?
Antietam
Chickamauga
Fredericksburg
Petersburg
Vicksburg
4. Who played the female lead role in the classic American film, "Casablanca?"
Ingrid Bergman
Joan Crawford
Bette Davis
Greta Garbo
5. Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) was the first pontiff of what nationality?
French
German
Polish
Spanish
Swiss
6. Which of these Hall-of-Fame mid-20th century athletes was not a golfer?
Don Budge
Ben Hogan
Bobby Locke
Byron Nelson
Sam Snead
7. In this epic French 19th-century novel (also made into a late 20th-century musical), the central character, Jean Valjean is sentenced to a life of hard labor in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread. Name the novel.
"Germinal"
"Les Miserables"
"Le Rouge et Le Noir"
"L'Immoralist"
8. Who wrote the novel described in No. 7?
Gustave Flaubert
Andre Gide
Victor Hugo
Stendhal
9. What state has a pine cone as the state flower?
10. Myopia is a disease of which bodily organ?
11. During what war did the Charge of the Light Brigade occur?
Franco-Prussian
Opium
World War I
U.S. Civil War
Crimean
12. Which of the United States has Helena for a capital?
Alaska
Maryland
Montana
Nebraska
Oregon
13. What is the capital of North Dakota?
14. What American presidential candidate won his party's nomination with his "Cross of Gold" speech in 1896?
15. If a man's weight increases from 13 stone to 10 percent of a ton, how many pounds has he gained?
16. What literary character accused her husband of being "too full of the milk of human kindness?"
17. What is the world's tallest quadroped?
18. Which of these words would best describe a pyrrhic military victory?
Accidental
Costly
Decisive
Glorious
19. In what European city is the Abbey Theater located?
20. In what nation are the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington located?
21. The Royal Road from Susa to Sardis was the major highway of what ancient Empire?
Chinese Macedonian
Mongol
Persian
Roman
22. Which of these Midwestern states was not carried by Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election?
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Wisconsin
23. Which of these Southern states was not carried by John McCain in the same election?
Arkansas
Georgia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
24. What percentage of the popular vote did Obama win in 2008? (Nearest round number.)
52 percent
53 percent
54 percent
55 percent
56 percent
25. The heaviest of U.S. presidents weighed in at 332 pounds. Name him.
James Buchanan
Grover Cleveland
Herbert Hoover
Lyndon Johnson
William Howard Taft
26. In what year (BCE) was Julius Caesar assassinated?
50
48
46
44
42
27. What was the profession of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth?
28. Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, regarded by many as the greatest American film actors, played together in only one film. What was it?
29. At what temperature (Fahrenheit) does water boil at sea level?
30. Which of the following is not a prime number?
13
31
43
57
71
31. Among these five colleges/universities which has the highest endowment?
Columbia
Duke
MIT
Rice
Stanford
32. In what sport was "Big Bill" Tilden named the greatest performer of the first half of the 20th century?
33. Named the greatest competitive swimmer of the first half of the 20th century, he later played the role of Tarzan in several movies. Name him.
34. What is the capital of Libya?
35. What Major League Baseball team plays in Wrigley Field?
36. The Holy Grail of Arthurian legend is actually a _____________.
Crucifix
Cup
Helmet
Necklace
Shield
37. What is the capital of Afghanistan?
38. Which English poet created the Wife of Bath?
Byron
Chaucer
Marlowe
Shakespeare
39. What is the name of the scale devised to measure the magnitude of earthquakes?
40. Rosiland is the central character in which Shakespearian comedy?
"Merchant of Venice"
"As You Like It"
"Much Ado about Nothing"
"Tempest"
"Merry Wives of Windsor"
41. What is the cube root of 1,331?
42. By what name is Saul of Tarsus best known in religious history?
43. Name the composer of the popular oratorio, "Messiah."
Bach
Beethoven
Handel
Mozart
44. Which of the five unmarried daughters of the Bennet family in "Pride and Prejudice" elopes with Mr. Wickham?
Elizabeth
Jane
Kitty
Lydia
Mary
45. Asclepius is the Greek God of _______________.
Feeling
Healing
Peeling
Stealing
Wheeling & Dealing
46. In the Old Testament's Book of Ruth, who was Ruth's mother-in-law?
Esther
Naomi
Rebecca
Sarah
47. Jonas Salk, an American scientist, developed the first effective vaccine against what disease?
48. What 20th-century American president was afflicted with this disease?
49. James Galway and the late Jean-Pierre Rampal each mastered which musical instrument?
50. Leo Tolstoy's epic novel, "War and Peace," is built around a central historical episode -- Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Russia in the year ___________.
51. What Army-based comic strip contains the following characters? General Halftrack, Zero, Plato, Lt. Fuzz and Sergeant Snorkel?
52. "Well, it's been a quiet week in my hometown of Lake Woebegone" intones Garrison Keillor every week on "A Prairie Home Campanion." In what state is Lake Woebegone?
53. Three of these four island groups lie north of Scotland. Which one does not?
Balearic
Faroes
Orkneys
Shetlands
54. Sancho Panza was the servant and companion of what world-famous literary character?
55. Which of these slugging Major League catchers finished his career with the highest lifetime batting average?
Yogi Berra
Roy Campanella
Bill Dickey
Carlton Fisk
Mike Piazza
56. Which of these Hall of Fame pitchers finished his Major League career with the most victories?
Bob Feller
Steve Carlton
Lefty Grove
Tom Seaver
Warren Spahn
57. ____________ Nervosa is an eating disorder, more common among females, one of whose symptoms is an intense fear of gaining weight.
58. What 17th-century English scientist discovered the circulation of the blood?
59. What 17th-century English mathematician has been credited with inventing the calculus?
60. L'Anse aux Meadows, a group of sod-covered huts on the far northern tip of the island of _________, is regarded by scholars as the site of the earliest European (Norse) settlement of North America. Name the island.
61. The Falklands, a bleak and wind-swept group of islands in the South Atlantic, became the site of a brief, but bloody and bitter war between Great Britain and _________________ in 1982.
62. Which of these great 20th-century musical composers was not American?
Samuel Barber
Aaron Copland
Charles Ives
William Walton
63. On what mountain did Moses receive the Ten Commandments?
64. Which African country has the largest area?
Algeria
Egypt
Libya
South Africa
Sudan
65. What was the surname of Scotland's "Bonnie Prince Charlie?"
66. Who was the famous son of Hamilcar Barca?
67. Which English sea captain was the victim of the "Mutiny on the Bounty?"
Bligh
Cook
Nelson
Vancouver
68. Which is the only Australian city (thus far) to have hosted the Olympic Games?
Adelaide
Brisbane
Canberra
Melbourne
Perth
69. What legendary boxer lost his heavyweight championship to Gene Tunney in 1926?
Max Baer
Jack Dempsey
Jack Sharkey
Jess Willard
70. What Central American country is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south?
71. Alaska and Texas are the two largest of the United States in total area. Which state ranks third?
72. What religious organization was founded in England by George Fox in the 17th century?
73. Which of these words is a synonym for ennui?
Boredom
Delight
Perplexity
Rage
74. What do the initials BYOB stand for?
75. Which of these words is closest in meaning to apercu?
Insight
Joke
Puzzle
Wound
View
76. A saying or expression that has been used so often it has lost its effect is called a _____________.
77. In Greek mythology the father of the Titans (elder gods) was _____________.
Cronus
Dionysus
Hephaestus
Pan
Uranus
78. An __________ is the juxtaposition of two contradictory words. (ex: deafening silence)
79. Which of these academically highly rated small colleges is located in Portland, Ore.?
Antioch
Goucher
Haverford
Reed
Vassar
80. Name Great Britain's first (and thus far only) female prime minister.
81. In what war did the following bloody battles take place -- Gallipoli, the Somme, Tannenberg, Verdun?
82. On what Japanese city did the second atomic bomb fall in 1945?
Kobe
Kyoto
Nagasaki
Osaka
Tokyo
83. The branch of medicine dealing with tumors is called _______________.
84. The 24th and final letter of the Greek alphabet is _______________.
Beta
Omega
Lambda
Delta
Sigma
85. Old ____________ is a noted Geyser in Yellowstone National Park which erupts about every 67 minutes.
86. "Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me." These well-known lines were composed by a great American 19th-century female poet. Name her.
87. How many of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices are male?
88. How many of the nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices are Protestant in religion?
89. Only one of these five states contains a city with a population of at least 100,000. Which one?
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Vermont
West Virginia
Wyoming
90. Between 1955 and 1958 this upstate New York boxer held both the world welterweight and middleweight championships.
Lou Ambers
Carmen Basilio
Gene Fullmer
Marty Servo
91. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has just completed two terms (eight years) as president of which South American nation?
92. "Adagio for Strings" is the most popular musical work of which American composer?
Samuel Barber
Leonard Bernstein
Hoagy Carmichael
Richard Rodgers
93. In Sophocles' Greek tragedy the Queen of Thebes, Jocasta, hangs herself when she discovers that her husband, whose children she has borne, is also her son. Name the son-husband.
94. On what part of a medieval knight's body was a gauntlet worn?
Head
Hand
Foot
Knee
Navel
95. What European country was known to the ancient Romans as Lusitania?
Austria
Germany
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
96. Queen Victoria's long reign in England began in 1837. In what year did it end?
1898
1901
1903
1905
97. Who painted the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel?
98. Which of these words is most nearly opposite in meaning to stringent?
Careful
Coherent
Loose
Sly
Weary
99. Translate the German word ubermensch.
100. In what field did the Frenchmen Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin and Camille Pissarro gain fame?