Episode 23 University Challenge

University challenge. Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Tonight we played the penultimate match in the second

round of this contest, with a place in the quarter-finals

for the winners, and the luck of the draw has created

a fixture in which two Oxford colleges are competing for it.

The team from Merton College Oxford took a decisive

lead in the opening minutes of their first-round

match against St Andrews but subsequent bouts of what looked

to be narcolepsy allowed their opponents to creep up.

Fortunately for them, they shook it off and rallied in the final stages and, at the gong,

the score was in their favour by 195 points to 165.

Let's wake them up, now, by asking them to reintroduce themselves.

Hello. I am Bill Hellier from Reading in Berkshire and I am reading chemistry.

-Hello, I am Denis Dillon from New Jersey and I am reading PPE.

-And their captain.

Hello. I am Tim Smith-Laing, from Aylesford in Kent, and I am doing a doctorate in English literature.

Hi, I am Cosmo Grant from Glasgow and I am reading Maths and Philosophy.

Now, the team from Balliol College, Oxford also played a risky strategy in their first match

against Homerton College, Cambridge, dominating the first two thirds of the match

before falling silent and allowing their opponents to draw level.

But in the final moments, a starter on the female version of the toga

and a bonus on the Duke of Wellington meant they were ahead

by the narrowest margin of 205 points to 200 at the gong.

Let's meet the Balliol team again.

Hello. I am Liam Shaw. I am from Shropshire, and I study physics.

Hi. I am Andrew Whitby. I am from Brisbane Australia,

and I am working towards a doctorate in economics.

-And their captain.

-I'm Simon Wood. I'm from Surrey, and I'm studying chemistry.

Hi, I'm James Kirby, I am from Warwickshire and I am reading for a masters in history.

The rules are the same as ever, so fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first starter for 10.

What word originating with the Middle English term meaning

a running messenger from the 16th century met a hairline

marker in the mathematical instrument

and now denotes a movable indicator on a computer screen?

Pointer?

Merton?

-Cursor?

-Cursor is correct, yes.

Right, Merton, the first set of bonuses are on a mediaeval historian.

Named after an abbey in Wiltshire,

which historian is best known for the Latin work known

in English as Deeds Of The Kingdom Of England, dating to around 1125?

-Barry?

-No, it's William of Malmesbury.

"And thus it was, that unknowingly and without power to prevent it,

"Walter Tyrell pierced the Kings breast with a fatal arrow."

These words by William described the death of which ruler in 1099?

-Henry I.

-No, it's William II, William Rufus.

Of which legendary figure did William say

"Assuredly, he deserves to be the object of reliable history,

"rather than of false and dreaming fable"?

-King Arthur.

-Correct. Another starter question now.

Who succeeded Sir Robert Peel as prime minister in 1846,

and again became prime minister on the death of Palmerston in 1860?

-Russell.

-Lord John Russell is correct, yes.

Your first set of bonuses, Balliol, are on a scientific term.

Later superseded by electrons, what term did J.J. Thomson used to describe the negatively charged

subatomic particles discovered during his study of cathode rays?

-Negatrons.

-No, it's corpuscles.

Meissner's corpuscles are encapsulated springlike nerve endings

situated near the surface of which organ of the body?

-Skin.

-Correct.

And speculating that elastic particles emitted by luminous bodies produce the sensation of vision,

when they fall on the eye, which British scientist

published his corpuscular theory of light in 1704?

-Isaac Newton.

-Correct. Another starter question, now.

First recorded in 1992, what term derives from 19th-century

versions of the traditional folk tale and is used

by astronomers for a planet that has the potential to support life?

-Goldilocks.

-Goldilocks is right.

It's neither too hot, too cold, too big, too small.

Right, your bonuses this time are horses in classical poetry.

"The Braves are born from the brave and good in steers and on horses

"is to be found the excellence of their sire,

"nor do savage eagles produce a peaceful dove."

These are the words of which Roman poet in his Odes?

-Horace.

-Correct.

In his The Georgics, which Roman poet wrote,

"And when the rising Sun has first breathed on us with his panting horses,

"over there, the red evening star is writing his late lamps?"

-Virgil.

-Correct.

When Marlow's Dr Faustus faces the arrival of Lucifer

to claim his soul, and cries "O lente, lente currite noctis equi!"

or, "run slowly, horses of the night," he's quoting which Roman poet?

-Ovid.

-Correct.

Another starter question.

Native to South America, which semiaquatic mammal was

introduced into Britain for fur farming in the late 1920s?

-Coypu?

-Correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time, Merton, are on right arms.

Firstly, the Japanese-American, Daniel Inouye, who lost his right arm in Italy in World War II,

he became president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate in 2010

after more than 50 years continuous representation of which state?

-Hawaii.

-Correct.

What was the surname of the concert pianist for whom Maurice Ravel

wrote piano concerto for the left-hand?

The brother of the major philosopher,

who lost an arm while serving with the Austrian army in World War I.

-Wittgenstein.

-Correct.

In 1797, Horatio Nelson lost his right arm in an unsuccessful

attempt to capture the Port of Santa Cruz on which Atlantic island?

-Cape Verde Islands?

-No, it's Tenerife.

We're going to take a picture round.

For your picture starter you'll see the opening lines of a well-known poem.

10 points if you can identify the poet.

To make it a bit more fun, we've removed all

but the last word of each line.

-Is it William Blake?

-No, anyone like to buzz from Balliol?

-Marvell.

-No, it's part of Keats' Ode On A Grecian Urn.

Let's see the whole thing.

We'll take the picture bonuses in a moment. But let's have a starter question, 10 points.

Featuring a carriage drive, stable block, boathouse,

and banqueting hall, which house is described by its owner as the

finest house on the whole river, or anywhere else, for that matter?

-Toad Hall.

-Toad Hall is right, yes.

So we go back to less elevated literature really,

following on from Keats' Ode On A Grecian Urn.

Three more opening lines from poems written during the 19th century,

and much anthologised since then, all but the last word of each line has been removed.

In each case all you have to do is to identify the poet. Firstly.

-Shelley.

-It is. Let's see the whole thing.

Ozymandias, there we are. And, secondly.

-Browning?

-No, it's Byron. Let's see the whole thing. And, finally.

-Brooke?

-No, that is Browning. It's Home Thoughts From Abroad.

There it is.

10 points for this.

Last won by Great Britain in 1936,

which international sporting competition saw its first tie

in 1900 when Britain played the USA at Boston's Longwood Cricket club?

The cup was donated by an American doubles champion.

-The Davis cup.

-The Davis cup is right.

Get these bonuses and you'll be level. They're on cartography.

Based on Gall's projection, which German historian

published a controversial world map in 1973, described by one source

as resembling winter underwear hung out to dry on the Arctic Circle,

and representing the exact area of all countries in an accurate ratio?

-Nominate Kirby.

-Mercator.

-No, Mercator is much earlier.

It's Peters, The Arno Peters projection.

secondly, formerly described as zenithal, what term is now used for

a map projection in which the region of the Earth is projected onto

a plane tangential to the surface usually at a pole or the Equator?

-Nominate Kirby.

-Mercator?

-No, get it out of your head.

It's azimuthal.

And finally, for five points.

Introduced as a navigational tool in 1569,

the Mercator map is an example of which form of projection?

-Isomuthal.

-No, it's cylindrical. 10 points for this,

to mark the 175th anniversary

of the Royal Institute of British architects,

a Construction For Seduction Survey aimed to

find the ideal place to take someone on a date.

The poll was topped by which complex,

a world Heritage site in South West England?

-Stonehenge.

-No.

-Tintagel.

-No, it's the Roman Bath.

Why should you know this? Anyway, here's another starter question.

What name is shared by the two German cities distinguished from one

another by the qualifiers Ander, Oder and...?

-Frankfurt.

-Frankfurt is correct, yes

Your bonuses, Balliol, are on a French author.

What was the pen name of Amandine Aurore Dupin, who's best known

for her so-called rustic novels including The Devil's Pool, and Little Fadette.

-Pass.

-No, it was George Sand.

Through her writing, George Sand brought to public attention

the series of six allegorical tapestries given what title

dating to the middle ages and discovered by one of her lovers,

the writer Prosper Merimee, in Boussac castle in 1841?

-No idea.

-That's The Lady And The Unicorn.

And finally, Sand's lovers also included, which Polish French composer and pianist,

their relationship lasted almost ten years and ended shortly before his death from tuberculosis in 1849?

-Chopin.

-Correct. Another starter question. Level pegging. 10 points for this.

Chapter 14 describes the 144,000 virgins who will have their place in heaven.

Chapter seven describes the 12 tribes of Israel.

Chapter six describes the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

While chapter 13 gives the number of the beast.

The book of Revelation.

It's the Revelation Of St John the Divine, yes.

Right, your bonuses this time are on invertebrates.

What common name is given to the many thousands

of species of invertebrates whose scientific name Annelida

comes from the Latin for little ring?

-Worm.

-I'll accept worm, yes. Earthworms, generally.

Also known as roundworms,

which unsegmented worms are parasites of plants and animals,

and are added to soil by gardeners as an organic slug killer?

-No idea.

-Nematodes.

Hirudo medicinalis is a parasitic species of which Annelids?

They secrete the anticlotting enzyme hirudin into their host's bloodstream.

-Leach.

-Leach is correct.

Right, the music round, now.

Your music starter is an extract from a symphony.

To get 10 points you have to give me the name of the composer

and the Symphony number.

-Beethoven's seventh.

-That's correct, yes.

Right, your music bonuses are three more seventh symphonies,

all by German or Austrian composers.

In each case I want you to name the composer. Firstly.

Is it Schubert?

No, it's Mahler. Secondly.

-Brahms.

-No, that's Bruckner's seventh. And finally.

Mozart.

No, that's Hayden. Right, ten points for this starter question.

What surname links a Polish-born US novelist,

author of The Magician Of Lublin,

the Australian philosopher who wrote Animal Liberation and...

-Singer.

-Singer is right, yes.

These bonuses could give you the lead.

They're on pairs of words whose spelling differs

by the substitution of a D for an F for the final letter.

For example, deaf and dead.

In each case, give both words from the definitions.

Firstly, organ of photosynthesis in plants

and soft, grey metallic element, atomic number 82.

-Leaf and lead.

-Correct.

Rocks or coral near the surface of water

and vibrating tongue of a woodwind instrument.

-Reef and reed.

-Correct.

Canis lupus and open tract of upland country,

for example in Lincolnshire.

-It's wolf and wold.

-Correct.

10 points for this.

Before they became novelists, the authors of The Nine Tailors,

Midnight's Children and The Life And Loves Of A She-Devil,

all had successful careers...

-Advertising.

-Correct.

Your bonuses this time are on apples, Balliol.

What time derives from the Latin for apple and is given to

the colourless crystalline acid involved in the Krebs cycle?

Maleric. Malic.

No, I'm sorry, I have to take the first answer you gave

and that wasn't the first answer. Malic is the correct answer.

The English name for which soft fruit derives ultimately

from the Latin for Persian apple, that is persicum malum?

-Pear.

-It's peach.

Malum granatum,

meaning many grained apple was the Latin name for which fruit,

now known by an Anglo-Norman name with the same derivation?

-Pomegranate.

-Correct. Level pegging. 10 points for this.

Listen carefully, if the integers up to one decillion,

that is 10 to the power 33, are written out in words,

only three letters of the alphabet never appear.

Name two of them.

-X and Y.

-Anyone like to buzz from Merton?

-Q and Z.

-No, it's J, K and Z.

Another starter question now. 10 points for this.

"Man is only a reed, the weakest thing in nature,

"but he's a thinking reed."

These are words of which French philosopher

and mathematician born...

-Descartes.

-I'm afraid you lose five points. Born in 1623.

Pascal.

Pascal is right, yes.

Your bonuses are on geography. In each case,

name the island whose largest town or city is the following,

the islands in question are among the world's largest.

Firstly, for five points,

Medan, with a population of around two million.

-Indonesia.

-That's Sumatra.

Second, Iqaluit, with a population of around 6,000.

-Greenland.

-No, it's Baffin Island.

And finally, Antananarivo, with an estimated population of one million.

-Madagascar.

-Madagascar is correct.

We go to the second picture around. The picture starter is a painting.

10 points if you can give me the name of the artist.

Manet.

Anyone like to buzz from Balliol?

-Degas.

-Degas is correct, yes.

In A Cafe or Absinthe.

Your bonuses are three more paintings featuring absinthe.

Five points for correctly naming the artist in each case. Firstly.

-Van Gogh?

-Correct. Secondly.

-Gauguin.

-No, that's by Picasso. And finally.

-Toulouse-Lautrec.

-Correct. 10 points for this starter question.

Manhood suffrage, equal electoral districts, annual parliaments

and payment for MPs were amongst...

-Chartist movement.

-Correct.

Your bonuses, Balliol, are on women's writing.

Published in 1993,

Oleander Jacaranda: A Childhood Perceived,

is a memoir by which British, Booker Prize winner

and recalls her early years in Egypt, her birthplace in 1933?

-A S Byatt.

-No, it's Penelope Lively.

Thought to be largely autobiographical,

which 1956 novel begins with the words,

"'Take my camel, dear,' said by my aunt Dot, as she climbed down

"from this animal on her return from my High Mass."?

-Agatha Christie.

-The Towers Of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay.

And finally, which 1955 novel is being read in Tehran

in the title of a 2004 memoir by Azar Nafisi,

an Iranian professor of literature.

-Lolita.

-Correct.

10 points for this. In which European city is the art museum

known as the Alte Pinakothek, established in 1836,

it houses paintings from

the collection of the House of Wittelsbach?

-Geneva.

-No, Balliol, have a go?

-Munich.

-Munich is correct, yes.

Your bonuses, Balliol, are on the states of Brazil.

The states of Parana, Santa Catarina

and Rio Grande do Sul all share borders with which country?

-Paraguay.

-No, it's Argentina.

The states of Acre, Mato Grosso and Rondonia

all share borders with which country?

-Peru.

-No, it's Bolivia.

And, for five points, name two of the three countries with

which the state of Amazonas shares borders.

-Come on, let's have it please.

-Ecuador and Peru.

No, it's Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

Less than five minutes to go. 10 points for this.

Along with phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth,

what common element makes up...

-Nitrogen.

-Nitrogen is right, yes.

Your bonuses are on films about poets.

In each case, name the poets played by the following actors

in the given films.

Willem Dafoe in Tom And Viv in 1994.

-TS Eliot.

-Correct. Matthew Rhys in The Edge Of Love in 2008.

-Dylan Thomas.

-Correct. And Ben Whishaw in Bright Star in 2009.

-John Keats.

-Correct.

Another starter question.

What is the only surname shared by both a US president and a UK Prime

Minister? The former was in office when the latter was born in 1916.

-Wilson.

-Wilson is right, yes.

These bonuses are on the history of science, Merton College.

In each case, give the decade in which the following

chemical elements were discovered.

Firstly, for five points. Potassium, sodium and calcium.

-1750s.

-No, it was the 1800s, between 1800 and 1810.

Secondly, silicon, aluminium and bromine.

-1880s.

-It was the 1820s.

And finally, plutonium, americium and curium.

Quickly.

-1930s.

-It was the 1940s.

Three minutes to go. 10 points for this.

Listen carefully, four countries border both India and China,

one is Burma, name two of the three others.

Bhutan and Nepal.

Correct, the other one's Pakistan of course, the biggest of them.

Your bonuses this time are on the works of Goethe.

In each case, identify the title character of the work described.

Firstly, an epistolary novel of 1774, in which

a sensitive artist is driven to destruction

by his unrequited love for the young Charlotte.

-Is it Wilhelm?

-No, it's Werther, The Sorrows Of Young Werther.

An historical play about a Flemish nobleman,

beheaded in 1568 after defying the King of Spain,

Beethoven later wrote an overture and incidental music for it.

-Come on.

-Pass.

-It's Egmont.

A poetic drama in two parts that begins with Mephistopheles...

-Faust.

-Faust is correct. Another starter question now.

Give either of the two verbs meaning blend or mingle together,

which contain the year 2009 expressed...

-Mix.

-No. I'm afraid you lose five points.

Expressed in Roman numerals.

I need an answer.

No, I can't wait any longer.

It's commix or immix, but you were nearly there, but it was 2009.

Answer as soon as you buzz.

What is the smallest country in Europe

whose English name ends in -land?

Iceland.

No, Balliol?

-Switzerland.

-Correct.

Your bonuses are on the Moon, Balliol College.

With respect to the Moon's orbit around the Earth,

what is the meaning of the term perigee?

-When it's closest to the Earth.

-Correct.

The rotation of the Moon on its axis takes 27.3 days,

how long does the Moon take to orbit the Earth?

-28 days.

-It's 27.3 days, it's the same.

And finally, which lunar mare

was the site of the landing of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969?

-The Sea of Tranquility.

-Correct. Another starter question now.

Two planets of the solar system lap moons. For 10 points, name both.

-Mercury and Venus.

-Correct. Here are your bonuses.

They're on the human condition.

Which of Shakespeare's title characters describes man as,

"The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals"?

-Hamlet.

-Correct.

In a didactics poem of 1733,

who describes man as being "darkly wise and rudely great"?

-Pope.

-Correct.

And finally, in a letter of 1725 to Pope, which literary figure

wrote, "I hate and detest that animal..."

FINAL GONG

And at the gong, Merton College have 160, Balliol College have 170.

Well, bad luck, Merton, we must say goodbye to you.

Who knows, if we'd gone on another three minutes

you might have beaten them, but we'll never know.

Balliol, congratulations,

we look forward to seeing you in the quarterfinals.

I hope you can join us next time, but until then,

-it's goodbye from Merton College, Oxford.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye from Balliol College, Oxford.

-Goodbye.

And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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