Episode 12 University Challenge

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. With a place in the second round at stake,

we give the student mind another spin in the centrifuge tonight

to separate the little grey cells from cotton wool. University College London was established in 1826

and was the first English institution to teach regardless of race, class or religion,

famously earning the nickname the Godless Institution of Gower Street in the process.

It's one of the two founding colleges of the University of London and with 23,000 students,

a high proportion of whom are post-graduates, it's larger than many universities.

As we never tire of reminding ourselves, it's also the resting place of the preserved corpse

of Jeremy Bentham and tonight's team were toying with the idea of bringing his head as their mascot,

but it's kept under secure lock and key and we'd rather they didn't.

With an average age of 25, let's meet the UCL team.

Hello. I'm Adam Papaphilippopoulos, I'm from London and reading for an MA in Philosophy.

Hello. I'm Tom Tyszczuk Smith from Cambridge, studying Medicine.

-Their captain...

-Hello. I'm Simon Dennis from London, studying the History and Philosophy of Science.

Hi. I'm Tom Parton, from Staffordshire, reading Natural Sciences.

APPLAUSE

The University of Exeter is rumoured to be a favourite among students

who prefer, for whatever reason, to be a long way from the parental home.

It traces its origins to colleges established in the mid-19th century by educational reformers

and it became a university in 1955. Since then, the singers Will Young and Thom Yorke,

the cartoonist Steve Bell and the creator of Harry Potter, Joanne Rowling, have all graced its campus.

Representing around 15,000 students, with an average age of 26, let's meet their team.

Hello. My name's James Bellamy, I'm from Exeter and studying Zoology.

Hello. I'm William O'Rourke, from Dorset, reading English.

-Let's meet their captain.

-Hi. I'm Rob Bental, from Staines, studying Arabic and Persian.

Hello, I'm John Ault, from Warrington, researching a PhD in Cornish Studies.

APPLAUSE

OK, the rules are the same as ever. Here's your first starter for ten.

What term is used in demography to describe a group of people with a statistic in common?

In ancient history it refers to one of ten divisions of a Roman legion.

-A cohort.

-Cohort is correct, yes.

The first bonuses go to Exeter. They're on names. Which explorer gives his name to the strait

between the south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego?

-Magellan? Magellan.

-Correct. Which explorer gives his name to the strait that lies between

Cape Dezhnev in Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska?

-Bering.

-Correct. Which explorer gives his name to the strait between the north and south of New Zealand?

-Cook.

-Correct.

10 points for this.

"His success was built firmly on the idea that you should not give consumers what they want

"because they don't know what they want..."

-Excuse me, sorry. It's gone.

-In that case, you get the whole thing, Exeter.

"..they don't know what they want." These words of Julian Baggini refer to which US entrepreneur

who died in October, 2011?

You may not confer! I'm going to have to void it. Sorry. You cannot confer.

10 points for this. The designation AL288-1 and Amharic name Dinkenesh, meaning, "You are amazing",

have been applied to the fossil remains of a hominid discovered in Ethiopia in 1974

and usually given...

-Lucy.

-Lucy is correct, yes.

Your first bonuses, UCL, are on Essex.

Which Essex town describes itself as Britain's first city? Originally called Camulo-Dunum,

the Romans named it Colonia Victricensis.

-Colchester.

-Correct. In 1920, the Marconi factory in which Essex town

was the sight of the world's first official publicised sound broadcast?

-Brentwood?

-Chelmsford. Which Essex town became a new town in 1949?

Its name later became an epithet for working-class voters who changed from Conservatives to New Labour.

-Chingford?

-No, Basildon. 10 points for this.

The name of which British Prime Minister appears in historical expressions which also contain

the words poodle and declaration?

-Balfour.

-Balfour is correct, yes!

These bonuses are on scientific principles. Born in 1698, which French mathematician gives his name

to the principle, also known as Least-Action, that states that a particle moving

between two points will follow the path along which its total action is as small as possible?

Do we know?

-Ohm.

-No, it's Maupertuis. Named for a 17th-century French mathematician,

which principle is a special case of the Least-Action principle, applied to optics?

-Pass.

-Fermat's Principle. Finally, the principle allows the derivation of what types of equations

named after two mathematicians, one Swiss and one Italian?

-Pass.

-Euler-Lagrange. 10 points for this. In coastal geography,

what two-word term denotes the zig-zag movement of material...

-Longshore Drift.

-Correct.

Your bonuses are on authors. In each case, the surname of the first person described is the given name

of the second. For example, CS Lewis and Lewis Carroll. Your answer must include the given name and surname

of both people described. Firstly, a US zoologist and author of the 1963 work Silent Spring

and the Southern Gothic novelist whose works include The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.

-Pass.

-Rachel Carson and Carson McCullers. Two US novelists,

the author of The Jungle, born 1878, and the author of Main Street and Elmer Gantry, born 1885.

-No.

-Pass.

-It's Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis.

Finally, both born in 1935, the authors respectively best known for The White Hotel

and Schindler's Ark.

-Pass.

-It's DM Thomas and Thomas Keneally. Right, 10 points for this.

The relative merits of stage design and literature in theatrical productions caused quarrels

between the architect Inigo Jones and which playwright, his sometime collaborator?

Tom Stoppard?

Good Lord, no.

UCL, one of you buzz.

Harold Pinter?

No, you're out by about 300 years! It's Ben Jonson. 10 points for this.

What type of particle emitted by certain radioactive isotopes has a mass

equivalent to 3.7 billion electron volts of energy, results in a decrease of 2 in the atomic...

-An alpha particle?

-Yes!

Your bonuses this time are on third men.

The Third Man Argument is an examination of the theory of forms in the dialogue Parmenides

written by which philosopher?

-Socrates.

-No, it's Plato.

The Third Man Syndrome in which explorers hallucinate the presence of one more member of their team

is described in South, an account by which explorer of his Antarctic expedition of 1914-1917?

-Shackleton.

-Who is the author of the 2010 memoir The Third Man,

which the Independent newspaper recommended to anyone interested in politics, psychiatry and theatre?

-Peter Mandelson.

-Correct. Right, we'll take a picture round.

Your picture starter is of a map with part of England and Wales

with a Roman road highlighted. 10 points for the commonly-used Anglo-Saxon name for the route.

-Fosse Way?

-It is the Fosse Way, yes.

Your picture bonuses are three more Roman roads highlighted on a map of part of England and Wales.

Give me the commonly-used Anglo-Saxon names for each route. Firstly, for five.

-Watling Street?

-No, Ermine Street.

Secondly...

-Watling Street?

-No, Akeman Street. And finally...

-Watling Street.

-It is, yes! Right, 10 points for this.

One of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011,

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became the first woman to be elected head...

-Liberia?

-Liberia is correct.

These bonuses could give you the lead, UCL. They're on philosophy.

What two-word term is the title of a work of 1959 by AJ Ayer

and denotes the doctrines emerging from the Vienna Circle based on the Verification Principle?

-Logical Positivism.

-What two-word term is the English title of a work of 1984

by Soviet philosopher Alexander Spirkin? Derived from Hegel, they defined the Marxist USSR philosophy.

-No.

-Pass.

-It's Dialectical Materialism.

What name has been given to the doctrine by which, in the words of John Stuart Mill, actions are right

as they promote happiness, but wrong as they produce the reverse?

-Utilitarianism.

-Correct. Another starter now.

Referring to a character in Pilgrim's Progress, President Theodore Roosevelt allegedly coined

what term in 1906 to describe writers and journalists who exposed political and economic corruption

often in an excessive and sensationalist style?

-Yellow journalist?

-Nope.

One of you buzz, UCL. It's muckrakers. 10 points for this.

Meaning whey or watery fluid, what term denotes the greenish-yellow liquid

that separates from the clot when blood coagulates? When taken from an animal that's been...

-Serum.

-Serum is correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on pharmacology.

Analgesics such as aspirin and ibuprofen are classified as NSAID.

For what does this abbreviation stand?

-Do you want to...?

-Nominate.

-Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs.

-Correct. Aspirin and ibuprofen work by inhibiting

the enzymes Cox-1 and Cox-2. What is their full name?

-Cyclo-oxygenase. Excuse me.

-Correct. And thirdly,

aspirin and ibuprofen are also anti-pyretic agents, meaning that they serve to reduce what condition?

-Fever.

-Correct. Well done.

Right. 10 points for this starter. What everyday word can precede law, sense and market,

the latter expression...

-Common.

-Common is correct.

Your bonuses are on chess grandmasters.

Which Indian player won the 2010 FIDE World Chess Championship, beating Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov?

-Anand.

-Which Danish player, who died in September, 2010,

became the first grandmaster to lose a game to a computer program

when he was beaten by Deep Thought in 1988?

-What nation?

-Danish.

-Don't know.

-Pass.

-It was Bent Larsen. Finally, beaten by the incumbent, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,

which Russian former world champion lost the 2010 election for President of the World Chess Federation?

-Kasparov.

-No, Anatoly Karpov.

10 points for this. In 1611, the civic guard of Antwerp commissioned which Flemish artist

to create the Descent From The Cross triptych for the city's cathedral?

-Vermeer.

-No. Exeter?

One of you buzz.

-Bosch?

-No, Peter Paul Rubens. 10 points for this.

La Casa De Los Espiritus and De Amor Y De Sombra are the Spanish titles of two novels

by which Peruvian-born Chilean author...

-Llosa.

-No, you lose 5 points. ..who fled to Venezuela after Pinochet's military coup in 1973?

-Neruda.

-No, it's Isabel Allende. Ten points for this.

Listen carefully. The course record for the University Boat Race is 16 minutes, 19 seconds,

set by Cambridge in 1998.

To the nearest whole astronomical unit, how far does sunlight travel in that time?

-Two.

-Correct.

The bonuses this time are on the views of AJP Taylor, the historian.

In The Origins Of The Second World War, AJP Taylor argues that the Great War that began in 1914

was not ended until the signing of which treaty in 1925?

WHISPERING

-Locarno.

-Correct.

What event of March 1936 brought about the end of the Locarno Pact?

According to Taylor, it provided the first opportunity for the western powers to oppose Hitler.

Anschluss. Anschluss.

The Anschluss of Austria.

-The Anschluss?

-No, it's the occupation of the Rhineland.

And finally, on the final page of that work, Taylor states

that "the war that broke out in 1939 has become a matter of historical curiosity"

and that in his view, the Second World War became a "real" world war only in which year?

Maybe '40. The Phoney War finished earlier than '41.

'41 because of the US and Russia. >

-1941.

-Correct.

We'll take a music round. For your starter, you'll hear a piece of popular music.

Ten points if you can tell me the names of the prolific song-writing team behind the song.

# We're no strangers to love... #

-Stock, Aitken & Waterman.

-Correct.

They were guilty of many of the hits of the '80s and '90s, so for your music bonuses,

three more tracks written by prolific song-writing teams.

Five points if you can identify the team or duo behind the song.

Firstly for five, the partnership behind this song?

# Looking out on the morning rain

# I used to feel so uninspired

# And when I knew I had to face another day

# Lord, it made me feel so tired... #

-Bacharach and David?

-No, Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Secondly, the duo who wrote this?

# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

# Been snoopin' round my door

# You ain't nothing but a hound dog

# Been snoopin' round my door

# You can wag your tail... #

-Pass.

-That's Leiber and Stoller. Finally, the team behind this?

INTRO PLAYS

# Now if you feel that you can't go on

# Because... #

-Pass.

-That's Holland, Dozier, Holland. Ten points for this.

Which US poet and novelist wrote the screenplay of the 1987 film Barfly, starring Mickey Rourke...

-Bukowski.

-Charles Bukowski is correct, yes.

UCL, these bonuses are on symmetry.

About which line is the graph "y equals x-squared" symmetrical?

WHISPERING

-X equals zero.

-Correct. About which point and by how many degrees is the rotation

that produces the only non-trivial symmetry of the line "y equals x-cubed"?

It'll be 180 degrees.

If it's "y equals x-cubed", it's a rotation, so it's going to be...

-180 degrees...

-I think we need an answer, please.

-180 degrees from the origin?

-Correct.

From the Greek for "opposite", what name is given to a pair of non-superimposable objects

that are mirror images of each other?

-No, pass.

-They're enantiomers or enantiomorphs. Right, ten points for this.

In immunology, what word, derived from the Latin for "to help",

denotes a substance included in a vaccine that enhances the immune response of the recipient?

-Adjuvant.

-Adjuvant is correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time are on US states and their official foods.

In 2006, which state designated the Key Lime Pie as its official state pie?

-Florida.

-Correct. Georgia and Oklahoma are among states that have adopted a porridge

of coarsely-ground maize kernels as an official state food.

By what five-letter term is the dish known?

-Grits.

-Grits.

-Correct.

From the 1980s, several US states adopted varieties

of what baked foodstuff as their official state variety?

That of Massachusetts is "corn" while Minnesota's is "blueberry".

-A muffin.

-Muffin?

No, go with "pie". I think it probably is...

But it's corn.

-Corn and blueberry...

-Come on!

-Bread.

-Bread? Bread.

-No, it's muffins. Ten points for this.

The trilogy of plays by Aeschylus that comprises Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and...

-The Oresteia.

-The Oresteia is correct.

These bonuses, UCL, are on art and astronomy.

"That man am I, by whose accomplishment the painter's art was raised from the dead."

These words are from a memorial to which Italian artist, born around 1266?

WHISPERING

-Come on.

-Uccello.

-No, it's Giotto Di Bondone.

A space probe named after Giotto was part of an armada of craft

that made observations of which astronomical object in 1986?

-Halley's Comet.

-Correct, yes.

A heavenly object thought to be Halley's Comet appears in a fresco by Giotto

in the Arena Chapel in Padua, depicting what event in the early life of Jesus?

WHISPERING

-Adoration of the Magi.

-Correct.

We'll take a second picture round.

For your starter, you will see a painting by an American-born artist.

Ten points if you can name the artist.

-Whistler?

-It is Whistler, yes.

He was one of many western artists in the late 19th century and early 20th century

to be influenced by Japanese art and design, following the reopening of trade with Japan in the 1850s.

For your bonuses, here are three more examples of Japonisme in western art.

In each case, name the artist.

Firstly for five?

-Cezanne?

-No, that's Gauguin.

Secondly, this painting not in the artist's most familiar style?

-Try Toulouse-Lautrec.

-Toulouse-Lautrec.

No, that's by Monet. And finally?

-Van Gogh.

-It was by Van Gogh, yes. Right, ten points for this.

Begun in 1580, the year of his death,

the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza was the last building designed by which...

-Palladio.

-Palladio is correct, yes.

Your bonuses this time are on idioms.

"Das kommt mir spanisch vor" is a German idiom most nearly approximate to which English equivalent?

WHISPERING

-"It's all Greek to me."

-Correct. Which two-word English phrase suggestive of a European relative

is synonymous with a candid, but benevolent adviser or critic?

-Dutch uncle.

-Dutch uncle.

-Correct.

What is the English equivalent of the French idiom "filer a l'anglaise"?

WHISPERING

Come on, let's have it, please.

-Prodigal son.

-No, it's "to take French leave". Ten points for this.

In trigonometry, which function of an angle in a right-angled triangle can be found

by dividing the length of the side adjacent to the angle by the length of the hypotenuse?

-Cosine.

-Cosine is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on insect development, UCL.

From the Greek for "to flow", what word for a mythological water nymph refers

to the aquatic larva or nymph of, for example, a dragonfly?

-Dryad?

-I'll try that.

-Dryad?

-No, naiad. Derived from the Latin for "form" or "likeness", what six-letter word describes

a growth stage between periods of moulting in the development of an insect larva?

-Instar.

-Correct. The process by which an insect sheds its old exoskeleton

is known by what term derived from the Greek meaning "put off"?

WHISPERING

-Come on.

-WHISPERING CONTINUES

-Let's have it, please!

-Pass.

-It's ecdysis. Ten points for this.

First performed in 1958, which play by Shelagh Delaney concerns a working-class girl from...

-A Taste Of Honey.

-Correct.

Your bonuses, UCL, this time are on the To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Deriving from an archaic or dialect term meaning "tumult" or "trouble",

what phrase does Hamlet use to mean the turmoil of earthly life?

Sea of troubles?

Try "sea of troubles".

-Sea of troubles?

-No, it's "this mortal coil".

What term does Hamlet use to denote the unknowable afterlife "from whose bourn no traveller returns"?

-Let's have it, please.

-No, pass.

-It's "the undiscover'd country".

What two weapons does Hamlet describe as those inflicted by "outrageous fortune"?

-Slings and arrows.

-Correct. Ten points for this. Answer as soon as you buzz.

How many convex polyhedra make up the group of Archimedean solids?

-Five.

-No. One of you may buzz from Exeter.

-Seven.

-No, it's 13. Another starter question now.

Also referring to the guardians around the throne of God,

what name is given in Christian angelic hierarchy to the highest-ranking celestial...

-Archangels.

-I'm afraid you lose five points.

..celestial beings in the nine orders of angels?

-Seraphim.

-Seraphim is correct.

These bonuses are on the parliaments of EU member states.

Name the country whose seat of parliament is the following.

Firstly for five points, the Christiansborg Palace?

-Denmark.

-Correct.

Secondly, the Hotel de la Chambre on the street known as Krautmaart?

-Belgium?

-Go with Belgium.

THEY CONTINUE CONFERRING

-Belgium?

-It's Luxembourg.

Finally, the Sao Bento Palace?

-It's Portugal.

-Portugal? Portugal.

-Portugal is correct.

Ten points for this. Which sporting figure

is the subject of the biographies Nobody Ever Says Thank You...

-Brian Clough.

-Correct.

These bonuses this time are on the abbreviations used by the IUCN,

or International Union for Conservation of Nature,

in its annual Red List of plant and animal species under threat.

EN represents endangered animals and plants. What does the abbreviation CR mean?

-Let's get on with it.

-Critically endangered.

-Correct.

Species such as the red deer and the European hare are classed as LC, representing what to the IUCN?

-Least concern.

-Correct. In the same context, what is denoted by the letters EW?

No, sorry.

-Pass.

-Extinction in the wild. Ten points for this.

The number of letters in successive members of which familiar series of words is 3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3...

-Counting numbers.

-Correct. I was going to give you right up to 9, but I'll accept that.

-Your bonuses this time, UCL...

-GONG

And at the gong, the University of Exeter have 85, University College London have 260.

It started well, but you just faded.

You were up against a very strong team. We'll have to say goodbye to you, Exeter.

UCL, that's a terrific score. We shall look forward to seeing you in Round Two.

-Join us next time for another first round match, but it's goodbye from the University of Exeter.

-Goodbye.

-It's goodbye from UCL.

-Goodbye.

-And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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