Episode 35 University Challenge

University Challenge. Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. Around 120 teams applied to take part in this contest,

28 qualified to appear on the series

and now we're down to the last four as we begin the semi-finals.

Next time, we'll see Manchester University take on the University of Bangor.

Tonight's winning team will meet the winner of that match in the final.

Both teams tonight have made it to this stage without losing a contest.

The team from University College, London beat Exeter University

and Jesus College, Oxford in the first two rounds, then made short work of it in the quarters

by beating both teams playing next week, Bangor and Manchester.

Let's welcome them back for their fifth appearance.

Hello. I'm Adam Papaphilippopoulos.

I'm from London and I'm reading for an MA in Philosophy.

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

-Their captain.

-Hi, I'm Simon Dennis.

I'm also from London, studying the History and Philosophy of Science.

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

APPLAUSE

The team from New College, Oxford have also been merciless in their game play.

Their victims so far have been Homerton College, Cambridge,

the University of York, King's College, Cambridge and St George's, London.

Let's meet them also for the fifth time.

I'm Remi Beecroft from Hertfordshire, studying Psychology and Philosophy.

Hi, I'm India Lenon. I'm from London and I'm studying Classics.

-Their captain.

-I'm Andy Hood from Warwickshire

and I'm studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Hi, I'm Tom Cappleman from Berkshire, studying Mathematics.

APPLAUSE

Fingers on the buzzers, here's your first starter for ten.

What five letters begin the names of the following:

the son of Theseus who was dragged to his death but restored by Aesculapius,

the Queen of the Amazons in A Midsummer Night's Dream...

-Hippo.

-Hippo is correct, yes.

The first set of bonuses are on trading blocs, New College.

In December 2011, which South American trading bloc agreed to close its ports

to ships flying the Falkland Islands flag?

-ASEAN.

-No, it's Mercosur.

What name was given to the agreement reached by Canada, Mexico and the United States in 1993

that made the three countries a free trade area?

-NAFTA.

-Correct. Established in 1834,

the Zollverein Customs Union created a free trade area throughout much of which modern-day country?

-Modern-day Germany.

-Correct. Ten points for this.

James and George Loveless, Thomas and John Standfield, James Hammett and James Brine were arrested

in March 1834 for "unlawful assembly" and charged with "administering unlawful oaths".

By what collective name were they known?

-The Chartists?

-No.

-The Tolpuddle Martyrs?

-The Tolpuddle Martyrs is correct.

Right, your first bonuses, UCL, are on place names in England.

In each case, your answer will be two towns or cities whose names share a common suffix,

for example, London and Swindon.

Firstly, a town in North Derbyshire perhaps best known for the shape of its church's spire

and a West Yorkshire town noted for its Victorian architecture

and for having an unusually large number of listed buildings?

Chesterfield and Huddersfield.

Correct. Secondly, a port on the River Medway, site of a former Royal Navy Dockyard,

and the metropolitan borough north-east of Manchester, birthplace of the composer William Walton?

WHISPERING

Altrincham. Chatham and Altrincham.

-Chatham and Altrincham.

-No, it's Chatham and Oldham.

Finally, the cathedral city closest to Stonehenge

and the county town on the River Severn, the birthplace of Charles Darwin?

WHISPERING

-Salisbury and Shrewsbury.

-Correct.

Ten points for this. Who is this?

Born in Belfast in 1824 and raised in Glasgow,

he worked as chief consultant on the laying of the first submarine Atlantic cable

and patented a mirror galvanometer that improved telegraphic transmissions.

He is chiefly remembered for the absolute temperature scale...

-Lord Kelvin.

-Correct.

These bonuses, UCL, are on physics.

The 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared between two men, each of whom gives his name

to an equation formulated within the previous ten years.

Erwin Schrodinger was one. Who was the other?

WHISPERING

Dirac.

-Dirac.

-Correct. Dirac's Nobel Prize lecture concluded with the words:

"The two kinds of stars would show the same spectra and there would be no way of distinguishing them

"by present astronomical methods."

What was the difference between the two kinds of star he was discussing?

-One made of matter, one of anti-matter.

-Yes. To what physical phenomenon was Schrodinger referring

when he said, "We can easily hear a man calling from behind a high wall

"or around the corner of a solid house"?

WHISPERING

Diffraction of particles?

Diffraction is correct, yes. Ten points for this.

What two initials link the contemporary philosopher who wrote An Essay On Kindness,

the author of the lyrics of Land Of Hope And Glory,

a US market analyst who gives his name to a system of TV ratings

and the local rivals of Inter Milan?

-AC.

-AC is correct, yes.

These bonuses, UCL, are on the historical provinces of Japan

which were replaced by the current prefectures in the late 19th century.

Comprising the modern Kochi prefecture on the island of Shikoku,

which former province of Japan gives its name to a breed of mastiff originally bred for fighting?

WHISPERING

Come on.

-No, sorry.

-These dogs are tosas.

Which province corresponds to the area of the former capital of Nara

and gives its name to the dominant ethnic group of Japan,

as well as to a traditional style of painting and a WW2 battleship?

WHISPERING

-No. Sorry.

-It's Yamato.

Finally, comprising the south-west peninsula of the island of Kyushu,

which former province gives its name to a variety of citrus fruit?

-Satsuma.

-Correct. We'll take a picture round.

For your starter, you'll see a map of Africa with some countries highlighted.

The highlighted countries have a common official language.

Ten points if you can tell me what the language is.

-Portuguese.

-It is Portuguese, but next time you buzz, you must answer straight away.

So you get the picture bonuses.

Highlighted countries now are Portuguese-speaking countries.

For your picture bonuses, I want you to identify three of them.

Firstly for five...?

- Is that the Cape Verde Islands? - No.

-Sao Tome and Principe?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Sao Tome and Principe?

-Correct. Secondly...?

WHISPERING

-Guinea-Bissau?

-Correct. And finally...?

-Mozambique.

-Correct.

Right, ten points for this.

The VIX Index or the Chicago Board Options...

-Volatility.

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

..the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is a widely used measure of risk

and market volatility, sometimes known by what descriptive term,

used by Robert Harris as the title of his 2011 novel about trading in the financial markets?

It's The Fear Index. Ten points for this.

20 miles from the royal residence of Balmoral, which Aberdeenshire hamlet has, since 2011,

seen an unusual number of hits on its Wikipedia page?

Somewhat unfortunately, its name is an acronym of that of an ITV2 reality show...

The Only Way Is Essex?

No. ..whose principal figures include Jessica Wright and Lauren Goodger?

Made In Chelsea.

No, it's Towie. It was The Only Way Is Essex, but the hamlet is called Towie. Ten points for this.

"The author of this sick little play has the traditional, irrational hatred of the police

"common to all narrow-minded left-wingers and so..."

-Dario Fo.

-No, you lose five points.

"..and so I shall, no doubt, be the unwilling butt of endless anti-authoritarian jibes."

These words of Inspector Bertozzo appear at the beginning of which farce, first performed in 1970?

Come on. It's the Accidental Death Of An Anarchist by, as you say, Dario Fo. Ten points for this.

Listen carefully. Since the end of 1999, there have been four days

whose dates, when expressed in the DD-MM-YYYY format,

consist of eight digits which, when taken individually, add up to four.

Which was the last such date to occur?

1st of January, 2011.

Nope.

1st of January, 2000.

No, 10th of October, 2000. Ten points for this. Answer as soon as your name is called.

If standard gravity is 10 metres per second squared and atmospheric pressure is 100,000 pascals,

what depth of water corresponds to one atmosphere of pressure?

-10 metres.

-Correct.

New College, these bonuses are on cities.

In each case, name the city from the description given in heraldic terminology

of the shield at the centre of its coat of arms. Each answer is an English coastal city.

Firstly, argent, two dolphins naiant, sable,

a bordure azure charged with six martlets or?

You get dolphins in Bournemouth, on the south coast.

Portsmouth, do you think?

-Portsmouth.

-No, it's Brighton and Hove.

Secondly, argent, a cormorant in the beak, a branch of seaweed called laver, all proper?

You get laver in Wales, but...

-Somewhere on the Welsh coast?

-It's English, though.

- Bristol? - Yeah.

-Bristol?

-No, it's Liverpool.

Finally, azure, a crescent ensigned by an estoile of eight points or?

-Portsmouth.

-Correct. Ten points for this starter question.

Which mirliton was patented in 1883 by Warren Herbert Frost?

A basic type of musical instrument rarely heard in western classical music,

it is today most frequently found in the familiar "submarine" shape.

-A zither?

-No. Anyone want to buzz from UCL?

-A whirligig?

-No, it's a kazoo. Ten points for this.

Acer, HTC, Foxconn and Quanta Computer are among the major technology companies

that have their headquarters on which...

-Taiwan.

-Taiwan is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on insects in music.

Set by both Beethoven and Mussorgsky, which song performed by Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust

is named after the small wingless insect, Pulex irritans?

WHISPERING

-Woodlouse?

-No, the Song of the Flea.

The Flight Of The Bumblebee is an orchestral interlude in an opera of 1900 by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Who is the title character?

-Peter?

-No, it's Tsar Saltan.

Finally, which English composer wrote the incidental music The Wasps in 1909

for a production of Aristophanes' play of that title?

-Ralph Vaughan Williams.

-Correct. We'll take a music round now.

For your starter, you'll hear a piece of classical music. For ten points, name the composer.

SOMBRE MUSIC PLAYS

-Handel.

-Handel is correct, yes.

Keyboard Suite in D Minor: Sarabande. He was organist and composer at the Chapel Royal,

during the reign of George II. You'll hear more pieces by notable composers

all born in Britain who wrote and played for the Chapel Royal in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Five points for each composer. Firstly, this composer, appointed Gentleman of the Chapel Royal

under the reign of Elizabeth I.

CHORAL WORK PLAYS

-Thomas Tallis?

-No, William Byrd, Mass For Five Voices.

Secondly, this composer, appointed 1682.

MUSIC BEGINS

-Er, Purcell.

-It is Purcell, yes.

And finally this composer, also appointed Gentleman of the Chapel Royal under Elizabeth I.

CHORAL WORK BEGINS

-Tallis?

-That is Tallis. Right, 10 points for this.

What is the common name of mammals of the order chiroptera?

They have a high metabolic rate and their forelimbs are patagiated, forming a wing.

-Bats?

-Bats is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on human anatomy.

The plantar fascia is a fibrous band that helps maintain the structure and shape

of which part of the human body?

-The foot?

-Correct. What collective name is given to the seven rounded bones in the foot,

including the cuboid, talus and calcaneus?

-Metatarsals?

-No, tarsals. From a Greek term for close-order infantry,

what name denotes the 14 bones found in the toes?

-Phalanges.

-Correct. The author of The Conscience of A Liberal,

which columnist for the New York Times...

-Paul Krugman.

-Correct.

Your bonuses are on terminology used in the shipping forecast according to the Met Office website.

According to the glossary, "soon" means "expected within 6-12 hours of time of issue".

What word means "expected within 6 hours of time of issue"?

-Imminent?

-Correct. What present participle is defined as "the changing of the wind

"in the opposite direction to veering," for example, south-east to north-east?

-Continuing?

-Backing. What short word is used to describe visibility of more than five nautical miles?

-Clear.

-Good. 10 points for this. In party political terms,

what links Reginald Prentice in 1977, Peter Thurnham in 1996,

Shaun Woodward in 1999 and...

-They moved from the Conservative to the Labour Party.

-No. ..and Quentin Davies in 2007?

-They crossed the House?

-They crossed the floor, right. They weren't all in the same direction.

You get the bonuses, UCL. They're on Chinese literature.

Si-Ma Chen is described as "the father of Chinese historiography" and wrote a history of China

from the Yellow Emperor until his own time. During which dynasty did he live?

-Han?

-Correct. The poets Li Bo, Du Fu and Wang Wei all lived during which dynasty?

-Tang.

-Correct. Which dynasty saw the publication of the vernacular fiction works Journey To The West,

also known as Monkey, and The Plum In The Golden Vase,

described as the Fanny Hill of Chinese literature?

-Song?

-No, Ming. 10 points for this. Used poetically for a star, planet or moon or for the eye or eyeball,

what three-letter word...

-Orb.

-Orb is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on nuclear physics, UCL.

Excluding the free neutron, what is the lightest radioactive nuclear isotope with a 12.3-year half-life?

-Deuterium?

-No, tritium. Tritium contains one proton and two neutrons

each based around three quarks of up and down varieties. In total, how many up and down quarks

form a tritium nucleus?

Come on, let's have it, please.

-Nine.

-Specifically, up and down?

-6 up, 3 down?

-Sorry?

-6 up, 3 down?

-No, 4 up and 5 down.

Tritium decays by emitting a beta particle, resulting in which isotope

with 5 up and 4 down quarks? It is present in measurable quantities in lunar soil.

-I think that would be Helium Three.

-Helium Three?

-Correct. We're going to take another picture round.

You're going to see a painting. 10 points if you can give me the name of the artist.

-Caravaggio.

-Correct. The Adoration of the Shepherds.

Your bonuses are three other depictions of that scene,

all painted in the 17th century. Identify the artist in each case.

Firstly, for five, this Flemish painter.

-Van Eyck?

-No, that's Rubens. Secondly, this Cretan-born painter.

-Nominate Cappleman.

-El Greco.

-Correct. And, finally, this Dutch painter.

-Rembrandt?

-Correct. A Nylander solution, containing bismuth sub-nitrate and Rochelle salt,

is used to detect the presence of what specific substance in urine?

The solution turns black in a positive reaction.

-Alcohol?

-No.

-Glucose?

-Glucose is right, yes!

These bonuses are on the odes of John Keats. Which ode ends with, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty -

"that is all ye know on Earth and all ye need to know"?

-Grecian Urn.

-Correct. "O latest-born and loveliest vision far Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy."

Which goddess does Keats address with those words?

-Em, beauty... What...?

-Aphrodite?

-Yeah, I think.

-Aphrodite.

-No, it's Psyche.

To what personification does Keats address the ode in which he asks,

"Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music, too"?

-Jack Frost or something.

-Jack Frost.

-No, it's the Ode to Autumn.

Five minutes to go. For what real values of X and Y

does the square of X plus Y equal X squared plus Y squared?

Er, one and zero.

Nope.

Is anyone going to buzz from UCL?

-Two.

-No, it's when X equals zero or Y equals zero. 10 points for this.

If the sixteen states of Germany are arranged alphabetically by their English name, which comes second?

-Bavaria.

-Correct.

Your bonuses are on world rulers. I'll read a list of rulers who were on the throne or in power

during the first year of a century of the common era. In each case, I simply want the century.

Firstly, Chandragupta II of India,

Yazdegerd I of Sassanid Persia and Alaric I of the Visigoths?

The 400s.

-Fifth century? Fifth.

-Correct. Secondly, Magnus Barefoot of Norway,

Baldwin II, Count of Edessa, and the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus?

-11th?

-No, it's the 12th.

And, finally, Emperor Kangxi of the Ch'ing Dynasty, the Mughal Emperor Aurang-Zeb

and Charles XII of Sweden?

-18th.

-Correct. 10 points for this. Gateshead Hall, Ferndean Manor, Moor House, Lowood School

and Thornfield Hall are among...

-Jane Eyre?

-Correct.

These bonuses are on people born in the city of Rouen.

Le Cid, La Veuve and Cinna are among the tragedies of which dramatist,

born in Rouen in 1606 and a rival of Racine?

-Come on.

-Sorry, we don't know.

-Corneille. Born 1791,

which influential painter's work includes The Charging Chasseur,

Portrait of a Kleptomaniac and The Raft of The Medusa?

-Nominate Beecroft.

-Er...

-I don't know, sorry.

-It's Gericault. That was on the tip of your tongue.

Born in Rouen in 1864, the author Maurice Leblanc created which "gentleman thief",

sometimes seen as a counterpart to Sherlock Holmes?

-No?

-We don't know.

-Arsene Lupin. 10 points for this. In which regular polygon is the internal angle

at each vertex 135 degrees...

-Octagon.

-Octagon is correct. Your bonuses are on astronomy.

Named after a German astronomer born in 1854, Kreutz Sungrazers are a related group

of what astronomical objects?

-Asteroids.

-No, they're comets. The source of the Taurid meteor showers,

and with an orbital period of only around three years, which comet was the second shown to be periodic?

-We don't know.

-Encke. In what year is Halley's Comet predicted to return to perihelion

or its closest approach to the Sun? You can have five years either side.

-2056.

-I'll accept that. 2061. 10 points for this.

Port Natal is the former name of which Indian Ocean coastal city, the chief sea port of South Africa?

-Durban.

-Durban is right. Your bonuses are on the Silk Route.

Formerly the eastern terminus of the Silk Route, the name of which Chinese city means "Western Peace"?

-Quickly.

-Beijing.

-Xi'an. South-east of Urumqi in western China,

which city on the Silk Route gives its name to a depression that is one of the lowest points on Earth?

-Quickly.

-No, sorry.

-It's Turpan. Formerly a staging point on the northern Silk Route,

Khujand, at the entrance to the Fergana Valley, is the second city of which republic?

-Kyrgyzstan.

-No, Tajikistan.

The novel The Outcast and the play Six Characters In Search of An Author...

-Camus. Not right.

-Lose 5 points. ..are among the works of which Nobel Prize-winning Italian writer?

-One of you buzz.

-Primo Levi.

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

Sus scrofa is the scientific name for which domesticated mammal,

breeds of which include the Duroc, Landrace, Spotted and Large White?

-Pig.

-Pig is correct. Your bonuses are on fictional pigs.

In a series of stories by PG Wodehouse, what is the prize-winning pig owned by Lord Emsworth?

-The Duchess of Blandings.

-Empress of Blandings. Described as "majestic-looking...

"wise and benevolent..." which pig in Animal Farm dies

three days after organising the first meeting of the animals?

-Come on.

-Old Major?

-Correct. What is the name of the porcine title character

in Dick King-Smith's 1983 book The Sheep-Pig?

-Babe.

-Correct.

-GONG

Well, New College, we have to say goodbye to you, but to go out in the semi-finals is pretty good.

Congratulations. Thank you very much for joining us.

UCL, you give your answers with a wonderful mixture of disdain and diffidence.

I don't know what this signifies. You go through to the finals. We look forward to seeing you there.

Well done.

I hope you can join us next time for the last semi-final.

Until then, it's goodbye from New College, goodbye from UCL

and it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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