Episode 19 University Challenge

'University Challenge.

'Asking the questions - Jeremy Paxman.'

APPLAUSE

Hello. 30 minutes of intellectual hurly-burly lie ahead

in a battle to win a place in the quarterfinals.

Somerville College, Oxford and Queen's University of Belfast are through.

Whoever wins tonight will join them.

The team from Clare College, Cambridge, had a close match against Loughborough in round one,

winning with 195 points and a 40-point margin,

aided by the knowledge of Oliver Cromwell, the Greek alphabet and Kepler's third law.

Although they might want to brush up on the angora goat.

With an average age of 20, let's meet the Clare team again.

I'm Tom Watson from Lincolnshire and I'm reading Chinese studies.

I'm Carys Redman-White from Hampshire and I read veterinary medicine.

And their captain. My name's Tom Wright.

I'm from Sevenoaks, Kent, and I'm reading theology.

My name is Mark Chonofsky. I'm from Boston, Massachusetts, and I study physics.

APPLAUSE

Their opponents, Christ Church, Oxford, had a hard time of it against Trinity College, Cambridge,

losing by 300 points to 150.

They returned as one of the highest scoring losing teams

and won their play-off against Durham by 245 to 140.

That match gave them the opportunity

to show off such a close familiarity with Canadian pop music that clearly Christ Church students

spend their evenings around the dance set listening to Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette and Celine Dion.

Let's meet these hipsters again.

My name's George Greenwood.

I'm studying philosophy, politics and economics and I'm from Exeter.

I'm Andreas Capstack. I'm from Norway and I also study philosophy, politics and economics.

And their captain. I'm Ewan MacAulay.

I'm from Hong Kong and I'm reading chemistry.

I'm Phil Ostrowski. I'm from Poland and I'm studying cardiology.

APPLAUSE

Let's not waste any time. Fingers on the buzzers.

Here's your first starter for ten.

An influential supporter of liberal social causes,

which Hungarian-born US financier...?

'Christ Church, Ostrowski.'

Soros. George Soros is correct.

APPLAUSE

So you get at the first set of bonuses, on the United Nations.

Which of the principal organs of the United Nations is described in its charter

as having the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace?

Security Council?

Security Council. Correct.

The ten non-permanent members of the Security Council are elected for a term of what length?

Ten years? Five years? Five years.

Five years. No, it's two years.

The UK and the USA are two permanent members of the Security Council. Name the other three.

France, Russia, China. Correct. Another starter question.

"I completely wreck and sack Woking then proceed via Kingston and Richmond to London,

"selecting South Kensington for feats of peculiar atrocity."

These are the words of which author in the plan for his novel published in book form in 1898?

'Christ Church, MacAulay.' HG Wells?

Correct. The War Of The Worlds. Yes. APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Christ Church, are on Oscar Wilde.

In which work of 1898 did Oscar Wilde write,

"Yet each man kills the thing he loves"?

Anyone know Wilde? Other than Dorian Gray.

Could that be it? It could be.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray? No, it's The Ballad Of Reading Gaol.

What four words complete this sentence from A Woman Of No Importance?

"Moderation is a fatal thing, Lady Hunstanton."

Too much of it can... Oh, God! That's too many words! Hang on.

Too much can kill? Yeah, go for it.

Too much can kill? No. It's "nothing succeeds like excess".

Oh. And finally, in The Importance Of Being Earnest,

Gwendolen Fairfax never travels without what object because

"one should always have something sensational to read on the train"?

Her diary. Correct.

Ten points for this. Meanings of which six-letter word

include "a point at which the hessian determinant of a function of two variables is negative",

"a point on a surface that's a maximum in one plane..."?

'Clare, Chonofsky.'

Saddle. Correct. APPLAUSE

Your first bonuses are on place names and their anagrams.

Give both words from the explanation or definition.

Firstly, a large north African country and the insignia of royalty,

for example, the crown, sceptre and orb.

Um... A large north African country?

Any idea anyone? I don't know.

We have no idea.

It's Algeria and regalia.

Secondly, a town in Massachusetts that gives its name to a prominent liberal arts college

and a burrowing rodent with large cheek pouches.

Hamster or gerbil?

Hamster, gerbil. What's the town in Massachusetts?

WHISPERING

We don't know. You were halfway there. It's Amherst and hamster.

Lastly, a state of north-east India noted for the production of tea,

and to gather together or accumulate, for example a fortune or library.

North-east state is going to be Kashmir or...

North-east. Actually, north-east. Assam or Sikkim...

Amass and Assam. Correct. Ten points for this.

Given a logical proposition, what term describes the equivalent statement

derived by interchanging and negating both the subject...?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Contrapositive.

Correct. Well done. APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Clare College, are on complex function theory.

What term describes a complex function of a complex variable

having a complex derivative at every point of its domain

and, in consequence, having derivatives of all orders?

Analytic? Correct.

The surnames of which two mathematicians are associated with a pair of equations

linking the partial derivatives of the real and imaginary parts of a complex analytic function?

WHISPERS

Er...

Nominate Chonofsky.

Sturm and Liouville? No, it's Cauchy and Riemann.

Which famous complex analytic function has Taylor series expansion equal to the sum

of a non-negative n of z to the power n divided by n factorial?

Er... WHISPERS

The exponential function. Correct. Ten points for this.

Meaning "forethought", the name of which mythical figure...?

'Clare, Wright.' Prometheus. Correct. Well done.

APPLAUSE

Gives you the lead. Your bonuses are on New York, Clare.

Associated with amusement parks and the birth of the hotdog,

which peninsula lies in the southern-most part of the borough of Brooklyn?

Coney Island. Correct.

In 1609, which British explorer commanding the Half Moon

put in at Coney Island before continuing to what is now New York harbour?

Hudson. Correct.

Which film by Woody Allen includes a sequence

in which his character's childhood home is revealed to be at the foot of a Coney Island roller coaster?

Anyone? Don't know it.

Annie Hall? Correct. APPLAUSE

Time for a bit of picture fun.

A fictional family tree.

Ten points if you can give me the missing name.

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Eliza Bennet.

N-nope.

'Christ Church, MacAulay.' Elizabeth Bennet?

Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. That's correct.

You get a set of bonuses on other characters in Jane Austen's novels.

Three more family trees.

Name both the missing character and the title of the novel.

Firstly, for five.

I think this is Sense and Sensibility.

Guess. I've got no idea. Anyone read that?

LAUGHTER Between us, no-one? Nope.

Let's go for Mary Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility.

No, it's Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. Nearly there!

But not good enough.

Secondly...

Ah! That could be the Eliza one.

What do you reckon? Mansfield Park? Northanger Abbey?

Has anyone read Austen? No! OK. LAUGHTER

Eliza Bertram, Northanger Abbey. No. It's Edmund Bertram, Mansfield Park.

Finally, this section of a family tree.

Oh, come on! This is...

Let's go for TS Eliot! LAUGHTER

And...I reckon Emma. Go for it. OK.

Emma? Is that Jane Austen? I think it is.

Then make it Emma. Oh, yeah. Emma Elliot, Emma?

No, it's Anne Elliot in Persuasion.

Serves you right! You should read more! Ten points for this.

Meaning "self-sufficiency" what Greek-derived word is used for a country or state which aims...?

'Christ Church, Capstack.' Autonomous.

I'm afraid you lose five points. ..aims for economic independence by cutting off trade with the world?

'Clare, Watson.' Autarchy. Correct.

APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses, Clare, are on optical illusions.

What type of building gives its name to an optical illusion

in which a rotating object appears to spin in the opposite direction

when viewed at an angle in silhouette from long distance?

WHISPERING

Carousel? No. It's a windmill.

What surname of an English father and son, the latter a noted mathematician,

is given to diagrams in which a triangle and a staircase represent physically impossible objects?

WHISPERING

Asher?

Asher. No. It's Penrose.

An optical phenomenon in which a photograph is viewed upside down

but with the eyes and the mouth in the original orientation

takes its name from which Prime Minister?

WHISPERS Tony Badger?

LAUGHING: It's Margaret Thatcher!

Ten points for this. Electron, muon and tao are the three types of...?

'Christ Church, MacAulay.'

Neutrino. Correct. APPLAUSE

These bonuses, Christ Church, are on cell biology.

Named after a shared structural feature of the four-membered cyclic amide ring,

which class of antibiotics includes penicillins and cephalosporins?

Beta-lactams. Beta-lactams.

Correct. Beta-lactams disrupt the synthesis of a key biomolecule

required for the structural integrity of many bacteria.

What's the name of this biomolecule? Penicillin binding protein.

Murein or peptid. This is the compound....

UNCLEAR

OK. Nomenate Ostrowski. Penicillin binding protein.

No, it's murein or peptidoglycan. Never mind.

Peptidoglycan contains the monosaccharide abbreviated to NAG.

What's the full name of NAG?

N-acetylglycosamine? Do you think?

N-acetylglycosamine. No. It's N-acetylglucosamine.

What name was given to the 31 radio addresses...?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Fireside chats. Correct.

A set of bonus questions to Clare College.

They're on an English parish church.

Noted for its fine four-decker perpendicular tower,

the parish church of Mells lies five miles southeast of Midsomer Norton and Radstock,

former centres of coal mining in which English county?

WHISPERING

North Yorkshire. No, it's Somerset.

The three-volume memoirs of George Sherston and the First World War poems Everyone Sang and The General

are works by which literary figure who is buried in Mells churchyard?

Wilfred Owen or Siegfried Sassoon in World War I.

Um, The General! We did that in, like, year nine. I can't remember.

It's one of the two!

Wilfred Owen? No, it's the other one, Siegfried Sassoon.

The south wall of Mells church bears a memorial to Raymond,

the son of which Prime Minister killed during the Battle of the Somme?

He'd be the son of... David Lloyd George?

Sounds possible.

David Lloyd George? No, it was Asquith, his predecessor.

Which US film director and actor is regarded as the driving force

behind the construction of Shakespeare's Globe...?

'Clare, Wright.' Sam Wanamaker.

Correct. APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses are on the Orwell Prize for political writing.

The winner of the Orwell Prize in 2007, Having It So Good by Peter Hennessy,

is an account of Britain during which decade?

WHISPERING

Was it '50s? Yeah. 1950s.

Correct. The 2010 winner, Keeper, "a book about memory, identity, isolation, Wordsworth and cake",

is Andrea Gillies' journal of caring for a relative suffering from what disease?

I'd try Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's. Correct.

Toby Harnden's 2012 Orwell Prize winning work Dead Men Risen

is subtitled "The Welsh Guards and the defining story of Britain's war in..." which country?

It would be Afghanistan or Iraq.

Afghanistan or Iraq?

Iraq? No. It's Afghanistan. Ten points for this.

Bruno Rossi, Enrico Fermi, Lyman Spitzer,

William Herschel and Max Planck have given their name to examples of what specific...?

'Christ Church, Greenwood.' Telescopes. Space telescopes.

Space telescopes is correct. You get this set of bonuses on ions.

Which element has the largest first ionisation energy?

Helium. Correct. Born in Prague in 1850,

which scientist gives his name to the series in which ions are ranked

according to their ability to stabilise the structures of proteins?

No?

Nothing. Um... Pass. It's Franz Hofmeister.

Finally, the charge of a sodium ion is plus one.

What is the charge of a dichromate ion?

Dichromate? That's Cr2...

Two minus. Correct.

Time for a music round.

You'll hear a well-known piece of classical music.

Ten points if you can give me the name of the Italian composer.

MUSIC PLAYS

'Clare, Watson.' Verdi.

Yep. Do you know what it was? The Dies irae? Correct. Well done.

APPLAUSE

Following on from Verdi's requiem, for your bonuses, three more requiems.

I want the name of the composer. Firstly, this British composer.

REQUIEM PLAYS

WHISPERING

John Rutter? No. It's Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

Secondly, this Czech composer.

REQUIEM PLAYS

WHISPERING

Smetana? No. It's Dvorak's Requiem in B-flat minor.

And finally, this Russian composer.

REQUIEM PLAYS

WHISPERING

Stravinsky. It is, from his Requiem Canticles.

Ten points for this.

For which positive integers n

does a real polonomial of degree n necessarily have a real root?

'Christ Church, MacAulay.' Even numbers?

Anyone like to buzz from Clare?

'Clare, Wright.' Three?

No. It's odd integers. Ten points for this.

Between 1950 and 2010, four men served as Chancellor before becoming Prime Minister.

One was Harold Macmillan. Name two of the others.

'Christ Church, Greenwood.' Gordon Brown and John Major.

Correct. The other one was Jim Callaghan.

APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses are on the art critic Robert Hughes.

Robert Hughes's 1987 work The Fatal Shore

is a history of the settlement of which country, the place of his birth?

Fatal Shore? He was from, I don't know, Canada? America?

WHISPERS South Africa, maybe? Oh, yeah.

South Africa. No. It was Australia.

What was the title of Hughes's account of modern art which appeared

both in print and as a television series in 1980?

Anyone got ANY clue? No. Pass. The Shock Of The New.

Born 1746, which Spanish artist is the subject of a 2003 biography by Robert Hughes?

GREENWOOD: Goya. Goya? Are you sure?

It's Goya. Might be Velasquez.

Velasquez. No. It was Goya. CAPSTACK: Sorry.

Ten points for this. Give three rhyming words that mean

vegetable emblem of Wales,

inheritor of the Earth according to the Beatitudes, and Hellenic language.

'Christ Church, Ostrowski.' Leek, meek and Greek.

Correct. APPLAUSE

Your bonuses are on European capitals.

In each case, identify the city from its metro stations.

Firstly, for five points - Cavour, Lepanto and Barberini.

That sounds like Istanbul, doesn't it? Is that European?

Rome? Where was the Battle of Lepanto?

That was somewhere in the Mediterranean. I think probably...

- Milan's metro? - I think Rome.

Give me an answer. Does Rome have a metro system? Yes, definitely.

OK. Rome. Rome is correct.

Second - Alvik, Gamla stan and Hallonburgen.

That sounds somewhere in Germany. No, it's Scandinavian. OK.

Stockholm? Yeah, Stockholm does have a... Stockholm.

Correct. Finally, Erasmus, Jacques Brel and Eddy Merckx.

Eddy Merckx, that sounds like Brussels or Antwerp.

Brussels definitely does, or it could be Amsterdam.

Erasmus is Brussels. Yeah, Brussels.

Brussels. Brussels is correct.

As depicted in a series of paintings by Edouard Manet,

which Austrian Archduke and Emperor of Mexico was executed...?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Maximilian.

Maximilian I is right. APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on the Venerable Bede.

As exemplars for the clerics of the day, Bede cites St Aidan and which saint born around 634?

His tomb is at Durham Cathedral, which is dedicated to him.

St Cuthbert? Yeah, St Cuthbert. St Cuthbert.

Correct. In addition to their other merits,

Bede's historical works are notable for popularising which dating system

devised by the Greek monk Dionysius the Short in the 6th century?

Might be the Georgian calendar.

Or Gregorian? Gregorian.

Gregorian calendar. It's AD and BC.

In the late 9th century, which King produced the first English version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History?

WHISPERING

It's not Edward the Confessor.

Alfred? No, no. Alfred's too early.

Athelstan? Athelstan.

No. It's Alfred the Great.

Another picture round. You'll see a work by a French artist.

For ten points, name the artist.

Is anyone going to buzz?

Doesn't look like it. That's by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

Picture bonuses shortly. Ten points at stake for this.

In thermodynamics, what name is given to a process in which no heat flows in or out...?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Adiabatic.

Correct. APPLAUSE

We follow on from the unidentified Toulouse Lautrec

with bonuses of three more depictions of horse racing by French artists.

Name the artist. Firstly, for five...

WHISPERING

REDMAN-WHITE: I thought it was Degas but I could be wrong. I don't know.

CHONOFSKY: I think Degas is right.

Degas. No. It's Edouard Manet, The Races At Longchamp.

Secondly...

WHISPERING

Any ideas? No. Anything?

Renoir? No. That's Gericault's The Horse Race.

And finally...

WHISPERING

Anything from this end? REDMAN-WHITE: No. Just guess Degas.

Nominate Chonofsky. Pissarro?

No. That's Degas, The Parade.

Singapore and which other Asian country

are connected to neighbouring countries solely by man-made bridges and causeways?

Bahrain. Bahrain is correct.

APPLAUSE

These bonuses are on characters in Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Identify the character from the description given at the beginning of the play.

"Son to the King of Naples". Was that Sebastian or Ferdinand?

Sebastian. No, it's Ferdinand.

Secondly, "a drunken butler".

Nicholas. No, that's Stephano.

Finally, "a savage and deformed slave".

Caliban. Yes. Ten points for this.

The name of which type of medical specialist

appears in the subtitles of Complications and Better,

works by the US professor Atul Gawande?

'Clare Chonofsky.' Cardiologist.

No. Anyone like to buzz from Christ Church?

'Christ Church, MacAulay.' Dentist.

It's surgeon. Ten points for this.

"I have no bright or clever friends"

is a mnemonic for the seven chemical elements that tend to occur in what molecular form?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' Diatomic.

Correct. APPLAUSE

This set of bonuses, Clare College, are on geography.

Astrakhan in Russia and Bandar-e Anzali in Iran

are among major ports on which body of water?

Black Sea. No. It's the Caspian Sea.

Which national capital is situated on the western shore of the Caspian sea?

WHISPERING

Tashkent, maybe? Let's have it, please. Tashkent.

No. It's Baku in Azerbaijan. Which river provides 80% of the freshwater inflow to the Caspian Sea?

The Ural. No. It's the Volga. Three minutes to go.

Which of Shakespeare's title characters speaks the lines,

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child"?

'Christ Church, Ostrowski.' King Lear.

King Lear is right. These bonuses are on science.

What's the medical term for a condition of blueness, particularly in the face and lips..

Cyanosis. Cyanosis is right.

What two elements joined by a triple bond comprise the cyano functional group?

Carbon and oxygen. No. It's carbon and nitrogen.

What is the complementary colour of cyan in the RGB colour model?

Green and blue, so red. Orange. Red?

Sure? Quite. Red. It is red. Yes.

Ten points for this starter question.

In 1913, four years before its last ruler abdicated,

which dynasty celebrated 300 years as rulers of Russia?

'Christ Church, Greenwood.' The Romanovs. Correct.

These bonuses... APPLAUSE

You get the lead. ..are on July 1960.

In which country was Mrs Bandaranaike elected the world's first female Prime Minister?

Bandaranaike? Bandaranaike?

Greek? Let's have it, please.

No? Philippines? Philippines?

Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was.

Also July 1960, shortly after the Belgian Congo declared independence,

which mineral-rich province attempted to secede from the new republic?

Provinces? WHISPERING

Well, did it attempt to or succeed? Come on. Let's have it.

Republic of Congo. No. It's Katanga.

Its characters including Bob Ewell and Boo Radley,

which novel was first published in the United States in July 1960?

Um, um, um...

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

No. It's To Kill A Mockingird.

Expressed in metres, how long is a mile...?

'Clare, Chonofsky.' 1,609.

Correct. Yes. APPLAUSE

You retake the lead, Clare. These bonuses are on composers born in the 1860s.

Name the composer from their listed works.

The Karelia Suite, the Swan of Tuonela and the tone poem, Tapiola.

Stravinsky. Stravinsky.

No, Sibelius. The French composer whose austere piano pieces

include the Gymnopedies and the Gnossiennes.

Satie.

Satie. It is Satie. Finally, the German composer of operas

including Ariadne auf Naxos and Der Rosenkavalier.

Wagner. Wagner.

No. It's Richard Strauss.

Answer as soon as your name is called.

Meaning "an exact copy" give the dictionary spelling of "facsimile".

'Christ Church, MacAulay.' F-A-C-S-I-M-I-L-E.

Correct! APPLAUSE

A set of bonuses for you on biochemistry.

From the German for "hybrid", what term denotes molecules such as amino acids

which have both positively and negatively charged regions?

UNCLEAR

GONG

It's an absolute dead heat. Now, I will ask a starter question.

If you answer it correctly, you get ten points, you win.

If you interrupt it incorrectly, you lose five points

and the other other team doesn't even have to give an answer.

Everybody clear? So, the next one off the pile.

Fingers on the buzzers.

Elevators and ailerons are parts that affect the movement of...?

'Clare, Wright.' Aeroplanes.

Correct! APPLAUSE

That was amazing!

You couldn't have a closer finish.

Christ Church, bad luck to lose it on such an easy question, really!

They were very fast on the buzzer and they did lead much of the way.

We've enjoyed having you with us. You're very entertaining when you're conferring.

Congratulations, Clare, you were also entertaining, although you like living dangerously.

We look forward to seeing you in the next stage.

I hope you join us next time but until then,

it's goodbye from Christ Church, Oxford. Goodbye.

Goodbye from Clare College, Cambridge. Goodbye. And it's goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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