Episode 2 University Challenge

University Challenge.

Asking the questions, Jeremy Paxman.

Hello. For the next half hour, we'll follow the lead of Wackford Squeers,

that much-misunderstood hero of English fiction, and testing two teams on languages living and dead,

mathematics, orthography, geometry, astronomy, trigonometry and the use of the globes.

Whichever team survives comes back for more categising in Round Two.

St John's College, Cambridge, was founded in the early 16th century

thanks to Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and the energies of her executor,

which together turned the ancient hospital of St John the Evangelist

into a college for students of theology and the liberal arts.

Its buildings include a chapel by George Gilbert Scott and the "Bridge of Sighs" over the Cam.

Alumni include John Dee, alchemist and astronomer to Elizabeth I,

William Wordsworth, William Wilberforce and Lord Palmerston.

Paul Dirac was a student there, as were the actor Derek Jacobi and comedian Hugh Dennis.

Tonight's team have an average age of 19 and play on behalf of 900 fellow students. Let's meet them.

Hi, my name's Jarret, I'm from Singapore. I'm a first year, reading Law.

Hi, I'm Casey, from London, a second year, reading Neuroscience and Philosophy.

-And their captain...

-Hi, I'm Anna, from Buckinghamshire, and I read Economics.

Hi, I'm Robin, from Hitchin, reading Classics.

APPLAUSE

Their opponents from the University of Reading are playing on behalf of nearly 23,000 students.

It began life with the establishment of Schools of Art and Science in the late-19th century

and became an extension college of Christ Church, Oxford. Wilfred Owen studied there.

It gained its charter in 1926, having received a donation of land from the local Palmer family,

who made their money as half of the Huntley and Palmer biscuit magnates. They wear the mantle of Garibaldi.

Alumni include the former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, musician Jamie Cullum

and Julian Barrett of The Mighty Boosh fame. With an average age of 26, let's meet the Reading team.

Hi, I'm Michael Dunleavy, from Wakefield, reading Biomedical Sciences.

Hi, I'm Christopher White, from Watford, studying History.

-And their captain...

-Hi, I'm Peter Burgess, from West Yorkshire,

working on an Engineering doctorate in solar power monitoring.

Hi, I'm Luke Tudge, also from West Yorkshire, studying Psychology.

APPLAUSE

OK, the rules are the same as always. Ten points for starters, which must be answered individually,

on the buzzer, and bonuses are worth fifteen points. They're team efforts and you can confer for those.

Interrupt a starter incorrectly, you get fined five points.

Fingers on buzzers, here's your first starter. "Workers of all lands, unite!"

These words appear on the tombstone of which revolutionary in London's Highgate cemetery?

-Karl Marx?

-Correct.

The first bonuses are on politicians born in 1913. In each case, name the person from the description.

The Prime Minister of Israel from 1977-1983, co-recipient with Anwar Sadat of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.

Was Yitzhak Rabin the President? He got a Nobel Peace Prize?

-I don't think it's Peres. Yitzhak Rabin?

-No.

It's Menachem Begin. A biographer of Aneurin Bevan and Jonathan Swift,

he was Leader of the Opposition from 1980 to '83.

-Michael Foot?

-Yes...

-Michael Foot?

-Correct.

The German Chancellor from 1969 to '74. In 1971, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Willy Brandt?

Yes, yes, I think it is.

-Willy Brandt?

-It was, yes. Ten points for this. In his year-end press conference of December 2004,

the then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan used what two-word phrase

to describe that particularly difficult year? It is more commonly associated with the Queen...

-Annus horribilis?

-Correct.

These bonuses, Reading, are on medical terms.

19th-century physicians John Cheyne and William Stokes give their names

to an abnormality in which bodily process?

If you don't know, I don't know.

Something to do with the lungs.

-Lungs?

-Bodily process I want. It's breathing. You were in the right area, but that's not the answer.

Which medical term refers to a temporary suspension of breathing

when there's no apparent movement of the muscles of respiration

and the volume of the lungs remains initially unchanged?

-Apnoea?

-Correct. Which common respiratory disease occurs with the swelling of the bronchial tubes,

sometimes inducing a state of spasm with airways narrowed and breathing impeded?

-Asthma?

-Correct. Ten points for this.

Spell both answers. What short words denote both the major river that flows into the North Sea

at Cuxhaven near Hamburg and the island to which Napoleon was exiled in...

-Elbe. E-L-B-E and E-L-B-A.

-Correct.

These bonuses are on clerics in literature. Ambrosio, the religious figure whose career progresses

from innocence to evil, is the title character of which Gothic novel first published in 1796?

Any thoughts?

No. Don't know.

-Don't know.

-The Monk by MG Lewis. The hypocritical Salem clergyman Arthur Dimmesdale

denies fathering the illegitimate child of Hester Prynne

in which novel of 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne?

-The Scarlet Letter.

-The Scarlet Letter.

-Correct. In Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris,

Archdeacon Claude Frollo's lust for which character drives him to murder Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers?

-Esmeralda?

-Yeah. Esmeralda?

-Correct.

We'll take a picture round now. You will see a map of Northern California.

Ten points if you can name the city marked.

-Sacramento?

-No. One of you buzz from Reading.

-San Mateo?

-No, it's San Jose. Picture bonuses shortly. Ten points for this starter question.

What four initial letters link words meaning: a tuba-like valved instrument,

a mild word or expression substituted for something more harsh...

-E-U-P-H?

-Correct, yes. Euph.

As in euphonium and euphemism and so on.

Right, so we go back now to the picture bonuses.

You'll remember the starter asked you to identify a town in California. That was San Jose.

It's one of the most common place names in the world. We have three other San Joses

in South and Central America. Five points for each country you name.

Firstly, A.

-Is that Nicaragua?

-No, Nicaragua is near San Salvador.

-OK. It's the one next to Panama.

-Costa Rica, maybe?

I think Costa Rica.

Anyone else? OK, shall we go with that?

-Costa Rica.

-It is Costa Rica. It's the capital. Secondly, B, please.

-Belize?

-Yeah. Belize.

-It is Belize. And, finally, the country at C.

-Colombia.

-Correct. Well done.

Ten points for this. What letter and number designated the model

of Lockheed high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, one of which was piloted by Gary Powers...

-U2?

-U2 is correct, yes.

Reading, these bonuses are on Italian cinema.

Vincere is a film of 2009 directed by Marco Bellocchio

based on the life of Ida Dalser, the first wife of which political figure?

Possibly Garibaldi?

-Garibaldi?

-No, it's Mussolini.

Secondly, released in 1999, the semi-autobiographical film Tea With Mussolini

draws on incidents in the early life of which Italian director?

His other works include adaptations of Hamlet and Jane Eyre.

No?

I've seen the film, but I can't remember the guy's name.

-I don't know. We don't know.

-Zeffirelli. And, finally,

set shortly after the fall of Mussolini, Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom,

is a controversial film of 1975 by which director?

Antonioni?

-Try that.

-Antonioni?

-No, it's Pasolini. Another starter.

Meaning a row or cluster of lights, what name is given to the five-day festival

celebrated in October or November...

-Diwali?

-Diwali is correct, yes.

Right, these bonuses are on a group of philosophers.

Which city gives its name to a circle who sought to reconceptualise empiricism?

Formed in the 1920s, its members included Rudolf Carnap.

-Vienna.

-Correct. Co-founder of the circle with the mathematician Hans Hahn,

which German philosopher was shot dead by a disturbed student at the University of Vienna in 1936?

Wittgenstein?

-Wittgenstein?

-No...

-I don't know, then.

-Give me another one.

-Don't know.

-A guess. Anyone.

1920s, Austrians...

Let's have it, please.

-Don't know.

-It's Moritz Schlick. Finally, what two-word name is given to the philosophy associated

with the circle, its central tenet being the verification principle?

-Positivism.

-Er...

-Oh, two words. Logical positivism.

-That's correct.

Ten points for this. Which two words are anagrams of each other

and mean the plural of the SI unit of electrical resistance

and the scale of mineral hardness named after a German geologist?

-Ohms and Mohs?

-Correct. You get a set of bonuses this time on Spanish conquistadors.

The leader of the first Europeans to sight the Pacific Ocean,

which conquistador was summarily beheaded in 1519, found guilty of high treason and rebellion?

- Might be... - No, Cortes?

Which one? Any thoughts?

-I'd go with Cortes.

-Pizarro?

-No, it's Balboa. Vasco Nunez de Balboa.

Who died in Cuba in 1521 from a wound inflicted by a poisoned arrow?

He'd claimed Florida for Spain while searching for the fountain of youth.

-Cortes.

-Cortes.

-No, Ponce de Leon. Finally, the founder of the city of Lima, who was murdered in 1541

by the followers of Diego de Almagro, a man his brother Hernando had executed?

I'm going with Cortes.

-Cortes.

-No, that was Pizarro. Ten points for this. It's a music round we're going to hear.

For your music starter, you'll hear an excerpt from an oratorio.

Ten points for the name of the composer and the title usually given to this piece, from Act Three.

MUSIC PLAYS

-Handel and the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba?

-Correct, yes!

That was used in Danny Boyle's 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony

when James Bond arrived at Buckingham Palace.

For your bonuses, three other pieces of music used in the Opening Ceremony.

Firstly, I want the composer and the name of this specific piece

used during the celebration of Britain's maritime tradition.

MUSIC PLAYS

-Elgar, Nimrod?

-Correct.

Secondly, the composer and the name of this song, which was used at the end of the pastoral scene.

# And did those feet

# In ancient time

# Walk upon England's mountains green

# And was the holy Lamb of God

# On England's pleasant... #

-William Blake, Jerusalem?

-No, Hubert Parry produced the music.

It's Jerusalem, as you say. Finally, the name of this film theme used during James Bond's helicopter ride.

MUSIC PLAYS

It's The Dam Busters March.

-The Dam Busters March, but we don't know who by.

-That's fine. By Eric Coates. Ten points for this.

Which mythical creature links the titles of the following: an Old English poem of 677 lines,

an allegorical elegy by William Shakespeare and a children's novel by E Nesbit?

Fairy?

No. Reading, one of you buzz.

It's the phoenix. The Phoenix, ..and The Turtle, ..and The Carpet.

Ten points for this. Which two prime numbers, when multiplied together,

give the total number of kilometres in the two events in which Mo Farah won gold in the 2012 Olympics?

-Five and two?

-No. Anyone want to buzz from St John's?

-Five and three?

-Correct, yes.

Right, these bonuses are on astronomical errors.

Proposing its existence as an explanation of the anomalies in the orbit of Mercury,

which French mathematician in 1860 announced the discovery of Vulcan,

a body he believed to be the Solar System's innermost planet?

-Pascal is French.

-Shall we do that?

-I don't know anyone else.

-Pascal.

-No, Le Verrier. Interpreted by some scientists as an irrigation system built by intelligent beings,

the "Canal Lines" on Mars were first observed in 1877 by which Italian astronomer?

- Don't know. - No.

-Don't know.

-Schiaparelli. Now believed to be a misidentified star or an optical effect,

the celestial object first recorded by Cassini in 1686 was identified by him as a natural satellite

of which planet, now known to have no moon?

Is it Mercury?

Mercury has no moon. Or Venus.

-I don't know which.

-I'd guess.

-Mercury or Venus?

-Mercury sounds good.

-Mercury.

-No, Venus. Ten points for this. What six-letter word denotes

both the open-roofed entrance hall of an Ancient Roman house

and either of the two upper cavities of the heart...

-Atrium.

-Atrium is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on calendar dates in which the day of the month is the same number

as the month's position in the year, such as January 1st, February 2nd.

In each case, give the date, month and year

of the following. For example, November 11th, 1918.

Firstly, the Battle of Puebla, at which Mexican forces defeated a French army,

denying Napoleon III the means to intervene in the American Civil War?

It's celebrated in both Mexico and the USA.

1860s...

-1862, maybe?

-It's thereabouts.

But we don't have the month or the day.

7/7/62?

-7th of July, 1862?

-No, 5th of May, 1862. The Cinco de Mayo.

Secondly, the start of the Normandy landings during World War Two?

-6th of June, '44.

-6th of June, 1944?

-Correct. And, finally,

in George Orwell's novel, the first entry in Winston Smith's diary?

Is it 1st of January? Or is it too obvious?

-Shall we go with that? 1st of January, 1984?

-No, 4th of April.

Ten points for this starter. Gibreel Farishta is the main character of which controversial novel,

first published in 1988?

-The Satanic Verses?

-Correct.

This set of bonuses is on zoology.

An absence of nuclei in red blood cells, a middle ear formed by three ossicles and a lower jaw

hinged directly to the skull are distinguishing characteristics of which class of vertebrate animals?

- Go with mammals. - Yeah, I think it is.

-Mammals?

-Mammals is correct.

The term eutheria refers to which broad group of mammals, distinct from monotremes and marsupials?

-Everything else(!)

-Warm-blooded ones?

-They're all warm-blooded.

I've no idea what the name is.

-No.

-They're placental mammals or placentalia. One of the few venomous mammals,

which monotreme is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales?

-Platypus?

-Might be good.

Is it venomous?

-Platypus, duckbilled?

-Correct, yes.

Well done. We're going to take a second picture round.

You'll see a photograph of a European politician who assumed office in November, 2004.

Ten points if you can give me the name of the person and the office.

It's Juan Manuel Barroso and he's the President of the European Commission.

I'll accept that. It's actually Jose Manuel Barroso.

That's close enough. Right, so we're going to follow on from that

with three more EU politicians. In each case, give me their name and their office. Firstly,

who's this? He took office on the 1st of December, 2009.

That is Herman Van Rompuy who is the President of the... European Union, I think.

Yeah. It's Herman Van Rompuy. We think he's President of the European...

-Union.

-No, he's President of the European Council.

Secondly, who's this? He took office on 17th January, 2012.

No idea. I don't even know who he might be.

No one? No.

It's Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament.

Name this person and the portfolio she holds in the EU Commission.

She also took office on 1st December, 2009.

Not the fish lady. Not the climate lady...

-No, it's not Beckett. It's the foreign lady. Baroness something.

-Not Baroness Warsi?

-No, not Warsi. Baroness something.

-Ashton.

-Baroness Ashton, the EU's Foreign Minister.

-I'll accept that. High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

Right, ten points for this. Spoon, direct-pull, roller lever and coaster are among types...

-Brakes? Bicycle brakes?

-Correct, yes.

Your bonuses are on cities of the Indian subcontinent.

Name the city from the description. All three end with the same three letters.

A city in Uttar Pradesh at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna.

Originally known as Prayag, its name, given by the Mughal Emperor Akbar, means City of God.

Do you know a city in India...? Anything?

-Uttar Pradesh is...

-Bangalore's a bit far south. Any thoughts?

-You know cricket. Name a place where they play Test matches.

-Come on.

-Bangalore?

-No, it's Allahabad. Secondly, the largest city in the state of Gujarat?

Around 450km north of Mumbai, it is often said to be one of the world's fastest-growing cities.

-What?

-Why don't we go with that?

-Hyderabad.

-No, it's Ahmedabad. Finally, a major city of south-west India on the Deccan Plateau,

it is the capital of Andhra Pradesh?

Is that one Hyderabad?

It might be. Don't know.

Where do the Deccan Chargers play?

-Em, we'll try Hyderabad again.

-You'd be correct.

Four and a quarter minutes to go. Behemoth, cherub, jubilee and leviathan are among English words

that derive ultimately from which language of West Asia?

-Hebrew?

-Correct.

These bonuses are on novels whose titles contain a word from the NATO spelling alphabet,

for example, A Passage To India. Give the title from the description.

A novel by Anita Brookner set on the shores of Lake Geneva. It won the Booker Prize in 1984.

-Hotel du Lac.

-Correct. A novel of 2009 by Nick Hornby in which an obsessive music fan receives

an advanced copy of the eponymous album by his favourite artist, Tucker Crowe.

-High Fidelity?

-No, it's Juliet, Naked. And a children's book of 1964

whose characters include Mike Teavee and Veruca Salt.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory?

Correct. Ten points for this. Presenting 19 series of talks himself, which scientist inaugurated

the Royal Institution of Great Britain's annual Christmas lectures in 1825?

-Was it Faraday?

-It is Faraday, yes.

These bonuses are on Members of the Westminster Parliament.

In each case, I want the Scottish council area in which the following MPs were elected in 2010.

First, Michael Crockart, Sheila Gilmore and Alistair Darling?

Darling's Edinburgh, isn't it? City of Edinburgh? Edinburgh?

Correct. Sir Ming Campbell, Thomas Docherty and Gordon Brown?

-Fife.

-Correct. Finally, John Thurso, Danny Alexander and Charles Kennedy?

It's way up in the north. Highlands and Islands? Is that a council area?

-Is it not West Lothian?

-It's way up north.

It might be Highlands and Islands.

-Highlands and Islands?

-No, Highland.

About 2½ minutes to go. Ten points for this.

In mathematics, what is the lowest common multiple of all the prime numbers between one and six?

-Thirty.

-Thirty is correct, yes.

These bonuses are on chemistry. The carbonate of which metal is used

to treat manic and depressive mood swings?

-Lithium.

-Lithium.

-Correct. Mixed with a smaller amount of ferric oxide, the oxide of which metal

is the major ingredient of the pink astringent calamine?

-Guess.

-Quickly.

-Copper.

-No, zinc.

The green mineral malachite is a basic carbonate of which element?

-Guess.

-Magnesium.

-Magnesium?

-Copper. The single-word English name of which European country begins

with four letters meaning "symbol of authority of the House of Commons"?

-Macedonia.

-Correct. The mace. These bonuses are on Henry Ford.

In which state was Henry Ford born in 1867? He based his automobile business there

and ran unsuccessfully for a US Senate seat in that state in 1918.

-Michigan.

-In which decade did he establish the Ford Motor Company and pioneer mass production?

-1910s.

-1900s. For what reason did he charter the ship Oskar Two,

setting sail for Stockholm with like-minded supporters in 1915?

-Supporting Nazism.

-No, it was to end World War One.

Ten points for this. Published in 1952, which novel by John Steinbeck features brothers Caleb and...

-East of Eden.

-Correct. These bonuses now are on a god.

The lyre, the tortoise and the staff known as the caduceus are among symbols associated with which god?

The son of Zeus and Maia, he is the second youngest of the Olympian gods. Quickly.

-Asclepius?

-No, Hermes, Mercury. The maternal grandfather of Odysseus,

which son of Hermes shares his name with a rogue in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale?

-Come on, let's have it, please.

-No.

-It's Autolycus.

Hermes Carrying The Infant Dionysus is a work by which Attic sculptor of the 4th century BC?

GONG

I'll tell you. It's Praxiteles.

We will have to say goodbye to you, I guess. I'd be surprised if it's one of the highest losing scores,

so I think we'll be saying goodbye. Thank you for playing, St John's.

Reading, we'll see you in Round Two. Congratulations.

I hope you can join us next time. Until then, though, it's goodbye from St John's College, Cambridge,

goodbye from the University of Reading and goodbye from me. Goodbye.

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