BETA Quiz Bowl

The surface form of this quantity is measured with a pyrometer. The first reliable tool for measuring this quantity was a sealed glass tube of (*) mercury. Absolute scales for this quantity include Rankine and Kelvin, and its standard scale is based on the freezing and boiling points of water. For ten points, name this quantity recorded in degrees Celsius.

• Air Pressure

• Temperature

• Humidity

• Altitude

Six men in this poem die when their ship passes between Scylla and Charybdis. The hero of this poem tricks Polyphemus, a (*) cyclops, and kills a band of suitors with his son, Telemachus, to reunite with his wife, Penelope. For ten points, name this ancient epic poem by Homer in which the title Greek hero returns home to Ithaca.

• Odyssey

• Iliad

• Canterbury Tales

• Epic of Gilgamesh

In 1934, the controversial construction of the Parker Dam on this river required the National Guard to muster the Arizona Navy. Dams on this river form the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake (*) Mead, which is formed by the Hoover Dam. For ten points, name this river of the American West that flows through the Grand Canyon and starts in the Rocky Mountains of its namesake state.

• Rio Grande

• Mississippi

• Snake

• Colorado

A religious figure often depicted performing this action in padma-sana, named Gautama, achieved enlightenment by performing this action under the (*) Bodhi tree. Some modern forms of this practice use mantras, repeated patterns of speech or thought, to promote sati, or “mindfulness.” For ten points, name this common practice in Buddhism and Hinduism, the act of engaging in deep reflection.

• Prayer

• Transcendence

• Meditation

• Yoga

Justice Ward Hunt decided this woman’s guilt before her trial began and told the jury to declare her guilty. In post-trial remarks, this woman argued that she had the “right to a voice” in government and threatened that she would never (*) pay a one hundred dollar fine that was levied in June 1873. For ten points, name this American suffragist who was convicted of illegally voting, and who is honored on a one-dollar coin.

• Sacagawea

• Susan B Anthony

• Alice Stone Blackwell

• Charlotte Perkins

This character stars in a 2010 game in which he must repair a world created by Yen Sid with a magic paintbrush. In Kingdom Hearts II, this character meets Sora in a world based on the 1928 film (*) Steamboat Willie. Hundreds of silhouettes of this character’s head can be found scattered around a massive amusement park near Orlando, Florida. For ten points, name this rodent mascot created by Walt Disney

• Mickey Mouse

• Donald Duck

• Goofy

• Minnie Mouse

This author’s translation of the Red Book of Westmarch changes the names Kalimac and Banazˆır into Meriadoc and Samwise. In one of this author’s novels, the Rohirrim join in a battle against thousands of (*) orcs. In another novel by this man, Bilbo Baggins is sent on a journey with thirteen dwarves by the wizard Gandalf. For ten points, name this linguist and author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

• C.S. Lewis

• J.R.R. Tolkein

• J.K. Rowling

• E.B. White

In July 1994, scientists studying this object made the first observance of an extraterrestrial collision when fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashed into this (*) planet. This planet’s gravitational pull creates the Kirkwood gaps, which are empty regions within the nearby asteroid belt. The Great Red Spot is found on, for ten points, what gas giant, the largest planet in our solar system?

• Neptune

• Mercury

• Saturn

• Jupiter

Foods rich in this substance are called antiscorbutics [anti-skor-byoo-tiks]. Nobel laureate Linus Pauling advocated taking mega-doses of this compound to (*) prevent the common cold. This compound is needed by the body to build collagen, so its deficiency will result in scurvy. For ten points, name this vitamin concentrated in citrus fruits like limes and oranges.

• 
  Vitamin A

• Vitamin B

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin D

Three windows in this work’s background align with a real-life doorway in the Santa Maria dele Grazie that cuts off the feet of this painting’s central figure. A man in this work knocks over a (*) salt cellar and clutches a bag of silver while the men around him argue about the revelation that their leader will be betrayed. For ten points, name this painting by Leonardo da Vinci that shows Jesus’s final meal with his disciples

• The Ten Commandments

• The Last Supper

• Mona List

• Annunciation