|
|
|
|
Sample questions from our Accent
on Academics publication for the February 2, 2004, Volume 19/21
1) In which country, site of a planned pipeline for Caspian
Sea oil, did Secretary of State Colin Powell recently attend the inauguration of
president-elect Mikhail Saakashvili? 2) The phrase to tilt at windmills, meaning to fight
imaginary problems or enemies, is derived from which Spanish work by Miguel de
Cervantes? 3) Which term designates both a strike made when a bowler
hits on the opposite side of the head pin from which he is bowling and a borough
of New York on West Long Island? 4) Which word from the French for "petticoat"
designates both a brisk, lively ballroom dance led by one couple and
characterized by the continual changing of partners and a formal ball,
especially one at which debutantes are presented? 5) The new film Cold Mountain is increasing tourism
at which 1864 Virginia battle site featured in its opening where Union forces
dug a 500-ft. tunnel and blew up the Confederate line, creating a huge hole that
became a death trap for their own troops? Sample questions from our Accent
on Academics publication for the February 19, 2004, Volume 19/22
1) John Kerry's wife, Theresa Heinz Kerry, who has a net
worth of over $500 million and is called "St. Teresa" because of her
philanthropy, was born and raised in which African country as the child of
expatriate Portuguese parents? 2) Which term designates parts of plant foods the body does
not digest, or the material providing the bulk, or roughage, essential for
normal functioning of the intestinal tract? 3) Which word beginning with E for the act of going
out or an exit did a NASA scientist use in talking of the rover Spirit's
leaving its landing craft 9 days after getting to Mars? 4) Which name identifies both the 1,000-mile-long inland
waterway in eastern China begun in the 5th-6th century B.C. and completed in the
13th century and the main waterway in Venice, Italy, crossed by the Rialto and
other bridges? 5) Identify the modern day baseball team whose nickname is
derived from the New York borough where trolleys were so numerous at the start
of the century that people constantly had to jump out of the way. Sample questions from our Accent
on Academics publication for the February 16, 2004, Volume 19/23 1) Which word did Georgia's Secretary of Education Cathy
Cox recently agree to retain in the science curriculum after Jimmy Carter and
many political and education leaders criticized her earlier decision to replace
it with "biological changes over time"? 2) Which word designates all of the following: an
establishment providing food and drink for military troops off base; a place set
up to provide food and drink to people in a disaster area; and a small flask for
carrying drinking water? 3) Identify the member of Robin Hood's Merry Men who
appears in Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe as "the holy clerk of
Copmanhurst," a fat and jovial vagabond Franciscan monk. 4) Which name identifies both John-John Kennedy's pony and
a small legendary creature in Irish folklore who repays another's kindness,
especially an elf who if caught will reveal where a treasure, or crock of gold,
is hidden at the end of a rainbow? 5) Which Portuguese explorer sent by King John II to find
an ocean route to India rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488? Sample questions from our Accent
on Academics publication for the February 23, 2004, Volume 19/24 1) Which country, the world's No. 2 shipping registry,
recently agreed to allow U.S. sailors to board its commercial ships to search
for weapons of mass destruction? 2) Identify the "secret" senior-year male society
at Yale University claiming as members or "Bonesmen" both President
Bush and Senator John Kerry and named for the symbols on the pirates' flag, the
so-called Jolly Roger. 3) Which word beginning with Q designates all of the
following: an ancient Roman unit of weight equal to 1/24 of an ounce; in
apothecaries' weight, a unit equal to 1/3 of a dram; and a misgiving about
something one thinks is wrong? 4) In which Shakespearean play do actors perform The
Murder of Gonzago, which closely parallels a central character's murder as
described by the Ghost in the play? 5) Which word for a young, inexperienced person and a young
male horse or donkey also names the first successful repeating pistol, which was
produced in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1836 by its developer, who had patented it
in England earlier that year?
|
|
|
