Question 1

What is the SI unit of pressure?     

Pascal (Pa)

Question 2

 In computing, what does 

USB stand for?     

Universal Serial Bus

Question 3

Which New Zealand-born physicist is

 credited with splitting the atom?         

Sir Ernest Rutherford

Question 4

The Ishihara Test is used for testing 

for what in humans?     

Colour Blindness

Question 5

The term 'Googol' is written in number 

form as number 1 followed by 

how many zeros?     

100

Question 6

The asteroid belt is a region in our solar 

system roughly located between the 

orbits of which two neighbouring

 planets? 

Mars and Jupiter

Question 7 

What was the one billionth song to be 

downloaded from iTunes?

                 a)   Speed of Sound, by Coldplay 

                 b)     Rehab, by Amy Winehouse

                 c)      Life during wartime, by Talking Heads

                 d)     Enter Sandman, by Metallica

a)     Speed of Sound, by Coldplay 

Question 8

Which wind is a warm southerly 

coming  from the Sahara Desert 

over the Mediterranean?       

Sirocco

Question 9 

In which year did the mouse become 

available for home computer use?

                                              a) 1979

                                              b)     1982

                                              c)      1985

                                              d)     1988

b)     1982

Question 10

What was Concorde's record time from 

New York to London? 

(allow +/-  30 mins)     

2hrs 55 mins 

(2hrs 25 – 3hrs 25)

Question 1

Where would you find 

Queen Alexandra, Queen Elizabeth and 

Queen Maud mountain ranges?     

Antarctica

Question 2

 Which is the only letter of the 

alphabet  that does not appear in the 

name of any of the states of America?      

Q

Question 3

 What is the largest country in 

the Caribbean?      

Cuba

Question 4

Which Central American country’s 

name means “little fish”?     

Panama

Question 5

What is the world’s most southerly 

capital city? 

Wellington, NZ

Question 6

What is the largest city in Brazil 

(by population) ?      

Sao Paulo

Question 7

How many miles is it from Cardiff to 

Los Angeles? (Euclidean distance) 

(allow +/- 400 miles) ?

5,350 

(4,950 – 5,750) 

Question 8

Which is the only borough of New York

that is located on the mainland?      

The Bronx

Question 9

What is the World’s longest 

mountain chain?      

Andes

Question 10

What was the first designated national

 park in the United Kingdom?     

Peak District

Question 1

How many teams competed in the 

     Rugby World Cup in NZ IN 2011?       

20

Question 2

What is the surname of the brothers 

who won Gold and Bronze in the 

Triathlon at the London Olympics? 

Brownlee 

(Alastair and Johnny)

Question 3

In the Football Premiership, which 

team is known as the Potters?     

Stoke City

Question 4

Who is the only British Sports 

personality to have won BBC sports 

personality of the year twice?      

Damon Hill 

(1994 and 1996)

Question 5

 What is always the first event of the 

Women’s Heptathlon?    

100m hurdles

Question 6

    Which city hosted the 1980 

Olympics?     

Moscow

Question 7

In horse racing, what is the name of the

 15th fence at the Grand National?    

The Chair

Question 8

What is the nickname for the 

Australian Rugby League team?   

Kangaroos

Question 9

What ball is worth three points 

in snooker?     

Green

Question 10

In rugby union, what was

unusual about the 1973 

5 Nations championship?     

It was the only time that the Five Nations championship finished in a five-way tie 

Question 1

February

At least 79 people are killed 

and 1,000 are injured at a football 

match in which country?     

Egypt

Question 2

March

After 244 years since its first 

publication, the printed version 

of what was discontinued?    

The Encyclopedia Britannica 

Question 3

April

An Earth Observation Satellite 

explodes shortly after launch, from 

which country?    

North Korea

Question 4

May

Skytree, the tallest self-supporting 

tower in the world at 634 metres high, 

is opened to the public in which city?      

Tokoyo

Question 5

June

What astronomical event took place, 

the next which is predicted 

to occur in 2117?  

Transit of Venus

Question 6

July

   CERN announce the 

        discovery of what?     

The Higgs Boson

Question 7

July

Olympics: what position in the 

medals table did Team GB finish?      

3rd 

Question 8

And how many Gold medals did 

Team GB win?    

(2 points for exactly right, 

1 point within 3 medals)   

29 (2 points) 

26-32 (1 point)

Question 9

August

What is the name of the NASA mission 

rover that successfully lands on Mars?     

Curiosity

Question 10

October

Who jumped from a helium-filled 

balloon 24 miles above Earth?     

Felix Baumgartner

Question 1

    The novel “A scandal in Bohemia” 

      features which fictional detective?      

Sherlock Holmes

Question 2

 Air Force One is the US President’s 

plane.  What is Marine One?     

A helicopter

Question 3

As in the music shop, what do the 

letters HMV stand for?      

His Master’s Voice

Question 4

Vietnam achieved independence 

from which county in 1955?      

France

Question 5

Which UK political party was 

founded in 1900?      

Labour

Question 6

 Which mode of transport was invented

 by Christopher Cockerell?     

Hovercraft

Question 7

 Who was Henry VIII’s third wife?    

Jayne Seymour

Question 8

 In 'The Simpsons' what is Grandpa

 Simpson's first name?      

Abraham

Question 9

    The Christmas tree on display in 

Trafalgar Square in London is an annual 

gift to the UK from which country?     

Norway

Question 10

 In the 12 days of Christmas, how many

 Lords-a-leeping?

10

Question 1

Who is regarded as the ‘father’ of

 operational research given his critical 

role during WW2?  

Lord Patrick Blackett

Question 2

 During WW2, it is estimated that at its

 height, how many men and women 

were engaged in OR?  

                                 a) 10

                                 b) 100

                                 c) 1000

1000

Question 3

Who was the first Chair of the OR Club 

in 1948 (which was later to become 

the OR Society)? 

Sir Charles Goodeve

Question 4

 The International Federation of 

Operational Research Societies (IFORS) 

was officially founded in 1959 by three

 national OR societies: United States, 

United Kingdom and which other 

country?     

France

Question 5

The first published paper on the topic 

of OR in Sport was a general discussion 

paper by Mottley in 1954; but it was 

some 9 years later in 1963 that Lindsey 

published the first full paper dedicated 

to research on strategies in one 

particular sport; what was that sport? 

Baseball

Question 6

What is the current volume number of 

the Journal of the OR Society (JORS) 

during 2012?

63

Question 7

George Bernard Dantzig is known for 

his development of the simplex 

algorithm, but in which country was 

Dantzig born in 1920?

United States 

(Portland, Oregon

Question 8

Queueing theory has its origins in the 

early work by Erlang.  But in what 

sector or application area did Erlang 

develop and apply his early work? 

Telecommunications

Question 9

 The first known paper on OR applied to 

healthcare was published by 

Norman Bailey in 1952.  His paper 

focused on appointment 

scheduling of what? 

Outpatient Clinics

Question 10

How many years has Jeff Griffiths 

been a member of staff at 

Cardiff University?!..

From 1964 = 48 years!