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Are you the very model of a modern Major-General?

The Major-General from The Pirates of Penzance knows many things, and is also planning to learn a smattering of elemental strategy. Do you know as much as he does?
Quiz by leontodon
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Last updated: December 27, 2023
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First submittedDecember 27, 2023
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1. What is an amphibole?
Vegetable
Animal
Mineral

"I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral."

Amphiboles are a big category of minerals rich in silicon and oxygen that form long crystals. Not to be confused with amphibians, a category of animals including frogs.

2. Which of these kings did NOT reign over England?
Robert III
William III
Cnut the Great

"I know the kings of England."

Robert III was king of Scots from 1390 to 1406 and never ruled England. Cnut conquered England and reigned as king from 1016 to 1035. William III of Orange was king of England from 1689 to 1702.

3. Which of these battles is NOT like the others?
Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Borodino
Battle of Salamis

"And I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical."

The battle of Salamis was a sea battle fought in Antiquity. The battles of Austerlitz and Borodino were land battles fought by Napoleon in the 19th century.

4. Which is a solution to the equation 2x + 3 = 5?
x = -1
x = 0
x = 1

"I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical, I understand equations, both the simple…"

2×1 + 3 is 5.

5. Which is a solution to the equation x^2 + x = 2?
x = -2
x = 0
x = 2

"…and quadratical."

(-2)^2 is 4, so (-2)^2 + (-2) = 4 - 2 = 2.
6. I want to order a pizza with 2 different toppings, from a place with 8 topping options. How many different combinations of 2 toppings can I make?
16
28
64

"About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news."

I have 8 options for the first topping, and 7 remaining options for the second, but the order doesn't matter, so the total number of combinations is 8×7/2 = 28. The binomial theorem is used for computing numbers of combinations.

7. The hypotenuse is the longest side of what kind of triangle?
Scalene
Equilateral
Right

"With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse."

Such as Pythagoras' theorem, which applies to right triangles.

8. The derivative of every constant function is…
Strictly increasing
Always zero
Undefined

"I'm very good at integral and differential calculus."

Derivatives measures the rate of change. A constant function has the same value everywhere, so its rate of change is 0.

9. Which of these single-celled creatures has the scientific name Amoeba proteus?

"I know the scientific names of beings animalculous."

Amoebas are soft and extend out arm-like pseudopods. The second image is a radiolarian: it has a mineral shell. The last image is a dinoflagellate: it's like a tiny jellyfish.

10. Where does much of Arthurian legend come from, including the name "Caradoc"?
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

"I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's."

The mythical knight Caradoc is also associated with Cornwall.

11. Which of these puzzles is most similar to an acrostic?
Sudoku
Crossword
Nonogram

"I answer hard acrostics."

An acrostic is a word puzzle where squares on a grid are filled with letters, much like a crossword. A sudoku involves numbers instead, and a nonogram (picross) simply dark or light cells.

12. Which of these is necessarily a paradox?
Epimenides the Cretan says "All Cretans are liars".
This sentence is true.
A barber shaves those, and only those, who don't shave themselves.

"I've a pretty taste for paradox."

The other two have non-contradictory resolutions:
Epimenides is a liar, but not all Cretans are.
"This sentence is true." can be either true or false, with no contradiction either way.

13. What type of foot do elegiac couplets mainly use?
Iamb
Dactyl
Anapest

"I quote in elegiacs…"

Elegiac couplets are a Greek and Latin poetic form that uses dactyls and some spondees.

14. Which "crime" was Elagabalus NOT accused of?
Banning sun worship
Holding lavish feasts
Identifying as a woman

"…all the crimes of Heliogabalus."

Elagabalus, or Heliogabalus, was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, and was assassinated at only 18. Elagabalus was high priest of the sun deity Elagabal, and replaced Jupiter with Elagabal as head of the pantheon. This angered Romans, resulting in many accusations, often dubious.

15. Which conic section comes in exactly one shape, with no way to change it other than rotating and rescaling?
Ellipse
Parabola
Hyperbola

"In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous."

The eccentricity of a parabola is exactly 1: if you decrease it at all, you get an ellipse; if you increase it, you get a hyperbola.

16. Which of these paintings is by Raphael (1483–1520)?

"I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies."

Left: Gerard Dow (aka Gerrit Dou), Girl cutting onions (1646).
Middle: Raphael, Portrait of Pope Leo X with his cousins (1518).
Right: Johan Zoffany, Self-portrait as David with the head of Goliath (1756).

17. What do the frogs say in Aristophanes's The Frogs (405 BCE)?
Brekekekex, koax, koax.
Abraxas, galla, galla, tse, tse.
Ualu ualu ualu! Quaouauh!

"I know the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes!"

"Abraxas, galla, galla, tse, tse" is from Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies (1943). "Ualu ualu ualu! Quaouauh!" is from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (1939).

18. Why is it very difficult to hum a fugue?
You need perfect pitch.
The human voice doesn't have enough range.
There are multiple musical lines at once.

"Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore."

It's fine to transpose music to the range you can sing or hum, but singing in counterpoint to yourself is not possible for most people.

19. Which of these Gilbert & Sullivan songs is from H.M.S. Pinafore (1878)?
He is an Englishman
With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal
I am the very model of a modern Major-General

"And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore."

The other two are from The Pirates of Penzance.

20. What numeral base did the Babylonians use?
16
20
60

"Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform."

A washing bill or laundry list is a list of items to wash with prices, so it contains a lot of numbers.

21. What is Caractacus wearing in his 1857 bronze statue by John Henry Foley?
Roman chainmail
A lion pelt
A loincloth

"And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform."

He's also carrying weapons, but not much else.

22. A mamelon is a good place to fortify. But what is it?
A mountain pass
A small hill
A river ford

"In fact, when I know what is meant by "mamelon"…"

A breast-shaped hillock, from the French word for "nipple".

23. What is a ravelin?
A military formation
A gun
A fortification

"…and "ravelin"."

A ravelin, also called a demi-lune, is a triangular fortification outside of a fortress.

24. Which one of these is NOT a javelin?

"When I can tell at sight a Mauser rifle from a javelin."

A javelin is a thrown spear, but is also the name of an anti-tank missile. The rifle is a 1871 Mauser rifle, used at the time of the song.

25. If there is a sortie during a siege, what is happening?
The besiegers attack the defenders.
The defenders attack the besiegers.
An outside force attacks the besiegers.

"When such affairs as sorties and surprises I'm more wary at."

Outside a siege, "sortie" generally means any dispatch from a defended position.

26. What does the commissariat provide for the army?
Food
Recruits
Ammunition

"And when I know precisely what is meant by "commissariat"."

A commissariat is a department of the army that provides food and fuel. This is part of logistics.

27. Which gun was invented first?
The Gatling gun
The Tommy gun
The Colt revolver

"When I have learnt what progress has been made in modern gunnery."

Sam Colt patented his revolver in 1836. The Gatling gun was invented in 1861, and the Tommy gun in 1918.

28. Which decision is a matter of tactics?
Which of two cities to attack
How many winter uniforms to issue to your troops
Whether to launch a cavalry charge

"When I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery."

Tactics is about manoeuvres for executing a plan.

29. Which decision is a matter of strategy?
Which of two cities to attack
How many winter uniforms to issue to your troops
Whether to launch a cavalry charge

"In short, when I've a smattering of elemental strategy."

Strategy is about large-scale decisions and setting broad goals.

30. If you got everything right, congratulations! A better Major-General has never sat a gee. What is a gee?
A chair
A horse
An exam

"You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee."

That is, ridden a horse.

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