30 Practice Toss-Ups
written by me, checked twice, answers at the bottom

I wrote these for practice, in the style we actually hear at tournaments: the hardest clue comes first and the giveaway comes last, so the more you know, the sooner you can buzz. Have somebody read them out loud to you. Buzz (clap, slap the table, say "buzz," whatever) as soon as you know. If you wait for "for 10 points" on every one, you are going to lose to Central again.

Every fact here I checked in at least two books in the library. If you find a mistake, e-mail me and I will be mortified and fix it.

1. [Literature] He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. He wrote about the people of Monterey's Cannery Row, and about two migrant workers named George and Lennie. For 10 points, name this author of The Grapes of Wrath.

2. [Science] One ounce of this very malleable element can be hammered into a sheet covering many square feet. Its atomic number is 79, and its symbol comes from the Latin aurum. For 10 points, name this precious yellow metal.

3. [History] It took effect on January 1, 1863, and applied only to areas then in rebellion, so it did not free slaves in the border states. For 10 points, name this executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln.

4. [Mythology] He sulked in his tent after Agamemnon took the captive Briseis from him, and only returned to battle after Patroclus was killed. His mother had dipped him in the River Styx, holding him by the heel. For 10 points, name this Greek hero who killed Hector.

5. [Geography] Its peak Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, and its southern region is called Patagonia. For 10 points, name this South American country whose capital is Buenos Aires.

6. [Math] In 1882 Ferdinand von Lindemann proved this number is transcendental, which settled that you can't square the circle with a compass and straightedge. For 10 points, name this ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately 3.14159.

7. [Literature] In this novel, a woman jilted on her wedding day has stopped all her clocks and still wears her wedding dress, and the hero's secret benefactor turns out to be the convict Magwitch. For 10 points, name this Charles Dickens novel about Pip.

8. [Science] His Nobel Prize in Physics, the one for 1921, was awarded for explaining the photoelectric effect, not for his most famous work. In 1905 he published his special theory of relativity. For 10 points, name this physicist of E = mc².

9. [Fine Arts] He painted The Starry Night while staying at an asylum in Saint-Rémy, a few months after cutting off part of his own ear in Arles in 1888. For 10 points, name this Dutch Post-Impressionist painter of Sunflowers.

10. [Government] Ratified in August 1920, it was the culmination of a movement whose leaders included Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. For 10 points, give the number of the constitutional amendment that guarantees women the right to vote.

11. [Science] This organelle has its own DNA, which is inherited from the mother, and it is the site of the Krebs cycle. For 10 points, name this organelle known as the "powerhouse of the cell."

12. [History] Their capital, Tenochtitlan, stood on an island in Lake Texcoco, and their empire fell to Hernán Cortés by 1521. For 10 points, name this people whose capital is now Mexico City.

13. [Mythology] He hung himself on the world tree Yggdrasil for nine nights to learn the runes, and he gave up an eye to drink from Mimir's well. For 10 points, name this one-eyed chief of the Norse gods who rides the eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

14. [Literature] In the final scene of this play, Laertes fights the title character with a poisoned blade and the queen drinks from a poisoned cup. For 10 points, name this Shakespeare tragedy about a Danish prince.

15. [Current Events] After 120 scoreless minutes at the Rose Bowl on July 10, 1999, this nation won the Women's World Cup on penalty kicks over China, and Brandi Chastain scored the last one. For 10 points, name this country.

16. [History] Robert Livingston and James Monroe negotiated it with Napoleon's government in 1803, for about 15 million dollars. For 10 points, name this land deal that roughly doubled the size of the United States under Thomas Jefferson.

17. [Music] Mostly deaf by the time he wrote it, he ended his Ninth Symphony with a choral setting of Schiller's "Ode to Joy." For 10 points, name this German composer of the Moonlight Sonata.

18. [Geography] This state capital on the Missouri River was named for a German chancellor, in hopes of attracting German investment in the railroad. For 10 points, name the capital of North Dakota.

19. [Science] Galileo discovered its four largest moons in 1610, and its Great Red Spot is a storm bigger than Earth. For 10 points, name this largest planet in the solar system.

20. [Literature] She wrote nearly 1,800 poems, but only about ten were published in her lifetime, and she rarely left her family's house in Amherst, Massachusetts. For 10 points, name this American poet famous for her dashes and slant rhymes.

21. [History] Construction began in August 1961, and its crossings were opened on the night of November 9, 1989. For 10 points, name this barrier that divided a German city for 28 years.

22. [Math] A 3-4-5 triangle is the simplest whole-number example of this theorem, which is named for a Greek philosopher from Samos. For 10 points, name this theorem stating that in a right triangle, a² + b² = c².

23. [Mythology] He was killed and cut into pieces by his brother Set, and his wife Isis gathered the pieces back together. For 10 points, name this Egyptian god of the dead, the father of Horus.

24. [Literature] In this Leo Tolstoy novel, the title character leaves her husband Karenin for Count Vronsky and in the end throws herself under a train. For 10 points, name this novel.

25. [Science] Developed in 1935 at Caltech, this scale is logarithmic, so each whole number means ten times the measured amplitude of the one before. For 10 points, name this earthquake magnitude scale named for Charles.

26. [History] Thurgood Marshall argued the winning side of this 1954 Supreme Court case, which overturned the "separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson. For 10 points, name this case against the board of education of Topeka, Kansas.

27. [Fine Arts] He carved his Pietà for St. Peter's while still in his twenties, and from 1508 to 1512 he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. For 10 points, name this Italian sculptor of David.

28. [Science] Its light-dependent reactions take place in the thylakoids, and its Calvin cycle in the stroma. For 10 points, name this process by which plants use sunlight to make glucose from carbon dioxide and water.

29. [Literature] Its narrator rents a house in West Egg next door to a millionaire who throws enormous parties and stares across the bay at a green light. For 10 points, name this 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

30. [Geography] Its two main branches, the White and the Blue, meet at Khartoum, and it flows north through Egypt to the Mediterranean. For 10 points, name this river, usually called the longest in the world.

(Answers are below. No peeking. Scroll down slowly if you have no self-control.)

Answers

How'd you do? 25 or more: come to practice, we need you. 15 to 24: come to practice, we need you. Under 15: come to practice, we especially need you, because Blaine needs someone to explain mythology to.