(lively music) (lens chirping) (lively music) (energetic music) (energetic music intensifies) - Welcome to Scholastic Hi-Q, the game where knowledge rules.

I'm your host, Ethan Neir, and we now find ourselves approaching the end of the 31st season.

We are in our first of two semifinal matchups.

So let's introduce the teams.

On the bottom we have Calloway, with Isaac, Ethan, Cesar, and Ellie.

And on top we have Mater Dei with Garrett, Cohen, Ellen, and Dominic.

Now, before we get to the questions, let's just do a quick recap of the rules.

We'll start off with some toss-up questions.

Each of those will be worth 10 points.

If a team gets it right, they move on to a bonus question, which is worth 20, and can be stolen for 10.

Now, you guys are allowed to interrupt me at any time during the question, but if you interrupt me and get the question wrong, it is 5 points for the other team.

So just make sure you're right.

All right, we all understand the rules?

Great.

Let's get into the questions.

And we're starting off with no one's favorite, a math question.

So pencil and paper ready.

If a quadratic polynomial has roots at x = 3 and x = 7, then at what value of x is its axis of symmetry?

(buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- 5.

- 5 is correct, well done.

For your bonus, in 2022, a group led by Mike Nicholson succeeded in changing the blood type of what organs, whose functional units are called nephrons?

- Kidneys.

- Kidneys is correct.

Well done.

Good start.

On to the next toss-up.

What country, whose former interim president Jeanine Anez was arrested in- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Bolivia.

- Bolivia is correct.

For your bonus, what element with atomic number 94, which has been used in pacemakers, can decay to produce uranium, which has an atomic number 92?

- Americium.

- [Ethan Neir] Americium is incorrect.

Mater Dei, a chance to steal.

- Plutonium.

- Plutonium is correct, well done.

Good steal, and it gets you guys on the board, and we go to our next toss-up.

What peninsula, which contains Saint Catherine's Monastery and the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, is north of the Red Sea and east of the Suez Canal?

(buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Arabian Peninsula.

- [Ethan Neir] That is incorrect.

(buzzer beeps) Garrett?

- The Sinai Peninsula.

- The Sinai Peninsula is correct, well done.

For your bonus, Timochenko was a longtime leader in what Colombian guerrilla group that fought to create a communist state until a 2016 ceasefire?

- FARC.

- FARC is correct, well done.

For your next question, what president, whose cabinet members shunned Peggy Eaton in the Petticoat Affair- (buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Andrew Jackson.

- Andrew Jackson's correct, well done.

For your bonus, what word that describes a type of communication shared between two cultures that do not speak the same language is a homophone for a type of bird?

- Pidgin.

- Pidgin is correct.

Well done.

On to the next question.

What land forms, which come in recessional, medial, lateral, and terminal- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Moraines.

- Moraines is correct, well done.

For your bonus, the diameter is the longest example of what line segments whose endpoints lie on the same circle?

(team members whispering) - Chord.

- Chord is correct, well done.

That'll take us to our next question.

What product, types of which include Diamond Naturals and Purina Beneful, may be consumed by household pets such as Dobermanns and Schnauzers?

(buzzer beeps) Ellie?

- Dog food.

- That is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what term is given to a combination of staffs connected by a brace, used to write music for one instrument such as a piano?

- Grand staff.

- Grand staff is correct, well done.

For your next question, what book, whose protagonist acquires a bell that cannot be heard by most adults, is a Chris Van Allsburg story about a train to Santa's workshop?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- "Polar Express."

"Polar Express" is correct, and the first movie I walked out of as a kid, because it scared me so bad.

And I have no idea why.

For your bonus, what European city is home to the Trevi Fountain, into which travelers traditionally throw a coin to ensure they return to the city one day?

- Rome.

- Rome is correct.

Well done.

For your next toss-up, what scientist lends his name to a type of ohmic heating due to wire resistance and to a unit equal to one newton-meter, namely the SI unit of energy?

(buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Joule.

- Joule's correct, well done.

I'm guessing that might have been a little bit of a shot in the dark?

Well, never hurts to guess.

Well done.

For your bonus, what branch of physics describes particles using wave functions that can become entangled, and which collapse during measurements?

- Quantum.

- Quantum is correct, well done.

On to the next toss-up.

What war, in which the Battle of Inkerman was followed by a longtime siege of Sevastopol, was a- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Crimean War.

- Crimean War is correct, well done.

For your bonus, in Greek mythology both the Graces and the Fates are usually described as consisting of how many sisters?

- Three.

- Three sisters is correct.

Well done.

Back to the next question.

What singer, who released the 2021 albums "Blue Banisters" and "Chemtrails over the Country Club," says, quote, "It's you, it's you, it's all for you" on "Video Games"?

(buzzer beeps) Dominic?

- Lana Del Ray.

- Lana Del Ray is correct.

Well done.

For your bonus, what author, who was a member of the Beat Generation, wrote about a strange place known as the Interzone in his novel "Naked Lunch"?

- Kerouac?

- [Ethan Neir] Kerouac is incorrect.

- [Ellie] Ginsberg.

- Ginsberg is incorrect.

The answer we're looking for was William Burroughs.

William Burroughs.

And that'll take us to our first media question.

(piano music) Following its release in early 2020, this song sparked a viral dance challenge on TikTok when artist Zico posted a video dancing to this song.

This song was released as a single before being included on Zico's third EP "Random Box."

Name this song.

(singing in Korean) ♪ Tell me what I got to do ♪ (singing in Korean) (timeout buzzer beeping) - Sorry, you guys are all out of time.

With the most unique song name of all time, the name of the song is "Any Song."

And that'll take us back to our toss-ups.

What play, in which aristocrat Madame Ranevskaya loses her family's estate in Russia, is by Anton Chekhov, and ends as axes fall off the title trees?

(buzzer beeps) Ellie?

- "The Cherry Orchard."

- "Cherry Orchard" is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what behaviorist psychologist wrote the much-derided 1957 book on linguistics, "Verbal Behavior," invented the operant conditioning chamber?

- Skinner.

- B.F. Skinner is correct, well done.

Back to your next toss-up.

What composer, who included a Rose Adagio in his ballet "Sleeping Beauty," used a B minor oboe theme to represent Odette in his "Swan Lake"?

(buzzer beeps) Ellen?

- Tchaikovsky.

- Tchaikovsky is correct.

Well done.

For your bonus, what second largest moon of Jupiter is thought to be unusually undifferentiated, and has a surface almost entirely covered by impact craters?

- Io.

- [Ethan Neir] Io is incorrect.

Calloway, a chance to steal.

- [Isaac] Europa.

- Europa is also incorrect.

The answer we're looking for there was Callisto.

Callisto.

Back to the toss-ups.

What state, whose 2022 gubernatorial election is between Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake- (buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Arizona.

- Arizona is correct, well done.

For your bonus, "The Tale of an Anklet" is one of the, quote, "five great epics" of what Dravidian language spoken in northern Sri Lanka?

- Tamil.

- Tamil is correct, well done.

Next question.

What monarch, who finished the Djinguereber Mosque, and may have reduced the value of gold by giving it away, was- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Mansa Musa.

- Mansa Musa is correct, well done.

For your bonus, in 1962, what future Ohio senator became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7?

- John Glenn.

- John Glenn is correct, well done.

For your next question, what property characterizes the operation of an Abelian group, is lacked by matrix multiplication, and means that A times B always equals B times- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Commutative.

- Commutative property is correct, well done.

For your bonus, the 2022 student loan relief announced by Joe Biden forgave more debt for recipients of what grants intended for students from low-income families?

- Pell Grants.

- Pell Grant is correct, well done.

And is also actually, I think, being held up in the courts right now, so nobody's getting any money.

Pretty unfortunate.

For your next toss-up, what British author wrote about siblings Isabella and Edgar Linton, who grew up together at the Thrushcross Grange estate in her novel "Wuthering Heights"?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Bronte.

- Emily Bronte is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what sensitive yellow tissue that is a major component of teeth, surrounds the pulp and is covered by cementum in the root and enamel on the crown?

- No answer.

- [Ethan Neir] No answer.

Calloway, chance to steal.

- [Ethan C] Parenchyma?

- Parenchyma is incorrect.

It's almost the name of the guys that operate on your teeth.

It's dentin.

Dentin.

On to the next question.

What artist, whose spinal surgery inspired her piece "The Broken Column," painted- (buzzer beeps) Ellie?

- Frida Kahlo.

- Frida Kahlo is correct, very well done.

For your bonus, what national park near the tourist towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is shared between Tennessee and North Carolina in the Appalachians?

- Smoky Mountains.

- Uh, that is correct.

The Great Smoky Mountains, well done.

That'll take us to the next toss-up.

What symbol, which precedes a fragment in a URL and a comment in Python, is above the 3 on a QWERTY keyboard and is in the first character in a hashtag?

Or, is the first character in a hashtag, excuse me.

(buzzer beeps) Ellen?

- Pound.

- The pound sign is correct, well done.

For your bonus, in 1901 a 63 year old woman named Annie Edson Taylor was the first person to survive going over what international landmark in a wooden barrel?

- Niagara Falls.

- Niagara Falls is correct, well done.

For the next toss-up, what archipelago is home to Fort Jefferson, which is in the Dry Tortugas National Park, and is- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Key Islands.

- Will we accept Key Islands there?

We will?

That is correct, well done.

For your bonus, a dream of a snake eating its tail inspired by August Kekule to discover the structure of what aromatic compound with formula C6H6?

- Benzene.

- Benzene is correct, well done.

Next question.

What country, where the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini led to protests in which women publicly removed- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Iran.

- Iran is correct, well done.

For your bonus, the first act of the musical "Wicked" ends with what song, which ends with Elphaba, or Elphaba, rising above Oz on a broomstick?

- "Evil."

- [Ethan Neir] "Evil" is incorrect.

Mater Dei, a chance to steal.

"Defying Gravity."

- "Defying Gravity" is correct, well done.

And that will take us to our lightning round.

(thunder roars) I know, it's (indistinct).

(thunder roars) The way our lightning round works is each team will have 60 seconds to answer as many questions as they can about a certain topic.

Now, Mater Dei, since you guys are trailing in this one, you get first pick.

Your choices are Robert Lewis Stevenson, Black History, Four-letter Words, or 'Car.'

(team members whispering) - Four-letter Words.

- Four-letter Words it is.

Given these four-letter words, each of which contains just one vowel.

I'll give you 60 seconds on the clock, and count you down.

Three, two, one.

Skirt worn in the Scottish highlands?

- Kilt.

- That's correct.

Urban haze caused by pollutants?

- Smog.

- That's correct.

Yellow portion of an egg?

- Yolk.

- That's correct.

Likelihood of something happening?

- Odds.

- That's correct.

Cleverly skillful?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] To crouch?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] Wearing shoes?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] Cross-like symbol with a loop at its top?

- Ankh.

- That's correct.

Serious criticism, or anti-aircraft munitions?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] To perform in public for money?

- Busk.

- That's correct.

Cleverly skillful?

(team members whispering) - Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] To crouch?

(timeout buzzer beeping) Sorry, you guys are all out of time, so we'll go over the ones you missed.

"Cleverly skillful" was "deft."

"To crouch," this one's probably gonna hurt, "duck."

"Wearing shoes" is "shod."

"Serious criticism, or anti-aircraft munitions" was "flak."

Flak.

So, going 7 for 10.

Not bad there, Mater Dei.

Now, Calloway, it's your guys's turn.

I'll reread your options again.

You have 'Car,' Robert Lewis Stevenson, and Black History.

- 'Car.'

- 'Car.'

All right.

Identify these things whose names contain the successive letters C, A, and R. 60 seconds on the clock, and I'll count you down.

Three, two, one.

Element with atomic number 6?

- Carbon.

- That's correct.

Orange-brown confectionery made by heating sugar?

- Caramel.

- That's correct.

Type of fish that includes koi?

- Carp.

- That's correct.

Island nation whose capital is Antananarivo?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] Band of cloth worn around the neck?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] President whose vice president was Walter Mondale, or Walter Mondale?

- Carter.

- That's correct.

Brother of Mufasa, who steals the throne from his nephew Simba?

- Scar.

- That's correct.

American general who oversaw the military occupation of Japan?

- MacArthur.

- That's correct.

University in Pittsburgh attended by Andy Warhol?

- Carnegie.

- That's correct.

Most populous city in Wales?

- Cardiff.

- That's correct.

Island nation whose capital is Antananarivo?

- Pass.

- [Ethan Neir] Band of cloth worn around the neck?

- Scarf.

- That's correct.

And then island nation whose capital is...

I don't, I really don't wanna say it again, (timeout buzzer beeping) cause I'm gonna butcher it.

I'm gonna, okay, I'm gonna try real hard this time.

Antananarivo.

We're gonna go, that's the closest I'm gonna get.

And that was Madagascar.

Madagascar was the answer to that one.

And I believe you guys got the rest of them right.

Yeah, going at 9 out of 10.

Very well done there, Calloway.

So let's just take a quick look at our updated scores after the lightning round.

We have Mater Dei with 260, and Calloway with 410.

So Calloway hold on to a lead here, but not too far out of reach for Mater Dei that you guys can't come back in the second half.

Plenty of time.

And let's get back in to the toss-up questions.

Which English king, who in legend was opposed by Robin Hood, succeeded his brother Richard the Lionheart- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- John I.

- Will we take John I?

Yes, I believe we will.

Well done.

For your bonus, what US president was the last one eligible to run for a third term, as he was in office when the 22nd Amendment was ratified?

- Harry Truman.

- Harry Truman's correct, well done.

For your next toss-up, in what country, the setting of Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Pit and the Pendulum," is where the Catholic monarchs targeted heretics with the Inquisition?

(buzzer beeps) - Spain.

- Spain is correct.

And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Well done.

For your bonus, the phrase, quote, "tender is the night" comes from what English Romantic poem, which ends by asking "do I wake or sleep?"

and is addressed to the title bird?

- "Ode to a Mockingbird."

- [Ethan Neir] "Ode to a Mockingbird" is incorrect.

Calloway, chance to steal.

- [Ellie] "Ode to a Nightingale."

- That is correct, well done.

For your next toss-up, what materials have a band gap exceeding 3 eV, include dielectrics and plastics, block current flow- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Insulators.

- Insulators is correct, well done.

For your bonus, following the death of Elizabeth II, Europe's only reigning queen is what country's Queen Margrethe II?

Margrethe II.

- Barbados.

- [Ethan Neir] Barbados is incorrect.

Mater Dei, chance to steal.

- Denmark.

- Denmark is correct, well done.

For your next question, what island, which Alcibiades tried and disastrously failed to assault in 415 BC was home to Syracuse, and is the largest- (buzzer beeps) Garrett?

- Sicily.

- Sicily is correct, well done.

For your bonus, in 2022 the NFL announced that what annual event would be discontinued after 70 years, replaced by a skills contest and a flag football game?

- Pro Bowl.

- Pro Bowl is correct, well done.

- On to the next question.

Another sports one.

What player, who in 2011 signed a 10-year deal with the Angels, returned at age 42 to the St. Louis Cardinals?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Albert Pujols.

- Albert Pujols is correct, well done.

For your bonus, from 1965 to 1986, what dictator ruled the Philippines alongside his shoe-loving wife Imelda before being disposed in the People Power Revolution?

- Marcos.

- Ferdinand Marcos is correct, well done.

For your next toss-up, what state is the setting of the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," and "Go Set a Watchman," a first draft of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Alabama.

- Alabama is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what two numbers are the only two consecutive integers that are both prime?

- 1 and 2.

- [Ethan Neir] 1 and 2 is incorrect.

Calloway?

(team members whispering) - 2 and 3.

- That's correct.

Well done, Isaac.

For you next toss-up, what king's ghost titles a 1998 Adam Hochschild book that details the atrocities carried out in the Congo Free State- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Leopold II.

- [Ethan Neir] Leopold II is incorrect.

I'll read the rest of the question.

That details the atrocities carried out in the Congo Free State while he was king of Belgium?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Leopold I.

- That is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what mythical creature appears on the flags of both Wales and Bhutan?

- Dragon.

- Dragon is correct, well done.

For the next toss-up, what class of substances, some of which are produced when UV light breaks down CFCs, are highly reactive and have one or more unpaired electrons?

(buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Free radicals.

- Free radicals is correct.

Well done.

For your bonus, what Shakespearean character is suffocated by her husband Othello after he is misled into thinking she has been unfaithful?

- Desdemona.

- Desdemona is correct, well done.

For the next toss-up, what Biblical city, where a woman named Rahab hid two Israelite scouts, was where Israelites- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Jericho.

- Jericho is correct, well done.

For your bonus, pencil and paper ready.

What integer is equal to the quotient of the quantity 3 raised to the 6th power divided by the quantity 9 cubed?

(team members whispering) - 9.

- None is incorrect.

- 9.

- Oh, 9?

9 is also incorrect.

Mater Dei, a chance to steal.

- 1.

- 1 is correct, well done.

Now the next toss-up, what war, whose final battles included Pork Chop Hill, ended with a strip of land near the 38th parallel becoming a DMZ, divided- (buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Korean War.

- The Korean War is correct, well done.

For your bonus, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Pete Davidson were among the cast members who departed from what NBC show after it completed its 47th season in 2022?

- "Saturday Night Live."

- SNL is correct, well done.

For the next toss-up, what object, which was thrown into a lake by Bedivere after the Battle of Camlann is a magical sword given- (buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Excalibur.

- Excalibur is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what type of metrical foot, which consists of one long syllable followed by two short syllables has the name meaning "finger"?

- Iamb.

- [Ethan Neir] Iamb is incorrect.

Calloway, chance to steal.

- Dactyl.

- Dactyl is correct, well done.

For the next question, what author's poetry collection, "Barrack-Room Ballads," includes a poem narrated by a British soldier about a heroic Indian water carrier named Gunga Din?

(buzzer beeps) - Kipling.

- Kipling is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what Roman author pioneered the form of encyclopedia in his book "Natural History" before dying during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius?

(team members whispering) - Plautus?

- [Ethan Neir] Plautus is incorrect.

Mater Dei, a chance to steal.

- Pliny.

- Pliny is correct, well done.

Next toss-up, what right, championed by the group NAWSA under Carrie Chapman Catt, was- (buzzer beeps) Cesar?

- Women's suffrage.

- Women's suffrage is correct, well done.

For your bonus, pencil and paper ready.

What acute angle is formed by the hour and minute hands of an analog clock at 3:30, given the hour hand is between 3 and 4?

(team members whispering) (team members whispering) - 15 times 5.

75.

- 75 is correct, well done.

I saw you looking at the clock there, you were worried you were running out of time there?

Well, got it done.

Nice.

For the next toss-up, most human cells have what property of having two complete sets of chromosomes, in which an alteration of generation alternates with haploids?

(buzzer beeps) Isaac?

- Diploid.

- Diploid is correct, well done.

For your bonus, what name is shared by a TV show starring Sutton Foster, whose 40 year old character pretends to be 26, and the central family in "A Raisin in the Sun"?

- Younger.

- Younger is correct.

Well done.

For the next question, what founder of the Poor Clares and Friars Minor, was the first stigmatic, preached to birds and other animals, and was born in the town of Assisi?

(buzzer beeps) Cohen?

- Saint Francis.

- Saint Francis is correct, well done.

For your bonus, Billy Mitchell is known as the father of what branch of the US military, whose precursor was led by Hap Arnold at the start of World War II?

- Air Force.

- United States Air Force is correct, well done.

(doorbell rings) And that bell means we are all outta time.

And thank God, cause we were running out of questions.

Let's take a look at the scores.

On top, we have Mater Dei with 445, and Calloway County with 610, so holding onto that lead after the lightning round.

Well done, you guys.

We'll see you in the finals.

All right.

And for all of our lovely people working hard behind the scenes here today, and our two teams that did fantastic today, I'm Ethan Neir.

Thank you so much, and good night.

(energetic music) (energetic music intensifies)