Academic Decathlon

a cappella Correct Answer: vocal music sung without instrumental arch form Correct Answer: a piece of music divided into sections that are arranged in a palindromic order: A-B-C-B-A; A-B-C-D-E-D-C-B-A; etc. aria Correct Answer: a tuneful, rhythmic portion of a larger work such as an opera; the soloist usually expresses a particular emotional state and often displays virtuosic vocal technique. armonica Correct Answer: an instrument (invented by Benjamin Franklin) made of nested g...

Approximately what percentage of Native Americans died as a result of diseases brought by Europeans? Correct Answer: 90% of the population Where were the Algonquian peoples located? Correct Answer: East Coast, in the areas surrounding Jamestown, VA and Plymouth, MA What are some of the groups that were part of the Algonquian peoples? Correct Answer: Powhatan (near Jamestown), Pequots and Narrogansetts, who lived in areas settled by Puritans What crops were known as the Three Sisters?...

Environmental History Correct Answer: a subfield of history focusing on the relationship between humans and the non-human world paradox of value Correct Answer: the contradiction that, although water is on the whole more useful in terms of survival, diamonds command a higher price in the market Adam Smith Correct Answer: Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economics. Seen today as the father of Capitalism. Wrote On the Wealth of Nations (1776) One of the key figures of...

Mathematics A rectangular field represented with dimensions (2x-3) and (x^2 +1), whats the area function of the field? Correct Answer: 2x^3 - 3x^2 + 2x - 3 Mathematics The patient zero of a virus infects 47 people within the span of three days. If the graphical analysis of the virus's infectivity is an exponential function, then after nine days, how many people will be infected? Correct Answer: Say the number of infected is expressed as y y=Pe^(rt) where P is the initial amount (P...

Art History Correct Answer: An academic discipline dedicated to the reconstruction of the social, cultural, and economic contexts in which an artwork was created Aesthetics Correct Answer: The philosophical inquiry into the nature and expression of beauty Art Criticism Correct Answer: The explanation of current art events to the general public via the press Art Correct Answer: Defined very broadly; almost any kind of visual material that is created by people and invested with specia...

How has water been used in literature? Correct Answer: 1 -- develop plots; 2 -- drive conflict; 3 -- create imagery; 4 -- establish themes Where did early civilizations and budding empires emerge? Correct Answer: On the shores of important waterways such as the Nile, Ganges, and Mediterranean. Why did water become an important element in religious narratives? Correct Answer: Because of its life-sustaining nature (sea for food, rain for crops) As the religious nature of water develope...

Democritus and Leucippus Correct Answer: envisioned atomos (invisible particle) Plato Correct Answer: proposes aether (dodecahedron) fire (tetrahedron) water (icosahedron) air (octahedron) earth (cube) Kanada Correct Answer: said that atom was indestructible Aristotle Correct Answer: believes that matter is infinitely divisible Asharite school Correct Answer: where Islamic philosophers synthesize Greek and Indian ideas Gassendi Correct Answer: reconciles atomic theory wi...

What is the title of Adam Smith's book of economics? Correct Answer: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations What is the most fundamental element of economics? Correct Answer: choices What is the number of different items an average supermarket carries? Correct Answer: 47,000 The driving force behind the action of the butcher, brewer, and baker is Correct Answer: their own self interests Economics helps us to understand what two aspects our economy? Correc...

What is the definition of economics? Correct Answer: Handling of good and services in a society How many items does the average supermarket carry? Correct Answer: 47,000 Who wrote 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of the Nations'? Correct Answer: Adam Smith What is scarcity? Correct Answer: Availability of certain resources and how well they are regulated What are the idea of trade-offs? Correct Answer: If you use resources on a particular task, then you are...

Art history Correct Answer: This discipline is dedicated to reconstructing the various contexts in which a work of art was produced. Aesthetics Correct Answer: This term refers to the philosophical inquiry into the nature and expression of beauty. Art criticism Correct Answer: This term refers to the explanation of current art events to the masses. Formal analysis Correct Answer: This type of analysis focuses on only the visual qualities of an artwork. Contextual analysis Correct...