(14 Jun 2012)
Ozark Hispanic Studies League
CULTURE BOWL TOURNAMENT QUESTIONS: Mexico
This list of questions has resulted from many years of collecting from many different sources. They have been
transcribed several times. There are probably many typographical and some factual errors. Please do not
hesitate to call such errors to the attention of the administrator for correction. Additionally, if you find any
questions that are difficult to understand or are poorly worded, let the administrator know. If you feel any of the
questions are outdated or of dubious value or if you have any suggestions for new questions to add to the list,
submit them to the sponsor for next year. We will use this list as the basis for references. If you find mistakes
or if you have questions, please use the numbers here as references.
NOTES: Most of the articles (a, an, the) and some other non-essential words have been removed as the first
word in the answers. This is to allow more complete scrambling.
Answers must be given as shown on the list even if the answer to a given question might be correct. For
example:
Question:
Name the musical instrument similar to the xylophone.
Answer:
Marimba
Explanation: Even though both the vibraphone and the marimba are similar to the xylophone, only
‘marimba’ will be accepted as it is the answer given.
Anytime an answer includes two or more elements and the word ‘and’, then all elements must be given. For
example:
Question:
When was the Golden Age of Spanish literature?
Answer:
Sixteenth and seventeenth centures.
Explanation: Both ‘sixteenth’ and ‘seventeenth’ must be mentioned.
Anytime an answer includes two or more elements and the word ‘or’ is used, then one of the elements given
will be considered correct.
Question:
What style of architecture can be seen in the Alhambra?
Answer:
Moorish or Arabic.
Explanation: Either ‘Moorish’ or ‘Arabic’ will be acceptable.
Judges will have the right to accept slight variations in the answers. Judges also have the right to ask
contestants to repeat an answer or to ask for more detail. The last answer given will be considered correct.
Their decision on acceptance will be final.
NOTE:
We have found a lot of success using the analogy format. For example:
World:Mt. Everest::Mexico: __ Pico de Orizaba
U.S.:soap opera::Mexico: ___ telenovela
Obama:Michelle::Maxmilian:___ Carlota (no political inferences intended)
U.S.:rabbit's foot::Huichol Indians: ___ Ojo de dios (god's eye)
Also, we use commonalities:
What do Siqueiros, Orozco and Rivera have in common? All Mexican muralists
What to Paricutin, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl have in common? All Mexican volcanos
Finally, we use finish-the-series:
Sometimes a harp, but always guitars, violins and ? Trumpets (form a mariachi)
Texas, New Mexico, California and ? Arizona (states bordering Mexico)
If you want to use them without the answers, you can just highlight the second column and clear it.
QUESTIONS
03.
What was the destination of the Ship on the TV series “Love Boat”?
From what kind of plant is tequila made?
Which emperor is associated with the Plan de Iguala?
04.
Since independence from Spain, Mexico has had two emperors. Name them.
05.
06.
07.
08.
Who ran against President Calderón of Mexico in the last election?
01.
02.
What Mexican-born actor played the lead role in Zorba the Greek?
Where would you find a “tapatío”?
What pre-Colombian relic is the most visited exhibit at the Museum of
Anthropology in Mexico City?
09. What three cultures are represented in Mexico City’s Plaza de Tres Culturas?
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
What ancient Indians lived only in Mexico?
What is the largest peninsula on the Pacific coast of Latin America?
What does one do before purchasing an item in a Mexican market?
What Mexican president was a Zapotec Indian?
Who was the Mexican patriot who defeated Maximilian?
Who wrote the earliest account of the Mexican conquest?
What is the color of the famous pottery from Oaxaca?
What is “patolli”?
18.
Who was Cuitlahuac?
19.
20.
21.
The Aztecs used what agricultural product both as money and a drink?
From what kind of plant is the base for tequila extracted?
What is the name of the Mexican candy made from white sweet potato?
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
Who was Mexico’s most famous comedian?
29.
What is the Mexican equivalent to a rodeo?
What are the Mexican female and male traditional types called?
30.
How did Hidalgo and Morelos die?
Name Mexico’s most famous composer and director of classical music.
Who was Maximilian’s wife?
What Mexican city is most famous for its sweets?
Where do Mexicans go on All Soul’s Day?
What is a zócalo?
What is the term for a person of Mexican origin who was born in the United
States?
32. What is the name of the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico?
31.
ANSWERS
Acapulco
Agave
Agustín I
Agustín I and Maximilian
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Anthony Quinn
Area of Mexico around Guadalajara
Aztec calendar or sun stone
Aztec, Spanish or colonial and Mexican or
modern
Aztecs
Baja California
Bargain for a price
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Bernal Díaz del Castillo
Black
Board game resembling parcheesi played by the
pre-Columbian Indians.
Brother of Montezuma, next-to-last Aztec ruler
Cacao beans
Cactus or maguey
Camotes (de Puebla)
Cantínflas
Captured by Spanish and shot
Carlos Chavez
Carlota
Celaya
Cemetery
Central plaza in a Mexican city
Charreada
Charro and China Poblana
Chicano
Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Montebec, or Palenque
33.
What miniature dog originated in Mexico?
34.
What are the people of Mexico City called?
35.
36.
37.
38.
What beverage was reserved for the priests and royalty among the Aztecs?
What is the unusual ingredient in the sauce of mole poblano?
What herb is generally used in guacamole?
What Mexican holiday celebrates the Mexican victory over French forces in
the town of Puebla, Mexico?
Mexican couples usually have two wedding ceremonies. Name them.
What was the profession of Cantínflas?
What is the main ingredient in the drink atole?
What are the two main staples of the Mexican diet?
What is masa harina?
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
Besides water, what is the main ingredient in the soup Pozole?
46.
Who founded Mexico’s first vineyard?
“La Noche Triste” or “the sad night” marked what event?
47.
Who searched for the “seven cities of Cibola”?
What is a person who illegally smuggles humans fro Mexico across the border
in to the US called?
49. Who was the last ruler of the Aztecs?
48.
50.
Who was the second to the last Aztec leader?
51.
52.
What is the English name for the Mexican holiday “el Dia de los Muertos”?
What is the Mexican religious holiday celebrated the day after All Saints
Day?
53.
What do the words ‘tomato’, ‘chocolate’ and ‘coyote’ have in common?
What is October 12 called in Mexico?
54.
Who was the Mexican artist who also painted murals in Detroit, New York
and San Francisco?
56. Who was the greatest Mexican muralist?
57. Who painted the frescos in Mexico’s Palace of Fine Arts?
55.
58.
Who was married to Frida Kahlo?
Which of the following instruments would not be found in a mariachi band:
violins, drums, guitars?
60. What are you when you are borracho?
61. When would you be able to see a Passion Play in Mexico?
62. Why do Mexican jumping beans jump?
59.
63.
What two animals appear on the Mexican flag?
64.
An eagle and a serpent appear on the Mexican flag; what are they doing?
65.
When is the main meal of the day, la comida, served?
66.
What catastrophic event happened in 1985 in Latin America?
What is the main ingredient in the candies yemas?
How many capital cities are linked by the Pan American Highway?
What is the name of the road that connected the Spanish missions in Mexico?
What is the Mexican equivalent of “The District of Columbia”?
Near what U.S. city does Ciudad Juárez lie?
Who led the Zapatistas in the Mexican Civil War of 1910?
When would a Mexican have a merienda?
How did Maximilian die?
What is the name of Mexico’s only saint?
Who is the president of Mexico? This will change in 2012!!!
For what is Xochimilco famous?
What style of high jump gained acceptance after its inventor won an Olympic
gold medal in Mexico City?
79. Who is the creator of “Cri-Cri”?
80. Who was the first president of the Revolutionary Era in Mexico?
81. What nationality was José de la Borda, the man who created a silver empire in
18th century Mexico?
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
Chihuahua
Chilangos
Chocolate
Chocolate
Cilantro
Cinco de Mayo
Civil and religious or church
Comedian
Corn
Corn and beans
Corn flour
Corn or Hominy
Coronado
Cortés
Cortés retreat from Aztec capital
Coyote
Cuauhtemoc
Cuitlahuac
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead or All Souls Day
Derived from Nahuatl, language of the Aztecs
Día de la Raza
Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Drums
Drunk
During Holy Week
Each bean has a moth larva inside, when the
larva wiggles the bean jumps
Eagle and serpent
Eagle is eating the serpent
Early afternoon
Earthquake in Mexico City
Egg yolks
Eighteen
El Camino Real
El Distrito Federal
El Paso, Texas
Emiliano Zapata
Evening
Executed by firing squad
Felipe
Felipe Calderón
Floating gardens
Fosbury Flop
Francisco Gabilondo Soler
Francisco Madero
French
82.
Who was married to the famous muralist Diego Rivera?
83.
What is huitlacoche?
Give the colors of the Mexican flag, in order, beginning with the color nearest
the flagpole.
85. By what name is Miguel Hidalgo’s call for independence, which began the
fight for Mexican independence, known.
84.
86.
What was the name of the treaty that ended the Mexican American War?
What is the body of water between Baja California and the Mexican
mainland?
88. What is pulque?
87.
89.
90.
91.
What Spanish conquistador built a palace in Cuernavaca, Mexico?
Who was the conqueror of Mexico?
Who founded Mexico’s first vineyard?
92.
In what sport was the term ‘Fosbury flop’ coined in 1968 Mexico
Olympics?
93.
94.
What is the huapango?
Who was “La Malinche”?
95.
Monterrey is known for its _______________?
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
Name all the architectural styles present in the Cathedral of Mexico.
What famous American film star (now deceased) made his second home in
Durango, Mexico?
For whom is the Mexican city of Morelia named?
What nun is colonial Mexico’s best-remembered poetess?
On what was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán built?
What is sung on a person’s birthday in Mexico?
What and where is Chichen Itzá?
103.
104.
What does one hire to serenade someone in Mexico?
What kind of musicans would you find in Garibaldi Plaza in Mexico City?
105.
Carlota, who went insane after his death, was the wife of which Mexican
emperor?
Who was emperor of Mexico during the US Civil War?
What temporary ruler lived in Chapultepec Park?
Which indigenous people of Mexico had an writing system?
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
What is the Popul Vuh?
Which is farther north, Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta?
What is the capital of the state of Yucatan?
What did they begin building in Mexico City in 1967 to improve the traffic
situation?
What is a charro?
What is depicted in Diego Rivera’s mural in the National Palace?
The population is greater in which country, Spain or Mexico?
What is the western most Spanish-speaking country?
What country hosted the Olympic Games in 1968?
What country was the site of soccer’s World Cup in 1970 and 1986?
What is the largest Spanish-speaking country in North America?
From what country is the famous muralist Diego Rivera?
From what country is the jarabe tapatío?
Which Hispanic country has the largest protestant population?
The Gadsen Purchase marked the end of the loss of territory for which
country?
Chihuahua is the name for a small breed of dog. From which country does
this breed’s name come?
The Baja California peninsula is part of what country?
From what Spanish-speaking country is the actress Salma Hayek?
Frida Kahlo
Fungus that grows on corn, eaten in chili sauce
in Mexico. (considered a delicacy)
Green, white and red
Grito de Dolres
Guadalupe Hidalgo
Gulf of California
Hard liquor (fermented juice of maguey plant,
found only Mexico)
Hernan Cortés
Hernan Cortés
Hernán Cortés
High jump
Huastec (Mexican Indian) dance or song
Indian princess given to Cortés who served as
his translator
Industry
Ionic, Doric, Corinthian and Baroque
John Wayne
Jose María Morelos y Pavón
Juana Inés de la Cruz
Lake
Las Mañanitas
Major site of Mayan ruins in Mexico or Yucatan
Peninsula
Mariachi
Mariachis
Maximilian
Maxmilian
Maxmilian
Maya
Mayan account of the creation & other myths
Mazatlán
Mérida
Metro or subway
Mexican cowboy
Mexican history
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
Mexico
México
México
México
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
Where is the Basilica de Guadalupe?
What Latin American capital is the oldest in North and South America?
What Latin American city is the largest in the world?
El Zócalo is the name of the central plaza of what Mexican city?
What is the capital of Mexico?
Chapultepec is a large park with a castle in what city?
What is the name of the famous Mexican painter who specialized in
caricatures and cartoons?
What is the name of the priest who began the Mexican war of Independence?
Who gave the “Grito de Dolores”?
Who were the first 2 leaders of the independence movement of Mexico?
Who was the Aztec emperor when Cortés conquered the Empire?
What Mexican city is named after Jose María Morelos y Pavón?
139.
Where is the Piedra del Sol located in Mexico?
140.
After 1000 years of advanced civilization what happened to the Mayan cities
of Chichen Itzá and Uxmal?
UNAM is the acronym for what university?
What game of chance do many Mexicans play every day?
How long did it take to complete the Cathedral of Mexico?
During the colonial period, what was the name of México?
What is El Excelsior?
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
During what century was the Mexican-American War?
What term identifies the group of young cadets in Mexico City who
wrapped themselves in the Mexican flag in Chapultepec Park during the
Mexican American War and jumped to their deaths instead of
surrendering?
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
What type of cactus is eaten in Mexico?
What was the profession of the women who invented mole?
Huichol Indians in Mexico make this good luck piece to protect their homes?
What is depicted in “El baile de los viejitos”?
What ancient tribe of Mexico carved large stone heads?
Where did Bob Beamon set the world record for the long jump?
How do very devout Mexicans traditionally make religious pilgrimages?
How many different brands of gasoline can you buy in Mexico?
What fraction of Mexico is considered illiterate?
Name the four major volcanos in Mexico.
What was the profession of Jose Clemente Orozco?
159.
What is the most famous theater of Mexico City called?
From what political party is the current president of Mexico? May change
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
What Mexican revolutionary led an army of cowboys and ruffians in the
Mexican Revolution of 1910?
What Mexican revolutionary’s car is made fun of in the song “La
Cucaracha”?
General Pershing was sent on an expedition into the southern part of the U.S.
and northern Mexico to capture whom?
What Mexican revolutionary of the early 1900’s raided the southwestern
United States but escaped unharmed back into Mexico?
What is the name of the volcano that erupted in a Mexican cornfield in 1943?
What main avenue in Mexico City did Maxmilian build?
167.
168.
169.
What was the Porfiriato?
170.
What is the most famous Aztec sculpture called?
What is the name of the currency used in Mexico?
What is the highest mountain peak in Mexico?
What is the decorated container filled with candy and toys that blindfolded
Mexican children try to break open at parties?
172. What is the Flor de Nochebuena?
171.
173.
Name the three most recently active Mexican volcanoes?
174.
Who was the president of Mexico at the outbreak of the Revolution of 1910?
Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City
Miguel Covarrubias
Miguel Hidalgo
Miguel Hidalgo
Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos
Moctezuma II
Morelia
Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City
Mysteriously abandoned
National Autonomous University of Mexico
National lottery
Nearly three centuries
New Spain
Newspaper or N.Y. Times of Mexico
Nineteenth
Niños Héroes
Nopal cactus
Nun
Ojo de Dios (God’s eye)
Old men dancing
Olmecs
Olympic Games in Mexico City
On their knees
One
One fourth
Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Ixtaccihuatl and Paricutín
Painter and Muralist
Palacio de Bellas Artes
PAN (Partido de Acción Nacional)
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
Paricutín
Paseo de la Reforma
Period of time when Porfirio Díaz ruled México
Peso
Pico de Orizaba
Piedra del sol or Sunstone
Piñata
Poinsettia
Popocatépetl, Pico de Orizaba, Paricutín
Porfirio Diaz
175.
176.
177.
178.
179.
180.
Who had Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes built?
What Mexican president served two terms, one in 1877-1880 and the other
1884-1911?
Where in Mexico is a large Volkswagen factory?
What was the name of the white-skinned Aztec god?
What vegetable is carved and judged at a festival in Oaxaca?
What type of dances are preserved by the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico?
What does the white stand for in the Mexican flag?
What Hollywood couple made Puerto Vallarta their home?
What is another name for the Rio Bravo?
What is the name of the river that borders Texas and Mexico?
What is a charreada?
What was the occupation of Hidalgo and Morelos?
In what city was the Battle of the Alamo fought?
What Mexican general was responsible for the massacre at the Alamo?
Who led the revolution that forced Agustín de Iturbide to abdicate?
What Mexican general negotiated the surrender of Mexico in the MexicanAmerican War?
191. How did Pancho Villa die?
192. Name one of Mexico’s 3 mountain ranges.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
193.
What metal is mined near Taxco, Mexico?
194.
Jose de la Borda created what kind of empire in Mexico?
195.
Who were Los Niños Heroes?
How long is the term of office of the president of México and how many
terms may he be president?
197. How did Cuitlahauac die?
196.
198.
199.
200.
201.
202.
Name the Mexican literary figure called the "Tenth Muse."
What is Celaya famous for?
Upon which ancient city was Mexico City founded?
What is the main alcoholic ingredient in a margarita?
What four states of the U.S. border Mexico?
203.
What is the name of the lake on which the Aztecs built their cities?
204.
What occupation did Orozco, Siqueiros and Rivera all have in common?
205.
When the pre-historic Aztecs saw eagle and the serpent what did it mean
to them?
206.
207.
How many states are there in Mexico?
Which Indian tribe in Mexico had Tula as their capital?
208.
What does the name Malinche mean?
What was the job of La Malinche?
209.
210.
What treaty was signed by the United States and Mexico after the MexicanAmerican War?
211.
What are the instruments of a Mariachi?
212.
213.
What was the effect of the “Plan of Iguala”?
What does the red stand for in the Mexican flag?
What city did Cortes found in the Gulf of Mexico?
214.
215.
216.
217.
218.
219.
220.
221.
222.
In what city was Santa Ana born?
What is the Mexican version of the children’s game “London Bridge”?
Who appeared to Juan Diego?
Many Mexicans say this fruit represents their flag.
What must you specify when ordering a soft drink (refresco) in Mexico?
What is the song “Adelita” about?
What is found at the bottom of the bottle of mescal?
Which peninsula did the Mayans inhabit?
223.
Merida is the capital of what Mexican state?
Porfirio Díaz
Porfirio Díaz
Puebla
Quetzalcoatl
Radish
Regional dances (some of Pre-Colombian
origin)
Religion
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor
Rio Grande
Rio Grande
Rodeo in Mexico
Roman Catholic priests
San Antonio, TX
Santa Ana
Santa Ana
Santa Ana
Shot in an ambush
Sierra Madre del Sur, Sierra Madre Oriental,
Sierra Madre Occidental
Silver
Silver
Six boys who jumped off the cliff at the military
academy during the Mexican- American war
Six years, one term
Smallpox
Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz
Sweets
Tenochtitlán
Tequila
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California
Texcoco
They are all muralists
They had reached the place they would build
their home
Thirty one
Toltecs
traitor
Translator for Cortés
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Tumpet, violin, guitar
Turned Mexico into a independent monarchy
Union
Vera Cruz
Veracruz
Vibora de la Mar
Virgin of Guadalupe
Watermelon
Whether you want it at room temperature or cold
Women of the Mexican Revolution
Worm
Yucatán
Yucatán
224.
What is the name of the Mexican peninsula that forms the southern border of
the Gulf of Mexico?
Yucatan peninsula
225.
What is the Plaza Mayor called in Mexico City?
Zócalo
Zócalo or Constitution Plaza (Plaza de la
Constitución)
1910 - 1920
Sept. 16
103 million (accept 98-111 million)
226.
227.
228.
229.
What is the main square of Mexico City called?
What were the years of the Mexican Revolution?
When is Mexican Independence Day?
According to the latest official census, what is the population of Mexico
(within 5 million)?
230. What was the capital of the Aztecs and when was it founded?
231. In what year did Mexico gain its independence from Spain?
232. In what year were the Olympics held in Mexico City?
233.
According to the latest UNESCO estimate, what percent of Mexico’s
population is considered illiterate?
234.
235.
236.
237.
238.
239.
Who was the “apostle of the Indians”?
What can you see at the Palacio de Bellas Artes?
What does the green stand for in the Mexican flag?
Near what Mexican town was the film “Night of the Iguana” filmed?
What countries border Mexico?
What fruit is served with Tecate?
Tenochtitlán, 1325
1821
1968
7% (UNESCO est. 2005)
Bartolomé de las Casas
Dancing, concerts, opera
Independence
Puerto Vallarta
United States, Guatemala, Belize
Lime