MACC/SWAC Social Studies Questions
Please Read Aloud: All of the questions in this match are 5-second questions.
This is the first directed question for team A.
1A.
What type of court has the right to review and/or revise a lower court’s opinion? Begin
(appellate or Court of Appeals)
This is the first directed question for team B.
1B.
Who succeeded Lenin as the leader of Russia? Begin (Stalin or Joseph Stalin)
This is the second directed question for team A.
2A.
What 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case held that criminal suspects have a right to counsel
during police interrogations? Begin (Escobedo v. Illinois)
This is the second directed question for team B.
2B.
What is an area of low-lying land, especially in the Netherlands, that has been reclaimed
from a body of water and is protected by dikes called? Begin (Polder)
This is the third directed question for team A.
3A.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in what country signaled the
end of the Cold War? Begin (Soviet Union or U.S.S.R)
This is the third directed question for team B.
3B.
Name two renewable resources. Begin (soil, water, forests, solar energy, tide energy, wind
energy, biofuels, there may be others any natural resource that is capable of regeneration)
This is the fourth directed question for team A.
4A.
What city developed along the Thames river where it narrowed? Begin (London or
London, England)
This is the fourth directed question for team B.
4B.
What war was fought in 1991 where a coalition of countries led by the United States
destroyed much of the military capability of Iraq and drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait?
Begin (Gulf War or Persian Gulf War)
This is the fifth directed question for team A.
5A.
What war was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the
United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other between
1854 and 1856? Begin (Crimean War)
MACC/SWAC Social Studies Questions Page 2
This is the fifth directed question for team B.
5B.
Name one of the three types of judicial committees in the American Congress. Begin (one
of the following: special, joint or standing)
This is the sixth directed question for team A.
6A.
What founder of the Red Army unseated and expelled Joseph Stalin and then helped with
the formation of the Soviet Union? Begin (Trotsky or Leon Trotsky)
This is the sixth directed question for team B.
6B.
Which country can be described as more than 7000 islands in the western Pacific one
hundred miles south of Taiwan? Begin (Philippines)
This is the seventh directed question for team A.
7A.
What isthmus connects North America to South America? Begin (Panama or Isthmus of
Panama)
This is the seventh directed question for team B.
7B.
Who was the leader of Nationalist China who fled offshore to the island of Taiwan? Begin
(Chiang Kai-shek)
This is the eighth directed question for team A.
8A.
What Ottawa chief led a rebellion and became a pawn in the fight between the British and
the French for supremacy in the Great Lakes region? Begin (Pontiac)
This is the eighth directed question for team B.
8B.
Who was the Commander of the American armies in Europe during WWI? Begin
(Pershing or John J Pershing)
This is the ninth directed question for team A.
9A.
What type of resources include any good that is used in the production of other goods such
as factories, many buildings, equipment, etc.? Begin (capital)
This is the ninth directed question for team B.
9B.
What city developed as a fortress on the Seine River? Begin (Paris or Paris, France)
This is the tenth and final directed question for team A.
10A.
What is the method of deforestation involving clearing of land, as in rain forests, where the
trees are cut down, the land is cleared of most of the trunks, and the rest of the vegetation
is fired? Begin (slash and burn)
MACC/SWAC Social Studies Questions Page 3
This is the tenth and final directed question for team B.
10B.
What was the first opinion issued by the Supreme Court of the United States in which a
state law was invalidated as contrary to the U.S. Constitution? Begin (Fletcher v. Peck)
That ends the portion of the match with directed questions. Coaches, if you have any team
member substitutions, please send those team members to the stage at this time. (Note:
Allow time for substitutes to be seated, introduce substitute team members.)
No form of conferring is allowed during the tossup portion of the match. Conferring includes
sharing of written or verbal information or signals. Please remove all written material
from you team tables. Writing is not permitted during tossup rounds, except in the math
round.
We will now have ten tossup questions. Remember, the person who buzzes in must give the
answer immediately. Please wait until I recognize the team before you give an answer. The
penalty for buzzing in early and giving a wrong answer is minus 2 points, and the question
will then be reread in its entirety to the other team.
This is the first tossup question.
1.
What is a diplomat that has less authority than an ambassador, doesn’t require senate
confirmation, and performs diplomatic tasks for the president called? Begin (envoy or
special envoy)
This is the second tossup question.
2.
The communist leader, Marshal Tito was the leader of what former southeast European
country? Begin (Yugoslavia)
This is the third tossup question.
3.
What types of societies were characterized by a small group or clan whose mode of
subsistence is gained from hunting animals, fishing, and collecting edible plants? Begin
(hunter-gather or hunter-gathering)
This is the fourth tossup question.
4.
What were the hereditary commanders of the Japanese army called, who until 1867
exercised absolute rule under the nominal leadership of the emperor? Begin (Shogun)
This is the fifth tossup question.
5.
What type of map projection is centered on the north or south pole and is used for airline
navigation? Begin (Polar or Polar projection)
This is the sixth tossup question.
6.
What American general was known as “Old Blood and Guts”? Begin (Patton or George S.
Patton)
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This is the seventh tossup question.
7.
Sutter’s fort, the site where gold was found, is the place where what modern city is today?
Begin (Sacramento)
This is the eighth tossup question.
8.
What plan promised aid to war-torn European countries after WWII? Begin (Marshall or
Marshall Plan)
This is the ninth tossup question.
9.
What archipelago is a province of Ecuador and is the place where Charles Darwin began
his study of evolution traveling on the H.M.S. Beagle? Begin (Galapagos or Galapagos
Islands)
This is the tenth and final tossup question.
(Emcee note – if match is tied after this question go to the three tie breakers at the end of these
questions – use all three, even if tie is broken on first or second question!)
10.
What describes the meanings of the symbols on a map? Begin (legend or key)
EMERGENCY QUESTIONS (To be used in an emergency only –DO NOT USE AS EXTRA TIE
BREAKERS – but they can be used in place of tie breakers as they would be used if a
question has a mistake, if the emcee “flubs” a question, etc.):
You have 5 seconds to answer this question.
1.
What is a type of map listing the value, extent, and ownership of land in a given district for
the purposes of taxation called? Begin (cadastral or cadastral map)
You have 5 seconds to answer this question.
2.
The site of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry is in which state? Begin (Maryland)
TIE BREAKERS(To be used in cases of tie games – use all three questions, even if the tie is
broken with the first or second question; in case teams are still tied at the end of these
three questions – the game remains a tie.):
This is the first tiebreaker question.
1.
What hand-held rocket launcher in World War II could be loaded and fired by only two
men? Begin (bazooka)
This is the second tiebreaker question.
2.
What is the name of the large series of limestone caves in New Mexico? Begin (Carlsbad
Caverns)
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This is the third tiebreaker question.
3.
What country was formerly named Siam? Begin (Thailand)