TASK DEFINITION: In this task you will be given a text passage from a trivia quiz. You should choose the category this question belongs to from these categories: History, Science, Social Science, Fine Arts, Literature. You can only choose one category, so if in doubt, please choose the closest match.
PROBLEM: A fleet led by Lourenco de Almeida was among the first Europeans to colonize this modern day nation. One empire in this modern day nation, whose largest ethnic group is known as the Sinhalese, had its capital at Nallur. The Palk Strait is at the northern end of this nation, as is a series of small islands known as (*) Adam's Bridge. The northern tip of this island was also home to this nation's Jaffna kingdom, which ruled at the same time as other empires on this modern country like the Kotte Kingdom and the Kandy Kingdom. For 10 points, name this Asian nation once known as Ceylon.

SOLUTION: History

PROBLEM: One king of this name and number married Joan of Navarre and fended off the "Epiphany Uprising. " Another king by this name and number had Maximilian de Bethune, Duke de Sully negotiate the Peace of Savoy, but was assassinated by Francois Ravalliac. Yet another ruler of this name and number dealt with the rise of anti-king Rudolf of Swabia, and had installed Clement III as pope, though he had earlier traveled to Canossa to reconcile with Pope Gregory VII. For 10 points, identify this name and number shared by the Holy Roman Emperor involved in the Investiture controversy as well as the Bourbon king of Navarre who declared that "Paris is worth a Mass. "

SOLUTION: History

PROBLEM: In 2007, Jain et al. reported a new class of organic magnets incorporating this element complexed to DDQ, TCNE, and TCNQ, and this metal works with SIPr to catalyze the cycloaddition of diynes to produce pyridines, isocyanates, and esters. One hypothesis for the Oxygen Catastrophe 2. 4 billion years ago was a famine named for this element, since it appears in as the key cofactor for methane production in methanogens, and it also appears in the active site of the human enzyme urease. Often complexed to cyclooctadiene, or cod, this element can be purified by reaction with Syngas and carbon monoxide to generate the namesake tetracarbonyl, sometimes known as liquid death, in the Mond process. For 10 points, name this element, the primary component of Raney catalysts, which appears to the right of cobalt on the periodic table, with symbol Ni.

SOLUTION:
Science