End-of-the-year quiz
Here are 34 questions to test your knowledge of current affairs.
You’re getting warmer
1. In a survey, half of the scientists working for the federal government said they had been ordered by their superiors in the Bush administration to delete references in their work to:
a) birth control
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b) evolution
c) global warming
d) Hillary Clinton
2. The worst drought in more than a century gripped the Southeastern states, draining the lake that supplies Atlanta’s drinking water to 5 percent of capacity, and triggering a water war between Georgia and Florida. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue raised eyebrows when he responded by taking what action?
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3. This summer, warmer temperatures melted more of the ice cap at the North Pole than at any time in recorded history. What is the name of the fabled route between Europe and Asia that was opened by the vanishing ice?
The fire down below
4. The mayor of this city announced he was entering alcohol treatment after admitting he had an affair with his campaign manager’s wife.
5. NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak was charged with driving from Florida to Houston while wearing a diaper so she could kidnap and kill a romantic
rival. What was the name of the space shuttle pilot who was at the center of the love triangle?
6. After offering $1 million for evidence of sexual infidelity by a House or Senate member, Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt revealed that this Louisiana Republican senator and champion of family values had patronized a prostitute known as the “D.C. Madam.’’
Believe it or not
7. The ACLU objected to a new security device that the Transportation Security Administration began installing in major airports this year. What does the backscatter X-ray machine do that unnerves civil libertarians?
8. Colombian drug runners, who have used people, planes, and boats to smuggle cocaine into the U.S., are now using a new means of transportation. So far, soldiers have captured 11 of them, including one that was 50 feet long. What was it?
9. A British scientist this year gathered vital statistics on 1,064 rock stars, spanning the era from Elvis to Eminem, and found they are twice as likely to die young as the general population. Within three years, what is the average age of death of rock stars born in the U.S.?
Only in America
10. To reduce anger among customers waiting on long lines at offices of the U.S. Postal Service, the government agency decided to remove this visible irritant from all 37,000 offices.
11. Which national treasure was, according to critics, “desecrated” by the opening of a $40 million, 70-foot-long glass platform?
12. In a First Amendment case, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an Alaskan high school had the right to suspend a student for displaying a banner bearing a nonsensical catchphrase, on the grounds that it could “reasonably’’ be interpreted to advocate drug use. What were the words that got the teen into trouble?
13. It’s the fattest state in the nation, a new report found, with 30 percent of its population qualifying as obese.
14. What is the state with the smallest percentage of obese people?
International
15. What was the colorful nickname of the mass protests staged by Buddhist monks and Burmese civilians against Myanmar’s military regime?
16. Which European country has been functioning without a government since elections in May?
17. Starbucks was forced to close one of its 4,300 stores abroad when local residents said it was out of place in its historic location. Where was it?
18. The former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan announced it was opening a window to the outside world this year by making public-access computers available to its population. Within 100, how many computers did the government install to serve the population of 5 million?
19. Match the riot with its trigger:
1. France, November
2. Sudan, December
3. Italy, January
4. Italy, June
5. Italy, March
6. Pakistan, November
a) A soccer team lost
b) Cops ran over two teenagers
c) Lawyers demanded free elections
d) A teacher named a teddy bear “Mohammed”
e) A soccer team lost
f) A soccer team lost
Cultural landmarks
20. What rock band responded to the changing marketplace for music by letting fans not only download its new album, In Rainbows, but also decide what to pay for it?
21. Careful analysis of more than 100 recordings by the critically acclaimed British pianist Joyce Hatto revealed what astonishing fact?
22. David Chase’s acclaimed TV series The Sopranos ended after six seasons with a sudden cut to black and what song blasting on the soundtrack?
23. In February, Martin Scorsese finally won an Oscar for Best Direction with The Departed. How many times had he been nominated for that award previously?
24. This November, most Broadway performances were wiped out for 19 days due to a strike by which essential group of workers?
25. Which supermarket tabloid recently folded after 34 years of providing unique coverage of Bigfoot, UFOs, and the half-human, half-chiropteran creature known as Bat Boy?
The world of letters
26. How old is Harry Potter at the close of the seventh and last book in J.K. Rowling’s blockbuster children’s adventure series?
27. Name three songs that Pattie Boyd, the author of a best-selling 2007 memoir and the ex-wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton, claims were written about her.
28. When the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author David Halberstam died in a San Francisco car crash this spring, he was visiting the Bay Area to interview what 1960s hero?
29. What disciple of novelist Ayn Rand published a first book this year and watched it briefly reign as the No. 1 best-seller on The New York Times’ nonfiction list?
They said it
30. “We will not allow anyone to poke their snotty nose in our affairs.’’
31. “I’ve got God’s shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot.’’
32. “Por qué no te callas?’’
33. “I am not gay. I have never been gay.’’
34. “I ask you to accept one thing. Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right.’’
Answers
You’re getting warmer 1. c 2. He prayed for rain on the statehouse lawn. 3. The Northwest Passage The fire down below 4. San Francisco (Gavin Newsom) 5. William Oefelein 6. Sen. David Vitter Amazing but true 7. It sees through clothes and produces a nude image of passengers. 8. A submarine 9. 42 Only in America 10. Clocks 11. The Grand Canyon 12. “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” 13. Mississippi 14. Colorado International 15. The Saffron Revolution 16. Belgium 17. The Forbidden City in Beijing 18. 10 19. Match the riot with its trigger: France, November: b) Cops ran over two
teenagers; Sudan, December: d) A teacher named a teddy bear “Mohammed”; Italy, January: a) A soccer team lost; Italy, June:
e) A soccer team lost; Italy, March: f) A soccer team lost; Pakistan, November: c) Lawyers demanded free elections Cultural landmarks 20. Radiohead 21. She was a fraud. All the recorded performances issued under her name were actually made by other artists. 22. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” 23. Five 24. Stagehands 25. The Weekly World News The world of letters 26. Middle-aged 27. “Something” by Harrison; “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight” by Clapton 28. Former NFL quarterback Y.A. Tittle 29. Alan Greenspan They said it 30. Vladimir Putin 31. President Bush 32. King Juan Carlos of Spain, to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez 33. Idaho Sen. Larry Craig 34. Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair