Questions
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MATCHING. (1 point each) WORLD LEADERS:
1. Write the letter of the description next to each ruler’s name.
_____ Mohammad Morsi
_____ Pope Shenouda III
_____ Mamoud Admadinejad
_____ Francois Hollande
_____ Bashar Assad
_____ Queen Elizabeth II
_____ Vladimir Putin
_____ Ludwig Guttmann
_____ Benjamin Netanyahu
_____ Otto Molina
a) in his last address to the United Nations as president of Iran, he did not address his country’s nuclear program, but referred to Israelis as ‘uncivilized Zionists’
b) used a diagram of a bowling-ball bomb to illustrate the danger of Iran’s nuclear program during his address to the UN General Assembly in October; President Obama refused to meet with him during this trip to the U.S.
c) was elected president for a third (non-consecutive term) in 2012 amidst charges that the election was riddled with fraud, intimidation and ballot-box stuffing
d) died in March; was the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt for 40 years
e) this newly elected president announced in February that he was considering legalizing drugs in his country because it has become a major transit point for US-bound drugs from South America
f) celebrated Diamond Jubilee celebration in June, marking 60 years on the throne
g) Jewish neurosurgeon who fled Nazi Germany, pioneered athletic competition as therapy for patients with spinal injuries and organized what became the Paralympic Games
h) longtime member of the Muslim Brotherhood until he was elected president of Egypt
i) dictator of Syria; has continued to respond with violence against rebels fighting against his regime
j) Socialist politician who was elected president of France in May. Catholic groups protested his liberal social agenda, which included introducing same-sex marriage, cutting government funding to religious schools and legalizing euthanasia under certain conditions.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. (2 points each)
There is one correct answer for each question. Circle the correct answer.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS:
2. In February 2012 astronaut John Glenn marked the 50th anniversary of his historic flight as ___________________, and said it was the best day of his life.
a) the first American to travel to the moon
b) the first American to orbit the Earth
c) the first person to orbit the earth
d) the first man to go to Mars
3. ___________________, the first man to set foot on the moon on July 21, 1969, died August 25, 2102 at the age of 82.
a) Lance Armstrong
b) Louis Armstrong
c) Neil Armstrong
d) Stretch Armstrong
4. U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, was appointed in December to fill the seat of departing Sen. Jim DeMint. Mr. Scott made history because he will be:
a) the youngest Senator in South Carolina’s history
b) the first Republican senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction
c) the only man to ever serve as a Congressman AND a Senator
d) the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction
5. Republican ___________________ was Mitt Romney’s choice for vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 presidential election.
a) Congressman Paul Ryan
b) Governor Chris Christie
c) Senator Marco Rubio
d) Governor Bobby Jindal
6. Former first lady Hillary Clinton has served in this post during President Obama’s first term but is expected to resign before his second term begins:
a) Secretary of Defense
b) Secretary of State
c) Attorney General
d) National Security Advisor
7. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker became a figure of national recognition and controversy in 2012 because of his proposed “Wisconsin budget repair bill.” The bill, which was passed by the Wisconsin Legislature, significantly changed the collective bargaining process for most public (government) employees in Wisconsin. Union opponents of Walker’s legislation pushed for a recall election in June, a first for a governor in Wisconsin. Walker won the recall election against his Democratic opponent by 53% to 46%, making him the first U.S. governor to ___________________.
a) have successfully ended all collective bargaining rights for union employees in his state
b) have successfully kept his seat as governor in a recall election
c) have won two elections in a row by a large margin
d) have passed a bill to fix the state budget
8. In a speech at the Business Executives for National Security meeting in October, Secretary of Defense ___________________ warned his audience that there has been a sudden escalation of cyber terrorism and that attackers have managed to gain access to control systems for critical infrastructure in the U.S.
a) Hillary Clinton
b) Timothy Geitner
c) Eric Holder
d) Leon Panetta
STATE LEGISLATION:
9. In December, ___________________ became the 24th U.S. state to pass a right-to-work law which prohibits unions from establishing a “closed shop” by requiring employees to join and contribute dues to a union as a condition for employment.
a) Minnesota
b) Michigan
c) Wisconsin
d) Illinois
10. In December, a federal appeals court struck down a ban on carrying concealed weapons in the state of ___________________. Before the federal appeals court ruling, this was the only state in the nation where carrying concealed weapons was illegal.
a) Illinois
b) Massachusetts
c) California
d) Texas
11. In April, French tire manufacturer Michelin announced it is building a new tire plant in South Carolina that likely will make it the tire-making capital of the U.S. by 2013.
Ohio, once the rubber capital of the world, has seen a migration of tire production out of Ohio to southern states. This movement has been spurred by these states’ tax incentives and ___________________ laws. Auto makers, such as BMW and Volkswagen also have set up plants in the South.
a) environmental
b) right to work
c) minimum wage
d) overtime
12. In September, the mayor of New York City, the largest city in New York state, successfully persuaded the members of the NYC Board of Health (which he appointed) to:
a) block future permits for any new fast food restaurants
b) ban the sale of soft drinks larger than 16 oz.
c) require all residents to ride bikes to work
d) legalize the use of small amounts of recreational marijuana
AGENCIES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
13. The FCC, with 1,898 federal employees and a budget of $354 million, announced in February it would be revising its phone subsidy program which is riddled with fraud and abuse, as well as adding a new ___________________ program for low-income Americans.
a) X-box/Sony PlayStation subsidy
b) newspaper subscription subsidy
c) Netflix subsidy
d) broadband internet subsidy
14. In February, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to provide four years of funding ($63 billion) for this government agency, the ___________________ . One of the provisions of the bill requires the agency to clear the path for wider spread use of drones (unmanned aircraft) for governmental and commercial purposes.
a) FCC
b) FDA
c) FAA
d) EPA
15. In April the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dropped its lawsuit claiming that an energy company contaminated drinking water in Texas, the third time in the past several months that the agency has backtracked on its accusations linking ___________________ to water pollution.
a) coal mining
b) fracking
c) wind farms
d) oil drilling
16. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this year attempted to prevent two huge but very different problems on major waterways in the U.S. by doing the following: (You must circle two correct answers for this question to be correct.)
a) finding the best solution for preventing destructive Asian carp from infiltrating the Great Lakes
b) draining Florida’s Lake Okeechobee in an attempt to kill the Burmese pythons that have taken over the Everglades
c) clearing a drought-stricken stretch of the Mississippi River to enable commercial shipping traffic to operate without disruption
d) piling millions of sandbags along the shores of New Jersey beaches to prevent future beach erosion after superstorm Sandy
17. In 2012, NASA hired two private companies to ___________________, the $100 billion research complex orbiting 240 miles above Earth.
a) fly cargo to the International Space Station
b) build an escalator to the International Space Station
c) replace U.S. astronauts with their own employees at the International Space Station
d) conduct tours to the International Space Station
18. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S. In April it was revealed that dozens of ___________________ have been given approval by the FAA to use unmanned aircraft known as drones, according to documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.
a) universities and law-enforcement agencies
b) ranchers living on the border in Arizona and New Mexico
c) military bases in the U.S.
d) celebrity news websites
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION POLICIES:
19. The Obama administration in March blocked a new law in Texas requiring voters to show photo identification before voting, saying that the law:
a) prevents illegal immigrants from voting
b) reduces the number of people casting votes for Democrats
c) embarrasses potential voters who may have had their drivers license revoked
d) could harm Hispanic voters who lack such documents
20. The federal government won a lawsuit against Arizona in June when the Supreme Court sided with them. The Obama administration wanted to stop enforcement of many of the provisions of a 2010 Arizona law allowing local police officers to check a person’s immigration status when they are stopped for another offense. The U.S. Solicitor General had argued that:
a) Arizona officials have no right to arrest a person just for being in the U.S. illegally
b) the Constitution gives the federal government alone the authority to control immigration and that Arizona was treading on that exclusive authority in their immigration law
c) since the federal government does not wish to enforce current immigration laws, states shouldn’t enforce them either
d) illegal immigrants do the jobs Americans won’t do and should therefore be allowed to stay and be given green cards
21. In May President Obama became the first U.S. president in history to ___________________. In explaining why he had changed his position on this controversial social issue, the President said, “I’ve been going through an evolution on this issue.”
a) persuade Congress to cut spending dramatically as the only way to reduce the deficit
b) refrain from playing golf while our military is engaged in combat
c) express his support for same sex marriage
d) express his support for a business owner’s right to choose whether he/she wants to fund abortions in their employee health care plans
22. In 2012 the Obama administration announced it was considering publishing the names of extremist groups associated with al Qaeda that could be targeted by the Pentagon for drone attacks. Unmanned aerial drone strikes on terrorist suspects began after the Sept. 11 attacks. Under the Obama administration, drone strikes by the CIA and the military ___________________ in U.S. national-security strategy.
a) are rarely used
b) have been eliminated
c) have become increasingly common as a primary tool
d) have become obsolete
23. This pipeline, approved by energy agencies in South Dakota and Canada in 2010, would ship oil from Canada and northern states to Texas. A large majority of Americans support the construction of the pipeline. Based on criticism from the EPA, President Obama put the $7 billion project on hold in early 2012 pending further environmental review. A presidential permit is required because the pipeline will cross the Canada/U.S. border. The name of the pipeline is:
a) Marcellus
b) Keystone XL
c) Bakkan
d) Keystone
24. Despite the fact that August marked the 30th straight month of private-sector job gains, a jobs report issued in September showed 43 straight months in which unemployment had exceeded ___________________.
a) 20%
b) 5%
c) 50%
d) 8%
PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (OBAMACARE):
25. The Obama administration in January rejected appeals to overturn guidelines of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act requiring health insurance plans to pay for drugs that can cause abortions (the “morning-after” pill). The administration made an exception by giving an extra year for compliance to nonprofit employers who presently refuse to cover contraceptives in their insurance plan because of their religious beliefs. The organizations that oppose the requirement say it violates their:
a) freedom of conscience and religious freedom
b) second amendment rights
c) freedom from taxation without representation
d) rights to free speech
26. A Florida restaurant corporation announced in October that it was considering permanently reducing employees’ hours because of the increased costs they will incur due to the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act (Obamacare). Under the law, large companies must provide affordable health insurance to employees working an average of 30 hours or more per week. The law also requires every citizen to:
a) congratulate their Congress members for passing a law from which they themselves are exempt
b) read the law in its entirety
c) purchase health insurance
d) work at least 29 hours a week
27. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June over the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, which will take effect in 2014. The individual mandate will require all Americans to purchase health care or pay a penalty. In a surprise to many observers, ___________________ provided the swing vote in a 5-to-4 decision that upheld the constitutionality of almost all of Obamacare.
a) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
b) Chief Justice John Roberts
c) Justice Anthony Kennedy
d) Justice Clarence Thomas
MILITARY/TERRORISM:
28. Military counterterrorism officials asked Congress in December to authorize the use of armed drones and special operations teams to pursue terrorist groups in ___________________, the latest area of the world to see a rise in al Qaeda terrorist activity. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb became an increasing concern to U.S. counterterrorism officials because the group has been actively recruiting fighters, and wants to attack the West.
a) the Middle East
b) South America
c) North Africa
d) Pakistan
29. In September, naval power from 25 countries, led by the U.S., converged on this strategic location to practice tactics on how to breach an Iranian blockade of the area and to conduct counter-mining drills. These were the largest war games ever undertaken in the region.
a) Strait of Hormuz
b) Panama Canal
c) Horn of Africa
d) Gulf of Aden
30. In 2000, al Qaeda used a small boat as a floating suicide bomb to severely damage the U.S. Naval destroyer USS Cole and kill and injure Navy sailors. In 2012, to counter a growing threat to U.S. Navy ships from small boat swarms used as a means of attack by terrorists and other enemies, the Navy began testing the use of:
a) dolphins armed with explosives to attack the boats
b) water cannons
c) blasting ear piercing heavy metal music to scare them away
d) missiles shot from robot boats
31. The U.S. agency DARPA has developed the Cheetah robot, which can run faster than world record holder and Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt. The goal DARPA has for the Cheetah robot is to eventually use it:
a) to carry highly classified documents between the White House and Pentagon
b) to train U.S. Olympic runners to win the gold in the next Olympics
c) for emergency responses, humanitarian missions and other defense missions
d) to replace U.S. Olympic athletes in future games
MISCELLANEOUS:
32. Public school students across the country voiced their opposition in September to a new government mandate imposing a calorie cap on school lunches by ___________________. The new regulations are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 promoted by First Lady Michelle Obama.
a) boycotting school lunches
b) calling the White House to complain
c) transferring to private schools
d) staging rallies in which they shouted “no justice, no peace”
33. Pork prices are predicted to greatly increase by the end of 2013 because of the high cost of corn. Prices for corn feed doubled, due to drought across the U.S., Europe and South America, as well as ___________________.
a) the U.S. government’s mandate that ethanol made from corn be used in gasoline for environmental reasons
b) the skyrocketing number of Americans eating pork due to the popularity of the Food Channel show “Pigs in a Blanket”
c) Swine flu
d) increased popcorn sales in movie theaters
34. In September, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston announced the launch of a new program aimed at ___________________ eight types of cancer within the next ten years. The cancers the MD Anderson Cancer Center program will target include skin cancer, leukemia and lung cancer.
a) eradicating
b) reducing deaths from
c) curing
d) creating vaccines for
35. The Associated Press is a news service which provides content to thousands of newspapers, radio stations, television networks and web sites. It is the most commonly used of all news services in the world. In January, the AP opened its newest news bureau in ___________________, a country known for having no independent press, only state-run media.
a) Cuba
b) North Korea
c) Russia
d) the U.S.
36. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to control the movements of cockroaches. Their goal is to use them in an earthquake recovery situation to:
a) give the public a positive impression of these plentiful insects
b) help locate people trapped in collapsed buildings
c) conduct races to accurately record the top speed at which roaches can travel
d) bring supplies to people trapped in rubble after an earthquake
TRUE/FALSE (2 points each)
Directions: Decide whether the bolded part of the statement is true or false. Write TRUE or FALSE next to each statement. Rewrite each false statement to make it true.
WORLD NEWS:
37. __________________ In Egypt on September 11, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo and pulled down the American flag during a protest over what they said was a film made in the United States that insulted the Prophet Mohammad.
38. __________________ In Libya on 9/11, Islamist protesters attacked the U.S. consulate in a coordinated attack and killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. It was later reported that U.S. drones flew over Behghazi during the attack and officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after the attack began that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack. Upon hearing the news U.S. officials immediately ordered a fighter jets and special ops forces to go into the consulate and rescue the ambassador and his staff.
39. __________________ Six scientists and a government official were sentenced in October to six years in prison for manslaughter by an Italian court for failing to give adequate warning of a tsunami that killed more than 300 people in a town in Italy in 2009.
40. __________________ In November, more than two-thirds of the United Nation’s 193 member states approved the resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status from an observer to a nonmember observer state. The U.S. opposes any acknowledgement of a Palestinian state at the UN until a permanent peace agreement has been signed with Israel.
41. __________________ The head of Nestle, the world’s largest food producer, said in September high food prices are due to the growing of crops for biofuels, and said this puts pressure on food supplies by using land and water that would otherwise be used to grow crops for human or animal consumption. “If no food was used for fuel, the prices would come down again – that is very clear,” he says.
42. __________________ During the Presidential Medal of Freedom awards ceremony at the White House in May, President Obama referred to a “Polish” death camp rather than a “Nazi” death camp. The Polish government was upset with President Obama’s mischaracterization, saying it opposes descriptions of former concentration camps as “Polish” because it says the term can give the impression that Poland bore responsibility for Nazi Germany’s World War II genocide.
43. __________________ G8 stands for the “Group of Eight” countries. It consists of the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. The G8’s focus is on economic policies. In March, President Obama announced that he was moving the G8 summit taking place in May from Chicago to Hawaii.
44. __________________ An American doctor has fitted hundreds of poor British heart patients with second-hand pacemakers and defibrillators recovered from corpses in morgues and crematoria throughout the United States, which they otherwise could not afford.
Every four years, the two major U.S. political parties hold a national convention to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidate. They also meet to approve a party platform of issues and positions upon which the candidates will run. Both platforms caused controversy in the news in 2012:
45. __________________ The 2012 Republican Party platform supported a human life amendment to the Constitution, and opposed using taxpayer dollars to fund any abortions or any organizations which perform or advocate abortion.
46. __________________ The 2012 Democratic Party platform for the first time did not acknowledge God or that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel. This was quickly amended by a voice vote after widespread public criticism, although many of the delegates at the convention booed the insertion of these two items.
EXTRA CREDIT.
(Teacher to determine length/content of answer required for the extra credit, and number of extra points to be given)
Extra Credit question #1: Which of the following was not a real news story in 2012 (or ever)?
a) As a follow-up to the short-range Iron Dome rocket-defense system developed by the Israeli military, Israel is close to completing a long-range missile-defense shield that will destroy Iranian ballistic missiles in space. Some defense experts believe the ability to protect its civilian population will give Israel a freer hand in dealing with threats from Iran.
b) In a surprise move, Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu announced that the Israeli government has sent specially trained suicide bombers into Iran to target President Ahmadinejad and the ruling mullahs. Prime Minister Netanyahu believes the announcement will force the Iranian government to end their plans for destroying the state of Israel and establish a peace treaty.
c) It was announced in September that an Israeli company is developing a new system for detecting explosives and narcotics at airports, docks and border crossings using specially trained mice. Mice were chosen to detect explosives because they are easy to care for and cost little to feed.
d) An Israeli inventor has developed a cardboard bicycle which is both waterproof and fireproof. It will cost $20 to buy and will be made on largely automated production lines supplemented by a workforce made up of retirees and the disabled.
Extra Credit question #2: Which do you think was the most important issue/event of 2012? Explain your answer.
a) the re-election of President Barack Obama / the defeat of Republican challenger Mitt Romney
b) the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act (also known as Obamacare) that the individual mandate is constitutional
c) the coordinated terrorist attack on the Benghazi consulate, and the Defense Department’s lack of response to the attack, even as officials were aware of the true nature of the attack 2 hours into it
d) the destruction and power outages caused by Hurricane/superstorm Sandy in the northeast in October; also the amount of time it took to restore power in many areas
e) other
NOTE: Regular weekly news quiz will resume Friday, Jan. 25.
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