Category: News

1. Which of the following is the first sitting world leader to give birth in more than three decades?
a. The prime minister of New Zealand
b. The prime minister of Iceland
c. The prime minister of Chile

2. Now that Saudi Arabia has ended its ban on female drivers, how many other countries ban women from driving?
a. None
b. One
c. Two

3. Turkey’s president won reelection in a vote that does not authorize which of the following:
a. A third term as president
b. Sweeping new powers over the legislature and judiciary
c. Tighter ties with NATO

4. Which of the following companies said it would move some production to other countries to avoid tariffs on U.S. goods?
a. Ford Motor
b. John Deere
c. Harley-Davidson

5. According to the US Supreme Court, President Trump’s travel ban:
a. Falls within the scope of presidential authority
b. Exceeds the scope of presidential authority
c. Ought to be addressed by Congress rather than by the courts

6. Uber regained its license to operate in which city?
a.Paris
b.London
c.Barcelona

7. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who said he would retire, is the court’s leading champion of which of the following:
a. The death penalty
b. Gay rights
c. Restrictions on abortion

8. Where do Presidents Trump and Putin plan to meet on July 16?
a. Brussels
b. Moscow
c. Helsinki

9. A gunman in the U.S. killed five people at the offices of which newspaper?
a. The Baltimore Sun
b. The Lexington Herald
c. The Capital Gazette

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. a
2. a
3. c
4. c
5. a
6. b
7. b
8. c
9. c

1. Who is Ivan Duque?
a. The President-elect of Colombia
b. The President-elect of Bolivia
c. The President-elect of Venezuela

2. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocked which of the following countries?
a. Sri Lanka
b. The Philippines
c. Japan

3. Which of the following became the first G-7 country to legalize recreational use of marijuana?
a. Germany
b. Canada
c. Italy

4. How many people around the world in 2017 had to flee their homes as a result of war or persecution, according to the UN refugee agency?
a. 30.1 million
b. 50.2 million
c. 68.5 million

5. What did the US ambassador to the UN label a “cesspit of political bias?”
a. The Group of Seven
b. The UN Human Rights Council
c. The European Union

6. Instagram unveiled which of the following additions to its service?
a. Audio
b. Messaging
c. Video

7. What candy did President Donald Trump give German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G-7 summit in Canada, according to an attendee?
a. Life Savers
b. Starburst
c. M & M’s

8. Can US states force online merchants to collect sales tax, according to the Supreme Court?
a. Yes
b. No
c. It depends whether the merchant has a physical presence in the state

9. Who made headlines for wearing a jacket that said, “I really don’t care, do U?”
a. Gayle King
b. LeBron James
c. Melania Trump

10. Which of the following companies was dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
a. GE
b. Disney
c. Walgreens Boots Alliance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. a
2. c
3. b
4. c
5. b
6. c
7. b
8. a
9. c
10. a

1. Who won this year’s French Open women’s championship?
a. Sloane Stephens
b. Jelena Ostapenko
c. Simona Halep

2. Which of the following about Siya Kolisi, a South African rugby player, is not correct?
a. He became the first black African to captain South Africa’s Springboks in an international test match
b. He became the first black African to play for the Springboks in an international test match
c. He became the first black African to captain a victory for the Springboks in an international test match.

3. Which of the following did Dennis Rodman not do at the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore?
a. Wear a “Make America Great Again Hat”
b. Offer to serve as US Ambassador to North Korea
c. Cry

4. Which of the following did the US and North Korea not agree to in a joint statement they signed at the summit?
a. To recovering and repatriating remains of prisoners of war
b. To work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
c. That North Korea would destroy a missile testing site

5. Which three nations will host soccer’s World Cup in 2026?
a. Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia
b. The US, Canada and Mexico
c. Spain, Portugal and Malta

6. Who is London Breed?
a. The first African American woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco
b. The first African American woman to be elected mayor of Los Angeles
c. The first African American woman to be nominated for governor of Georgia

7. Elon Musks’ Boring Company won a contract to build which of the following:
a. A high-speed underground rail link between Los Angeles and San Francisco
b. A high-speed underground rail link between Washington and Baltimore
c. A high-speed underground rail link between Chicago’s O’Hare airport and the city’s downtown

8. Which of the following best describes a report by the US Department of Justice about former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of an inquiry into Hillary Clinton’s emails?
a. That Comey’s actions biased the investigation
b. That Comey’s actions departed from FBI norms
c. That Comey’s actions promoted transparency

9. About how many migrant children did the US separate from their families at the southern border, over a six-week period ending May 31?
a. Almost 1,000
b. Almost 2,000
c. Almost 3,000

10. What the French president, Emmanuel Macron, refer to when he accused Italy of being “cynical and irresponsible?”
a. The Italian government’s barring a ship carrying 629 migrants from entering any Italian port
b. The Italian government’s threatening to leave the European Union
c. The Italian government’s proposing to regulate bloggers

Bonus: In honor of the World Cup 2018, here are 31 photos of soccer fields around the world. You need not be a fan of soccer to appreciate the images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. c
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. b
6. a
7. c
8. b
9. b
10. a

1. Who was sworn in as Spain’s prime minister?
a. Mariano Rajoy
b. Pedro Sánchez
c. Quim Torra

2. Voters in which of the following countries last Sunday elected a right-wing populist as prime minister?
a. Hungary
b. Montenegro
c. Slovenia

3. Many women with early-stage breast cancer do not need chemotherapy, according to a major international study that relied on which gene test:
a. MammaPrint
b. Oncotype DX
c. Genomic Health

4. The week marked one year that which of the following countries endured a boycott by all of its neighbors:
a. Bahrain
b. United Arab Emirates
c. Qatar

5. A volcanic eruption in which country killed at least 70 people:
a. Guatemala
b. Bolivia
c. Honduras

6. How does Apple plan to combat smartphone addiction?
a. With an investment of $50 million into research that will examine ways to counter such addiction
b. With a tool that lets users set limits on how long they use apps
c. With a mode that reduces the screen’s brightness as the day goes on

7. How many women are on the latest Forbes list of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes?
a. None
b. One
c. Two

8. Amazon reportedly is considering selling which of the following:
a. Automobiles
b. Tickets to sporting events and concerts
c. Home insurance

9. The U.S. State Department evacuated diplomats from which city after they heard unusual noises and showed symptoms of brain injury?
a. Guangzhou
b. Seoul
c. Manila

10. What is Summit, which IBM unveiled on Friday?
a. Software that is poised to revolutionize artificial intelligence
b. A system for improving the ability to derive data from medical records
c. The world’s fastest supercomputer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. c
3. b
4. c
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. c
9. a
10. c

1. Ireland voted overwhelmingly to repeal what?
a. A so-called hard border with Northern Ireland
b. A constitutional ban on abortion
c. A tax break for U.S. tech companies

2. Why did Italy’s president reject the prime-minister-in-waiting’s choice for finance minister?
a. The would-be finance minister has called Italy’s entry into the euro a “historic mistake.”
b. The president favored someone else for the job.
c. The president said he first wanted the prime minister to form a government.

3. Why did the president of France grant legal residency to Mamoudou Gassama, an immigrant from Mali?
a. The National Assembly voted to loosen the country’s immigration policy.
b. Gasssama helped identify a perpetrator of the Paris attacks of November 2015 who remained at large.
c. Gassama scaled the exterior of a building to rescue a 4-year-old boy suspended from a balcony.

4. How many people died as a result of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year, according to researchers at Harvard?
a. About 4,600
b. About 64
c. About 10,000

5. Why did ABC Entertainment cancel the revived sitcom “Roseanne?”
a. The show trailed in the ratings.
b. The show became too costly to produce.
c. Its star and creator tweeted a racist comment.

6. What happened to Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist whom officials in Ukraine declared to be dead?
a. He was murdered by Russia’s secret services.
b. He turned up alive hours later as part of a move by Ukraine’s security service to foil a planned hit.
c. Officials have yet to say why he was killed.

7. Why did Kim Kardashian West meet with Donald Trump?
a. She accompanied her husband, Kanye West, to a meeting in the Oval Office.
b. She stopped by the Oval Office after a visit with Ivanka Trump.
c. She visited the White House to discuss sentencing reform.

8. The beginnings of schizophrenia may lie in which organ, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University?
a. The placenta
b. The brain
c. The stomach

9. Which of the following did not weigh on global stocks?
a. The prospect of a trade war between the U.S. and its allies
b. Political turmoil in Italy
c. A increase in inflation in the U.S.

10. When will Zimbabwe hold its first election since the ouster of Robert Mugabe?
a. July 30
b. September 30
c. November 30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. c
4. a
5. c
6. b
7. c
8. a
9. c
10. a

1. Who won the Preakness Stakes?
a. Good Magic
b. Apollo’s Curse
c. Justify

2. Who was reelected president of crisis-stricken Venezuela?
a. Sebastian Pinera
b. Henri Falcon
c. Nicolas Maduro

3. At least 10 people in which country died of the Nipah virus:
a. India
b. Bangladesh
c. China

4. China launched a satellite that will pave the way for a mission to where:
a. The far side of the moon
b. Mars
c. Deep space

5. The Obamas signed an agreement to produce a mix of programming for which of the following networks:
a. Amazon Prime
b. Netflix
c. Hulu

6. What do owners of teams in the National Football League plan to do if players do not stand for the national anthem?
a. Fine the players
b. Fine their teams
c. Nothing

7. Which of the following novels did Philip Roth not write?
a. Portnoy’s Complaint
b. American Pastoral
c. Herzog

8. What first did Stacey Abrams achieve?
a. She is the first black woman in American history to win a major political party’s nomination for governor
b. She is the first black woman in American history to win the Republican nomination for governor
c. She is the first former synagogue president to run for the U.S. Senate

9. Why is Donald Trump barred from blocking people from viewing and replying to his posts on Twitter, according to a ruling by a federal judge in Manhattan?
a. The president’s Twitter feed has 52 million followers
b. The president’s Twitter feed is a public forum
c. The president tweets most days

10. Which of the following crimes was Harvey Weinstein not charged with?
a. A criminal sex act
b. Rape
c. Fraud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. c
2. c
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. b
7. c
8. a
9. b
10. c

1. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for attacks in which two cities?
a. Paris and London
b. Paris and Surabaya
c. London and Surabaya

2. A move by the US of its embassy to which city provoked criticism worldwide?
a. Jerusalem
b. Tel Aviv
c. Haifa

3. At least 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces as they tried to cross a fence that separates Israel from which territory?
a. The West Bank
b. Gaza
c. The Golan Heights

4. Which country won the Eurovision Song Contest?
a. Sweden
b. Portugal
c. Israel

5. Donald Trump said he would relax penalties on which Chinese telecom company that his administration had previously barred from sourcing supplies from the US because of findings it had illegally sold equipment to Iran and North Korea?
a. Huawei
b. Alibaba
c. ZTE

6. What is the royal title of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
a. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
b. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex
c. The Duke and Duchess of Strathearn

7. A ruling by the US Supreme Court opens the way for what?
a. Regulation of handguns
b. Stricter standards for fuel economy in automobiles
c. Betting on sports nationwide

8. Which of the following reportedly caused North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un to warn that his nation may not give up its nuclear program.
a. Joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea
b. The move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
c. Pressure from China, North Korea’s largest trading partner

9. In which country was Margot Kidder born?
a. The U.S.
b. Canada
c. The U.K.

10. Scientists said they recently discovered which of the following:
a. A rise in sea levels
b. A star thought to be the most distant observed
c. An increase in emissions of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere

11. Which of the following is not reported to be a factor in rising oil prices?
a. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China
b. U.S. sanctions against Iran
c. The collapse of Venezuela’s economy

12. Why has an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo reached “a new phase,” according to officials:
a. The virus was detected in an urban area
b. Authorities detected 11 new cases of the virus
c. A newly developed vaccine against the virus has proved effective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. b
4. c
5. c
6. b
7. c
8. a
9. b
10. c
11. a
12. a

1. Who won the Kentucky Derby?
a. WinStar
b. Justify
c. Audible

2. Who is the Russian opposition leader arrested during nationwide protests that preceded the inauguration of Vladimir Putin for a fourth term?
a. Denis Krivosheev
b. Aleksi Navalny
c. Dmitry Medvedev

3. Which of the following is not a first of NASA’S InSight mission to Mars?
a. It is the first mission to explore the interior of Mars.
b. It is the first mission to use an Atlas rocket supplied by SpaceX.
c. It is the first mission to launch from the West Coast.

4. Who will become the next president of the National Rifle Association?
a. Wayne LaPierre
b. Pete Brown
c. Oliver North

5. As part of breaking the Iran nuclear agreement, Donald Trump said the US would:
a. Reimpose sanctions on companies that do business with Iran
b. Continue to allow companies to do business with Iran
c. Postpone a decision on whether to reimpose sanctions on companies that do business with Iran

6. Who among the following is not one of the three Americans freed this week by North Korea?
a. Kim Hat-Song
b. Otto Warmbier
c. Tony Kim

7. Which country swore in as prime minister the world’s oldest elected leader?
a. Malaysia
b. Indonesia
c. Bangladesh

8. Which U.S. state became the first to mandate solar panels on new homes and apartment buildings built after starting in 2020?
a. New Mexico
b. Colorado
c. California

9. Where and when do Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un plan to meet?
a. In Singapore on June 12
b. In the Demilitarized Zone on June 12
c. In Seoul on June 12

10. A 104-year-old scientist from which country traveled to Switzerland for his assisted suicide?
a. Australia
b. The U.K.
c. China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers
1. b
2. b
3. b
4. c
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. c
9. a
10. a