Take your eyes off the Sochi Olympics long enough to take our Week to Week news quiz and test your current affairs skills.
Here are some random but real hints: He could have worked harder at the Tribune Company; let's just skip the kilt jokes; she was rushed into politics; and they probably figured the Great Wall already takes care of that.
1. Turkish special forces put an end to a hijacking. Where did the hijacker want the plane to go?
a. Athens, Greece
b. Tel Aviv, Israel
c. The Olympics in Sochi, Russia
d. New York City
2. Who said "The 1 percent work harder; the 1 percent are much bigger factors in all forms of our society"?
a. Venture capitalist Tom Perkins
b. Billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell
c. Conservative TV personality Megyn Kelly
d. Ralph Nader
3. According to new polls, what GOP leader is currently trailing his Democratic challenger by four points?
a. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
b. House Speaker John Boehner
c. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy
d. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
4. What country legalized same-sex marriage this week?
a. Scotland
b. Norway
c. Germany
d. Thailand
5. Who filed paperwork to seek the congressional seat being left open by Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman's retirement?
a. Stephen Colbert's younger brother, Robert
b. Women's activist Sandra Fluke
c. Rush Limbaugh
d. Actor Ben Affleck
6. With strong bipartisan votes, on what did the U.S. Congress vote to spend $1 trillion?
a. An immigration overhaul
b. Three new quantum computer-controlled aircraft carriers
c. A farm bill
d. Tax breaks for high-income earners
7. What did a report by the Congressional Budget Office conclude about the Affordable Care Act?
a. Obamacare will reduce workforce participation by the equivalent of 2 million jobs
b. Funding for Obamacare is insufficient to cover its costs
c. 47 million people will remain without health care even with the law in effect
d. Only 800,000 people have signed up for Obamacare coverage
8. To what did Vice President Biden compare New York's LaGuardia airport?
a. The Guantanamo prison
b. The space dock where Star Trek's starship Enterprise was built
c. A third-world country
d. "A dollar store on the day after Christmas"
9. What did drugstore chain CVS promise to do by October?
a. Build its 10,000th store
b. Stop selling tobacco products
c. Lay off 4,500 employees
d. Stop selling candy
10. Which one of the following has not been said by GOP candidates running for the U.S. Senate from Georgia?
a. The Big Bang and evolution are "lies straight from the pit of hell"
b. President Obama should be impeached
c. Children who receive school lunches should sweep floors in exchange for the food
d. America should build a border fence to protect it from Chinese illegal immigrants
BONUS: What is former wrestler and one-term Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura doing?
a. Opening a nationwide chain of youth wrestling studios, modeled after successful martial arts businesses
b. He has relocated to New Hampshire, where he plans to compete with former Senator Scott Brown for the Senate seat there
c. He is in an undisclosed location in Mexico "so that the drones can't find me"
d. Charging people $1 million to spend an entire day with him at his exclusive compound
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Friday, February 21 in San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club. Panelists include Debra J. Saunders, Dr. Larry Gerston, and C.W. Nevius.
ANSWERS: 1) c. 2) b. 3) a. 4) a. 5) b. 6) c. 7) a. 8) c. 9) b. 10) d. BONUS) c.
Explanations of the hints He could have worked harder at the Tribune Company: Sam Zell purchased the Tribune Company before it headed into bankruptcy; let's just skip the kilt jokes: Scotsmen wear kilts, nothing wrong with that; she was Rushed into politics: most people first heard about Ms. Fluke when radio personality Rush Limbaugh insulted her; and they probably figured the Great Wall already takes care of that: The Great Wall of China is great, but it won't protect Houston from Chinese New Year celebrations.