Don't feel bad; we didn't win the Nobel prize, either. Soothe your injured ego by taking our Week to Week news quiz.
Here are some random but real hints: they're addressing Silicon Valley's karma deficit; it helps to be seen to be feared; he says it hurt our credibility; and now he can ask his friend Putin if the job's open. Answers are below the quiz.
1. What reasons did the Nobel committee give for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi?
a. The two were credited with stopping an India-Pakistan nuclear exchange in 2012
b. It said there were no Western leaders who qualified for the prize this year
c. It was honoring the pair's work for girls' education and children's rights
d. The two "demonstrated the peaceful principles of religious tolerance that is sweeping the world"
2. What sparked protests in the St. Louis area this week?
a. The governor announced plans to build a memorial statue to Michael Brown
b. The governor announced plans to block a memorial statue to Michael Brown
c. The shooting of a black teenager by a police officer on Thursday
d. The announcement that President Obama would appear at a "unity rally" in Ferguson
3. Why have tech companies Facebook, Pinterest, and Box teamed up?
a. They are working on a smartphone they say will rival the Amazon Fire phone
b. They have signed an agreement not to poach employees from each other
c. They are going to address the significant lack of female tech workers in Silicon Valley
d. They have set up a joint foundation endowed with $2 billion to fund Bay Area food pantries, animal shelters, and youth programs
4. The Nobel Prize for physics went to three scientists whose work led to the invention of what?
a. The iPhone
b. The electric car
c. LED lighting
d. Hydroelectric dams
5. Following a U.S. Supreme Court move, what did Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker say is "over in Wisconsin"?
a. His fight against corruption charges
b. His attempt to pay Tesla $3 billion to build an electric car battery factory in Kenosha
c. His fight against same-sex marriage
d. Private-sector unions
6. What has stoked speculation that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might have lost his grip on power?
a. He issued a statement saying "I have lost my grip on power" and calling for help from South Korea to restore him
b. He has not been seen in public for more than a month
c. He now only appears on North Korean TV in the presence of the leader of the armed forces
d. North Korean TV announced it is replacing a long-running series based on Kim Jong Un with one based on the life of his eldest son
7. In his new book, how does the former CIA director and former secretary of defense, Leon Panetta, criticize President Obama?
a. He argues that Obama should have given more power for foreign policy to his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton
b. He writes that Obama "vacillated" over militarily punishing Syria for the use of chemical weapons, hurting American credibility
c. He claims Obama never spoke to him directly, always preferring to have a White House aide act as an intermediary
d. Obama relied too much on "intuition and emotion" and not enough on logic-driven decision-making
8. Five U.S. airports are beginning to screen travelers for what?
a. Ebola
b. Terrorism
c. Political outspokenness
d. Race
9. According to the Congressional Budget Office, what happened to the U.S. budget deficit during fiscal year 2014?
a. It fell to $1.2 trillion
b. It fell to $486 billion
c. It rose to $1.1 trillion
d. It was eliminated
10. In his new autobiography, which one of the following things does French film star Gerard Depardieu not claim he did?
a. He once worked as a grave robber
b. He once worked as a male prostitute
c. He was an auto thief
d. He was a spy for Russia's KGB
BONUS. What innovation is being used by a comedy club in Barcelona, Spain?
a. The comedians have to deliver their jokes in Spanish and Catalan
b. Audience members can drink free until they laugh at a joke, after which they have to start paying per drink
c. A spokesman for the local Catholic archdiocese is given a five-minute opportunity for "rebuttal" after each night's act
d. Audience members are charged a per-laugh fee, with their smiles tracked by facial recognition technology
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, October 13 in downtown San Francisco for our next live Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club of California. Panelists include Huffington Post's Mollie Reilly and San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli and C.W. Nevius.
ANSWERS:
1) c.
2) c.
3) c.
4) c.
5) c.
6) b.
7) b.
8) a.
9) b.
10) d.
BONUS) d.
Explanations of the hints: they're addressing Silicon Valley's karma deficit: meanwhile, Microsoft's CEO said women tech workers showed "good karma" by not asking for a raise -- the fact that he said it at a conference celebrating women in technology didn't help; it helps to be seen to be feared: the North Korean leader has been absent from public view for a long time; he says it hurt our credibility: Panetta said Obama was overly cautious and made it look like the United States would not follow through on its promises; and now he can ask his friend Putin if the job's open: Depardieu has become a Russian citizen and a friend of the Russian leader, who did actually work for the KGB.