While you decide whether to endorse congressman Paul Ryan, take our Week to Week News Quiz to sharpen your news skills.
Here are some random but real hints: They also fire people; we the Amazon Prime members; he implemented Giuliani’s “broken windows theory”; and how low can it go. Answers are below the quiz.
1. Donald Trump announced a group of 13 men who are going to help him with what?
a. Prove that President Obama’s birth certificate is still being hidden in Hawaii
b. Economic advice
c. Fashion advice
d. Attract the women’s vote
2. In a radio interview, what did Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin say has been “proven scientifically”?
a. Earth’s climate is not warming
b. Angels can not dance on the head of a pin
c. President Obama was born in Kenya
d. Birds can’t fly
3. Following an accusation by Donald Trump, President Obama denied the United States did what with Iran?
a. Paid a $400 million ransom to get back prisoners
b. Signed a nuclear treaty that allows Iran to build up to 15 hydrogen bombs
c. Made secret plans to open a U.S. air base on the outskirts of Tehran
d. Colluded to bring down the price of oil to $40 a barrel
4. What became a best-seller as the result of a shout-out at the Democratic National Convention?
a. Harry Potter and Radical Islamic Terrorist
b. The Democratic Party Platform
c. The U.S. Constitution
d. Dianetics
5. William Bratton is leaving his post in September. What is his job?
a. Secretary of the Navy
b. Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
c. Police commissioner of New York City
d. Donald Trump’s speechwriter
6. Who is Sal Khan?
a. CEO of PepsiCo
b. A U.S. soldier killed in the line of duty whose parents spoke at the Democratic convention
c. The founder of Sal Schools
d. The founder of Khan Academy
7. What did Pope Francis complain was being taught to children?
a. “that everyone can choose their gender“
b. Common Core math
c. That life exists “on planets not our own“
d. Hillary Clinton’s Protestant Methodist line about “doing all the good you can“
8. What did Vice President Joe Biden call on university presidents to do?
a. Offer direct loans to students
b. Build more coed locker rooms
c. Address sexual assault on campuses
d. Help stop drug abuse by students
9. San Francisco’s Millennium Tower is home to multi-million-dollar condos. What are its well-heeled tenants upset about?
a. The city has built a homeless shelter across the street from it
b. Tower residents are being limited to two dogs or one manservant
c. A ground floor retail space has been rented to San Francisco’s newest medical marijuana store
d. The tower is tilting and sinking
10. Who is included in the latest round of firings in Turkey as that country’s president strikes out at possible coup sympathizers?
a. Catholic missionaries
b. Shia students from Iran and Iraq
c. Soccer referees
d. Auto alarm retailers
BONUS. Actor/director/chair-whisperer Clint Eastwood talked politics with Esquire magazine. Which one of the following is not a quote from the article?
a. “We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist.”
b. “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”
c. Trump is “onto something, because secretly everybody’s getting tired of political correctness, kissing up. That’s the kiss-ass generation we’re in right now. We’re really in a p―― generation. Everybody’s walking on eggshells.”
d. When asked what troubled him the most: “I guess when I did that silly thing at the Republican convention, talking to the chair”
ANSWERS
1. b.
2. a.
3. a.
4. c.
5. c.
6. d.
7. a.
8. c.
9. d.
10. c.
BONUS. b (that quote was actually by Joseph Stalin).
One more question: Who is giving away 150 copies of the U.S. Constitution? We are, at our next Week to Week Political Roundtable in San Francisco. Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, August 8 in downtown San Francisco for our next live (and lively) Week to Week political roundtable with a news quiz and a social hour at The Commonwealth Club of California. Panelists include Hoover Institution’s Carson Bruno, CBS San Francisco’s Melissa Caen, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s C.W. Nevius.
Explanations of the hints: They also fire people: the 13 businessmen will advise on economic policy; we the Amazon Prime members: the Constitution became a best-seller on Amazon following its role in the Democratic convention; he implemented Giuliani’s “broken windows theory”: as Rudy Giuliani’s police commissioner, he instituted tough new rules on prosecuting minor crimes in an attempt to prevent bigger crimes; and how low can it go: the tony tower is sinking into the streets of San Francisco.