This week, 47 percent of our questions don't require you to work hard to find the answers; the rest of them will determine how much you know about current affairs.
Here are some random but actual hints: Someday, he'll only be half as rich; makes you wonder about their Netflix queue; he didn't use his silver spoon; and Fox suggested he meet with Netanyahu instead. Now put those to good use and take the quiz! Answers are at the bottom.
1) Recent polling shows U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin has pulled ahead of her Republican opponent. If her lead holds, what state will elect the country's first openly lesbian U.S. senator?
a. Delaware
b. Oregon
c. Massachusetts
d. Wisconsin
2) How is the U.S. embassy in Pakistan spending $70,000?
a. Increasing the height of its protective compound walls by four feet
b. Hiring a "flash mob" of paid defenders who will surround the embassy at the first sign of protests and defend the building
c. Running an ad on Pakistani TV featuring President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton disavowing and denouncing the amateur anti-Islam video
d. Purchasing a large troop-carrier helicopter to be based permanently on the roof of the building -- just in case
3) In an interview with David Letterman, who tempered their criticism of Mitt Romney's comments about America's freeloading 47 percent by noting that "all of us make mistakes?"
a. Conservative writer David Frum
b. Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan
c. Conservative columnist David Brooks
d. President Barack Obama
4) Forbes magazine released its new ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans. Who held the number one spot?
a. Mark Zuckerberg
b. Oprah Winfrey
c. Charles Koch
d. Bill Gates
5) The Justice Department's inspector general issued a report that cleared who of charges of knowing about the infamous Fast and Furious gun running program?
a. Attorney General Eric Holder
b. President Barack Obama
c. Mexican President Felipe Calderon
d. U.S. Ambassador to Mexico John D. Feeley
6) In the wake of the flare-up of violence in the Middle East at least partly fueled by anger over an amateur video insulting Islam, which of the following is not true?
a. The German government is considering banning the showing of the film in Berlin
b. A French satirical magazine published cartoons depicting Mohammed
c. Pakistan's government declared Friday as a national day of protest against the film
d. Colorado public television channel 12 announced plans to air the video in prime time
7) According to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, how is Myanmar's government learning how to become more democratic?
a. Sending young legislators to study at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
b. Forcing all government officials to participate in congressional training courses
c. Watching the U.S. Congress, then doing the exact opposite
d. Watching old episodes of The West Wing
8) Why is Consumer Reports recommending people reduce their consumption of rice?
a. Consumer Reports Labs found double the allowed amount of cyanide in American brown rice
b. Its editors reported that growing rice is less environmentally sustainable than growing wheat
c. Its tests found high levels of arsenic in many common types of rice and rice products
d. Up to 27 percent of common packaged white rice sold in the United States is artificial
9) Why was former President Jimmy Carter in the news this week?
a. His grandson, Jimmy Carter IV, discovered Romney's "47 percent" video and brought it to the attention of news media
b. His daughter, Amy, became a vice president at Bank of America
c. He offered to fly to Egypt to mediate the disagreement over the anti-Islam video
d. He lost a bet to Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and as a result will guest host O'Reilly's talk show for one week after the November elections
10) Which of the following did Mitt Romney do during the secretly taped speech before a group of $50,000-a-ticket donors in Florida?
a. Gave one donor a lesson on how to eat his food
b. Expressed his dislike of Clint Eastwood
c. Declared L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth to be his favorite novel
d. Said "a three-legged polo horse could have beaten John McCain in 2008"
BONUS QUESTION) Who tweeted "Arrr you in?" along with a picture of himself speaking to a pirate on Wednesday?
a. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
b. President Barack Obama
c. Author and publisher Dave Eggers
d. Pope Benedict XVI
Is that still not enough news for you? Join us in Silicon Valley for our next live Week to Week news commentary program at The Commonwealth Club on October 4. See the Week to Week website for event dates, audio, and more.
ANSWERS: 1) d. 2) c. 3) d. 4) d. 5) a. 6) d. 7) d. 8) c. 9) a. 10) a. BONUS) b.
EXPLANATIONS OF THE HINTS: Gates has led a campaign for billionaires to give away half of their wealth; do they have Netflix in Myanmar? Mitt Romney surely brings to mind Ann Richards' quip about George H.W. Bush: "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth." And Fox ran news of Obama's pirate picture and suggested the president was too busy meeting fake pirates to meet with Israel's prime minister.