In a week in which we tried to explain what happened the previous week, people looked for answers and clarity. See how much you learned and take our test.
Here are some random but real hints: Elvis has left the prison; so much for the tripwire; the sons might have been the least crazy members of the family; and last time it didn't work out so well for them. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston bombings, was charged with what by the U.S. Department of Justice?
a. Mass murder
b. Using a weapon of mass destruction
c. Being an undocumented immigrant
d. Not listening to his uncle
2. Rhode Island became the 10th state to do what?
a. Pass its own tougher gun control laws following the Connecticut school shooting
b. File a petition with the White House to secede from the union
c. Legalize recreational marijuana use
d. Legalize same-sex marriage
3. When news spread of the Boston bombing suspects' roots in Chechnya, what country issued a disclaimer?
a. Chechnya
b. Russia
c. The Czech Republic
d. Chile
4. What happened to Paul Kevin Curtis, the man arrested last week in the case of letters laced with ricin sent to President Obama and a U.S. Senator?
a. He was released and charges against him were dropped
b. He was charged with using a weapon of mass destruction
c. He was accused of attempting to assassinate the president
d. He was linked to the Boston bombers
5. What did Israel's government claim that Syria was doing?
a. Financing Hezbollah
b. Building nuclear weapons
c. Supplying nuclear technology to North Korea
d. Repeatedly using chemical weapons
6. The 11th-century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque was destroyed in civil war fighting in what country?
a. Lebanon
b. The Philippines
c. Syria
d. Sri Lanka
7. Who promised "I don't plan to blow up anything" during his upcoming trip to America?
a. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
b. Anzor Tsarnaev, father of the two suspected Boston Marathon bombers
c. New Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
d. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, computer warfare expert
8. To what did France's government say "oui" this week?
a. Tax increases
b. Legalizing marijuana
c. Legalizing same-sex marriage
d. Scrapping the 35-hour workweek
9. Why did all five living U.S. presidents gather in Dallas on Thursday?
a. To play in a charity golf tournament benefiting the Clinton Global Initiative
b. To give a joint eulogy for Rufus Dwayne Cordwright, Jimmy Carter's first secretary of state
c. To take part in a secret ceremony to fulfill a prediction of Nostradamus
d. To dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Center
10. Who told Esquire she plans to run for president and "I'm going to keep running till I win"?
a. Hillary Rodham Clinton
b. Roseanne Barr
c. Sarah Palin
d. Michele Bachmann
BONUS. In a recent survey, what did one-third of young adult Germans say they were in favor of?
a. Leaving the eurozone
b. Emigrating to another country
c. Making German the official language of the European Union
d. Having a monarchy again in Germany
The news and the quizzes don't stop there! Join us for our next live Week to Week political commentary program with a news quiz at The Commonwealth Club on May 17 in downtown San Francisco, featuring Huffington Post's Aaron Sankin and the San Francisco Examiner's Melissa Griffin.
ANSWERS: 1) b. 2) d. 3) c. 4) a. 5) d. 6) c. 7) b. 8) c. 9) d. 10) b. BONUS) d.
EXPLANATIONS OF THE HINTS: Curtis has worked as an Elvis impersonator; the use of chemical weapons by Syria's government had been called a tripwire for getting the U.S. involved, but just not yet; the brothers' mother said she thinks the attacks were staged and the father, well, he said the above comment; and Germans certainly have prouder periods of history for which they can be nostalgic than the Kaiserreich.