Don't feel bad if your bid for the L.A. Clippers didn't win; you still have a chance to score with our latest Week to Week news quiz.
Here are some random but real hints: He aims to reboot the team; wonder if there will be ads on the dashboard; finally, a use for social media; and since when did Winston Smith join the teacher's union?
1. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned in the wake of the VA health-care scandal. Which one of the following is not true about him?
a. He is a retired U.S. Army four-star general
b. He underwent the partial amputation of one of his feet when he stepped on a land mine in Vietnam
c. He was the chief of staff of the U.S. Army under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
d. He was the youngest-ever four-star general
2. Who will pay $2 billion for the winning bid to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers?
a. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch
b. Real estate owner Donald Sterling
c. A team led by Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, and Larry Ellison
d. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer
3. What was blamed on bad winter weather?
a. The U.S. economy shrinking by 1% in the first quarter of 2014
b. Chicago lost its title as the number-one airport hub in the world
c. The Veterans Administration scandal
d. President Obama's low approval ratings
4. Maya Angelou died this week. Which one of the following is not true?
a. In 1951, when interracial marriage was still highly controversial and even illegal in many places in the United States, Angelou married a Greek musician
b. She is related to First Lady Michelle Obama through a common cousin in Oklahoma
c. She was a journalist in Egypt and Ghana during the decolonization era
d. During the 1990s, her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was one of the 100 books most frequently challenged by people who wanted it removed from libraries and schools
5. About what is San Francisco engaged in a tug-of-war with Chicago?
a. The Golden State Warriors basketball franchise
b. Twitter's headquarters
c. Stephen Colbert's campaign to name "The Coolest Hip City in America"
d. George Lucas' proposed $300 million art and memorabilia museum
6. What did Google announce that it was going to start producing itself?
a. Smart talking teddy bears that will educate children during playtime
b. Its own self-driving cars
c. The iPhone 7
d. The Google Schrödinger's Pet LifeLine, which uses microchips to track your pet's health
7. Which one of the following cliches did President Obama not use in his major foreign policy speech at West Point?
a. "America must always lead on the world stage. If we don't, no one else will."
b. "Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail."
c. "We wish to be on the right side of history, to be its shaper, not its victim."
d. "America should never ask permission to protect our people, our homeland, or our way of life."
8. After his new wife was beaten to death by her family for marrying him, what did Pakistani widower Muhummad Iqbal admit?
a. He had a third wife in another city
b. He has forgiven the people who killed his wife
c. He had strangled to death his previous wife so that he would be free to marry the woman who was beaten to death
d. He wishes he were a better man
9. What has gotten people in at least four cities paying extra attention to dark corners?
a. Rumors of a vampire infestation that has already claimed 12 victims across the American South
b. Someone is hiding packets of cash and giving clues via Twitter
c. A breed of Vietnamese rats in the New York metro area are spreading Rodent Black Lung Disease contracted from local air pollution
d. The lack of direct sunlight causes poor cell phone reception
10. What did a new study report about animal lovers?
a. Cat people are more intelligent than dog people
b. People who breed dogs in their backyards are less likely to break the law
c. The four presidents who were rated most highly by Americans were all cat owners
d. Horses are able to communicate up to 23 basic concepts to dolphins
BONUS. What did a Utah high school do in its 2014 yearbook?
a. Paid for it with full-page advertising from military contractors
b. Instructed each student to write a prayer describing their hopes for their future
c. Photoshopped girls' photos to show less skin and appear more modest
d. Removed photos of the swimming teams because they were deemed to be "too revealing"
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, June 2, 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 Josh Richman, Bob Butler, and C.W. Nevius.
ANSWERS: 1) d. 2) d. 3) a. 4) b. 5) d. 6) b. 7) c. 8) c. 9) b. 10) a. BONUS) c.
Explanations of the hints: He aims to reboot the team: Ballmer brings his tech industry background to running a sports team franchise; wonder if there will be ads on the dashboard: about 90% of Google's revenues come from advertising; finally, a use for social media: someone's tweeting where to find packets of money; and since when did Winston Smith join the teacher's union: if you know your Orwell, you'll remember that Winston Smith's job was to doctor text and photographs, as the school did.