Don't boycott our latest Week to Week news quiz; give it a try to see how much you know about what's going on.
Here are some random but real hints: Bob Dole doesn't like him, either; friends spying on friends; bamboo isn't airtight; and the social network paid off. Answers are below the quiz.
1. With frontrunner Donald Trump absent from Thursday night's GOP debate, who emerged as the main target of the candidates on the stage?
a. Sen. Ted Cruz
b. Fox News host Megyn Kelly
c. Democratic billionaire George Soros
d. Walter Gropius
2. The latest revelations from leaker Edward Snowden show that Israeli military aircraft were hacked by whom?
a. Apple
b. The United States and United Kingdom
c. Iran
d. Russia
3. What did a powerful labor union complain about this week?
a. It wants to be able to distribute political pamphlets to students in public schools
b. Bernie Sanders campaign staffers impersonated the union's members in order to gain access to employee dining halls
c. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has decertified all public employee unions in his proposed 2016-2017 state budget
d. President Obama hasn't done enough to stop the decline of organized labor
4. Who returned to the United States against his will this week?
a. Secretary of State John Kerry
b. Apple tax consultant Ernest Ehrlich
c. "Affluenza" teen Ethan Couch
d. Senator Ted Cruz
5. Thursday marked the 30-year anniversary of what?
a. President Ronald Reagan's first meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
b. The destruction of the space shuttle Challenger
c. The bombing of the U.S. Marines barracks in Lebanon
d. The U.S. invasion of Grenada
6. What is estimated to reach 4 million people over the next year?
a. The new iPhone 7c
b. A new anti-malarial drug being distributed in Africa by the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation
c. The Zika virus
d. A China-based identity theft ring
7. Who is believed to be preparing for the launch of a space vehicle?
a. North Korea
b. Google
c. Iran
d. Taiwan
8. In the final quarter of 2015, what happened to the U.S. economy?
a. Growth increased to a 3.9 percent annual rate
b. Jobless figures reached their lowest rate since 1982
c. It was overtaken by China as the world's largest economy
d. Growth slowed to a 0.7 percent annual rate
9. Who just became richer than the Koch brothers?
a. Donald Trump
b. Meg Whitman
c. Oprah Winfrey
d. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
10. Next weekend, what two teams will meet in Super Bowl 50?
a. New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings
b. Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers
c. Los Angeles Rams and Frankfurt Galaxy
d. Carolina Panthers and San Fransisco 49ers
BONUS. Which one of the following is something Maine Governor Paul LePage did not do?
a. Told people to shoot drug dealers
b. Tweeted "Sadly, because President Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won't see another black president for generations"
c. Said people with names like "D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty" sell drugs in Maine and "impregnate a young white girl before they leave"
d. Said putting 12-year-olds to work in part-time jobs would instill a healthy work ethic in them
ANSWERS
1. a.
2. b.
3. b.
4. c.
5. b.
6. c.
7. a.
8. d.
9. d (his growing Facebook stock fortune helped him knock the Koch brothers into seventh place on a list of the world's richest people).
10. b.
BONUS. b (that was actually tweeted by Donald Trump).
Want the live news quiz experience? Join us Monday, February 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 will include Joe Garofoli and Debra J. Saunders.
Explanations of the hints: Bob Dole doesn't like him, either: the former Republican Senate leader recently blasted Ted Cruz; friends spying on friends: add Israel to the list of allies on which the United States spies; bamboo isn't airtight: many people will be surprised that the desperately poor North Korean state could pull off a space launch; and the social network paid off: Facebook's founder is rolling in it.