This will be less stressful than testifying before Congress, we promise. Take our news quiz and find out how much you know about the week's important developments.
Here are some random but actual hints: Only one of those will work in overseas meetings; maybe they can put a tanker car on the train; Bill Gates probably wooed them in German; and the others dared not speak their name. Answers are at the bottom of the quiz.
1) How did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton respond to sharp questioning about the Benghazi situation from Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)?
a. "I know the difference between protecting a program and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate."
b. "You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
c. "With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans... Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk last night who decided to kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?"
d. "Please proceed, Senator."
2) How did Senator John Kerry begin his comments to the Senate committee overseeing his secretary of state confirmation?
a. "I've never seen a more distinguished and better looking group of public officials in my life."
b. "Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago."
c. "I'm John Kerry and I am reporting for duty."
d. "Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us."
3) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reached agreement on what contentious issue on Thursday?
a. Seating assignments for the newly elected senators
b. The debt ceiling
c. Filibuster reform
d. Chuck Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary
4) What company's stock dropped 10 percent following release of its quarterly earnings report?
a. Apple
b. Facebook
c. General Motors
d. AIG
5) Facebook founder and Bay Area resident Mark Zuckerberg will host a fundraiser for what politician?
a. California Gov. Jerry Brown
b. California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom
c. Newark, NJ, Mayor Cory Booker
d. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
6) The Obama administration made good on promises to increase employment opportunities for the nation's women. What did it do?
a. Expanded the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to cover American women working overseas
b. Announced an agreement with 20 Fortune 500 companies to increase hiring of women in 2013
c. Appointed several additional women to cabinet positions
d. Lifted restrictions on women in military combat roles
7) In his State of the State address on Thursday, what did California Gov. Jerry Brown list as his priorities for the rest of his term?
a. Sell the governor's mansion and eliminate the state's lieutenant governor position to save money
b. Education reform, high-speed rail, and the state's water system
c. Increase public officials' salaries and close half of the state parks
d. Education reform, prison expansion, and drug legalization
8) This week, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) unveiled a long-expected piece of legislation to reduce what?
a. Overseas drone attacks
b. Domestic spying
c. Filibusters
d. Gun violence
9) Germany announced it would contribute an additional one billion euros to what?
a. The Greek bailout
b. Gov. Chris Christie's reelection campaign
c. The Global Fund to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria
d. Kiva.org
10) President Barack Obama made history on Monday by mentioning whom for the first time in a presidential inaugural address?
a. Osama bin Laden
b. Gays
c. Homer Simpson
d. Jon Stewart
BONUS QUESTION) Which of the following is a headline from The Onion?
a. North Korea Claims New Long Range Missile Has Ability to Fly Right Up in the Air, Not Unlike a Bird or a Fly
b. Cute Baby Makes Coffee for Mom
c. Many Local, International Sports Events to Be Held This Year
d. Fears Uri Geller Faces Omen-style Spear Death After He Posts This Spooky Pic
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 February 8 in downtown San Francisco. Also see the Week to Week website for event dates, audio, and more.
ANSWERS: 1) c. 2) a. 3) c. 4) a. 5) d. 6) d. 7) b. 8) d. 9) c. 10) b. BONUS) a. (The other bonus responses were real headlines from, respectively, China's Xinhua news agency, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, and the UK's Sun newspaper.)
EXPLANATIONS OF THE HINTS: Though it might be amusing to see John Kerry greet Vladimir Putin for the first time by reporting for duty, he won't; a water tanker on the high-speed train would speed up California's water distribution; global health philanthropist Bill Gates was present at the World Economic Forum for the German announcement of increased aid; and Obama was the first to mention gay Americans in his inaugural address.