09/09/13

1. Weekly Quiz 09/09/13

2. Question 1 Which Commonwealth country has just held parliamentary elections over the weekend? • a. India • b. Canada • c. Australia

3. Question 2 Why has London’s ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscraper been in the news recently? • a. The building's design has been heavily criticised by locals who think it is ugly • b. a driver claims the reflection off the building melted parts of his car • c. people have complained that it blocks views from the London Eye ferris wheel

4. Question 3 David Cameron recently made a speech defending the nation, after an official from which country referred to Britain as ‘just a small island’? • a. United States • b. China • c. Russia

5. 4 Name this UK sportsman.

6. Question 5 At which London landmark was a man arrested on the suspicion of burglary after a serious security breach? • a. Scotland Yard police headquarters • b. Buckingham Palace • c. 10 Downing Street (the British PM’s home)

7. Question 6 Which country has been accused of using chemical agents against activists? • a. Egypt • b. China • c. Syria

8. Question 7 True or False, British Telecom has announced that it shut down its dial-up internet service, as almost everybody uses broadband now

9. 8 In which county did this accident happen? a. Suffolk b. Dorset c. Kent

10. Question 9 Which member of One Direction had to flee his home after a fire broke out on his balcony? • a. Louis Tomlinson • b. Harry Styles • c. Liam Payne

11. Question 10 What city has just been confirmed as the hosts of the 2020 Olympic Games? • a. Tokyo, Japan • b. Istanbul, Turkey • c. Madrid, Spain

12. Question 11 What type of workers are planning a strike in response to government changes to their pay, pensions and workloads? • a. police officers • b. nurses • c. teachers

13. 12 In what country does this event take place each year?

14. Question 13 Which corporation has announced plans to buy the Nokia telecommunications company? • a. Apple • b. Samsung • c. Microsoft

15. Question 14 Sadly, Sir David Frost passed away last week. What was he famous for? • a. journalism • b. science • c. politics

16. Question 15 NASA has just launched a probe into space to investigate the atmosphere of ....? • a. the moon • b. Venus • c. Mars • d. the sun

17. 16 What country has this flag?

18. Question 17 What are the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments?

19. Question 18 What caused the temporary closure of the M25 Dartford Crossing last Friday? • a. a petrol tanker rolled onto the motorway • b. a man with a hoax bomb • c. a family of ducks

20. Question 19 Why has Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant been in the news? • a. they are having to deal with 300 tonnes of contaminated water • b. the have finally declared the power plant to be safe • c. they have extended the restricted zone around the plant to a 30 mile radius

21. 20 What trophy are these two teams racing for?

22. Answers

23. 1 Which Commonwealth country has just held parliamentary elections over the weekend? • c. Australia - Tony Abbott has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Australia after a convincing win by the Liberal Coalition over the previous Labour government.

24. 2 Why has London’s ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscraper been in the news recently? • b. a driver claims the reflection off the building melted parts of his car - A motorist said intense sunlight reflected from the "Walkie Talkie" mirrored tower warping his Jaguar which he had parked across the road. The developers said they were seeking to rectify the problem which they blamed on the position of the sun at certain times of day.

25. 3 David Cameron recently made a speech defending the nation, after an official from which country referred to Britain as ‘just a small island’? • c. Russia - Speaking to reporters at the G20 summit, the unnamed Russian official said "no-one pays any attention" to Britain. David Cameron, used the opportunity to champion Britain, saying few other nations had "a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience".

26. 4 Name this UK sportsman • Gareth Bale - he signed for Real Madrid on a six-year contract for a record fee of around £80 million

27. 5 At which London landmark was a man arrested on the suspicion of burglary after a serious security breach? • b. Buckingham Palace - The intruder kicked open a door after climbing a wall, and was "deep inside" the palace in one of 19 state rooms.

28. 6 Which country has been accused of using chemical agents against activists? • c. Syria - activists accused government forces of using nerve gas to kill more than 200 people last month during a heavy bombardment of rebel-held areas around Damascus.

29. 7 True or False, British Telecom has announced that it shut down its dial-up internet service, as almost everybody uses broadband now • True - The company said that the shut-down meant about 1,000 people who lived in remote areas would not be able to move to broadband as their phone line was incapable of supporting the technology.

30. 8 In which county did this accident happen? a. Suffolk b. Dorset c. Kent • c. Kent - the non-fatal 130 vehicle pile up was caused by dense fog

31. 9 Which member of One Direction had to flee his home after a fire broke out on his balcony? • c. Liam Payne - The singer was at home in the flat on the 34th floor of a luxury block in Canary Wharf when firefighters were called. Six fire engines and 35 firefighters took about 45 minutes to put out the blaze which caused severe damage to the balcony and injured three people

32. 10 What city has just been confirmed as the hosts of the 2020 Olympic Games? • a. Tokyo, Japan - The city beat out the other two contenders to host their second Summer Olympic Games after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

33. 11 What type of workers are planning a strike in response to government changes to their pay, pensions and workloads? • c. teachers - Under reforms, set to come into effect from this autumn, pay will be linked to performance in the classroom and head teachers will have greater flexibility over salaries. Reductions to their pensions are also being planned.

34. 12 In what country does this event take place each year? • Spain - La Tomatina (Tomato Festival)

35. 13 Which corporation has announced plans to buy the Nokia telecommunications company? • c. Microsoft - It will cost $8 billion to buy the Finnish phone maker allowing Microsoft to compete against Apple and Samsung in the mobile phone market.

36. 14 Sadly, Sir David Frost passed away last week. What was he famous for? • a. journalism - his career spanned journalism, comedy writing and daytime television presenting. Internationally, he will be remembered for his revealing interviews with former US President Richard Nixon.

37. 15 NASA has just launched a probe into space to investigate the atmosphere of ....? • a. the moon - The robotic spacecraft LADEE lifted off from Virginia on Saturday and will explore the moon’s thin atmosphere and rough dust.

38. 16 What country has this flag? • South Africa

39. 17 What are the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments? • Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, Australian Open

40. 18 What caused the temporary closure of the M25 Dartford Crossing last Friday? • b. a man with a hoax bomb - Nine-mile tailbacks stretched through Kent as thousands of motorists were held up in the traffic chaos. A bomb disposal robot was used to examine a hoax device left on a coach.

41. 19 Why has Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant been in the news? • a. they are having to deal with 300 tonnes of contaminated water - Workers are scrambling to check 300 tanks storing highly radioactive water, after some 300 tonnes of radioactive water seeped from one of the tanks used to cool the plant's broken reactors.

42. 20 What trophy are these two teams racing for? • The America’s Cup