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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. This Southeast Asian government is rolling out the world’s largest single-payer healthcare system, which will go into effect in 2019.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Indonesia. The system will provide universal healthcare for the country’s 247 million people. Currently, 48% of Indonesians enjoy healthcare from the government as part of the rollout and the system is expected to cost $15 billion when it goes into effect in 2019.[/toggle]
2. America’s budget deficit is forecast to be how high in the next fiscal year?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The U.S. budget deficit is expected to be $564 billion, which would be 3.1% of GDP.[/toggle]
3. When will Afghanistan hold its presidential election?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The first round of the Afghan presidential election, which will decide a successor to President Hamid Karzai, will be held on April 5th. The Taliban have threatened to attack polling stations and have warned Afghans to not vote.[/toggle]
4. The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case involving student free speech. What was this case about?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The case from a Pennsylvania school district saw school officials try to prohibit students from wearing bracelets proclaiming “i ♥ boobies!” to raise awareness against breast cancer. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the students, saying that the message on the bracelets was not overtly lewd and could be seen as commenting on a social issue.[/toggle]
5. This local city in Florida has been deemed so corrupt that it might be eliminated.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Hampton, Florida. The city used aggressive speed limit enforcement to pay for a massive police force of one officer for every twenty-five residents and lost some of the money it collected. State auditors found thirty-one violations of local, state, and federal laws and the town mayor was caught in an OxyContin sting operation.[/toggle]
6. Senate Democrats on Monday planned to have an overnight “talkathon” to draw attention to this issue.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Climate change. A majority of Democrats in the Senate sought to draw attention to the issue and it is not the first time a “talkathon” has been held in the Senate. The last was when Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz held one to block a spending bill.[/toggle]
7. Mexico recently killed drug lord Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, a.k.a. “El Chayo,” but what made his death unusual?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Moreno was thought to have been killed in December 2010 when Mexican forces battled members of his cartel. The incident is a political embarrassment for former President Felipe Calderon, whose administration thought it killed Moreno.[/toggle]
8. What percentage of the vote did Kim Jong-un receive in the recent North Korean parliamentary elections?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]100%. North Korean parliamentary officials are elected, but the candidates are chosen by the governing Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK) and votes can only select “yes” or “no” by the names of chosen candidates. Elections are usually held in North Korea every five years and this was the first measure of Mr. Kim’s power.[/toggle]
9. Who won this year’s Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) straw poll?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. This was the second consecutive year that Senator Paul won the straw poll, winning 31% of the vote. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas finished second with 11% of the vote and famous neurosurgeon Ben Carson won 9%. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida saw his CPAC support plummet as he dropped 17% in this year’s straw poll versus his showing the previous year.[/toggle]
10. Why are some arguing that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 may have been brought down by a terrorist attack?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]At least two of the passengers on the flight, which was headed to Beijing, China, used stolen passports.[/toggle]