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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. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador suffered a political setback last week when his political party lost control of this major city.
[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”]Opposition forces elected moderate Mauricio Rodas to the mayor’s office in Quito, the national capital. Rodas beat incumbent mayor Augusto Barrera, who was an ally of Correa. While Correa remains popular, analysts argue that the poor result in Quito and his hometown of Guayaquil, which his Alianza Pais (AP) failed to win, illustrates that the AP does not have a strong candidate to succeed Correa in the 2017 Ecuadorian presidential election. If the AP cannot find a strong candidate, some expect Correa to try to change the nation’s constitution so he can run for a third term.[/toggle]
2. Nine out of ten children attend charter schools in this large American city.
[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”]New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans shifted its public school model to charter schools and parents choose which of the schools to send their children to. Advocates for charter schools argue that the switch has been successful as test scores and graduation rates have increased. Nationwide, only 5% of students attend charter schools.[/toggle]
3. Who topped Forbes Magazine’s recent list of the “world’s richest people”?
[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”]Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Gates has an estimated net worth of $76 billion and he regained the top spot on the list from Mexican telecommunications owner Carlos Slim Helu.[/toggle]
4. Represenative Paul Ryan (R-WI) recently deemed this federal “war” to be a failure.
[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 War on Poverty. Ryan’s House Budget Committee recently issued a report entitled “The War on Poverty: 50 Years Later” that argues that some federal assistance programs to the poor create a poverty trap since benefits are means-tested and are reduced when the recipient makes more money. He hopes that his ideas will become the blueprint for a reform of existing federal welfare programs.[/toggle]
5. The U.S. federal government is suing this telecommunications company for overbilling American law enforcement agencies.
[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”]Sprint Corporation. The federal government alleges that Sprint overbilled law enforcement agencies like the FBI, the DEA, and others by more than 50%. The company was contracted to help federal law enforcement agencies eavesdrop on phone calls.[/toggle]
6. Name three of the eight cities applying to host the 2016 Republican National Convention.
[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 cities that have placed bids to host the 2016 Republican National Convention are Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Denver, Kansas City, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. A city that wishes to host the event will need to raise at least $50 million.[/toggle]
7. Chinese authorities blamed this community for a knife attack at a rail station on Saturday, which killed 29 people and wounded 143.
[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”]China blamed Muslim separatists in the Xinjiang province for the attack. Parts of the Muslim Uighur community there clash with the Han majority and the Uighur minority has claimed that the Han majority discriminates against it, which increases ethnic tensions. News reporters have taken to calling the rail attack “China’s 9/11.”[/toggle]
8. New Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi wants the Italian Senate to become like the upper house of this European country.
[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”]Germany. Renzi wants to reduce the powers of the Italian Senate, which are equal to those enjoyed by the lower house, called the Chamber of Deputies. Renzi would like the Senate to become like the German Bundesrat, which is the upper house of the German legislature, and has limited powers over issues that affect the German states. Political observers believe that the change would bring more stability to Italian governing coalitions.[/toggle]
9. What is the deadline for a deal for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations?
[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 deadline sought by the Obama administration is in April. Secretary of State John Kerry had hoped to broker a lasting deal between the two sides over a nine month period. The talks resumed in July of last year and were the first official peace talks between the two sides in three years.[/toggle]
10. Last week Russia sent military forces into this area of Ukraine.
[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”]Russia sent more than 10,000 troops to occupy Crimea, which is located in Southeastern Ukraine. Russia controlled Crimea until 1954 and Russia pays Ukraine millions of dollars to station vessels at the port of Sevastopol. The area is largely pro-Russian and Russia claims that it sent the troops upon the request of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.[/toggle]