[fblike]
Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. Name the ten Republicans that voted to confirm Loretta Lynch as Attorney General.
[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”]Republican senators Kelly Ayotte (NH), Ron Johnson (WI), Mark Kirk (IL), Rob Portman (OH), Thad Cochran (MS), Susan Collins (ME), Jeff Flake (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Mitch McConnell (KY) voted to confirm Lynch. After months of delays, Lynch was finally confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 23 by a vote of 56-43.[/toggle]
2. How much did the U.S. economy grow during the first quarter of 2015?
[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”]Figures released last week showed that the U.S. economy grew at an anemic rate of just 0.2% in the first quarter. Some economists are arguing that winter weather explains the growth rate, suggesting that consumers stayed indoors and business activity in sectors such as construction was reduced.[/toggle]
3. Name the twelve nations involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
[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 United States, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. The TPP would involve 800 million people and the economies included constitute 40% of the world’s GDP.[/toggle]
4. Why has Australia recalled its ambassador from Indonesia?
[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 Australian government recalled its ambassador after Indonesia executed two Australian nationals for drug smuggling. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the executions “cruel and unnecessary.”[/toggle]
5. Which former official in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prevous government recently decided to go into opposition?
[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”]Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman had served as Netanyahu’s foreign minister and he announced on Monday that he would take his Yisrael Beytenu Party into opposition, alleging that remaining in an alliance with Netanyahu’s Likud Party would compromise his principles. Lieberman was allegedly angry that Netanyahu was refusing to reneg on agreements the he had made with religious parties such as United Torah Judaism. With Yisrael Beytenu bolting, Netanyahu faces the prospect of creating a coalition government that would only possess sixty-one of the 120 seats in the Knesset.[/toggle]
6. Why is ex-National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen facing disciplinary action from the party that he created in 1972?
[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 National Front is looking into disciplinary action against Le Pen for making recent statements that the Nazi gas chambers of the Holocaust were a “detail of history.” He also made statements that he did not consider France’s Vichy leader Philippe Petain a traitor. Le Pen’s daughter Marine Le Pen has attempted to steer the party away from its anti-Semitic and racist past. Removing Jean-Marie from the party carries a significant risk, though, as it may alienate long-time supporters.[/toggle]
7. This group of Israelis recently staged a protest against racism and job discrimination.
[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”]Ethiopian Jews. Ethiopians have long complained of discrimination and protests grew after footage of soldier Damas Pakedeh being beaten by Israeli police circulated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Ethiopian community leaders, praised Pakedeh, and said that the country must work to eliminate racism.[/toggle]
8. Two gunmen were shot in Texas on Sunday for trying to attack an exhibit that was doing this.
[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 two gunmen were attempting to attack an exhibit that was holding a $10,000 contest for drawing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Police are working with the FBI to determine if the attack constitutes terrorism. One of the suspects, Elton Simpson, resided in Arizona and was formerly part of a federal terror investigation.[/toggle]
9. What is the name of the new British princess that was born to Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge?
[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”]Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The child was named for her late grandmother Princess Diana and her great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth.[/toggle]
10. This week it is expected that three new candidates will join the Republican presidential primary contest. Name them.
[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”]Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiornia, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Carson and Fiornia announced their candidacies on Monday and Huckabee is expected to announce later in the week. Of the three, Huckabee has the best chances of securing the nomination, having finished runner-up to Arizona Senator John McCain in 2008.[/toggle]