The World in 2013
1. A news agency withdrew an unflattering picture of French President François Hollande at a teacher’s desk. What was written on the blackboard?
a) Raise your hand if you have something to say
b) Practice makes perfect
c) Today, it’s back to school
2. Name the winner in the Presidential Elections of the Czech Republic in January:
a) Karel Schwarzenberg
b) Milos Zeman
c) Vaclav Klaus
d) Petr Necas
3. In June, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis staged a filibuster to block an anti-abortion Bill. For how many hours did she speak?
4. Sanctions
a) What commodity exported by Sudan is exempt from US sanctions?
b) US sanctions against Burma were lifted this year except for which two products? c) What did the Hamas government in Gaza allow to be exported to Israel this year?
5. Which country signed up Tony Blair this year as an adviser to help with their campaign to join the European Union?
6. How old was Ming the Clam, the world’s oldest living thing, killed by scientists in November 2013?
7. How many recorded nuclear weapons tests have there been in history, including North Korea’s in February?
8. Which oil-rich country launched its first satellite in February 2013?
9. In April new Dutch King Willem-Alexander became the first what in 123 years?
10. What happened when 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia took a university entrance exam?
First World War
11. How many British soldiers died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme?
a) 18,978
b) 19,240
c) 23,215
12. Name the PM, Chancellor and Foreign Secretary in 1913?
13. The Habsburg Empire in 1914 covered all or part of 13 modern states. Can you name them?
General
14. Match the quote to its owner
a) History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
b) What is history but a fable agreed upon?
c) The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice.
d) History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there.
Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, George Santayana, Mark Twain
15. Who is the odd man out in this series: Salvador Allende, Yasser Arafat, Simón Bolívar, Federico García Lorca, Lee Harvey Oswald?
16. In which novel published in 2013 is Hitler assassinated in 1913?
17. Which of the following words or acronyms was NOT added to the Oxford English Dictionary this year?
Omnishambles, Twerk, Selfie, Phablet, YOLO, Squee, Unlike, FOMO, TL;DR
18. Which word did linguists in The Netherlands decide was the same in languages across five continents?
19. Can you define these four lost words? Groke, Snollygroster, Sprunt, and Snudge.
20. Equality
a) How many women serve on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee?
b) How many women are on the European Central Bank’s governing council?
c) 17 countries have female Central Bank governors. How many can you name?
21. What was special about a burger eaten in London in August 2013?
22. Arnon Milchan, the Hollywood producer behind box office hits including Fight Club, Pretty Woman and LA Confidential, has recently revealed he had another job on the side-lines. What was it?
The World Today
These facts were in The World Today over the past year.
23. The best forecasters of the US presidential election were players of which game?
24. Which British overseas territory is building a £250 million airport on top of a mountain?
25. Which Middle Eastern country received the UN population control award in 2000?
26. Which piece of furniture was described as ‘an evolutionary mistake dating from ancient Egypt’?
27. Which country’s film industry is now second to Bollywood?
28. In 1911 Kaiser Wilhelm II was nominated for a global prize. Which one?
29. Who said ‘Age is not important unless you’re a cheese?’