News Quiz! Test Your Knowledge of Some of This Week's Shocking Events
March 01, 2014Media
What shocking news have you read over the last week? Let the AlterNet News Quiz help refresh your memory. All of the questions below come from stories that have appeared on AlterNet.org.
1.The World Health Organization, which recommended that we limit sugar to 10 percent of our calories, is considering cutting its recommendation in half. That would limit sugar of all kinds--including agave, maple syrup, honey and even fruit juice, to five teaspoons max a day. Why?
a) Recent research has found sugar rapidly ages cells.
b) Sugar is more directly connected to heart disease and stroke than previously thought.
c) Sugar is so addictive that withdrawal can lead to psychosis.
d) Too much consumption of sugary foods crowd out "good" calories.
2. Director Spike Lee let loose on a group of students at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn last week when one brought up gentrification. What in particular inspired Lee's wrath?
a) Hipster sideburns and rolled skinny jeans offend his aesthetics.
b) Basic services like trash collection only improve when working-class neighborhoods get gentrified.
c) Gentrification has made New York too expensive to film there and he has to go to "Freakin' Jersey" these days.
d) What's up with the trendy, weak-ass coffee blends?
3.The Federal poverty rate undercounts and undercuts millions of people in the United States, critics say. How?
a) It is based on a formula developed under the Johnson Administration, when bread cost 22 cents.
b) It ignores today's high housing costs in different parts of the country.
c) It works against Congress spending more on current programs because under the poverty rate, a family of four can earn as little as $23,000 a year and not be considered poor.
d) All of the above.
4. The Dept. of Justice and the F.B.I. announced the conclusion of its investigation into the shooting death of a homeless man by police in Saginaw, Wash. in 2012. The incident involved several officers who shot a 49-year-old man, Melvin Hall, with a known history of mental illness after they were called to a convenience store where Hall had stolen a cup of coffee. What did the joint investigation conclude?
a) The officers should be charged with murder for firing 47 times and hitting Hall 11 times.
b) Hall shouldn't of tried calling 911 while he was surrounded by police.
c) The incident did not warrant any charges against the officers.
d) The shocked bystanders who recorded the shooting on cell phones had an anti-police agenda.
5.The acting police chief and several officers in the small farming town of Kings City, Calif. have been charged with corruption. What are they accused of doing?
a) Selling or giving away cars they impounded from people too poor to pay the fines needed to retrieve them.
b) Bribery and embezzlement.
c) Making criminal threats to residents.
d) All of the above.
6.University of Pittsburgh research on dementia followed 120 sedentary older adults assigned to either walk three times a week or tone and stretch three times a week to determine how physical activity might keep the brain from aging. What did the study find?
a) Even a modest program of walking keeps the brain young.
b) Most people think stretching and toning is boring.
c) Exercising while watching the news is counterproductive to the brain and heart.
d) The brain prefers crosswords to CrossFit.
7.Amnesty International is accusing the Israeli Defense Forces of possible war crimes in the West Bank for either killing or seriously injuring nearly 300 Palestinian civilians in the last two years. How has the Israeli Army responded?
a) It says civilians stepped up their rock-throwing in 2013.
b) It blames unverified reports by politically motivated individuals.
c) It said Amnesty International doesn't understand the difficulties soldiers face out there.
d) All of the above.
8.A woman suing the Catholic Diocese in St. Paul, Minnesota after her pastor pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two of her sons said the church claimed the following in its defense:
a) Everyone knows you can't trust a priest.
b) The woman violated church policy by letting her sons visit the priest alone.
c) The woman is a bad mother.
d) All of the above.
9.Two Midland, Texas police officers received a three-day suspension recently for targeting homeless people for the following?
a) Competing to see who could steal the most signs from roadside beggars.
b) Letting people sleep on park benches.
c) Handing out coffee to homeless people.
d) Staging gladiator fights between homeless men.
10.A CNN Money report discovered that certain jobs that require a high degree of training pay about as much as, say, an assistant manager gig at Walmart. Which of the following jobs made the list?
a) Astrophysicist
b) Local news anchor
c) Regional pilot
d) Freelance journalist
Answers: 1)c; 2)b; 3)a; 4)c; 5)d; 6)a; 7)d; 8)b; 9)a; 10)c.
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