WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ FOR STUDENTS

WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ FOR STUDENTS

By Mathieu Austin

Have you been paying attention to the news recently?

Above is an image related to one of the news stories we followed this past week. Do you know what it shows? At the end of this quiz, you’ll find the answer.​

Multiple Choice

President Biden gave a speech in Warsaw on March 26 that was crafted with the intent of throwing the full weight of the United States behind its European allies. But it was an unscripted remark that got the attention of the world.

Which of the lines from the speech below is that ad-lib?

• “Be not afraid.”

• “Don’t even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory.”

• “Every generation has had to defeat democracy’s moral foes.”

• “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”

Even as top administration officials spent Sunday walking back Mr. Biden’s remarks, the statement had already sent ripple effects throughout the world, highlighting just how powerful nine unprompted words from the president can be, particularly during a foreign policy crisis.

Context

Multiple Choice

The 94th Academy Awards will forever be known for one did-that-just-happen moment: Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife. But what else went on?

Three of the answers below also happened on Sunday night. Which did NOT?

• Ariana DeBose became only the second Latina to win an acting Academy Award, when she took best supporting actress for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”

• “CODA” became the first film from a streaming service to win the Oscar for best picture.

• Jane Campion won best director for her film “The Power of the Dog,” becoming only the third woman to win in the directing category and the second in two years.

• The Oscar ceremony went without a host for the fourth straight year.

In an Academy Awards ceremony where an onstage altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock overshadowed the honors, “CODA” from Apple TV+ won the Oscar for best picture, becoming the first film from a streaming service to be welcomed into that rarefied Hollywood club.

​

Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar for his role in “CODA.”​

CONTEXT

Multiple Choice

The European Union agreed on March 24 to one of the world’s most far-reaching laws to address the power of the biggest companies.

• oil

• pharmaceutical

• retail

• technology

CONTEXT

The legislation is aimed at stopping the largest tech platforms from using their interlocking services and considerable resources to box in users and squash emerging rivals, creating room for new entrants and fostering more competition.

3 OF 10

Multiple Choice

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson spent two days answering senators’ questions about her Supreme Court nomination. Yet, according to a News Analysis, the aggressively hostile interrogation of Judge Jackson marred what could have been not only a reset for the Senate, but a significant national moment in seeing the first ______ ascend to the pinnacle of American jurisprudence with strong support.

• Black woman

• former prosecutor

• justice who did not attend an Ivy League college

• millennial justice

Critical race theory, children’s books, the definition of the word “woman”: Over the last week, Republican senators pressed Jackson on hot-button cultural issues that seemed to fall far outside the realm of the Supreme Court.

4 OF 10

CONTEXT

Multiple Choice

As some Covid anxieties have receded, teenagers have a new word for the fear of shedding their masks to reveal their face. What is the word?

• chin slugging

• facetuning

• fig leafing

• mask fishing

The slang term, one of many that emerged during the pandemic to describe new social dynamics, took off on TikTok last year. It is a play on “catfishing,” the slang for misrepresenting one’s identity online. For a generation that has grown up with smartphones and Instagram, it’s an apt reference.

5 of 10

CONTEXT

Multiple Choice

According to documents turned over to a special congressional committee, Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, sent former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff text messages urging him to _____.

• add a 10th Supreme Court justice

• give a pay raise to the current roster of justices

• move court proceedings from the Supreme Court building to the U.S. Capitol

• overturn the 2020 election

CONTEXT

The contents of the texts were reported earlier by The Washington Post and CBS News. They were among about 9,000 pages of documents that Mr. Meadows turned over to the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The texts detailed Mr. Meadows’s interactions with Republican politicians as they planned strategies to try to keep Mr. Trump in office in the weeks before the riot.

6 of 10

Multiple Choice

The Cinderella story of this year’s March Madness was _____, a small Jesuit school in New Jersey, which advanced to the Elite Eight, the first time a No. 15 seed in the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament has done so.

• Duke Blue Devils

• Gonzaga Bulldogs

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Saint Peter’s Peacocks

Multiple Choice

Gov. _____ of _____ signed legislation on March 28 that prohibits classroom instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary school grades, a law that opponents have called “Don’t Say Gay.”

• Brian Kemp; Georgia

• Greg Abbott; Texas

• Kristi Noem; South Dakota

• Ron DeSantis; Florida

If anything, the opposition from progressive activists, corporate boardrooms and A-list stars made Mr. DeSantis, who faces re-election in November and clearly harbors presidential ambitions, more of a warrior figure to his political base.

The law, titled “Parental Rights in Education,” has drawn national criticism from L.G.B.T.Q. organizations that fear it will have a chilling effect among teachers and young students.

CONTEXT

8 of 10

Multiple Choice

_____, the first national park in America, celebrated its 150th birthday this month.

• Badlands National Park

• Shenandoah National Park

• Yellowstone National Park

• Zion National Park

The United States’ first national park was established on March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act to preserve the region’s hydrothermal and geologic features for future generations’ enjoyment.

CONTEXT

CONTEXT

The United States’ first national park was established on March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act to preserve the region’s hydrothermal and geologic features for future generations’ enjoyment.

9 of 10

Multiple Choice

Three of the articles about animals below were published recently in the Science section. One is from the satirical site The Onion. Which is the fake news story?

• “Bobcats With a Taste for Python Eggs Might Be the Guardians of Florida’s Swamp”

• “Crows Evolve New Blond Look Concluding 17-Million-Year Goth Phase”

• “Orcas Are Able to Kill and Eat Blue Whales, Scientists Confirm”

• “Sharks Sleep, Even When Both Eyes Are Wide Open”