Politics
1 Which Labour MP was stripped of his Oldham East and Saddleworth seat by an election court for making false statements about his Lib Dem opponent?
a Bob Ainsworth
b Elliot Morley
c Phil Woolas
d Liam Byrne
2 The Foreign Office issued a public apology after an official memo suggested Britain should mark the Pope’s visit by launching a Benedict-branded range of which items?
a Condoms
b Chocolates
c Beer mugs
d Crucifixes
3 Saying she wanted to get rid of “skeletons” from her past before standing as a Labour councillor in Pimlico, Sally Bercow admitted she was which of the following in her twenties?
a “a bit of a goer”
b “slightly bisexual”
c “a fan of the marijuana”
d “a binge drinker”
4 Which Labour MP was secretly filmed likening himself to a “cab for hire” when lobbying former cabinet colleagues on behalf of business?
a Geoff Hoon
b Stephen Byers
c Jack McConnell
d Charles Clarke
5 Complete Labour MP Austin Mitchell’s quote about the coalition government: “It’s like marrying the Parachute Regiment with a Brownie pack -“
a “a disaster waiting to happen”
b “so mad it might just work”
c “bound to be messy”
d “wait, what’s a Brownie pack?”
6 Ed Miliband beat his brother, David, by how many percentage points to become Labour leader?
a 0.8
b 1.3
c 2.6
d 3.1
7 David Laws resigned as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after spending how many days in the post?
a 11
b 17
c 24
d 29
8 Called “a bigoted woman” by Gordon Brown, Gillian Duffy was a lifelong supporter of which party?
a Liberal Democrats
b Conservatives
c Labour
d BNP
9 How did Ed Miliband describe his nickname “Red Ed” in a BBC interview in September?
a “tiresome rubbish”
b “banal and boring”
c “at least it rhymes”
d “makes me sound too angry”
10 George Osborne was reminded of an article he wrote for the Times in 2006 extolling which nation as “a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking”?
a Iceland
b China
c Ireland
d Greece
International affairs
1 What did Naomi Campbell call “a big inconvenience for me”?
a Turning 40 in May
b Organising “Fashion for Relief Haiti”
c Testifying at the Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal
d Dealing with allegations about slapping her chauffeur
2 Which foreign ruler was revealed as owning more of London than the Queen?
a Sultan of Brunei
b Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai
c King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
d Emir of Qatar
3 Who ousted Bill Gates as the world’s richest man in the 2010 Forbes Rich List?
a Lakshmi Mittal
b Lawrence Ellison
c Carlos Slim Helú
d Warren Buffett
4 Which senatorial hopeful for Delaware broadcast a campaign advert that told voters she wasn’t a witch?
a Carly Fiorina
b Christine O’Donnell
c Sharron Angle
d Lisa Murkowski
5 In his memoir Decision Points, what did George W Bush claim was his worst moment in his eight years as US president?
a Seeing the first photos of US servicemen’s coffins return from Iraq
b Realising how premature his “mission accomplished” speech was
c Hearing of the 9/11 attacks while in a school classroom
d Kanye West saying: “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”
6 In October, the Chilean miners were rescued after how many days trapped underground?
a 44
b 53
c 69
d 82
7 The American comedian Jon Stewart held a “Rally to Restore” what?
a Sanity
b Peace
c Liberal Anger
d Dignity
8 During a February Q&A with activists, what did the notes on Sarah Palin’s hand say?
a “energy, budget cuts, lift American spirits”
b “drill, baby, drill and drill again”
c “Blame Obama, Blame Obama, Blame Obama”
d “Tea Party good, Washington bad”
9 Who built a bacterial genome that constituted the creation of synthetic life for the first time?
a Craig Venter
b Sidney Altman
c Joseph G Gall
d George Schaller
10 In July, which country’s lower house passed a bill, by 335 votes to one, banning Muslim women from wearing the full veil in public?
a Netherlands
b France
c Italy
d Sweden
Home affairs
1 Which celebrity chef sacked his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson, from his job as chief executive of his restaurant empire?
a Jamie Oliver
b Marco Pierre White
c Gordon Ramsay
d Heston Blumenthal
2 Who or what are believed to be involved in 74,000 UK road accidents every year?
a Wild deer
b Cyclists
c Potholes
d Drivers using mobiles
3 In April, the science writer Simon Singh won the right to rely on the defence of fair comment in a libel case brought by which body?
a British Osteopathic Association
b British Homeopathic Association
c British Naturopathic Association
d British Chiropractic Association
4 Which university has accredited a foundation degree with fast-food giant McDonald’s?
a London South Bank
b Liverpool John Moores
c Manchester Metropolitan
d Nottingham Trent
5 What was the name of the cat that Mary Bale was filmed dropping in a wheelie bin?
a Lola
b Mina
c Charly
d Holly
Online
1 What did the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg say was the only thing that the makers of The Social Network got right about his portrayal in the film?
a His student wardrobe
b His good looks
c His business acumen
d His friendship skills
2 Claiming he did it in jest, Paul Chambers was convicted of sending menacing electronic communication after tweeting: “You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!” Which airport?
a Robin Hood, Doncaster
b Birmingham
c Stansted
d Luton
3 The Minneapolis IT workers Pete and Alisha Arnold set up a website inviting the public to vote on what?
a Whether they should have an open relationship
b Whether they should convert to Islam
c Whether they should emigrate to Canada
d Whether Alisha should have an abortion
4 Which country did voters in a poll suggest teenage pop star Justin Bieber should tour next?
a Iraq
b North Korea
c Afghanistan
d Somalia
5 Threatening to leave Twitter yet again, who tweeted: “So some f**king paper misquotes a humorous interview I gave, which itself misquoted and now I’m the Antichrist. I give up”, adding later, “Bye bye”?
a Ashton Kutcher
b Jonathan Ross
c Stephen Fry
d Jimmy Carr
Arts
1 What was the British Museum’s 100th and final exhibit in the BBC Radio 4 series A History of the World in 100 Objects?
a A credit card
b A stone-chopping tool from Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge
c The Rosetta Stone
d A solar-powered lamp and charger
2 Which band took “strong insult” at the US Air Force Reserve using a re-recording of their song “Fell in Love with a Girl” in a Super Bowl ad
because it encouraged recruitment for a war “we do not support”?
a Kings of Leon
b My Chemical Romance
c The White Stripes
d The Strokes
3 In February, a bronze sculpture by which artist became the most expensive piece of art to sell at auction after it was bought for more than £65m?
a Alberto Giacometti
b David Smith
c Henry Moore
d Constantin Brancusi
4 Two previously unknown violin sonatas by which Italian composer were uncovered after 270 years?
a Antonio Vivaldi
b Giuseppe Tartini
c Niccolò Paganini
d Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
5 Lady Gaga wore a dress made out of which material to the MTV Video Music Awards in September?
a Bubblewrap
b Glass
c Gold leaf
d Raw meat
Television
1 The X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu claimed that she feared being killed by firing squad if she was deported back to which country?
a Sudan
b Zimbabwe
c Angola
d Rwanda
2 Alan Sugar engaged in a Twitter war with which woman, calling her the worst Celebrity Apprentice contestant and saying “she really needs to think about a diet”?
a Clare Balding
b Ruby Wax
c Jo Brand
d Kirstie Allsopp
3 In May, Channel 4 drew 350 complaints after showing the UK’s first television advert for what?
a An Islamic charity
b Scientology
c Advice on abortion services
d Penis enlargement
4 Which TV news presenter mistook the Ash Wednesday cross on the forehead of the Catholic US vice-president, Joe Biden, for a bruise?
a Kay Burley
b Julie Etchingham
c Natasha Kaplinsky
d Anna Botting
5 Which selection of nine letters resulted in a rude word, and a round of Countdown being cut from the show?
a SFCKUFCAE
b DTCEIASHF
c CKDIHEDAS
d HLESOASER
Media
1 In April, which newspaper published the front-page headline “Clegg in Nazi slur on Britain”?
a Daily Mail
b Sun
c Daily Express
d Daily Star
2 Zac Goldsmith called which man a “charlatan” after an angry television clash concerning his election spending?
a Jon Snow
b Jeremy Paxman
c Andrew Neil
d Nick Robinson
3 What amount of money did Sarah Ferguson tell an undercover reporter from the News of the World could “open doors” and gain access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew?
a £50,000
b £100,000
c £250,000
d £500,000
4 President Obama sacked his top commander in Afghanistan – General Stanley McChrystal – after a candid interview criticising the US administration was published in which magazine?
a Rolling Stone
b Vanity Fair
c New Yorker
d Harper’s Magazine
5 Talking about celebrities launching lawsuits against the News of the World, the lawyer Mark Lewis said: “Getting a letter from Scotland Yard that your phone has been hacked is rather like . . .”?
a “the taxman notifying you of a huge rebate”
b “finding out a relative has left you thousands in their will”
c “receiving winning Lotto numbers in the post”
d “getting a Willy Wonka golden ticket”
Books
1 What ransom was demanded for Jonathan Franzen’s glasses after they were stolen at the Serpentine Gallery launch of his novel Freedom?
a £1
b £100
c £10,000
d £100,000
2 Which writer founded the Democratic Front for People’s Federation party to fight corruption in his native Nigeria?
a Chinua Achebe
b Wole Soyinka
c Ben Okri
d Ken Wiwa
3 Which novelist compared becoming a grandfather to “getting a telegram from the mortuary”?
a Ian McEwan
b Martin Amis
c Philip Pullman
d William Boyd
4 Which of these novelists was the first to pass away this year?
a Beryl Bainbridge
b José Saramago
c Dick Francis
d J D Salinger
5 Who accidentally coined the neologism “refudiate” – the New Oxford American Dictionary’s “Word of the Year”?
a Sarah Palin
b Barack Obama
c Rush Limbaugh
d John Boehner
Sport
1 What was the score in the fifth set of the first-round Wimbledon singles match played by the American John Isner and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut?
a 48-46
b 55-53
c 62-60
d 70-68
2 David Cameron described which sports TV commentator’s work as “just epic”?
a Sid Waddell
b John Motson
c Murray Walker
d Richie Benaud
3 Which World Cup result-predicting “psychic” octopus passed away on 26 October?
a John
b Paul
c George
d Peter
4 Which Australian bowler took a hat trick on the first day of the 2010 Ashes series?
a Shane Watson
b Peter Siddle
c Mitchell Johnson
d Ben Hilfenhaus
5 The skeleton bob champion Amy Williams won Britain its first Winter Olympic individual gold since which year?
a 1972
b 1980
c 1992
d 2002
Quotes
1 Silvio Berlusconi said: “It is better to be passionate about beautiful girls than” what?
a “be gay”
b “be a thief”
c “anything else
in the world”
d “climate change”
2 What did Elaine Paige say of her fellow singer Susan Boyle’s phenomenal success?
a “A lovely breath of
fresh air”
b “She’s my new heroine”
c “A virus that swept
the world”
d “Unbelievable in every sense of the word”
3 What did the US vice-president, Joe Biden, say was “a big fucking deal”?
a Being the US
vice-president
b Passing of health-care reform
c The loss of the House
of Representatives
d Reaction to his “say something nice” gaffe
4 Who said: “I’m delighted with my new role as the Lipton Ice Tea ambassador . . . its values match those that are important in my life”?
a Nicole Kidman
b Daniel Craig
c Keira Knightley
d Hugh Jackman
5 The former BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, said the environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was “likely to be” what?
a “rather messy”
b “negligible”
c “very, very modest”
d “worse than you can possibly imagine”
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