AUGUST 30 QUIZ ANSWERS
1) Thirty-three miners are currently trapped alive in a coal mine in what South American country?
c) Chile
The Chilean government has asked NASA for advice on how to help the miners. https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/27/chile.miners/index.html?iref=allsearch
2) What leading economic indicator was down 27% last week?
b) Housing sales
Part of the drop is believed to be related to the expiration of the federal tax credit previously available to home buyers. https://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/08/25/home_sales_fall_casting_shadow_on_economy/?page=1
3) Earlier this year, American Aijalon Gomes was imprisoned by the North Korean government for entering the country illegally at the Chinese border. What former president obtained his release?
a) Jimmy Carter
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il left the country for China rather than meet Carter face-to-face.
4) What country recently passed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy behind the United States?
b) China
Five years ago, China’s economy was half the size of Japan’s. https://www.economist.com/node/16847828?story_id=16847828
5) What FOX News personality hosted a “Restoring Honor” rally in Washington last weekend?
a) Glenn Beck
Beck received some criticism for hosting the rally on the same spot on the same date as Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
6) Scientists have recently discovered that a protein released by people with this disease might provide protection against the onset of Alzheimer’s. What disease?
d) Rheumatoid arthritis
The protein has provided protection against Alzheimer’s in mice and it has long been known that people with rheumatoid arthritis are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.
https://www.theledger.com/article/20100822/news/8235023
7) A federal judge ruled recently that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to do what?
c) Fund studies on stem cells derived from certain embryos
The Obama administration plans to appeal this ruling.
8) A traffic jam in this country began approximately August 13 and is expected to last until mid-September. What country?
b) China
The backup is on National Highway 110, also known as the Beijing-Tibet Highway.
https://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704125604575449173989748704.html
9) On August 21, the famous painting “Poppy Flowers” was stolen from a museum in Cairo, Egypt. Who painted it?
d) Van Gogh
The work – worth approximately $55 million – was apparently stolen while many of the museum’s guard were praying.
10) In one of the biggest bailout repayments so far, what Wall Street giant recently repaid approximately $4 billion to the federal government?
c) American International Group (AIG)
AIG received approximately $182 billion in bailout funds in order to prevent the possibility of a total breakdown of the American financial system in 2008. AIG still owes the government about $101 billion, though much of that debt consists of preferred stock held by the Treasury Department.