1) The last United States soldier left what country in late December?
a) Pakistan
b) Iraq
c) South Korea
d) Afghanistan
2) Congress and President Obama recently agreed to extend a temporary reduction in what?
a) Medicare benefits
b) The Social Security payroll tax
c) Defense spending
d) Congressional pay
3) Part of the agreement referenced in the previous question gives President Obama 60 days to make a decision on what?
a) Whether to order military strikes against Iran’s nuclear power facilities
b) Whether to grant additional funding to states running a deficit in their Medicaid programs
c) Whether to close the Guantanamo Bay prison facility
d) Whether to approve construction of the Keystone Pipeline
4) The Supreme Court recently agreed to review the constitutionality of an immigration law enacted last year in what state?
a) Arizona
b) Texas
c) California
d) New Mexico
5) The National Transportation Safety Board recently recommended that states ban the use of what while driving?
a) Radar Detectors
b) Global Positioning Systems
c) Cell Phones
d) iPods
6) What Republican candidate from Pennsylvania has surged in the most recent polls in Iowa?
a) Rick Santorum
b) Jon Huntsman
c) Michele Bachmann
d) Newt Gingrich
7) What Republican presidential candidate has recommended the abolition of a number of courts and the arrest of a number of judges?
a) Rick Perry
b) Newt Gingrich
c) Mitt Romney
d) Michele Bachmann
8) Only two Republican candidates – Mitt Romney and Ron Paul -- qualified to be on the ballot for the March presidential primary in what state?
a) New Hampshire
b) Florida
c) Ohio
d) Virginia
9) The Justice Department recently “blocked” enforcement of a voter registration law passed by what state?
a) Texas
b) Ohio
c) South Carolina
d) Arizona
10) A federal agency recently issued controversial regulations requiring reductions in what?
a) Mercury emissions by power plants
b) Financial transactions entered into by banks
c) Taxes imposed on Iraq war veterans
d) The number of safety regulations imposed on nuclear plants
11) The country of Iran recently threatened to blockade this important body of water if new sanctions are implemented against it. What body of water?
a) Suez Canal
b) Strait of Hormuz
c) Dead Sea
d) Black Sea
12) Kim Jong-il died recently. What country did he lead for 17 years?
a) Cambodia
b) North Korea
c) South Korea
d) Laos
13) Poet Vaclav Havel died recently. Havel was not only a poet but also the first president of what country?
a) Bulgaria
b) Slovenia
c) Serbia
d) Czechoslovakia
14) What nation became the first to pull out of the Kyoto Treaty, which required signatories to comply with various environmental standards?
a) United States
b) Russia
c) Canada
d) China
15) The country of Macedonia recently won a court case at the International Court of Justice regarding its name. What country objects to its use of the name Macedonia?
a) Greece
b) Serbia
c) Russia
d) Turkey
16) Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram bombed a church on Christmas day in what country?
a) Iran
b) Nigeria
c) Pakistan
d) Iraq
17) What American retailer received both criticism and praise because it refused to advertise on the TLC show “American Muslim”?
a) Walmart
b) Chick-Fil-A
c) Lowe’s
d) Best Buy