52 weeks 52 questions, part three

Quiz of the year's news

Welcome to part three of the Magazine's best-of compilation of the year's quizzes, this time covering July - September. PLUS a special bonus question each day - see below for details.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

In July, with the downturn snapping at the world's heels, George Bush deployed many a colourful phrase to describe economic woes at a private fundraiser. Which DIDN'T he say?

1. "Wall Street hit the bottle"
   
2. "It got drunk and now it's got a hangover"
   
3. "The question is, how long will it sober up?"
   

2.) Multiple Choice Question

Baby joy for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban in July with the arrival of Sunday Rose. On which day of the week was she born?

1. Saturday
   
2. Sunday
   
3. Monday
   
4. Tuesday
   

3.) Multiple Choice Question

In early July Briton Ian Usher (left) sold his "entire life" in Perth on eBay for £192,000 (399,300 Australian dollars). But what were estate agents' valuations of his home?

1. £230, 000 (A$474,680)
   
2. £203, 000 (A$419,300)
   
3. £173, 000 (A$357,043)
   

4.) Missing Word Question

Shunned * in Aussie exit

1. Neighbours
   
2. Starbucks
   
3. cricketer
   

5.) Multiple Choice Question

Boris Johnson told MPs that knife crime must be "deglamorised" and added: "This is not the death of Mercutio taking place on the streets of London." Which Shakespeare play?

1. Hamlet
   
2. Romeo and Juliet
   
3. King Lear
   
4. Othello
   

6.) Multiple Choice Question

Captured war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic spent years living in Belgrade as an alternative therapist before his capture on Monday. His speciality, as listed on his business card?

1. Bio-human healer
   
2. Orthodox meditation
   
3. Human quantum energy
   

7.) Multiple Choice Question

What is Keirin?

1. Japanese cycling event which earned Chris Hoy one of his gold medals
   
2. Sikh bangle worn by Welsh teen who won a legal case on Tuesday allowing her to wear it to school
   
3. Name of a new search engine its backers hope will eventually rival Google
   

8.) Multiple Choice Question

In August Peaches Geldof, 19, donned a wedding ring after tying the knot in Vegas. The same city where her parents Bob Geldof and Paula Yates got hitched. How old were they?

1. Bob 24, Paula 17
   
2. Bob 26, Paula 19
   
3. Bob 30, Paula 23
   
4. Bob 34, Paula 27
   

9.) Multiple Choice Question

This year, for the first time, there are more pensioners than children in the UK. How many more?

1. 5,200
   
2. 25,000
   
3. 52,000
   
4. 100,200
   

10.) Multiple Choice Question

In August Joe Biden joined Barack Obama in the race to the White House, to add a voice of experience to the Democratic ticket. The age gap between Mr Biden, left, and John McCain?

1. Same age
   
2. Two years - McCain older
   
3. Six years - McCain older
   
4. Six years - Biden older
   

11.) Missing Word Question

* told to end 'robocalls'

1. Banks
   
2. Holiday firms
   
3. Lib Dems
   

12.) Multiple Choice Question

Back in the days of Old Labour, it was "comrades". How did Gordon Brown address delegates during his speech at September's conference?

1. Comrades
   
2. Companions
   
3. Friends
   

Answers

1. He DIDN'T say "Wall St hit the bottle". At the private fundraiser in July, he said "Wall St got drunk... It got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is, how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments?"
2. Sunday Rose came into this world on Monday, 7 July. Nicole's father came up with the name, inspired by artist Sidney Nolan's muse Sunday Reed. Who was born on a Sunday.
3. It was £203,000. But a bidder paid just £192,000 for his house, car, job and friends after the Darlington man put the lot up for sale so he could make a fresh start.
4. It's Starbucks, packing up its super-grande caramel frappucinos in its swag bag, having failed to win over Australian coffee drinkers who prefer the nation's independent cafes.
5. Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio is Romeo's best friend. A brash and headstrong young man who likes to seek out trouble, he squares off against Juliet's fiery cousin Tybalt. The rivals are both dead - stabbed - by the end of the scene.
6. His business card reads, in English, "Human quantum energy". He also lectured and wrote articles on "Orthodox meditation" before his capture after more than 10 years in hiding.
7. Keirin is a cycling event. The bangle worn by Sikhs is the kara. And the search site is Cuil, from the Gaelic for knowledge and hazel.
8. Bob was 34 and Paula 27 when they married in 1986 after 10 years together. Peaches, meanwhile, married her fella of four weeks, US musician Max Drummey, in August.
9. It's 52,000 - there are 11,561,000 pensioners and 11,509,000 under-16s in the UK, according to Office for National Statistics figures released in August.
10. Mr McCain, 72, is six years older than the vice-president elect. Mr Obama named Joe Biden, 66, as his running mate in August, several weeks before Sarah Palin's surprise entrance at Mr McCain's side.
11. It's the Liberal Democrats, who made 250,000 automated calls featuring leader Nick Clegg in September. But this broke privacy rules, the Information Commissioner's Office warned.
12. It's "friends", as in this line from the Prime Minister's speech: "The people of Britain would never forget if we failed to put them first - and friends, they'd be right."

Your Score

0 - 4 : In need of a hangover cure

5 - 9 : Designated driver

10 - 12 : Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

In addition to the 12 questions above, there was also a bonus question for each of the four parts of this quiz. That's how we reached the magic total of 52 questions.

52 weeks, part one 52 weeks, part two 52 weeks, part four

With each part of the quiz we published a photograph (the full set is on the right). The link between them is Barack Obama. The pictures represent three lesser-known things about him, and one better-known.

*The first was that when as a boy his family moved into their new house on the outskirts of Jakarta, he was amazed to find the house had a collection of exotic animals, including a monkey, birds of paradise, a cockatoo and even several baby crocodiles.

*The second is a belief by some amateur genealogists that Obama and Mark Twain are distantly related through Obama's great-great-great-great grandmother, Eliza Jane Clemmons.

*The third is his stated youthful affection for Earth, Wind and Fire; he and friends would drive around in a two-tone VW Kombi van with a cassette of the band blaring out - an indication perhaps of a future affinity with Chicago?

*And the final picture, the better-known thing about Obama, of course, is his Hawaiian birthplace.

For a complete archive of past quizzes and our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, visit the Magazine page and scroll down.