Test your news IQ
It’s mid-May. You’ve been trapped inside for six weeks – surely you’ve spent that time keeping up with current events. So there’s no excuse for you to miss even one answer in our very first Quarantine News Quiz. No Googling!
1.) On May 4, unofficially known as “Star Wars Day,” the Trump campaign released a doctored video featuring:
a. George Washington (Mike Pence), Abraham Lincoln (Trump) and FDR (William Barr) using light sabers to defeat Darth Vader (Barack Obama) and save Princess Leia – Melania Trump, wearing a white outfit with the words, “I Could Care Less about the Galaxy” stenciled across the back.
b. President Trump, as Yoda, battling the empire, with Joe Biden’s head superimposed on Emperor Palpatine. Trump decapitates clone troopers with the logos of CNN and MSNBC where their heads should be.
c. Moe (Trump), Larry (Lindsey Graham) and Curly (Mitch McConnell) star in “A Plumbing We Will Go,” a modernized version of the Three Stooges classic short in which the boys create chaos by ruining the plumbing at the Democratic National Convention.
2.) Last Friday actor and director Andy Serkis, who gave life to Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” movies, read aloud the entire J.R.R. Tolkien novel “The Hobbit” in one 12-hour sitting to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service. Spurred by his generosity, what other actors will be doing marathon readings?
a. Johnny Depp will re-create his beloved Captain Jack Sparrow to read “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.”
b. Christian Bale will re-create his brooding Batman to read “Pat the Bunny.”
c. Liam Neeson will re-create his terrifying Bryan Mills, the former CIA operative of the “Taken” movies, to read “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.” In a thrilling moment, Pooh tells Christopher Robin, “If you tell me where the honey is, I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you! Oh, bother!”
3.) Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, we learned that Asian giant hornets have arrived in North America. The hornets, which attack honeybees, are also known as “The Murder Hornets.” What other colorful names did scientists consider using for these insects?
a. The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers
b. The Flying Bee-eater Brothers
c. The Kardashians
4.) Professional sports also have fallen victim to COVID-19, with seasons already under way at the beginning of the pandemic suspended and plans for upcoming seasons uncertain. One plan calls for Major League Baseball to play 100 games – without fans present – in ballparks in Florida, Arizona and Texas. Ideas to speed up games have been put forth. Which of these ideas is the real one?
a. The use of lasers to call balls and strikes
b. Lengthening the distance between bases to 120 feet to rule out the need for instant replay on close plays
c. Requiring shortstops and second-basemen to stay at least 6 feet apart when turning double plays
5.) Also last week, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted: “For nearly three years we have been building a juggernaut campaign (Death Star).” In using this movie reference, what crucial fact had Parscale forgotten?
a. “The Death Star” is Ivanka Trump’s pet name for Jared Kushner.
b. In the original “Star Wars” trilogy, the Death Star was destroyed by rebels. Twice.
c. “The Death Star” is what staffers on “The Apprentice” called Donald Trump.