Test Your News I.Q.
I grew up in a house without air conditioning. That was bad enough, but I suffered far more from hearing my mother, seated in front of a stand-mounted fan, proclaim, every few minutes, “Whew! It’s stinkin’ hot!”
I now have air conditioning, so instead of complaining about the heat, I’m going to allow you, my devoted readers, to complain after taking my mid-year “Test Your News I.Q.” Quiz. Listed below are questions based on actual events that have happened recently. It’s your job to pick the correct answers. Bear in mind, there may not always be a correct answer. But who cares? It’s too stinkin’ hot.
1. An Idaho man on July 8 broke a Guinness World Record – his 180th concurrent title. What record did he break?
a) “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones
b) He carved 20 Idaho potatoes into likenesses of potential replacement candidates for Joe Biden.
c) He threw chopsticks to burst 55 balloons in one minute.
2. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia was chided on social media last week. Why?
a) In an attempt to refute a comment from a fellow representative that Greene has a “bleach blonde bad built butch body,” Greene Photoshopped her head onto the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his Mr. Universe days.
b) Six of the eight signers of the Declaration of Independence that Greene listed in a July 5 Twitter (X) post did not, in fact, sign it.
c) Greene claimed that if global warming is real, it is “absolutely being caused by Barack Obama’s relatives cooking over open fires in Kenya.”
3. The TV series “The Simpsons” is widely credited for predicting the future. For example, in “Bart to the Future,” first broadcast in 2000, Lisa Simpson is elected president but says her administration “inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump.” Trump, of course, was elected president in 2016. What other recent event was foreseen by “The Simpsons?”
a) A three-eyed cod caught off the coast of Greenland quickly drew comparisons with “Blinky,” a three-eyed fish caused by pollution from the Springfield nuclear power plant where Homer Simpson works.
b) The shift to the right by SCOTUS
c) The death in battle of Rhaenys Targaryen in “House of the Dragon”
4. New rules were instituted for the June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, including muting microphones and the absence of a live audience to minimize external disruptions. What format changes might host ABC News consider to make the September debate more interesting?
a) Each candidate will answer identical questions, speak from behind a curtain and have their voices distorted electronically so that voters will have to concentrate on answers rather than appearance.
b) Each candidate will be suspended by his ankles 6 feet above a cauldron of boiling oil. When a candidate lies, he will be lowered 6 inches closer to the cauldron.
c) The usual Q&A format will be replaced by a “Powerslap” competition in which each candidate must smack the face of his opponent until one is knocked down or concedes.
5. Four volunteers spent 378 consecutive days living in a 1,700-square-foot habitat created by NASA to simulate the environments that astronauts will face on Mars. When they emerged from the habitat last week, science officer Anca Selariu said she is often asked, “Why go to Mars?” What was her response?
a) “Other planets have a waiting list.”
b) “Because it’s possible.”
c) “Because it’s too stinkin’ hot on Earth!”