GEOGRAPHY
Which island nation in Asia's Far East was struck by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake early on the morning of Wednesday 3 April 2024, killing at least 9 people and injuring over 900?
a.) Japan
b.) Taiwan
c.) Indonesia
d.) Fiji
e.) The Philippines
b.) Taiwan
In a scientific study published in August 2023, what recorded sound did French scientists use to attract Nile crocodiles?
a.) Bleating goats
b.) Crying babies
c.) Grunting hippos
d.) K-pop group BTS
e.) Whale songs
b.) Crying babies
The study, conducted at a Moroccan zoo and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that the crocodiles were interested in cries of distress from young primates including humans, most likely because they might lead to tasty snack.
In May 2023, archaeologists discovered the oldest known evidence for which activity that people were engaged in at least 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia?
a.) Cooking
b.) Kissing
c.) Gardening
d.) Music
e.) Woodworking
b.) Kissing
Writing in September 2023 in the journal Science, archaeologists noted that romantic kissing is described in clay tablets in the Sumerian language. This is contrary to an idea raised in 2022 that kissing emerged more recently and may have been a driver of disease transmission.
Which athlete ate 1,000 chicken nuggets at the Beijing 2008 Olympics?
a.) Michael Phelps
b.) Serena Williams
c.) Kobe Bryant
d.) Lionel Messi
e.) Usain Bolt
e.) Usain Bolt
Whose autobiography is the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time?
a.) Maya Angelou (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings)
b.) David Beckham (David Beckham: My Side)
c.) Michelle Obama (Becoming)
d.) Malala Yousafzai (I Am Malala)
e.) Prince Harry (Spare)
e.) Prince Harry (Spare)
Acting on the debunked "chemtrails" conspiracy theory which claims that the cloudy white lines created by airplane emissions are chemicals being released into the atmosphere by the government, which Republican-held US state senate passed a bill on 31 March 2024 banning the government from "intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere"?
a.) Arkansas
b.) Montana
c.) Tennessee
d.) South Carolina
e.) Florida
c.) Tennessee
In late January 2024, Michelle Francl - a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, triggered a diplomatic row with the United Kingdom after she had the temerity to suggest that which of the following ingredients should go into making the perfect cup of tea?
a.) A dash of pepper
b.) A smidgen of cinnamon
c.) A pinch of salt
d.) A hint of mint
e.) A drop of soy sauce
c.) A pinch of salt
The sodium ion in salt blocks the chemical mechanism that makes tea taste bitter, says Professor Francl, who has now become a national enemy of the British people.
Which famous historical figure said the following quote:
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
a.) John F. Kennedy
b.) Adolf Hitler
c.) Nelson Mandela
d.) Joseph Stalin
e.) Gandhi
a.) John F. Kennedy
JFK delivered this line during his inaugural address as the 35th U.S. president. Although he had won the 1960 presidential election by one of the slimmest margins in history, 72 percent of Americans expressed approval of Kennedy after the speech.
Why are Major League Baseball players unhappy with their new 2024 uniforms?
a.) MLB has removed the US flag that was traditionally worn on the right upper arm of the shirts
b.) The pants are too see-through
c.) The tightness is said to be restricting pitching and batting actions
d.) They have a strange rubber smell
e.) They are being sold at inflated prices to MLB fans
b.) The pants are too see-through
2023 was quite a year for Elon Musk, who saw the valuation of X (formerly Twitter) half during his tenure as owner - its ad revenue decreasing by 89%. He also received growing condemnation for racist and antisemitic posts on the platform.
He did, however, make it into the Guinness Book of Records for which notable achievement in January 2023?
a.) He was named the world’s most divorced man
b.) He registered the single biggest loss of net worth in financial history
c.) His hair transplant was named the most expensive in medical history
d.) The emeralds in his father’s mine were judged to be the purest ever discovered
e.) He became the businessman awarded the most ever government subsidies in US history
b.) He registered the single biggest loss of net worth in financial history - around $200bn.
In 2023, which country became the fourth to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon?
a.) India
b.) Japan
c.) Russia
d.) United Arab Emirates
e.) Brazil
a.) India
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, including a lander and a rover, touched down near the moon’s south pole on 23 August 2023. The rover traveled more than 100 meters across the lunar surface. However, neither reactivated after shutting down for the onset of lunar night in early September. Missions launched by Russia and the UAE both failed to land successfully this year. A Japanese spacecraft made a soft landing on the moon in January 2024.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, but to make stainless steel, more than 10.5% of it needs to be which element?
a.) Zinc
b.) Chromium
c.) Tungsten
d.) Mercury
e.) Aluminum
b.) Chromium
As well as the Chromium, Nickel is usually added, too. The chromium forms a passive film that keeps the steel from corroding.
When was the food stamps program - the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - created in the United States?
a.) 1914
b.) 1934
c.) 1964
d.) 1974
e.) 1994
c.) 1964
Food Stamps were created by the Food Stamp Act of 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War Against Poverty" welfare program. It now distributes over $100 billion a year in food assistance to impoverished Americans.
Which NFL franchise was sold for $6.05bn in July 2023, becoming the most valuable team in US sports as a result?
a.) Dallas Cowboys
b.) Philadelphia Eagles
c.) Kansas City Chiefs
d.) Miami Dolphins
e.) Washington Commanders
e.) Washington Commanders
Dan Snyder bought the team for $800m in 1999 and ended his unpopular tenure as owner by selling to Josh Harris, who has also invested in the NBA's 76ers, the NHL's Devils and English Soccer Premier League club Crystal Palace.
In Scrabble, only one letter scores five points. Which letter?
a.) F
b.) W
c.) J
d.) K
e.) Z
d.) K
Which religious site is overlooked by a 600m clock tower?
a.) Western Wall (Jerusalem)
b.) Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)
c.) Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico City)
d.) Great Mosque of Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
e.) Stonehenge (United Kingdom)
d.) Great Mosque of Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
In November 2023, a team of marine biologists at Southampton University in the United Kingdom made which alarming discovery about starfish?
a.) Their genome contains no connection to any other animal
b.) They are immortal
c.) Their entire body is, in fact, a head
d.) They are impervious to nuclear radiation
e.) They are increasingly turning red because of global warming
c.) Their entire body is, in fact, a head
Which future US president fought as a young man in the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 and described the conflict as follows in his personal memoirs:
"I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought so at the time, when I was a youngster, only I had not moral courage enough to resign."
a.) Abraham Lincoln
b.) Theodore Roosevelt
c.) Woodrow Wilson
d.) Ulysses S. Grant
e.) Andrew Jackson
d.) Ulysses S. Grant
The 2023 NBA season concluded in June 2023 with the Denver Nuggets beating Miami Heat 4-1 in the finals. Who was the season MVP?
a.) Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
b.) Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
c.) Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
d.) Joel Embiid (76ers)
e.) Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
d.) Joel Embiid (76ers)
The Philadelphia 76ers center was the league's top scorer.
Mash of at least 51% corn - a fermentable starchy mixture from which alcohol or spirits can be distilled - is used to make which type of whiskey?
a.) Bourbon Whiskey
b.) Rye Whiskey
c.) Scotch Whiskey
d.) Malt Whiskey
e.) Irish Whiskey
a.) Bourbon Whiskey
Which North American city received its first ever tropical storm watch this year?
a.) Boston
b.) Halifax
c.) Los Angeles
d.) Vancouver
e.) Chicago
c.) Los Angeles
Hurricane Hilary reached Category 4 off the coast of Mexico before it slammed into the Baja Peninsula on Aug. 20 and traveled north into the United States, unexpectedly capturing the spotlight in the midst of the Atlantic hurricane season and triggering the first tropical storm watch in Southern California’s history.
On 8 December 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first therapy to make use of the gene editing technique known as CRISPR/Cas9. What is the condition that the new therapy is effective at treating?
a.) Cancer
b.) Gastroenteritis
c.) Obesity
d.) Sickle Cell Anemia
e.) Epilepsy
d.) Sickle Cell Anemia
The therapy's approval came three years after researchers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna were awarded the Noble Prize for developing the gene editing technology, and 11 years after the landmark article that launched it.
Saudi Arabia is to allow non-Muslim diplomats to purchase alcohol in a special shop – the first time it has allowed any sale of alcohol. But in what year did it decree total prohibition of alcohol?
a.) 1932
b.) 1952
c.) 1972
d.) 1992
e.) 2002
b.) 1952
The ban was brought in after a member of the Saudi royal family shot dead a British diplomat in a row that centered on alcohol.
Who stunned the boxing world on 28 October 2023 by knocking heavyweight champion Tyson Fury down in the third round of their 'crossover' boxing match in Riyadh?
a.) Jake Paul
b.) Francis Ngannou
c.) Jon Jones
d.) Brock Lesnar
e.) Connor McGregor
b.) Francis Ngannou
Ngannou, a former MMA world champion, belied his lack of boxing experience to seriously test Fury, who scraped a split-decision victory but later postponed his unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk.
2023 was a banner year for celebrity auctions, but which of the items below garnered the highest price when it went under the hammer?
a.) A two-cornered hat owned by Napoleon
b.) A pair of jeans worn by Kurt Cobain
c.) A silver mustache comb belonging to Freddie Mercury
d.) An LA Lakers jersey belonging to Wilt Chamberlain
e.) A one-of-a-kind card from the fantasy tabletop game Magic: The Gathering
d.) An LA Lakers jersey belonging to Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain’s Lakers jersey sold for $4.9m
- Napoleon’s hat $2.1m
- Freddie Mercury’s mustache comb $194,000
- Kurt Cobain’s jeans $412,750
- One-of-a-kind Magic: The Gathering card $2.2 million - bought by rapper Post Malone (a known fan)