It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz.
1. Education officials offered advice for parents on how to prevent children from slipping academically over the summer. Which is NOT helpful to a child’s education?
a) Make time for reading, and take them to the library.
b) Take them to the grocery store to reinforce math skills.
c) Argue with them to hone debating skills.
2. The Advanced Traveler Information System uses a Web site to help drivers avoid problems by:
a) Providing near real-time images of traffic conditions.
b) Listing auto recalls and reminders for regular maintenance.
c) Checking nearby gasoline prices and listing the cheapest.
3. Oklahoma City department heads are trimming their budgets by 1 percent to maintain services because of:
a) Increasing labor costs.
b) Increasing need for more workers.
c) Increasing fuel and health care costs.
4. “August: Osage County,” is a Tony Award-winning play written by native Oklahoman Tracy Letts about:
a) The oil industry run rampant.
b) Tribal sovereignty and the choices of identity.
c) A dysfunctional Oklahoma family and its pill-popping matriarch.
5. Californians are locked in a debate over environmental objections to an energy project that would include:
a) A huge new gasoline refinery off the coast of San Francisco.
b) The world’s largest solar power plant with wind components.
c) The first new nuclear power plant in three decades.
6. As the U.S. economy stutters, a review of CEO compensation found the median pay:
a) Declined 3.5 percent.
b) Stayed the same.
c) Increased 3.5 percent.
7. After Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang injured his foot running the bases, club Co-Chairman Hank Steinbrenner said the National League needs to “grow up and join the 21st century” by:
a) Requiring standard footwear.
b) Stopping the whining and getting on with it.
c) Adopting the designated hitter rule.
8. Oklahoma City’s environmental protection manager says people should do this when their car is dirty:
a) Use a car wash. In a driveway, suds, dirt and grease can flow into a storm drain.
b) Avert your eyes. Who really cares if you drive a shiny car?
c) Time it right. Wash your car at night when water won’t evaporate.
9. As the upper Mississippi River rose near levels of the historic 1993 floods, officials say the damage isn’t as bad as it was 15 years ago because:
a) People are using text messages to warn their neighbors.
b) This time, all the levees have held.
c) The federal government has cleared many residents from flood-prone land.
10. Why, according to astronomy experts, does the moon look larger at the horizon?
a) Green cheese is less dense than rock.
b) It’s an optical illusion.
c) The moon is closer to the Earth at the horizon.
11. Why did U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Joshua Johnson receive a Gold Lifesaving Medal from the U.S. Coast Guard?
a) He saved a mother and her 2-year-old trapped in a sinking car in an icy river.
b) He set a world record for the number of CPR classes taken.
c) He swam San Francisco Bay.
12. This is causing the price of corn to reach record levels:
a) Fewer acres have been planted as farmers switch to soybeans.
b) The green-legged beetle has devastated crops in the south.
c) Midwestern flooding has drowned many fields.
13. A conservation group says this animal is on the verge of extinction:
a) The tuskless pygmy rhino.
b) Northern white rhino.
c) The spotted rhinopotamus.
14. A freshman offensive lineman left the University of Oklahoma to:
a) Play in the NFL.
b) Join the Marines.
c) Take a chance on “American Idol.”
15. About 500 state employees were evacuated from the Kerr-Edmonson State Office Building because:
a) Someone called in a fake bomb threat, but nothing was found.
b) Workers were concerned a tiling project might involve asbestos, but it was later cleared.
c) Someone came in with the sniffles, but it turned out to be allergies.
16. Jeff McMahan resigned as state auditor and inspector, sparing the state House an expensive impeachment. In preparation, the House already had spent:
a) $70 for the coffeepot and snacks at an after-hours inquiry.
b) $7,000 in hotel vouchers for out-of-town lawmakers.
c) $70,000 in lawyers’ fees while lawmakers studied the process.
17. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has a long-awaited exhibit of:
a) Roman art from the Louvre in Paris.
b) Grecian art from the British Museum in London
c) Art of the Mother Road from the Route 66 Museum in Clinton.
18. A pregnant woman trapped 50 hours under earthquake rubble in China has given birth to a daughter she named:
a) Light.
b) Love.
c) Martha.
19. About 80,000 Oklahoma retirees and disabled veterans are entitled to economic stimulus payments, but they must file a tax return by this date:
a) July 15.
b) Oct. 15.
c) Dec. 31.
20. Golf star Tiger Woods announced:
a) He will retire.
b) He will have season-ending knee surgery.
c) He will make every tournament this year.
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-C; 2-A; 3-C; 4-C; 5-B; 6-C; 7-C; 8-A; 9-C; 10-B; 11-A; 12-C; 13-B; 14-B; 15-B; 16-C; 17-A; 18-B; 19-B; 20-B.