Weekly news quiz
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. When Don Rickles won an Emmy last week, he said:
a) “At last.”
b) “It’s a mistake.”
c) Trick question: Who’d give Rickles an Emmy?
2. Anadarko’s Spring Fever Thrash Tournament is held for:
a) Skateboarders.
b) Boxers.
c) Wheat farmers.
3. In BMX lingo, the term “Barspin” means:
a) Spinning the handlebars 180 degrees while in the air.
b) A pirouette performed on the crossbar.
c) A brief trip to a place serving alcohol.
4. Traffic columnist Don Gammill listed the more absurd driving tips he has received. They don’t include:
a) We need a legal left turn on red.
b) Seat belts are unnecessary for adults.
c) Everybody ought to drive the speed limit.
5. Some Iraqis aren’t sending their kids to school because they’re waiting for:
a) The violence to ease.
b) The end of Ramadan.
c) More new schools.
6. If you haven’t done this in six years, you could find your name taken off the list of people who can:
a) See a doctor as a new patient.
b) Get a tax refund.
c) Vote. The deadline to register is Oct. 10.
7. Three masked men were caught on video breaking into a southeast Oklahoma City store to steal:
a) New low-salt potato chips and beer.
b) Lighters. They already had cigarettes.
c) The ATM.
8. With support from Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson could:
a) Join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
b) Open a chicken-fried steak restaurant.
c) Win a court judgment over record royalties.
9. In a ranking of 50 cities and their efforts to go green, Oklahoma City is in last place in:
a) Air quality.
b) Metro transit ridership and land use.
c) Housing affordability.
10. With winter coming on, this is expected to be in short supply:
a) Flu vaccine.
b) Holiday cheer, as it’ll be warm-weather Christmas.
c) Salt for icy roads.
Go to NewsOK.com each weekday to take our interactive fivequestion news quiz.
Quiz answers: 1-B, 2-A, 3-A, 4-C, 5-B, 6-C, 7-C, 8-A, 9-B, 10-C
Week in review
Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date.
The weekly news quiz
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. A Walmart in Norman has switched to LED lighting, saving this on lighting costs:
a) 20 percent.
b) 50 percent.
c) 70 percent.
2. If you approach a stopped school bus with its lights flashing, you should:
a) Stop.
b) Ignore it unless it has also put out its stop sign.
c) Stay 200 yards away.
3. Rehabilitation trainers find that former fighting dogs are often afraid of:
a) Doorways, because leaving a room means going into danger.
b) Men in hats, especially caps.
c) The color red, which means pain.
4. Presidential contender John McCain tried to get votes from two factions by attending:
a) An opera in the deep South.
b) A NASCAR race in New Hampshire.
c) A cow-milking demonstration in San Francisco.
5. Republican strategist Karl Rove says the presidential campaign ads:
a) Are too negative.
b) Could be more pointed in discussing candidates’ differences.
c) Are not targeting the right voters.
6. Which of these is NOT advice for those fighting respiratory allergy symptoms this season:
a) Wear your glasses instead of contacts.
b) Use nasal rinses.
c) Avoid dairy products.
7. The RedHawks have new uniforms and a logo sporting these colors:
a) Red, white and blue.
b) Red and black.
c) Same old black and maroon.
8. U.S. intelligence believes al-Qaida is:
a) Stronger than ever.
b) Imploding because its message doesn’t work for a lot of Muslims.
c) At the same strength as on Sept. 11, 2001.
9. Sacramento pitcher Brett Anderson helped end the RedHawks’ season, but he did not pop any corks because:
a) He’s from Stillwater.
b) He had already been called up to the majors.
c) He’s too young to drink.
10. The slow cooker was invented in:
a) 1871.
b) 1921.
c) 1971.
11. Some attorneys are telling illegal immigrants to keep deportation kits, including:
a) Bottled water and flashlights for the ride home.
b) Passports for their U.S.-born children.
c) Plane tickets to Canada.
12. The government is considering whether to issue a recall on the 2002-03 Honda Accord because it is:
a) Too fuel efficient.
b) The subject of complaints about cars rolling away while parked.
c) Likely to refuse to start in temperatures below zero.
13. President Bush welcomed Ghana’s President John Kufuor with a state dinner at the White House. Ghana honored Bush when he was in Africa in February by:
a) Renaming a highway the George Bush Motorway.
b) Erecting a statue in the capital city.
c) Showing old reruns of “Dallas.”
14. Oklahoma City officials are doing this to help residents save on fuel:
a) Mandating the price of a gallon to no more than $3.
b) Linking signal lights to improve traffic flow.
c) Lowering the speed limits since driving slower uses less fuel.
15. The U.S. House of Representatives took up legislation to eliminate most regulations on these in Washington, D.C.:
a) Speeding.
b) Guns.
c) Lobbying.
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-C; 2-A; 3-A; 4-B; 5-A; 6-C; 7-A; 8-B; 9-C; 10-C; 11-B; 12-B; 13-A; 14-B; 15-B
Week in Review
Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date.
· It has been a week of turmoil in financial circles. The Dow had some tough days, losing more than 900 points before regaining some bounce late in the week.
· The world’s markets were rocked by a failure to rescue Lehman Brothers, a government-brokered takeover of Merrill Lynch by the Bank of America and a forced restructuring of the world’s largest insurance company, American International Group Inc., including an $85 billion emergency loan. The federal government was considering a plan to buy up many of the nation’s shaky mortgages.
· Three Oklahomans were among the dead when a Chinook helicopter crashed south of Baghdad. Killed were Cpl. Michael Thompson, 23, Warrant Officer Brady Rudolf, 37, of Moore; and Sgt. Dan Eshbaugh, 43, of Norman.
· Two men went into Jimmy’s Round-Up Cafe on SW 59, asked for cook Alfredo Chavez, and shot him to death.
· Bethany police killed a fleeing motorist who was stopped for a traffic violation. Police said Kelley Dale Coats of Yukon got about a block away and stopped to fire at officers.
· A former top state judge, Steve Lile, has been banned from the practice of law over misconduct including filing false travel claims and interfering in criminal cases involving family members.
· Department of Human Services workers were checking old filing cabinets after confidential records got out of the agency in a drawer sent to a surplus auction.
The weekly news quiz
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. John McCain’s presidential campaign protested after Barack Obama said “You can’t put lipstick on a” what?
a) Pit bull.
b) Pig.
c) Running mate.
2. Some valuable hides went missing from a display at the Comanche County Fair. The 7-foot jaguar pelt had an estimated value of:
a) $200.
b) $2,000.
c) $20,000.
3. A group in Dothan, Ala., is offering a $50,000 bounty to attract more of these to small town life:
a) Young whites.
b) Jewish people.
c) Democrats.
4. An auto safety group wants to raise the:
a) Minimum driving age to 17 or 18.
b) Recommended winter tire pressure to 39 psi.
c) Fine for speeding in construction zones.
5. Next month’s shuttle mission to the Hubble has a 1-in-185 chance of being hit by this:
a) Trash, as it’ll be in a higher orbit where there’s more junk.
b) The International Space Station, where docking jets are broken.
c) Falling stars. Make a wish.
6. Pope Benedict XVI visited these residents of Sardinia:
a) Catholic youth.
b) Handicapped people.
c) “Super old” people.
7. Iraqis are seeing the return of these:
a) Doctors.
b) Oil-field workers.
c) Neighborhood ice cream vendors.
8. Russian prosecutors have warned a TV station not to show:
a) The latest Tom Clancy thriller.
b) Segments from a Sarah Palin speech.
c) An episode of the cartoon “South Park.”
9. A mishap during Sen. Jim Inhofe’s convention appearance resulted in:
a) His speech being eliminated.
b) A trip to the hospital for a broken finger.
c) All the state’s votes being awarded to John McCain.
10. Apache tribal headquarters in Anadarko was taken over by:
a) Construction workers as they are adding on.
b) The Bureau of Indian Affairs, seeking financial documents.
c) Hired guards loyal to the embattled tribal chairman.
11. Compared with other hurricane-prone areas, resident of the Florida Keys are this likely to evacuate:
a) More. They treat them like snow days.
b) Less. They get big storms every year.
c) About the same. People are people.
12. Construction will begin soon on the state’s first Armed Forces Reserve Center and two more are planned, designed to replace:
a) Military recruitment offices.
b) Boot camps on the West Coast and in Texas.
c) Local armories as training sites for reservists and Guards.
13. Hospital officials in France say a 59-year-old woman has:
a) Died after being given the wrong kidney.
b) Been inadvertently billed the equivalent of $2.3 billion.
c) Given birth to triplets.
14. This percentage of graduating medical students plan to work as primary care physicians:
a) 2 percent.
b) 20 percent.
c) 40 percent.
15. The University of Oklahoma is converting its power system to electricity generated by:
a) Wind.
b) Natural gas.
c) Undergraduates on bicycles.
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-B; 2-C; 3-B; 4-A; 5-A; 6-C; 7-A; 8-C; 9-C; 10-C; 11-A; 12-C; 13-C; 14-A; 15-A
Week in review
Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date.
The weekly news quiz
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. Reba McEntire has sold more than 50 million records, but her first job was:
a) Singing in the church choir.
b) Herding cattle for her dad.
c) Saying, “Would you like fries with that?”
2. The Oklahoma City mayor is up for a pay raise on the November ballot. The current salary for the job is:
a) $24,000
b) $64,000
c) $104,000
3. Researchers are studying the tiny alpine chipmunk as a messenger for:
a) Climate change. They are moving to higher altitudes.
b) Effects of water pollution. More dead animals are being found.
c) A new Alvin movie coming for Christmas.
4. In efforts to manage urban growth, California is considering a measure mandating:
a) Homes and workplaces to be built closer together.
b) That highways thread through neighborhoods.
c) No new construction in the Bay area.
5. An Athens-based group is trying to prevent the removal of artifacts from the ruined temples of the Acropolis by:
a) Filing suit in international court.
b) Posting guards at the site, 24/7.
c) Praying to the goddess Athena to protect the site.
6. Researchers have found that lower eyelids get baggy as people get older because of:
a) Wrinkling.
b) Extra skin that sags.
c) Accumulations of fat.
7. Jessica and Jaclyn Beed of Norman have Olympic dreams for 2012. They want to compete in:
a) Weightlifting and judo.
b) Rowing and running.
c) Table tennis and regular tennis.
8. Tulsa University engineering students designed and built:
a) A retractable floor for the new arena.
b) A customized wheelchair for a 9-year-old with cerebral palsy.
c) High-tech laptops that speak to pets.
9. The autumnal equinox will occur in an instant Sept. 22, when:
a) The center of the sun is exactly above the Earth’s equator.
b) Earth will experience the longest day of the year.
c) The cumulative scores of the OU games surpass the ticket price.
10. The healthy grain quinoa is actually:
a) The fruit of a wheat-like grass.
b) A particular way of processing buckwheat.
c) The seed of the goosefoot plant.
11. Hurricane Gustav didn’t do much damage to the U.S., but it flattened these in Jamaica:
a) Tourist hotels.
b) Beachfront homes.
c) Banana plantations.
12. One-third of Americans who own their home:
a) Don’t have a mortgage.
b) Make payments larger than $1,000 a month.
c) Make do with just four bathrooms.
13. During construction of the Oklahoma History Center, an unexpected $40,000 job was needed to clean up:
a) Trash along Lincoln Boulevard.
b) A cement spill after a truck backed over a stack of rebar.
c) Old urban oil wells drilled and forgotten.
14. Plans are in place to turn the former downtown library into:
a) A $122 million parking garage.
b) Condominiums, offices and retail space.
c) A vacant lot, waiting to be sold.
15. With continuous personnel changes, the RedHawks have ended their season:
a) At the top of their division.
b) In the middle of the rankings.
c) In the cellar.
16. A new French law is putting an end to:
a) The nation’s famous 35-hour workweek.
b) English translations of French novels.
c) The presence of McDonald’s on the Champs-Elysees.
17. Why don’t some officials like the idea of renaming roads?
a) For public safety reasons, because it has to be changed in the 911 database.
b) It’s too much hassle because of the paperwork.
c) Trick question; they don’t mind accommodating voters.
18. Three Oklahomans were to speak at the Republican National Convention, but they were:
a) Felled by an early bout of the flu.
b) Bumped by a shortened schedule.
c) Unable to get a flight into St. Paul, Minn.
19. Workers in the Comanche County treasurer’s office are handling high fuel prices by:
a) Quitting and finding jobs closer to home.
b) Working from home.
c) Coming to work four days a week.
20. Microsoft is looking for traction in the marketplace by:
a) Working out the bugs in Vista.
b) Putting Bill Gates’ cell phone number online.
c) Dropping the price on the Xbox 360 to $200.
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-B; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-C; 6-C; 7-A; 8-B; 9-A; 10-C; 11-C; 12-A; 13-C; 14-B; 15-A; 16-A; 17-A; 18-B; 19-C; 20-C.
Put on your game face
Remember Adam Sandler’s old “crazy protractor face” skit?
Saturday night at the office, this Associated Press photo caught our attention. It’s from the Texas A&M-New Mexico football game in Albuquerque.
Steve Byerly, News Editor
Week in review
Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date.
- The Oklahoma City NBA team has a name: Thunder. The team logo sports the colors of the state: sky blue and sunset colors. Hundreds of fans waited in line to shop for T-shirts and other team memorabilia.
- Oklahoma embraced evacuees from Louisiana as Hurricane Gustav came ashore as a weakening Category 2 storm. The rebuilt New Orleans levees held, although the system won’t be complete until 2010. The resulting tropical depression brought unseasonably cool temperatures and dropped more than 4 inches of rain in some areas of Oklahoma.
- The Republican National Convention opened in St. Paul, Minn., on a subdued note, opening the day Hurricane Gustav came ashore in the Gulf. Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin struck back at critics with a fiery address. McCain spoke of his love for the country and pledged to end the partisan rancor in that paralyzes Washington.
- Democratic candidate Barack Obama asked supporters to help victims of the hurricane.
- Jack Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist convicted of illegally trading expensive gifts for political favors, was sentenced to four years in prison.
- The U.S. military handed over control of the Anbar province, reducing to seven the number of Iraqi provinces still under U.S. control. The 25,000 American troops in the province will focus on training Iraqi forces.
- A U.S. investigation disputed a U.N. report that up to 90 civilians died in a raid on an Afghan village. The U.S. says up to seven civilians and 30 to 35 Taliban fighters were killed.
- The source of the E. coli outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma is still a mystery. Hundreds of people have become ill, including dozens of children, and one person has died. Food at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove is believed to have been the source of the outbreak. Tests ruled out the restaurant’s well water.
- At least five people testified before a grand jury about the fatal shootings of two girls near Weleetka.
- Federal prosecutors are seeking more than $2 million in civil penalties from a New Jersey vitamin company, accused of selling drugs used to make methamphetamines in clandestine labs in Oklahoma.
Staycation in OKC
Vacation this year – with the consent of my indulgent husband – was to involve a road trip of nearly 1,600 miles to see the Mall of America in Minnesota.
But when we got the news that our dog has cancer and needs lots of pills, a “staycation” in Oklahoma City was in order. We knew there were plenty of things we hadn’t gotten around to trying.
Our first stop was Oklahoma History Center, with a bargain entry fee of $5 (unless you’re a senior citizen or a student, and then it’s cheaper).
The center, which is across NE 23 from the Governor’s mansion, has a gorgeous view of the state capitol from an atrium that displays a replica of Wiley Post’s airplane, the Winnie Mae.
We studied displays from the early days of television in Oklahoma City, including Danny Williams’ Adventures of 3-D Danny show; a video game that lets you try drilling for oil; a space capsule salvaged from the Gemini program; and a tent mounted atop a vintage car that – so they say – slept four.
Next came a trip to Remington Park, where we ate too much at the casino buffet and played a little video poker.
At the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, my husband enjoyed the firearms displays; I liked the sculptures and bronzes.
A couple days later we were among the thousands who headed downtown for the American Idols Live concert at the Ford Center. Dinner beforehand was at Falcone Pizza and Deli, where (who knew?) you can get a chocolate egg cream to drink. (Hint: It’s a fizzy New York treat that doesn’t involve any egg.)
The next day, we lined up at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for tickets to view Roman art from the Louvre, on display through Oct. 12. A guard told me that visitors are pretty respectful of the priceless sculptures, some of which date to the time of Christ. Nevertheless, he said, some people can’t resist the temptation to touch.
Lunch was at Pops in Arcadia (5 miles east of Interstate 35 on State Highway 66). We ordered thick burgers and picked out bottles of grape and black cherry pop. The bottle opener in my husband’s pocketknife came in handy.
Having trouble choosing a root beer? A manager knows the finer points of each brand. There’s a wide variety of other soda, including birch beer, sarsaparilla and even diet chocolate soda.
We bought a bottle of Green River soda for my mother, who remembers it from her childhood. And believe me, it’s scarily green.
At week’s end, we hadn’t run out of things to do. Riding the boat on the Oklahoma River is at the top of our list of things to do next time.
- Chris Schutz, staff writer
