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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
To access a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. Who is Costa Rica’s new president?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Luis Gillermo Solis. Mr. Solis won 78% of the vote and was expected to win after his opponent, Johnny Araya, dropped out once Mr. Solis built a strong lead. Mr. Solis is a former diplomat and his party, The Citizen Action Party (PAC), which is centre-left, has never held power.[/toggle]
2. Representative Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan promises to balance federal taxation and spending by what year? How much spending would it cut?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The proposed Ryan budget plan, which has little chance of passing Congress, calls for balancing the federal budget by 2024 and cutting federal spending by $5 trillion over the next ten years. Critics allege that the budget hurts the poor and socially disadvantaged by cutting food stamps and health programs. Other fiscal watchdog groups argue that Ryan’s budget leaves defense spending alone which they contend should also face cuts.[/toggle]
3. President Obama recently announced that this many Americans signed up for insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The White House reported that 7 million Americans signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which was above the 6 million goal the administration had set as a benchmark for success in the law’s first year. However, the President’s critics say that a large portion of that number were made up of individuals who lost their existing health insurance policies under the law and had to switch to new ones. There are also questions about how many Americans that are part of that 7 million figure have made their first premium payment.[/toggle]
4. The Federal Reserve has decided to give banks how much more time to comply with the Volcker rule?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The Federal Reserve recently decided to give banks two more years to comply with the Volcker Rule, which mandates that banks banks separate their investment and hedge fund trading arms from consumer lending.[/toggle]
5. The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Monday to bar Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid Abutalebi, from entering the United States. Why is Mr. Abutalebi’s arrival in the U.S. so controversial?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]American lawmakers and the U.S. State Department were angry at the selection of Mr. Abutalebi as Iran’s UN Ambassador because he reportedly played a role in the 1979-1981 Iranian hostage crisis where Americans were held hostage in the U.S. embassy in Iran by Islamic revolutionaries for 444 days. The incident is still a sore point of U.S.-Iranian relations and led to the U.S. severing diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980. The hostage crisis also played a role in Ronald Reagan’s defeat of President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election.[/toggle]
6. Two executive orders signed by President Obama this week involve narrowing the wage gap between men and women. What do these orders do?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]The executive orders mandate federal contractors to let workers discuss their earnings with each other and forces them to disclose more information on what their employees earn. President Obama commemorated Tuesday as “National Equal Pay Day” and analysts see the move as a political one designed to get more women to vote for Democratic candidates in the November midterms.[/toggle]
7. The Reverend Al Sharpton denied reports earlier this week that he played this role in bringing down four of New York City’s five mafia families.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Sharpton denied reports that he was an FBI informant that provided information which enabled them to bring down mafia families in New York City. The website The Smoking Gun released a report that identified Sharpton as FBI informant CI-7.[/toggle]
8. Manhattan men’s basketball coach Steve Masiello landed in hot water two weeks ago because of this.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Masiello reportedly lied on his resume that he had received an undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Kentucky in 2000. A background check by South Florida, who has initially hired Masiello away from Manhattan, found that this was not true and chose not to hire him. Manhattan has placed Masiello on unpaid leave until he finishes his degree, but has said it will take him back after the degree is earned. Masiello will take summer classes to finish his degree.[/toggle]
9. Economists estimate that the Iranian nuclear accord will release this much money (in dollars) into the Iranian economy before July 20th.
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]$7 billion. The nuclear accord gave Iran some relief from international sanctions over its nuclear program. Opponents of the accord contend that the money is not enough to significantly help the Iranian economy. It is expected that both sides will fail to agree to a long-term accord by July 20th and will need a six month extension, which would likely include loosening sanctions further. Western powers may resist this, though, because sanctions are their best leverage against Iran.[/toggle]
10. Who is the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee in the upcoming Indian elections?
[toggle title_open=”Close Me” title_closed=”Open Me” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”default” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi was named as the prime ministerial candidate by the BJP last year. He is the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat and served as the BJP’s General Secretary between May 1998-October 2001.[/toggle]