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Here is this week’s Extemp Central news quiz. Good luck!
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s a list of all our old quizzes, click here.
1. According to the Treasury Department, when will the debt ceiling expire?
[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”]November 3. A failure to raise the debt ceiling could produce a government default. Fights over the debt limit have become commonplace between President Obama and congressional Republicans and experts worry that disarray over who will succeed John Boehner as Speaker of the House may complicate the passage of a funding measure.[/toggle]
2. This state on Monday barred Planned Parenthood from receiving state Medicaid money.
[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”]Texas. The state said that it was cutting funding due to violations caught on undercover videos about the group’s handling of fetal tissues. Louisiana had moved to do the same as Texas, but a federal judge blocked such an effort on Monday.[/toggle]
3. According to the Department of Education, how many states saw their graduation rates rise in 2014?
[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”]Thirty-six. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced that 81% of the Class of 2013 graduated on time, which was the highest figure since the number began being tracked in 2010. The biggest increases were found in Delaware, Alabama, and Oregon.[/toggle]
4. Which campaign promise did President Obama break last week?
[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”]President Obama reversed course on a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan last week, saying that the U.S. will keep at least 5,500 troops in the country by 2017. President Obama had promised that he would withdraw nearly all American troops from the nation by the end of his presidency.[/toggle]
5. In a recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was ready to take the following steps toward the Islamic nation.
[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”]Merkel, who has previously been an opponent of Turkish entry into the European Union (EU), called for loosening visa requirements on Turkish citizens that wish to enter the EU, give Turkey “safe country” status in the EU asylum process, and then explore allowing Turkish leaders to attend EU summits. Critics argue that Merkel is making the concessions in a desperate attempt to secure Turkish cooperation on the Syrian refugee crisis.[/toggle]
6. What is British Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to counter Islamic extremism in Great Britain?
[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”]Cameron’s plan calls for restricting access to facilities that are used to support extremism, which can apply to mosques. Parents of teenagers under eighteen years old would also have the power to cancel their passports so they could not join terrorist organizations elsewhere. The plan recommends that schools and universities report suspicious behavior and that individuals with a history of preaching radical ideas be placed in treatment programs and have their social media access restricted.[/toggle]
7. This UN recommendation to member states was withdrawn in the face of significant opposition from at least one country.
[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 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recommended that members consider decriminalizing the possession and use of all drugs so as to avoid mass incarceration. The UNODC oversees international drug agreements and provides recommendations for better compliance.[/toggle]
8. What are the three biggest parties in Canadian politics?
[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 governing Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, and the Liberal Party. All three parties were closely contesting Monday’s elections, the results of which were not made public when this quiz was created.[/toggle]
9. What is an intifada?
[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 term intifada is an Arabic word for “tremor,” “shivering,” and/or “shuddering.” The English equivalent for the term is “uprising” and “resistance” and has often been used to denote Palestinian resistance to Israeli officials since the 1980s.[/toggle]
10. What change are federal regulators planning to make to drone aircraft?
[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 Transportation Department is moving to mandate that all drones need to be registered, even those that are lighter craft used by recreational hobbyists. The Transportation Department says that this is necessary to track down pilots that create a collision with other aircraft or violate safety rules, but some say that the regulators ensnare people whose crafts pose no threat to the public.[/toggle]