you dont read...sigh...at least attempt the quiz CAQ 2

CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ
15 – 21 May 2009
“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about,” Oscar Wilde. Does this quote apply to you?

Each blank is worth two marks, while bonuses give an extra one mark (unless otherwise stated).

1. A Singapore team has made it to the top of the world’s highest mountain once again. What was special about this team? ____________________
Bonus: Name the tallest mountain in the world. ____________________

2. Four Singaporeans were quarantined for suspected H1N1 virus in this Chinese province; they were later cleared. Which province in China was it? ____________________

3. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns that the H1N1 virus will spread rapidly via this annual event attended by 2.5 million people from around the world. Identify the event. ____________________
Bonus: At which city will this event take place? ____________________

4. Secretly recorded memoirs of a disgraced former Chinese politician has been revealed and published. The memoirs include scathing criticism of the Chinese government, high-ranking leaders and the handling of the Tiananmen Incident of 1989. Name the politician. ____________________
Bonus: What is the date of the Tiananmen Incident of 1989? ____________________

5. This man became only the second incumbent Indian Prime Minister to win a re-election. Who is he? ____________________
Bonus: Who was the first – and until this year, only --- Indian Prime Minister to win a re-election?
____________________

6. This Hollywood actor found himself in trouble with Filipinos when, on a TV talkshow, he made a joke about his desperation to get married, saying that he will even marry a Philippine mail-order bride. Name him. ____________________

7. The Sri Lankan government declared its victory in a decades-long civil war against the Tamil Tigers, with the death of the Tigers’ leader. Name the leader. ____________________

8. Another accomplishment for women’s rights in Singapore. Jennie Chua, leader of the Ascott Group of Hotels, has been elected as the first woman chairperson of this grouping of business leaders in Singapore. What grouping is it? ____________________

9. This Philippines boxing champion is going to fight his next match in politics. However, his fans fear that his legacy will be KO-ed in the below-the-belt punches that mark Philippine politics. Name him. ____________________

10. An Australian study has found that people with this physical attribute earned more. What is it? ____________________
Bonus: The study also contradicted earlier ones that people who are ___ did not earn less. The researchers suggested that this could be because that physical condition is very commonplace now anyway. ____________________

11. A new ferry service has opened between Tanah Merah, Singapore and ___, Johor. ____________________

12. Some 2500 people gathered in this smbolic place in an event to call greater inclusiveness in Singaporean society, by the symbolic formation of a pink dot. Where did this take place? ____________________

13. Temasek Holdings sold off its stake in the Bank of America, losing at least US$ ___ billion in the process. Fund managers claim that the sale was in line with corporate policy. ____________________

14. After protests by animal rights groups, the Sentosa IR has decided not to exhibit this creature; scoring another point for civil groups in Singapore! What creature is it?
____________________

15. Myanmarese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been arrested and is facing charges after an American tourist swam across a lake to her house, seeking an audience. Two ASEAN countries, breaking traditional silence over misdeeds by other members, have condemned the charges. Name either one of the two countries. ____________________

16. Indian-Malaysians have sued to have an official dictionary remove a word used to describe their ethnic group. They lost in their bid to do so. What is the derogative word that they wanted out of the dictionary? ____________________

17. Popular US TV talkshow host, Jay Leno, is quitting. His last guest, who will also be his replacement, is ___. ____________________

18. A special theme park in Chongqing, China, called Love Land, has not been given official approval to open. What is the theme of the theme park? ____________________

19. Sweeping changes to the SAF will see military officers in Singapore only retire at the age of ____. ____________________

20. Singapore will get 5 new MRT stations along a new line, the Circle Line. When will the stations open? ____________________
Bonus: Name any one of the 5 new stations. ____________________

21. This NMP’s bid for a second term is inciting ugly comments from both his supporters as well as detractors. He is controversial and his re-election bid contentious because he is allegedly “pro-homosexual”, as seen from his support to repeal Section 377A (which criminalises man-to-man sex) and for one faction over the other in a recent dispute over leadership in an NGO. Who is he? ____________________