Questions

1.  Many people are trying to obtain seats for the oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the 2010 health-care law. They want to attend in person because:
a)  they want to make their opinions heard
b)  they want to witness first-hand this historic case that will affect Americans for generations to come
c)  they don't want Obamacare to be struck down
d)  they want to get out of work for the day

2.  The amount of time given to argue this case is unusual: a typical case is allotted an hour for argument, but the court scheduled five and a half hours for the health-care case, reflecting how novel some of the questions are and the importance of a dispute that could define the limits of federal power for decades to come.  In a break from procedure, the Supreme Court said last Friday it would ________________________________, citing "extraordinary public interest."
a)  release same-day audio recordings of the arguments
b)  allow C-SPAN to televise the proceedings live
c)  allow C-SPAN to tape the proceedings, and play them back at the end of the week
d)  keep the court proceedings private until they have ruled on the case

3.  Pope Shenouda III, the leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church for 40 years died on Saturday.  Pope Shenouda was known for:
a)  urging his followers to fight their Muslim persecutors
b)  his attempts to keep relations between Muslims and Copts peaceful
c)  constantly pressuring the government to listen to Copts requests for equal treatment
d)  carrying out numerous attacks on Muslim mosques

4.  Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church traces its founding to Mark, who is said to have brought Christianity to Egypt:
a)  in the 1st century
b)  when the Pope sent him there from Rome
c)  in the 6th century
d)  hundreds of years after Islam became the dominant religion there

5.  After 33 years, C-SPAN's founder has announced that he will step down from his position as chief executive.  C-SPAN stands for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network.
Its mission is to:
a)  provide public access to the political process
b)  subtly persuade people to vote for the presidential candidate they endorse
c)  publicize all confidential government files
d)  interpret the proceedings of Congress for the American people

6.  Which one is not the focus of one of the specific C-SPAN channels
a)  to televise every minute of the proceedings of the U.S. Senate
b)  to televise every minute of every action of every member of Congress
c)  to televise other government hearings and events
d)  to televise every minute of the proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives

7.  NASA has hired two private companies to fly cargo to the International Space Station, a job which has until recently been done through the space shuttle program. The contracts are worth a combined $3.5 billion.  A term that can describe this transfer is:
a)  non-profit
b)  privatization
c)  public sector
d)  socialism

8.  In addition to flying cargo to the space station, the two companies also have plans to:
a)  colonize the moon
b)  build an elevator to space
c)  train rich businessmen and actors as astronauts
d)  establish a commercial space flight industry

9.  The U.S. announced this week that it is suspending efforts to recover remains of thousands of fallen servicemen from:
a)  World War II
b)  the Civil War
c)  the Korean War
d)  the War of 1812

10. The U.S. suspended the recovery efforts in response to belligerent speech and actions by the ________________ government.
a)  North Korean
b)  South Korean
c)  Iranian
d)  Afghan