Test Your News IQ

1. The Columbia University audience laughed at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he claimed his nation does not have any ...

• nuclear ambitions.
• terrorists.
• homosexuals.
• prostitutes.

2. The trial of music producer Phil Spector, charged with the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, ended with ...

• a conviction.
• an acquittal.
• a split decision.
• a mistrial.

3. NASA has launched the Dawn spacecraft on a 3-billion-mile journey. Where is it headed?

• The sun
• Neptune
• Pluto
• The asteroid belt

4. "Halo 3" has set the video game sales record. How much money did it make in the U.S. on in its first day of release?

• $125 million
• $140 million
• $170 million
• $200 million

The U.S. Mint has unveiled designs for new pennies that will debut in 2009. What's the reason for the makeover?

• 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth
• 100th anniversary of the Lincoln penny
• Both A and B
• Neither A nor B

6. A resort in Sri Lanka has put this extravagant dessert, which includes an 80-carat aquamarine stone, on its menu. How much does it cost?

• $14,500
• $16,000
• $18,500
• $22,000

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly claims critics "fabricated a racial controversy" over comments he made about what kind of black-run business in Harlem?

• A hip-hop club
• A restaurant
• A radio station
• A video store

8. The NFL has sent a memo to teams ordering them not to let their cheerleaders ...

• date players.
• pose for nude photos.
• steal opponents' signals.
• distract opponents before games.

9. Aric Egmont used what unusual medium to surprise his girlfriend Jennie Bass, pictured here, with a marriage proposal?

• The scoreboard at Fenway Park
• A Boston Globe crossword puzzle
• The side of a ship in Boston Harbor
• A commercial on a Boston TV station

10. Jenna Bush has revealed that her fiancé Henry Hager proposed to her ...

• at their favorite Georgetown bar.
• at the Bush ranch in Texas.
• on top of a mountain in Maine.
• on the White House South Lawn.

11. In a new book, who predicts Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination for president?

• President Bush
• Jenna Bush
• Former President Clinton
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

12. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced that...

• He will enter the 2008 race
• He will not enter the race
• He will run for a Senate seat instead
• He will host a TV talk show instead

13. Some people in Clearwater are worried because the Florida city has become a "Mecca" for ...

• illegal immigrants.
• Muslims.
• Scientologists.
• polygamists.

14. Retirees in New York's Putnam County staged a protest when senior centers stopped giving away what?

• insulin
• condoms
• beer
• doughnuts

15. A publisher is denying a report that Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on "The Brady Bunch," will reveal in an upcoming biography that she ...

• was addicted to drugs.
• suffered from depression.
• battled eating disorders.
• had an affair with the actress who played Jan.

16. Marcel Marceau died Sept. 22 at the age of 84. What's the name of this white-faced clown character the master mime created?

• Zip
• Bip
• Bop
• Boo

17. New research suggests the rising number of deformed frogs found in recent years is the result of what?

• Global warming
• Ozone layer damage
• Chemical runoff from farms
• Water used by nuclear plants

18. A foundation run by Ross Perot is putting a copy of what historic document up for sale at auction?

• The Declaration of Independence
• The U.S. Constitution
• The Articles of Confederation
• The Magna Carta

19. A police artist in Britain has created this computerized image that purports to show whose face?

• Jack the Ripper
• Shakespeare as a boy
• The real Artful Dodger
• The "Harry Potter Bandit"

20. Actress Alicia Silverstone is raising eyebrows by appearing nude in a commercial for what?

• A skin-care product
• Milk
• PETA
• Amnesty International