Play the Slate News Quiz

With Jeopardy! superchampion Ken Jennings.

Welcome back to Slate’s weekly news quiz. I’m your host, 74-time Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings.

Every Friday I’ll be testing your knowledge with 12 challenging questions on the week’s news events, big and small, including happenings in science, sports, politics, and culture both high and low. The questions are multiple-choice, and time is of the essence: You have 30 seconds to answer, and as the seconds tick away, the question’s point value drops from 50 all the way down to zero, so you’ll want to click on your answer as fast as you possibly can. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer, so feel free to take a guess if your puny human brain fails you.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, as well as to the score of a Slate staffer whom I’ve talked into taking the quiz on the record. This week’s contestant is Slate’s chief political correspondent, John Dickerson.

Think you can ace my quiz and beat Dickerson? Good luck!

Did you have a hard time concentrating on the news this week? Was it that picture of Joe Biden with the biker mama on his lap? I know how you feel, but I hope you still paid attention to the rest of the week's events, because they were important. And, as always, there will be a quiz.

Question 1 of 12

According to JP Morgan, what is projected to boost the nation's GDP by an annualized 0.5 percent next quarter?

The firm predicts Apple will sell around 8 million of the new phones in the U.S. in Q4.

Question 2 of 12

Scientists at Northwestern University have found, for the first time, lifelong benefits for kids who endure what unpleasant experience?

The New York Times reported that the cognitive and auditory benefits of playing an instrument last for decades.

Question 3 of 12

Chris Stevens, the slain U.S. ambassador to Libya, is the first American ambassador killed on duty since what previous terrorist attack?

Ambassador Adolph Dubs was killed during a kidnapping attempt in Kabul following the 1978 coup there.

Question 4 of 12

Whom did union leader Karen Lewis call "a liar and a bully" this week?

Lewis heads the Chicago Teachers Union, which is on strike.

Question 5 of 12

On Wednesday, what did researchers announce they may have uncovered under a city council parking lot in Leicester, England?

The skeleton has the cleaved skull, arrow wounds, and spinal curvature that archaeologists were looking for.

Question 6 of 12

A 46-year-old Florida pizzeria owner named Scott Van Duzer made headlines on Sunday for what unusual achievement?

Question 7 of 12

A British film survey revealed this week that what is, scientifically speaking, the funniest movie in history, at 3.0 laughs per minute?

Question 8 of 12

A Munich newspaper reported last week that this year's Oktoberfest is threatened by a historic shortage of what?

"Dear Munichers: bring back your crates. We need our empties!" a local brewery president begged.

Question 9 of 12

A new HSBC report revealed last Friday that 25 percent of the world's luxury goods are now purchased by whom?

That number has increased fivefold since 2007.

Question 10 of 12

Last Saturday, Jimmy Carter became the longest serving ex-U.S. president in history, enjoying his 11,544th day of retirement. Whose record did he break?

Hoover became an elder statesman of the Republican Party, dying in 1964 at age 90.

Question 11 of 12

Last week, the flamboyant Griselda Blanco was shot dead in her local butcher shop by a man on a motorcycle. Blanco was long nicknamed "the Queen of" what?

Blanco died in her native Medellín, Colombia, where her drug-trafficking exploits were legendary.