NEWS QUIZ PAGE 1

Have you been paying attention to the news? See if you can answer these questions:
1 Where did an oil platform that suffered a massive explosion sink last week?
A Saudi Arabia B The Gulf of Mexico C The North Sea

2 Which country was plunged into political crisis on Thursday when its Prime Minister
offered his resignation?
A Belgium B Holland C Luxembourg

3 Malcolm McLaren had a showy send-off Thursday, with a spray-painted coffin. Which band
did he manage in the 70s?
A The Clash B The Jam C The Sex Pistols

4 Which deadly disease is Africa making dramatic progress in tackling?

A HIV Aids B Malaria C Yellow fever

5 Newlywed Indian Sania Mirza and Pakistani Shoaib Malik have been hailed as cross-
border peace ambassadors, but which sports are they famous for?
A tennis and cricket B tennis and football C football and golf

6 Juan Antonio Samaranch died last week. He was widely regarded as the most powerful
man in sport when he headed which organisation from 1980 to 200l?
A FIFA B The IOC C The NBA

7 What did Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen say the alliance must retain last week?
A Germany as a member B troops in Iraq C a nuclear capability

8 Which actor’s son was given a five-year jail sentence last week for dealing drugs?
A Robert DeNiro B Marlon Brando C Michael Douglas

Follow-up activity Write three questions to ask your teacher about recent news events in your
country.
NEWS QUIZ PAGE 2
Teacher’s notes
Total pages 2 / student pages 1 / week of 26.04.10 / intermediate+ (B1+)

ANSWERS
1-B The Coast Guard is saying an oil platform that suffered a massive explosion two days ago has
sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. Coast Guard Petty Officer Katherine McNamara said Thursday that the
Deepwater Horizon had gone under. The Coast Guard is still searching for 11 workers who went
missing after the blast Tuesday.
2-A Belgium was plunged into political crisis on Thursday as Prime Minister Yves Leterme threw
in the towel after a key Flemish party quit his coalition government two months before the country
assumes the EU chair. The situation was in flux, however, as the king delayed a decision on whether
to accept Leterme’s resignation saying a political crisis would “seriously threaten” Belgium’s role in
Europe.
3-C Punk legend and ex-Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren had a showy send-off Thursday,
with a spray-painted coffin. McLaren, 64, who died on April 8 in Switzerland after suffering from a
rare form of cancer, was taken through the streets of London in a traditional horse-drawn carriage.
4-B Africa is making dramatic progress in tackling malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that has
killed a million people a year on the continent and stunted economic growth, a top expert said
on Thursday. Infection rates in Zambia, for instance, more than halved from 2001 to 2008 due to
widespread distribution of mosquito nets, targeted spraying of insecticides and better and cheaper
diagnosis and treatment, said Rob Newman, director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO)
Global Malaria Program.
5-A Newlywed and hailed as cross-border peace ambassadors, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and
Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik arrived in Pakistan on Thursday to a frenzied reception. Camera
bulbs flashed and fans thronged to get a glimpse of the lovebirds as they landed at Karachi airport,
their first visit there after their April 12 wedding that bridged the two nations’ bitter sporting and
political divide
6-B Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch died in hospital
last week. The Spaniard was widely regarded as the most powerful man in sport when he headed
the IOC from 1980 to 2001.
7-C Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance must retain a nuclear capability as long as
rogue regimes or terrorist groups pose a threat. He called for a major review of Nato’s strategy and
funding to enable it to meet modern security threats.
8-C Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Pat Riley all asked Judge Richard M.
Berman to be lenient with Michael’s son, Cameron Douglas, but their words couldn’t keep Cameron
out of prison. Berman sentenced him to five years in prison for dealing drugs after hearing Cameron,
31, apologize and admit that he had squandered a lot of opportunities to turn his life around.