“What In The World? Weekly Quiz” – Nov 18-24, 2019

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NOVEMBER 2019 MONTHLY QUIZ PRIZE

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

David Wallace-Wells

Amazon Review

It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible—food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation.

An “epoch-defining book” (The Guardian) and “this generation’s Silent Spring” (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it—the ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and nature in the modern world, the sustainability of capitalism and the trajectory of human progress.

The Uninhabitable Earth is also an impassioned call to action. For just as the world was brought to the brink of catastrophe within the span of a lifetime, the responsibility to avoid it now belongs to a single generation—today’s.

About David Wallace-Wells

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We’ll post the answers and the names of the winner(s) in next week’s quiz.

Here’s last week’s questions and answers:

WHAT IN THE WORLD QUIZ

WEEK OF NOV 11-17, 2019

1. THIS major capital city has been overwhelmed by air pollution in recent weeks, with local monitoring stations consistently registering upwards of 900 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) scale. As residents of the city struggle to breathe and many activities across the city have been shut down, an official’s tweet has drawn attention and ire for suggesting that residents eat more carrots to protect against pollution-related health effects.

A. Beijing
B. Islamabad
C. Delhi
D. Manila

Correct Response: C. Delhi
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/11/08/775487863/as-delhi-chokes-on-smog-indias-health-minister-advises-eat-more-carrots

2. Citing the failure of the US to consult NATO before pulling forces from northern Syria, French President Emmanuel Macron used THIS term in an interview with The Economist to describe the impact of what he sees as a waning US commitment to the transatlantic alliance on its functioning and commitment to collective security.

A. “Brain death”
B. “Near collapse”
C. “Utterly ineffective”
D. “Imperiled”

Correct Response: A. “Brain death”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50335257

3. Following an OAS report that found irregularities in the country’s October 20 vote, Bolivia’s president Evo Morales agreed to step down following increasing calls from the military, opposition figures, police and protesters. The OAS is the acronym for THIS 35-member organization which promotes peace and justice through solidarity, collaboration, and cooperation.

A. Organization of American States
B. Overseas Anti-Corruption Syndicate
C. Office for Accountability in States
D. Organization for the Americas’ Suffrage

Correct Response: A. Organization of American States
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bolivia-election-morales-idUSKBN1XK0AK?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

4. This past weekend, Jordan’s King Abdullah formally declared the end of a 25-year special regime which gave special provisions to farmers from THIS neighboring country to work the land in two territories straddling their shared border. Jordan had announced its intention to curtail the agreement last year, in what was widely seen as a sign of strained diplomatic relations.

A. Syria
B. Iraq
C. Saudi Arabia
D. Israel

Correct Response: D. Israel
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-jordan-land-idUSKBN1XK0B1?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

5. In a rare public trial, Chinese officials sentenced nine members of a smuggling ring as part of efforts to crack down on THIS highly-addictive drug. The sentencing was the culmination of the first case China and the US have worked on together to prevent the synthetic opioid from flowing into the US, where it is responsible for almost half of annual overdose deaths, and comes as the two countries work towards a “phase one” trade deal.

A. Oxycodone
B. Fentanyl
C. Heroin
D. Codeine

Correct Response: B. Fentanyl
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/07/asia/china-us-fentanyl-trump-hebei-intl-hnk/index.html

6. A number of U.S. State Department officials have been interviewed by House Members as part of the Ukraine scandal impeachment inquiry. Of those questioned WHICH official was appointed after making a major contribution to the Trump inauguration committee.

A. Gordon Sondland
B. Marie Yovanovitch
C. Michael McKinley
D. Bill Taylor

Correct Response: A. Gordon Sondland
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-impeachment-inquiry-recap-house-releases-testimony-transcripts-prepares-public-hearings-2019-11-09/

7. More than two million people in India and Bangladesh have been evacuated in light of THIS natural disaster, which has killed at least two people, closed Bangladesh’s two largest ports, and suspended services at airports and seaports across both countries.

A. The Karnataka mudslides, the result of days of torrential rains
B. The Cyclone Bulbul, which made landfall at Sagar Island
C. The 30 foot tsunami that formed in the eastern third of the Bay of Bengal
D. The 5.5 earthquake with an epicenter in Chittagong

Correct Response: B. The Cyclone Bulbul, which made landfall at Sagar Island
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50358663

8. The Supreme Court of India handed a victory this week to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign to make the country a Hindu nation through THIS controversial ruling.

A. Ruling that a faith-based test was constitutional permitting screening of military officers based on religion.
B. Ruling that the government could allow construction of a Hindu temple on a sacred site in Ayodhya where a Muslim mosque had been destroyed by Hindu protestors in 1992.
C. Ruling that the “federalization” of Muslim majority regions of Jammu and Kashmir was constitutional.
D. Ruling that the government was authorized to remove Moslem residents of Assam from citizen registers.

Correct Response: B. Ruling that the government could allow construction of a Hindu temple on a sacred site in Ayodhya where a Muslim mosque had been destroyed by Hindu protestors in 1992.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/world/asia/ayodhya-supreme-court-india.html

9. Following a July conviction of notorious Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has meted out its longest-ever sentence in sentencing Ntaganda, also known as “The Terminator,” to 30 years in prison. Ntaganda was the first person to be convicted by the ICC for THESE TWO crimes, along with sixteen other counts, for operations the Rwandan-born militia leader directed in the Congolese region, Ituri, from 2002 to 2003.

A. Use of child soldiers and use of rape as a weapon of war
B. Sexual slavery and crimes of sexual violence against one’s own troops
C. Giving false testimony and influencing a witness or official of the Court
D. Annexation of territory and taking of hostages

Correct Response: B. Sexual slavery and crimes of sexual violence against one’s own troops
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/07/africa/bosco-ntaganda-congo-general-sentenced-intl/index.html

10. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced the discovery of THIS on Sunday, a find that could alleviate the impacts of US sanctions on Iran’s battered economy. In his announcement speech, Rouhani attacked the United States and pointed to Iran’s ‘successes’ despite the punitive sanctions, arguing, “We announce to America today that we are a rich nation.”

A. An oil field containing approximately 53 billion barrels of crude oil
B. A new technology that could increase Iranian wheat crop yields by four-fold
C. A 3,000 year-old Persian library complex, believed to become a tourism hub in the north of Iran
D. A copper reserve containing roughly 2.1 million tons of copper concentrate

Correct Response: A. An oil field containing approximately 53 billion barrels of crude oil
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/10/business/iran-new-oil-field-intl/index.html

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