Around the World in 80 Questions - the News Quiz of the Year

1 What reached $100 for the first time on January 2?

A The cost of a US passport

B The price of a barrel of oil

C The earnings per millisecond of Jonathan Ross

2 Which planet received a Messenger in the New Year?

A Venus

B Uranus

C Mercury

3 Which city roped in two Beatles and a giant spider for its year as European Capital of Culture?

A Liverpool

B Manchester

C Wolverhampton

4 Which actor's promising career ended tragically with an accidental overdose on January 22?

A Keith Ledger

B Seth Ledger

C Heath Ledger

5 Derek Conway MP was suspended from the Commons over expenses – but his flamboyant son Henry grabbed the headlines. What was his nickname?

A Queen Sloane

B Big Ben

C Sponger Sam

6 Who preferred the front line to "sitting around in Windsor"?

A Prince Harry

B Prince William

C Prince Charles

7 Who replaced Fidel Castro as president of Cuba in February?

A Raul Castro

B Ramón Castro

C Roberto Castro

8 Which rock was annexed by the British government in the same month?

A Tristan da Cunha

B Rockall

C Northern Rock

9 Which region declared independence on February 17?

A Transdniestria

B South Ossetia

C Kosovo

10 A B2 Stealth Bomber, the world's most expensive aircraft, crashed on Guam on February 22. How much was it worth?

A $700 million

B $1.2 billion

C $1.6 billion

11 Who discovered in March that money couldn't buy love, but could purchase a merciful divorce?

A Bernie Ecclestone

B Paul McCartney

C Donald Trump

12 And how big was the divorce settlement?

A £12.8 million

B £24.3 million

C £75.3 million

13 "The opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 will change the way international travellers look at Britain." Prophetic words from:

A BA chief executive Willie Walsh

B Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly

C An anonymous Milanese luggage-handler

14 Which country held its first-ever general election in March?

A Uzbekistan

B Bahrein

C Bhutan

15 "If it hadn't been for bribery and illegal acts, this wouldn't have come out." Name the speaker:
A Damian Green

B Max Mosley

C Rod Blagojevich

16 The first female member of Labour to answer Prime Minister's Questions stood at the Despatch Box on April 2. Who was it?
A Jacqui Smith

B Harriet Harman

C Ruth Kelly

17 Charlton Heston died on April 5. What did he spend his later years fighting?

A Gay marriage

B Abortion

C Gun control

18 Protests over which country hampered the passage of the Olympic flame?

A Tibet

B Taiwan

C Thailand

19 Also in April, surgeons in London performed the first operation to implant a bionic what?

A Eardrum

B Voicebox

C Eye

20 Which country abolished its monarchy in May?

A Nepal

B Thailand

C Tonga

21 Three English teams reached the Champions League semi-finals. Which won the cup?

A Chelsea

B Liverpool

C Manchester United

22 Whose number came up in July when she was offered a 90 per cent "take it or leave it" pay cut?

A Anne Robinson

B Carol Vorderman

C Cilla Black

23 Whom did Jennifer Aniston call "really uncool"?

A Matt LeBlanc

B Brad Pitt

C Angelina Jolie

24 The earthquake that struck China in May had its epicentre in which province?

A Sichuan

B Hunan

C Guandong

25 Which great-great-grandson of a Circassian slave made good in the same month?

A Dmitry Medvedev

B Boris Johnson

C Vladimir Putin

26 The Oscar-winning film There Will Be Blood was based in the cut-throat world of…

A The oil business

B The movie business

C The hedge-fund business

27 Who was elected president of Zimbabwe in a "second round contest" in June?

A Robert Mugabe

B Robert Mugabe

C Robert Mugabe

28 Who earned a prestigious apprenticeship thanks to the "reverse pterodactyl"?
A Lee McQueen

B Chelsea Clinton

C Charles Darwin

29 Which American, on stage at Glastonbury, admitted to being "pretty ----ing awesome"?

A Jay-Z

B Bruce Springsteen

C Axl Rose

30 Who risked his political career for 42 days?

A David Davies

B David Cameron

C David Davis

31 Who said: "Love lasts a long time, but burning desire . . . two to three weeks"?

A Jacqui Smith

B Nancy Dell'Olio

C Carla Bruni

32 Which action hero creaked his way out of retirement for one last caper?

A Sir Tom Jones

B Indiana Jones

C Peter Mandelson

33 Which "alternative therapist" had his collar felt in July?

A Radovan Karadžic´

B Derren Brown

C Raj Persaud

34 Who were ageing playboy Hugh Hefner's three favourite bunnies?

A Holly, Kendra and Bridget

B Suzy, Busty and Betsy

C Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail

35 Nick Clegg can lay claim to "a lot less than 30" what?

A Percentage points in the polls

B Charismatic MPs

C Lovers

36 The French hostage Ingrid Betancourt was rescued on July 2 from guerillas in which country?

A Ecuador

B Bolivia

C Colombia

37 Which country won the most medals in the Beijing Olympics?

A United States

B China

C Russia

38 And which country won the most golds?

A United States

B China

C Russia

39 In which sport did the United Kingdom win most gold medals?

A Rowing

B Cycling

C Swimming

40 The American swimmer Michael Phelps this year surpassed Mark Spitz in gold medals won during a single Olympics. How many did he win?

A 7

B 8

C 9

41 Olympic gold medal winner and BBC Sports Personality of the Year Chris Hoy dressed up as what for the closing ceremony?

A Boris Johnson

B A Beefeater

C A City gent

42 Who couldn't get on his bike in July, because it had been stolen while he was in Tesco?

A Bradley Wiggins

B David Cameron

C Boris Johnson

43 Russia invaded which country in August?

A Moldova

B Azerbaijan

C Georgia

44 Kevin Pietersen, appointed England cricket captain in August, has a tattoo on his arm of:
A The South African flag

B The England crest

C His own face

45 What was activated on September 10?

A The Large Boson Collider

B The Large Hadron Collider

C The Large Meson Collider

46 What happened next?

A The world ended

B The world didn't end

C The collider worked for two weeks then broke down

47 The largest bankruptcy in American history was declared on September 15 by whom?

A Lehman Brothers

B Merrill Lynch

C Morgan Stanley

48 Who saw his popularity plummet after insisting that "the fundamentals of our economy are sound"?

A Gordon Brown

B John McCain

C George Bush

49 Theo Walcott lifted England with a hat-trick against which country?
A Croatia

B Germany

C Scotland

50 Which son of Dunblane caused Andymonium?

A Andy Stewart

B Andy Murray

C Andy Williams

51 Paul Newman, who died in September, had a second career as a maker of:

A Wine

B Salad dressing

C Boiled eggs

52 The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in October. To whom?

A Aung San Suu Kyi

B Kofi Annan

C Martti Ahtisaari

53 Who, after the near-collapse of the world financial system, admitted that he had found a "flaw" in his analysis of how the markets worked?

A Gordon Brown

B Alan Greenspan

C Sir Fred Goodwin

54 Two of these raced into the sporting record books – but which one fell short?

A Lewis Hamilton

B Usain Bolt

C Paula Radcliffe

55 Which profession did not appear on the leaked BNP membership list?

A A race relations co-ordinator

B A male witch

C A vicar

56 October might not have been the best time to open a new £1.6 billion shopping complex in west London. But what was it called?

A Leftfield

B Westfield

C Frankfield

57 Three men who like to dress as women – but which got to No 2 in the same month?
A David Walliams

B Peter Kay

C Eddie Izzard

58 What, according to Barack Obama, do they cling to in small towns?

A Chai lattes and organic produce

B Racism and prejudice

C Guns and religion

59 "I can see Russia from my house!" Who is speaking?

A Sarah Palin

B Comedian Tina Fey as
Sarah Palin

C Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili

60 Whom did Hillary Clinton claim lacked the qualifications to be president?

A Her husband, Bill Clinton

B Her opponent, John McCain

C Her new boss, Barack Obama

61 'Joe the Plumber' agreed that a victory for Barack Obama would result in:

A The death of Israel

B A victory for socialism

C The worst parts of the Bible

62 Which transplanted organ, grown from stem cells, proved a medical marvel in November?

A Brain

B Windpipe

C Liver

63 Whom did George Osborne regret gossiping about?

A Oleg Deripaska

B Peter Mandelson

C The Bullingdon Club

64 What do lorry drivers spend time doing, according to Jeremy Clarkson?

A Murdering prostitutes

B Fiddling with sat-nav

C Blockading ports in France

65 Newspapers claimed that Madonna had imposed a list of rules on her ex-husband, Guy Ritchie. Which of these was not among those reported?

A Their sons should drink water blessed by leaders of the Kabbalah religion

B Their sons should not be allowed to read newspapers or watch TV

C Their sons should be taught all the lyrics of her songs

66 Who put his career on pause to investigate little green men?

A David Duchovny

B Robbie Williams

C Lembit Opik

67 Which superstar diva confessed to the Telegraph that he takes two hours to get ready for a night out?

A Jonathan Ross

B P Diddy

C Gordon Brown

68 Three heroes – but which one actually claimed to have saved the world?

A David Tennant

B Barack Obama

C Gordon Brown

69 James Bond rescued which country from evil environmentalists in Quantum of Solace?

A Great Britain

B Bolivia

C Venezuela

70 Under the plans unveiled in Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report, government debt by 2013 will be approximately:

A £30,000 per household

B £40,000 per household

C £50,000 per household

71 "The modern market economy does not always operate at maximum efficiency, and smart government intervention can raise the game to deliver an optimum result" – the words of which supporter of John Maynard Keynes?

A Barack Obama

B Alistair Darling

C Nancy Dell'Olio

72 Georgina Baillie, granddaughter of Andrew Sachs, is a member of which group?
A The Satanic Sluts

B The Vicious Vixens

C Girls Aloud

73 Which Daily Telegraph columnist demanded a national insurrection against the licence fee in the wake of the Ross-Brand affair?
A Boris Johnson

B Charles Moore

C Simon Heffer

74 Which of these was John Sergeant not accused of being by the Strictly Come Dancing judges?

A A dancing pig

B An arrogant coward

C Devilishly handsome

75 As the economy tanked, Britain became more of a credit risk than:

A Italy

B Russia

C McDonald's

76 Police accused Tory front-bencher Damian Green of which unparliamentary activity?

A Grooming a Civil Service mole

B Driving under the influence

C Scrupulous honesty

77 Which Frenchman took fright after a voodoo doll with his features appeared?

A Gérard Depardieu

B Nicolas Sarkozy

C Arsène Wenger

78 David Tennant played Hamlet. Who played the skull?

A André Tchaikowsky

B André Previn

C André the Giant

79 Which musical movie became Britain's highest-grossing film ever?

A High School
Musical 3

B Mamma Mia!

C Simon!: The Simon Cowell Story

80 What has Barack Obama promised his children when they get to the White House?

A A puppy

B A Nintendo Wii

C A reading of Harry Potter

- telegraph.co.uk