Quiz of the Year: 52 weeks 52 questions, part three

Info

'Tis the season to cast an eye back over the events of 2013. But how much do you remember? Test yourself with the Magazine's four-part end-of-year quiz. Part three covers July to September.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

In July, whose plane had to be diverted to Austria amid suspicions US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was on board?

1. Bolivian President Evo Morales
   
2. Iceland's ex-PM Johanna Sigurdardottir
   
3. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff
   

2.) Multiple Choice Question

The US Zip Code turned 50 in July. Where is the famous code 10036?

1. The White House
   
2. Mount Rushmore
   
3. Times Square
   
4. The Hollywood sign
   

3.) Multiple Choice Question

The English profanity "shitstorm" is so widely used by the nationals of one country, that its most prestigious dictionary included it in its latest edition. Which nation?

1. Iceland
   
2. Italy
   
3. Germany
   

4.) Multiple Choice Question

Pluto's fourth and fifth moons, discovered in 2011 and 2012, have finally been named. Styx is one of them, what's the other?

1. Laelaps
   
2. Kerberos
   
3. Scylla
   

5.) Multiple Choice Question

The world's first lab-grown beef burger was tasted in August. Which technology boss bank-rolled the venture?

1. Amazon chief exec Jeff Bezos
   
2. Google co-founder Sergey Brin
   
3. Oracle boss Larry Ellison
   

6.) Multiple Choice Question

Correction from the New York Times: "He is a man." Which public figure did the paper initially refer to as a woman?

1. Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn
   
2. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny
   
3. Finland's President Sauli Niinisto
   

7.) Multiple Choice Question

President Obama revealed that his favourite food was what - in response to a question from a youngster?

1. Fish
   
2. Broccoli
   
3. Waffles
   

8.) Multiple Choice Question

Who was given this 1984 Renault 4 as a gift in September?

1. Pope Francis
   
2. Aung San Suu Kyi
   
3. Dalai Lama
   

9.) Multiple Choice Question

In September, the Costa Condordia was raised using a process called "parbuckling". Which of the following best describes a "parbuckle"?

1. 18th Century term for pumping water
   
2. 19th Century term for rolling
   
3. 19th Century term for lifting barrels in a sling
   

10.) Multiple Choice Question

In the US, a woman (pictured, left) won a battle to have her full name put on her driving licence. What was wrong with it?

1. It contained a number
   
2. It was too long
   
3. It was considered a swear word
   

11.) Missing Word Question

* saves man from polar bear

1. Phone
   
2. Chocolate
   
3. Fish
   

12.) Multiple Choice Question

A "submarine" Lotus Esprit sold at auction for �550,000 ($864,600) in September. What film did it feature in?

1. Moonraker
   
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
   
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
   

Answers

1. It was Morales' plane. Officials in both Austria and Bolivia said Snowden was not on board. France and Portugal reportedly refused to allow the Moscow-Bolivia flight to cross their airspace.
2. It's Times Square. The Zip in question stands for Zoning Improvement Plan. In 1963 Americans were told that by adding a five-digit number to addresses, their mail delivery would be faster and more efficient.
3. It's Germany. "Over the last few years, 'shitstorm' has entered everyday usage so that's why it now appears in the new printed edition of the dictionary," said a spokesman for Duden, which publishes Germany's standard dictionary.
4. It's Kerberos, or Cerberus, the three-headed giant hound that guarded the gates of Hades. The moons have a classical underworld theme.
5. It was Google's Sergey Brin, who said that he funded the 250,000 euro (�213,000; $330,000) project because he was motivated by a concern for animal welfare.
6. It was Enda Kenny. The paper made the mistake when it referred to Ireland's taoiseach in a tribute to the late poet Seamus Heaney.
7. It was broccoli. The revelation came at a White House event that recognised children who won a healthy recipe contest as part of first lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign.
8. It's the Pope. The car was donated by a priest in northern Italy who used it to visit poor parishioners. The four-door car, in papal white, has manual gears and a new engine.
9. It's a 19th Century term for lifting barrels in a sling. The OED cites the Manual of Seamanship for Boys: "A parbuckle... is used for hauling up or lowering down a cask... where there is no crane or tackle."
10. It was too long. Janice "Lokelani" Keihanaikukauakanhihuliheekahaunaele won her battle to have her full name put on her licence. Her name contains 35 letters and 19 syllables and would not fit on the documentation.
11. It's phone. A Canadian reportedly had a lucky escape as a polar bear mauling him was apparently scared off by the light from the man's mobile phone.
12. It was The Spy Who Loved Me. The car, said to be fully operational, was used in the underwater scene of the 1977 film starring Roger Moore as 007.

Your Score

0 - 3 : Sunbeam Alpine

4 - 9 : Aston Martin DBS

10 - 12 : Lotus Esprit S1