Questions

 

 

 

 

1. Who does Benedict Cumberbatch play in the film The Imitation Game?

 

 

1. Susie Wolff is test driver for which Formula One team?

 

 

1. Which Cabinet minister resigned on the day the Morning Star exposed that the government had shut down 61 online petitions demanding her head?

 

 

1. According to Labour veteran Dennis Skinner, why should David Cameron “get down on his hands and knees and thank the Labour Party”?

 

 

1. Who dissected the Establishment last year in a book by the same title?

 

 

1. Against which country did Alex Scott win her 100th cap for England women’s football team?

 

 

1. How long was Ben Flower banned for his punch on Lance Hohaia?

 

 

1. Diane Abbott’s speech to the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy rally during Labour conference was marred by what rude interruption?

 

 

1. The first legal same-sex weddings took place in England and Wales on what day this year?

 

 

1. What was the political affiliation of the title character in Ken Loach’s film Jimmy’s Hall?

 

 

1. Libby Lane became the first female bishop for the Church of England on December 17 — for which see?

 

 

1. On March 13, Ukraine’s coup-imposed president Oleksandr Turchynov announced the establishment of a national guard to do what?

 

 

1. Ukip suspended Oxfordshire councillor David Silvester in January after he blamed floods on what?

 

 

1. Who is Bluelou?

 

 

1. In February, which country became the first in the world to remove all age restrictions on euthanasia?

 

 

1. Who won the 2014 Tour de France?

 

 

1. Robert Wyatt was a drummer in which progressive rock band named after a book by William S Burroughs?

 

 

1. What was the score in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final?

 

 

1. Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt crossed a UCU picket line in February to give a lecture. What was the topic?

 

 

1. What tool did Henri Matisse exchange brushes for later in life?

 

 

1. Who replaced Alastair Cook as England cricket captain?

 

 

1. Former Special Demonstration Squad agent Peter Francis sparked a government inquiry earlier this year after revealing he had been deployed undercover to do what?

 

 

1. Which iconic Shakespeare character did Maxine Peake play at the Royal Exchange in Manchester to sold-out audiences?

 

 

1. Which Tory MP resigned his seat on April 29 after it emerged he had asked questions in Parliament in return for money?

 

 

1. Dmitri Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony — composed in 1940 — pays homage to which Russian city?

 

 

1. On Question Time, whom did Russell Brand call a “pound-shop Enoch Powell”?

 

 

1. According to a Labour Party tweet sent out in June, what should everybody have of their own?

 

 

1. This year saw the largest policing operation in Welsh history. What was the occasion?

 

 

1. Who won the 2014 NFL Superbowl?

 

 

1. Who are the two leading character in the play Handbagged?

 

 

1. Ukrainian fascists killed 42 people when they set fire to Odessa’s House of Trade Unions on which date?

 

 

1. Who won the 2014 Tennis US Open?

 

 

1. Final accounting figures released in March revealed that what had cost £4,121?

 

 

1. How many people were killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza in July and August?

 

 

1. Who is the son of Batman?

 

 

1. Late works by a painter consider the most important in Dutch history are currently shown at the National Gallery in London. Who is he?

 

 

1. Welsh Ukip candidate John Rees-Evans defended a fellow party member’s statement that “some homosexuals prefer sex with animals” on what grounds?

 

 

1. Who scored the opening goal in the 2014 FA Cup final?

 

 

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned homosexual athletes not to do what in Sochi during the Winter Olympics?

 

 

1. Why did Scottish MP Jim Murphy abandon his “100 streets in 100 days” tour campaigning against Scottish independence on April 28?

 

 

1. In January a conscientious citizen attempted a citizen’s arrest on Tony Blair for war crimes. What was his name?

 

 

1. In Sacred Monsters Akram Khan danced with which retiring ballet legend?

 

 

1. Miroslav Klose retired from international football as the top scorer at the World Cup. How many goals did he score and whose record did he beat?

 

 

1. Communist Anatoly Lokot unexpectedly won the mayoralty of which Russian city in April?

 

 

1. Which prestigious architectural prize did the new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool win in 2014?

 

 

 

 

Solutions…

 

 

 

 

1. Alan Turing

 

 

1. Williams

 

 

1. Maria Miller

 

 

1. For preventing war with Syria. Mr Skinner spoke out after the Prime Minister announced measures to clamp down on radical terrorists returning from fighting Bashar al-Assad’s government

 

 

1. Owen Jones

 

 

1. Russia

 

 

1. Six months

 

 

1. A “gang of lads pressing their arses to the window”

 

 

1. March 29

 

 

1. He was a communist

 

 

1. Stockport

 

 

1. “Defend the country against all citizens”

 

 

1. Legalising gay marriage. Natural disasters were a punishment from God, he claimed

 

 

1. The Morning Star’s female cartoonist

 

 

1. Belgium

 

 

1. Vincenzo Nibali

 

 

1. Soft Machine

 

 

1. England 21-9 Canada

 

 

1. Marx, Engels and the making of Marxism

 

 

1. Scissors

 

 

1. Eoin Morgan

 

 

1. “Dig up dirt” on the family of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence

 

 

1. Hamlet

 

 

1. Patrick Mercer

 

 

1. Leningrad

 

 

1. Nigel Farage

 

 

1. An owl

 

 

1. A summit of the US-led Nato military alliance

 

 

1. Seattle Seahawks

 

 

1. Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher

 

 

1. May 2

 

 

1. Marin Cilic

 

 

1. The killing of each badger in 2013’s badger cull

 

 

1. 2,192 Palestinians (of whom 1,500 were civilians and 519 were children) and 71 Israelis (of whom five were civilians and one was a child)

 

 

1. Damian Wayne aka Robin

 

 

1. Rembrandt van Rijn

 

 

1. He claimed a gay donkey had tried to rape his horse

 

 

1. James Chester

 

 

1. Spread “gay propaganda”

 

 

1. Because someone threw an egg at him

 

 

1. Twiggy Garcia

 

 

1. Sylvie Guillem

 

 

1. 14, Ronaldo

 

 

1. Novosibirsk

 

 

1. The Sterling Prize