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
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