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Clockwise from top left: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during presidential debate; Felix Baumgartner; Lance Armstrong; Seal and Heidi Klum; Gen. David Petraeus; Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.
Test your memory of some of the year's most prominent newsmakers by matching each quote below with the person who said it.
How well do you think you'll do? Scroll down when you're ready to see the correct answers!
1. “While I'm grateful for the freedom to express one's self, I've learned there are limits to what language is appropriate, and I'm deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted.”
a) Lady Gaga
b) Psy
c) Chris Brown
2. "I tripped and found myself inside the lifeboat with a number of passengers."
a) Silvio Berlusconi
b) Antonin Scalia
c) Francesco Schettino
3. "After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours."
a) David Petraeus
b) Arnold Schwarzenegger
c) Rupert Sanders
4. "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now."
a) Lance Armstrong
b) Paul Ryan
c) Tiger Woods
5. “We screwed up, and we are putting the weight of the company behind correcting it.”
a) Rupert Murdoch
b) Tim Cook
c) Donald Trump
6. “While I do not believe I did anything illegal or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong, and there is no one else responsible for my sins.”
a) John Edwards
b) Peter Madoff
c) Roger Clemens
7. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
a) Richard Mourdock
b) Todd Akin
c) Michelle Bachmann
8. “We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other’s roles as parents.”
a) Katy Perry and Russell Brand
b) Heidi Klum and Seal
c) Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
9. “Gold medals are made out of your sweat, blood and tears, and effort in the gym every day, and sacrificing a lot that you have to do.”
a) Gabby Douglas
b) Ryan Lochte
c) Sanya Richards-Ross
10. "My maternity leave will be a few weeks long, and I'll work throughout it."
a) Reese Witherspoon
b) Kate Middleton
c) Marissa Mayer
11. “The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud.”
a) Ellen DeGeneres
b) Anderson Cooper
c) Chely Wright
12. “Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are.”
a) Sir Richard Branson
b) Felix Baumgartner
c) Bill Maher
13. “I was born in Harper Hospital. No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate.”
a) Mitt Romney
b) Vice President Joe Biden
c) Paul Ryan
14. “The performance of the stock has obviously been disappointing.”
a) Tim Cook
b) Brian Dunn
c) Mark Zuckerberg
15. “Under current law, on January 1, 2013, there's going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases.”
a) Barack Obama
b) John Boehner
c) Ben Bernanke
FINISHED THE QUIZ? CHECK YOUR ANSWERS HERE!
Question 1: B, “Gangnam Style” star Psy in a December apology for a 2004 song that called for killing Americans.
International rap sensation Psy took to the stage to perform for the president at a charity concert despite online videos showing some anti-U.S. performances he did less than a decade ago. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Question 2: C, Francesco Schettino, captain of the sunken Costa Concordia, explaining in court why he didn’t go down with his ship in January.
The shifting ship is creating dangerous problems for the searchers who need to blast holes in the hull. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
Question 3: A, David Petraeus in a statement announcing his resignation as CIA director in November.
The respected West Point graduate led combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from the military and leading the CIA. On Friday, he made the startling admission that he had engaged in an extramarital affair, and announced he was resigning from his post. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Question 4: A, Cyclist Lance Armstrong, announcing in August that he was ending his fight against doping allegations.
Top Talkers: Richard Haas joins a Morning Joe panel to discuss Lance Armstrong's refusal to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and his 2000 Olympic Games bronze medal and was banned from the sport.
Question 5: B, Apple CEO Tim Cook, talking about the iPhone 5's glitchy maps application on “Rock Center” in December.
Steve Jobs' hand-picked successor, current Apple CEO Tim Cook, talks to Rock Center Anchor and Managing Editor Brian Williams about Apple's battle with Samsung, glitches with its maps app, the prospect of Apple TV and the challenge of keeping Apple cutting edge.
Question 6: A, Former Sen. John Edwards after learning he would not be convicted of corruption charges in May.
The jury delivered a unanimous verdict on one of the six felony counts and found him not guilty of receiving illegal campaign contributions from heiress Rachel "Bunny" Mellon. The judge declared a mistrial on the five other counts. Edwards later told reporters that he knew he had not done anything illegal but that he was accountable for his behavior. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
Question 7: B, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., in an August interview on his opposition to abortion in rape cases.
In a statement and a tweet, conservative U.S. Rep. Todd Akin says he "misspoke" during a local TV interview in which he made comments about "legitimate rape" and abortion. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
Question 8: C, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes announcing their divorce agreement in July.
The Hollywood couple, whose five-year marriage was the subject of much speculation, issued a joint statement saying they were moving forward with daughter Suri's best interests in mind. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
Question 9: A, Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas after her win in the individual all-around in August.
Fresh from her historic gold medal win in the gymnastics individual all-around, Gabby Douglas said "it's so meaningful" to be the first African-American woman to win the title and shares details of her phone call with President Obama.
Question 10: C, Marissa Mayer, revealing her pregnancy soon after being named Yahoo CEO in July.
The former Google executive was named CEO of Yahoo on Monday and made headlines for the fact that she is also pregnant, turning her into a test case of whether women can really have it all. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports, and Ivanka Trump and Rachel Campos-Duffy, author and wife of a congressman, discuss the motherhood balancing act.
Question 11: B, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper in a coming-out email, in July.
In an email published by the Daily Beast website, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper ends years of speculation about his sexuality, acknowledging that he is "gay" and "proud." NBC's Mara Schiavocampo reports.
Question 12: B, Daredevil Felix Baumgartner after his 24-mile fall to earth in October.
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner makes a record-breaking jump from 24 miles above Earth, leaping from the edge of space to the New Mexico desert at speeds up to 833.9 mph. NBC's Tom Costello reports.
Question 13: A, Mitt Romney at an August rally in Michigan.
Msnbc's Mark Halperin talks about GOP candidate Mitt Romney's apparent ad-lib reference to President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
Question 14: C, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at a September conference, discussing his company’s May IPO.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, "The performance of the stock is obviously disappointing," during a "fireside chat" at the San Francisco Disrupt conference organized by technology blog TechCrunch. Watch the entire interview.
Question 15: C, Ben Bernanke at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in February.
Top Talkers: A decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, two former senators -- Bob Graham of Florida and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska -- say they believe the Saudi government may have played a role in the attacks. The Morning Joe panel – including financier Steven Rattner and Donny Deutsch – discusses. The panel also discusses Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning about the economy.
Leave a Comment:
I need to get a life. I only missed #9.
Can I copy off your paper. The teacher isn't looking.
Me too. Just missed #1. Does that make me a news junkie? Is there an app for that?
I only missed the one about the Olympics and Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes, things I really don't give two bowel movements about.
Is it just me or were the questions designed to remind us how crazy some conservatives have been this year?
I'm definitely a news junky. Got it all right without even googling any of it. I only guessed on the last one and got that right too. Thank you BB.
You would have needed to sleep through a good part of the year not to get most of these correct. Most of them were pretty obvious with only about 3 or 4 of the quotes that had more than one answer that would even have made sense. When I saw the link for the quiz on the main page I was thinking it would be about events from the last year instead of just a bunch of quotes for you to identify the speaker. I guess they had to make it easy, after all they do not want to lose readers by making them look stupid.
I surprised myself I only missed 4.
Me too, 5, 6, 10 & 15.
The Press manipulated the sheep's in this Country to push an agenda that is going to screw us all.
I didn't know livestock had so much influence :O
This "blame the press for all of it" is getting old. Lots of stuff that is said makes my blood boil also but someone needs to say it otherwise we have become Syria or Iran or (add whatever country has complete control of its press). I don't like lies coming from the press. But they are their own police force and many times call each other out for fabrications. I appreciate that also. Keeps most of them honest.
12/15.
Me too!!! I missed 1, 10 & 15. Who says people don't pay attention!!!
Good on you. 6,8,10.
I missed the one about PSY and the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes one. I guess this means I paid more attention to real news this year. :)
I was truly surprised about Psy.. of course he's apologizing now after making millions off of us foolish Americans for supporting his music when he secretly hates us.
Now I'm glad I'm one of the few who didn't jump on the "Gangnam" bandwagon...
Who the heck is Psy?
I believe he is Korean who started up some crazy dance craze that the young whipper snappers do.
He's some Kim Jong-un look-a-like that made some super annoying song with a Macarena style dance that everyone will hate by this time next year but thinks is the best thing in existence right now.
The idea that an American President would sit and listen to that gangnam loser who called for the murder of Americans is despicable. Hopefully the few remaining Americans will work harder to elect a true American as President next time, or at least one that can do something more than read someone else's words off a teleprompter. Three million lose unemployment benefits Monday solely because of Obama.
So the GOP is the party that wants to take away unemployment & the house speaker Boehner is the one who refuses to negotiate with the senate or the president after taking a 10 day vacation for Christmas during the "Cliff" talks, but somehow this is Obama's fault... Hit a tree skibum. Why are you talking politics on this quiz anyhow?
@Skibum609: Do you have somebody fitting that description in the Repugnican Party??? I seriously doubt it...
Yeah no other President had speech writers except almost all of them, get a clue skibum609. If I recall isn't it Boner and the GOD that wants to stop helping Americans in need, and funnel as much money to the 2% as possible, way to hijack a thread.
Oops that would be GOP not GOD
Queen Latiffa did a Rap song about Kill a Cop. Now look at where she is today, that song is never mentioned by anyone. Yadda, Yadda, so what. Those were different times and events happening. From the Peace movements we have many people that are considered Icons to this day. The songs of those days are popular with those of us who wanted no part of the of the Hippie Movement either. An entertainer is what they are and do songs to make money, not neccessarilly what they believe.
<sarcasm>How dare our President forgive someone who has repented and apologized? That is a Christian value and we all know he is Muslim right?</sarcasm>
6dogs must be mighty cold where your at. Last I heard it was a 3dognight. J/K :O)
I was hoping there be one in there with some quote on how spending like a drunken sailor and adding over a trillion dollars to the nations debt annually was unpatriotic but no luck.
Yes, you can find it: Bush 43 to Congress.... IRAQ HAS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..... That's how it begun....
Missed Psy and still don't know who he and actually don't care. Guess in the scheme of things going on in the world he is basically a non entity . Happy New Year to all......
Would it have been that difficult to make this into an interactive quiz, so one didn't have to bust out a pen and paper? I think you might have a developer or two who could do that sort of thing.
Got 'em all. And I vote Republican.
15/15 This is the stuff that is considered "fluff". How about a real news quiz?
I missed the one (#9) attributed to Gabby Douglas about gold medals being made of blood and sweat in the gym. Stupidly, I tricked myself into thinking Ryan Lochte might have said that as a dig at Michael Phelps since there was a big deal made out of the fact that Lochte didn't think Phelps trained hard enough for this Olympics. The rest of 'em were pretty easy . . .
kinda a boring quiz for 2012 is that the best they can come up with
I missed Tom Cruise. I have to get out more.
I missed five and twelve. That's a B+: 86.66666 percent.
Worst online quiz ever. Not the questions. They're not exactly top notch, but it's the format that's totally lame. What's the point of running a print style poll online? Your content editors ever heard the term "interactive"? Sheesh. If you're going to do an online quiz, use a damn template to make it interactive, as people have been doing for more than 20 frickin' years.
That's Michele -- One "L" short of a full load -- Bachmann -- With an extra "N" for extra nuttiness.
I proud of myself..I only got 3 wrong. #1,5, & 12. Actually I thought about Psy on #1. Should have gone with my gut feeling.
Stop! This is a hoax. Mitt Romney said all of these things during the presidential campaign. I'm sure he had files and files of this stuff.