The Great Big Quiz of the Year 2017

2. Which hashtag featured in the Tweet that was reposted the most times this year?

a) #metoo.

b) #takeaknee.

c) #nuggsforcarter.

3. What had everyone convinced that the end of the world was coming in January?

a) The first ever collision of neutron stars witnessed by scientists, which wobbled the universe and sent out waves of gold and platinum.

b) The rise of Moggmania and the emergence of the “Moggmentum” movement aimed at promoting Jacob Rees-Mogg as Conservative leader and future Prime Minister.

c) The red cloud of Saharan Super Smog that made London look like Blade Runner 2049.

4. What was the most ill-advised fashion choice of 2017?

a) Rita Ora’s bathrobe at the MTV EMA awards.

b) Kendall Jenner’s see-through outfit at the Met Gala.

c) Melania Trump wearing 4in stilettos to visit storm victims in Puerto Rico.

5. What was seen by 10.6 million viewers?

a) BBC1’s Blue Planet 2, in which David Attenborough warned that we were destroying the oceans’ wildlife and coral with plastic and pollutants.

b) The last episode of The Great British Bake Off’s first series on Channel 4, despite judge Prue Leith accidentally tweeting the winner’s name in advance.

c) The Handmaid’s Tale on Channel 4, as everyone tried to escape from a mad, dystopian, misogynistic world by tuning into a TV show where the world has become, um, er…

6. The betting odds on a royal event were slashed to 4/6 in September. Was it?

a) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle getting engaged.

b) Prince William and Kate Middleton having a third child.

c) The Queen and Prince Philip divorcing before reaching their 70th wedding anniversary.

7. In 2017 facial recognition technology was developed that could:

a) Determine your mood and play the appropriate playlist through your Amazon Echo (or other device equipped with a ‘virtual personal assistant’).

b) Unlock your phone.

c) Tell if you are a racist.

8. What, weighing 150 tonnes, was revealed to the public?

a) The complete printout of the Paradise Papers showing where the Queen, Bono and others stash their money to, ahem, minimise tax liability.

b) A fatberg made up of oil, human waste, wet wipes and nappies discovered in a sewer in Whitechapel.

c) The amount of food from McDonald’s that Donald Trump eats in a year.

9. The biggest public-relations backfire was:

a) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announcing that the best film of 2017 was La La Land… no, wait, sorry, Moonlight!

b) Theresa May holding Donald Trump’s hand, calling a snap election to strengthen her authority, then coughing through a conference speech while letters dropped off the slogan on the wall behind her.

c) Nigel Farage giving his backing to Marine Le Pen in France, Alternative for Deutschland in Germany, Judge Roy Moore in Alabama etc, while refusing to give up his European parliament pension.

10. In sport, what happened for the first time in 103 years?

a) A British driver — Lewis Hamilton — won his fourth British Grand Prix.

b) Rain stopped play at an Ashes Test in Australia.

c) A non-league side — Lincoln City — reached the FA Cup quarter finals.

11. Why did Chloe Ayling become famous, or perhaps notorious?

a) She was the little girl who interrupted her father while he was discussing Korean politics on BBC news.

b) She became the first female Black Rod.

c) She was the glamour model who claimed she had been kidnapped to be sold on the dark web.

12. What lasted three hours and 23 minutes?

a) The descent of the Cassini-Huygens probe to the surface of Saturn at the end of its mission?

b) The cover shoot of Adwoa Aboah for Edward Enninful’s first issue of Vogue.

c) Chinese premiere Xi Jinping’s speech to the Communist Party in October.

13. Who released a new album and was described as “an envoy for Trump’s values”?

a) Taylor Swift.

b) Harry Styles.

c) Chuck Berry (posthumously)

14. What was discovered in Indonesia?

a) Robert Mugabe’s bank account.

b) The web server used by 400 Russian Twitter accounts used to try and influence British politics before the Brexit vote.

c) A new species of Orang-Utan.

15. What will be banned from sale from 2040?

a) Acid.

b) Mopeds.

c) New diesel cars and vans.

16. What was estimated at £490 billion?

a) The profits of Hamilton the musical by the end of the decade.

b) A hole in the UK’s finances identified by revised figures from the Office for National Statistics.

c) The cost of lawsuits for sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, politics, journalism, the legal profession, and so on.

17. Which person who died this year was said to have taken literally Jesus’s instruction to “love one another as I have loved you”?

a) Hugh Hefner.

b) Anita Pallenberg.

c) Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor.

18. Which was the best political metaphor of the year?

a) The US being struck by storms, hurricanes and wildfires.

b) The leader of the Catalan independence movement, Carlos Puigdemont, running away to Belgium.

c) Chancellor Philip Hammond not getting a post-Budget Kit-Kat because the House of Commons vending machines do not take the new £1 coins.

19. What will now be in Paris instead of London?

a) The Garden Bridge, because Sadiq Khan withdrew funding.

b) The European Banking Authority, because of Brexit.

c) Measles, because it has been eradicated in the UK.

20. What drew a crowd of 100,000 people?

a) The Women’s March to Trafalgar Square in January.

b) Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance at Glastonbury.

c) Usain Bolt’s final race.

21. Who won the Nobel prize for Literature?

a) George RR Martin.

b) Kazuo Ishiguro.

c) Sean Spicer.

22. Which is the riskiest thing to invest in right now?

a) Bitcoin

b) The North Korean economy

c) Fidget Spinners.

23. Which of the following have Londoners forgotten about?

a) The age difference between Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron, the earthquake on the Iran/Iraq border, “covfefe”.

b) The summer heatwave, the “phoney” terror attack at Oxford Circus, the first rise in interest rates in ten years.

c) All of the above.

24. Finally, what is your response to the phrase, “well, next year can’t be as bad as this one”?

a) Agree

b) Disagree

c) We said that in 2016…

ANSWERS

1. c

2. c

3. c

4. a

5. a

6. a

7. b

8. b

9. a

10. c

11. c

12. c

13. a

14. c

15. c

16. b

17. c

18. a

19. b

20. a

21. b

22. b

23. c

24. c