20 ’08 Questions [Quiz #25]

Answers here

[Replace each red number in parentheses with the correct word, phrase, title, or name; each answer is worth half a point. All titles and names, except those of persons, must be exact for full credit.]

The political season in the United States got into full swing on January 8, which saw (1) win a close victory in New Hampshire‘s Democratic Primary.

On February 3, the New York Giants upset the (2), 17–14, in Super Bowl XLII.

On February 19, Toshiba announced that it would cease manufacturing and marketing HD DVD players and recorders, leaving (3) as the de facto standard for high-definition video storage. A two-layer disc in the format can store 50 gigabytes of data.

Anti-Chinese demonstrations on March 10 led to protests and riots four days later in the region of (4); the worldwide response included demonstrations staged alongside the torch relay that preceded the Beijing Olympics. Protesters attempted to highlight China’s human rights policies.

Acting on a tip from a 16-year-old girl alleging abuse, officials in the state of (5) staged an April raid on a polygamous community run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, removing 462 children, most until after May 29, when the state Supreme Court ordered them returned.

On April 29, (6) IV was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America and sold a record 3.6 million copies in one day.

May saw the year’s two deadliest natural disasters. Cyclone Nargis struck land on the 2nd, killing at least 146,000 in (7) (whose government was criticized for slowing international relief efforts); an earthquake just ten days later caused at least 69,000 deaths in central (8).

President Bush stated in a May 13th interview that he had quit (9) in 2003 out of respect for American soldiers killed in the war in Iraq. This number had passed 4000 in late March.

Released on June 10, Tha Carter III by (10) went on to become the year’s best-selling album, with about 2.88 million copies sold, and to receive a Grammy nomination in December.

High gasoline prices throughout the summer, peaking at $4.11 the week of July 14 in the United States, kept many potential travelers close to home, helping to popularize the portmanteau word (11) as would-be drivers substituted backyard barbecues and the like for long car trips.

On July 18, (12) set an opening-day box-office record by making $67 million dollars at the US box office; the film’s total take would exceed $155 million opening weekend and $500 million for the year (about the same amount as [6] had made in one week).

In late July, media outlets burst with the news that the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon in Alexandria, Virginia, had for four months been providing pedicures using garra rufa, a type of (13). Proprietor John Ho said that 5000 people had thus far paid $35 or $50 for the 15- or 30-minute treatment, first used in Turkey.

On August 7, Russian troops sent troops into the disputed territory of South Ossetia in response to an earlier attack by the republic of (14) on the capital, Tskhinvali.

On September 10, the Large (15) [two words], the world’s largest particle accelerator built near Geneva, first circulated proton beams in an attempt to re-create the early moments of the universe, but nine days later operations were halted for repairs expected to take nearly a year.

A worldwide financial crisis was in full swing by fall, but nowhere was the meltdown worse than in sparsely populated (16), where by October 9 the government had taken control of all three major banks. After freezing foreign assets (which had been worth ten times the country’s GDP), it became the first industrialized country in over 30 years to request assistance from the International Monetary Fund. The currency fell by more than half against the euro and the dollar, the main stock market index fell by over 90%, and unemployment and inflation soared.

On October 22, the nation of (17) successfully launched its first mission to the moon; the November 14 touchdown of the (unmanned) Moon Impact Probe made it the fourth country to plant its flag on the lunar surface.

Though she wound up being voted off the show on October 28, 82-year-old actress (18) became the oldest competitor on the United States version of Dancing with the Stars; she was additionally named the grand marshal for the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade.

On November 27, the RMS (19), the ocean liner that had first sailed in 1969, was retired after 806 Atlantic crossings to become a floating hotel off the coast of Dubai.

On December 16, the two newspapers in the city of (20) announced that they would become the first major dailies in the United States to limit weekday delivery to just two days a week.