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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, January 2, 2010

Test your knowledge of top business news from 2009


By Scott J. Wilson
Los Angeles Times

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Who was the General Motors chief executive forced out by the Obama administration?

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ANSWERS TO BIZ QUIZ

1. C-Cash for Clunkers

2. B-Rick Wagoner

3. A-Northwest

4. D-"Transformers"

5. C-Fiat

6. A-Bing

7. A-Billy Mays

8. B-Buick

9. A-Twitter

10. C-Steve Jobs

11. C-Intel

12. D-Comcast

13. C-Redbox

14. A-Bill Gates

15. D-Unemployment rate

16. B-Wells Fargo

17. C-Galleon Group

18. A-Toyota

19. BóGoldman Sachs

20. D-AIG

SCORING

16-20 correct: Look out, Ben Bernanke.

11-15: Something to Twitter about.

6-10: If you were on Wall Street, you'd still get a big bonus.

0-5: At least no one will accuse you of cheating.

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How well did you follow business news in 2009? Take our quiz and see how you fare.

1. Which of these was not included in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill?

A. A $25 increase in weekly unemployment checks

B. Health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers

C. "Cash for Clunkers"

D. Medicaid grants to states

2. Who was the General Motors chief executive forced out by the Obama administration?

A. Ed Whitacre

B. Rick Wagoner

C. Fritz Henderson

D. Roger Smith

3. The FAA revoked the license of pilots from what airline after their flight overshot the Minneapolis airport by 150 miles?

A. Northwest

B. United

C. Delta

D. Continental

4. Which movie made the most at the U.S. box office?

A. "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

B. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

C. "Up"

D. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

5. Management of Chrysler was taken over by what foreign automaker?

A. Mazda

B. Volkswagen

C. Fiat

D. Volvo

6. In an effort to challenge Google, Microsoft introduced a new search engine with what name?

A. Bing

B. Ding

C. King

D. Sing

7. What TV product pitchman died at age 50?

A. Billy Mays

B. Willie Mays

C. William May

D. William Macy

8. General Motors announced that it would be reducing its product line to Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and what fourth brand?

A. Saab

B. Buick

C. Saturn

D. Pontiac

9. What fast-growing social networking service announced that, thanks to deals with Google and Microsoft, it would make a profit for the first time?

A. Twitter

B. Facebook

C. MySpace

D. Classmates

10. Which top technology executive acknowledged this year having received a liver transplant?

A. Larry Page

B. Larry Ellison

C. Steve Jobs

D. Sergey Brin

11. What technology company was sued by the Federal Trade Commission, and fined by European regulator, for allegedly using its dominance in the computer chip market to stifle competition?

A. Oracle

B. Sun Microsystems

C. Intel

D. Chips Ahoy

12. What cable company announced in December that it was buying control of NBC Universal?

A. Charter Communications

B. Time Warner Cable

C. Cablevision

D. Comcast

13. What Illinois-based company rattled Hollywood studios by offering $1 DVD rentals through vending machines?

A. Blockbuster

B. Netflix

C. Redbox

D. Box O' Movies

14. Forbes said the title of world's richest person had been regained by whom?

A. Bill Gates

B. Carlos "Slim" Helu

C. Warren Buffett

D. Ingvar Kamprad

15. Which of these did not reach a record high?

A. Price of gold

B. Used vehicle prices

C. Home foreclosure rate

D. National unemployment rate

16. A top executive from what bank was fired after using a bank-owned foreclosed home in Malibu?

A. Bank of America

B. Wells Fargo

C. Citibank

D. Chase

17. Federal authorities arrested billionaire Raj Rajaratnam on suspicion of running a widespread insider-trading scheme. What was the name of his hedge fund?

A. Clipper Group

B. Cutter Group

C. Galleon Group

D. Windjammer Group

18. What automaker announced that it was recalling 4.26 million cars and trucks to reduce the vehicles' risk of accelerating out of control?

A. Toyota

B. Honda

C. Hyundai

D. Ford

19. Which investment banking powerhouse, facing persistent criticism of its huge pay packages, said that it would pay no year-end cash bonuses to 30 top executives?

A. Morgan Stanley

B. Goldman Sachs

C. JPMorgan Chase

D. Capital One

20. Which of these companies has not paid back money it received from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program?

A. JPMorgan Chase & Co

B. Morgan Stanley

C. Goldman Sachs

D. AIG