Here are the answers to our April quiz on key news topics, plus some additional background information

1. Who are George and Shirley Brickenden?

Answer: b

Additional notes: after 73 years of marriage and with both of them  living with pain, the two were approved for medically-assisted death. They threw a dying party to say goodbye to their loved ones and died holding hands in their retirement home.

2. Who are James Sullivan and Jennie Olafson?

Answer: a

Additional notes: on March 21 they co-piloted a flight from Vancouver to Taipei, becoming Air Canada’s first father/daughter co-pilots.

3. What art sale is Canada’s National Gallery planning?

Answer: a

Additional notes: the painting is expected to raise upwards of $8 million and the proceeds will be used to purchase another work of art of comparable value and prestige

4. Who won the Masters golf tournament?

Answer: c

Additional notes: Patrick Reed won his first major tournament and received the green jacket from Sergio Garcia.

5. What is the March of Our Lives?

Answer: d

Additional notes: the March of Our Lives movement was created by a diverse group of students after the Parkland school shooting. They organized a march on Washington DC and connected with many sibling marches to try to force action on gun control.

6. Who is Faith Dickinson?

Answer: d

Additional notes: Faith Dickinson is an Ontarian who received the Diana Award for Cuddles for Cancer. Faith is one of 200 invitees who have been nominated to attend the wedding.

7. April 12, 2018, commemorated what?

Answer: d

Additional notes:
a is to remember victims of the holocaust
b is to commemorate the Bronco hockey team players who were killed in a bus crash in early April.
c is to give former students of residential schools an opportunity to tell their stories

8. What is the Glen Gould award?

Answer: b

Additional notes: the prize promotes artistic excellence and the impact this can have on transforming lives. This year Jessye Norman, an American Opera singer, won the $100,000 prize.

9. What has happened to home sales across Canada this year?

Answer: d

Additional notes: tighter mortgage lending rules are shrinking the available buyers for higher-priced homes. The shift in demand to lower price segments has caused those sales and prices to rise.

10. Why did President Trump bomb Syria?

Answer: a

Additional notes: the US, with its allies, France and Great Britain, mounted a deliberate response to the Syrian regime’s chemical weapon attack.  The bombing targeted three targets related to chemical weapons, but did not reach all such locations, giving the regime the opportunity to use these weapons again.

Click here to view questions.