Summer News Part 2

President Biden on July 21 abruptly abandoned his campaign for a second term under intense pressure from fellow Democrats, in a dramatic last-minute bid to stop former President Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

What did Mr. Biden also do after his announcement?

• He endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to lead their party.

• He pushed for an “open convention” at the Democratic Party convention in August.

• He urged Americans to vote for a third-party candidate.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

Why was this color everywhere this summer?

• It’s the color of Charli XCX’s latest album cover and has become the symbol of “Brat” summer.

• It’s the color of the villain in the new Nickelodeon film “Slime.”

• The paint company Sherwin-Williams named it Color of the Year and interior design influencers have embraced it.

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Paris hosted the 2024 Summer Olympics. Which of the following sports had its Olympic debut at this year’s games?

• Breaking

• Skateboarding

• Water polo

What events this summer have threatened to turn the Israel-Hamas war into an even larger regional war in the Middle East?

• Hezbollah and Hamas leaders died in targeted killings in Beirut and Tehran.

• The legitimacy of Turkish elections were called into question.

• Nuclear weapons were found in Iraq.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

A prisoner swap on Aug. 1 among seven countries freed Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans held in Russia, along with several jailed Russian dissidents, in a deal whose size and complexity has no parallel in the post-Soviet era.

What was Mr. Gershkovich’s job when he was arrested?

• He was an N.B.A. basketball player.

• He was a Wall Street Journal reporter.

• He was a U.S. Marine.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

In a landmark decision that strikes at the power of tech giants in the modern internet era and that may fundamentally alter the way they do business, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 5 that Google had illegally done what?

• Collected information on internet users without their permission

• Maintained a monopoly in online search

• Outsourced its algorithms to A.I. chatbots

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.10

CCSS.RI.6.10

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

The Summer Olympics ended on Aug. 11. Which two countries took home the most gold medals?

• France and Great Britain

• Japan and Australia

• United States and China

Ukraine’s efforts to retake territory from Russia have stalled this summer. But the country has tried to get back at Moscow in other ways. What did Ukraine do in August?

• Ukraine finally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), after formally submitting an application in 2022.

• Ukraine blockaded all of Russia’s Black Sea ports.

• Ukrainian troops marched miles across the Russian border in a surprise operation.

On Aug. 14, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the spread of which virus?

• Bubonic plague

• Ebola

• Mpox

What object, pictured above, was recently discovered in Botswana?

• A 2,492-carat diamond, the second-largest ever found

• A baby archelon, an extinct marine turtle, fossilized in a quartz crystal

• A rare specimen of Vibranium, a nearly indestructible element that landed on Earth as meteorites