What happened this Summer?

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Introduction

Welcome to this special news quiz for the start of the new academic year! A wide range of questions for your learners here - all very easy to modify if you want to. Remember, the weekly news quiz will start again soon so don't miss it!

What happened this summer?

Summer News Quiz 2026

UK News

The most important events, political decisions, and notable news from the UK

Round 1

In August, which West Midlands town experienced a large wildfire that destroyed 19 homes and damaged even more??

A

Dudley

B

Stourbridge

C

Wolverhampton

D

Kidderminster

Which London location recorded 38.1°C during the August 2026 heatwave?

A

Kew Gardens

B

Hyde Park

C

Heathrow Airport

D

Greenwich Park

After resigning, which UK politician then spent most of the summer defending his parliamentary seat against comedy Intergalactic Warlord, Count Binface?

A

Andy Burnham

B

Nigel Farage

C

Richard Tice

D

David Lammy

Where did these competitive events take place in summer 2026?

Match the location with the correct event:

Derbyshire

Norfolk

North Yorkshire

The Snail Racing World Championship held in July 2026?

The annual Hen Racing Championship in August 2026?

The 200 year old Egton Goosebury Show

Which Scottish city hosted the 2026 Commonwealth Games from July to August?

A

Edinburgh

B

Glasgow

C

Aberdeen

D

Dundee

International News

International events, political developments, and remarkable news from abroad

Round 2

During a Pride event, an attack occurred resulting in one death and 29 injuries.

In which European capital did this happen?

A

Berlin

B

Budapest

C

Brussels

D

Vienna

During an airstrike on Ukraine, a projectile landed on Polish territory.

What did the initial investigations reveal the crashed object to be?

A

A meteorite

B

A Polish training rocket

C

A Russian missile

D

A wayward weather satellite

Tens of thousands of migrants swam from Morocco to a small piece of Europe on the African coast.

What is the name of this Spanish area?

(Fill in 1 word)

In which Asian country did a severe earthquake occur, causing several people to become trapped in a shopping centre?

A

China

B

India

C

Indonesia

D

Japan

Which celestial phenomenon occurred across the Americas and Europe on 28 August 2026?

A

Partial lunar eclipse

B

Total solar eclipse

C

Venus transit

D

Meteor storm

Sport

The most important sports results, tournaments, and notable news from the sports world

Round 3

The World Cup had an exciting final in which Argentina was dethroned.

Which country was crowned world champion?

A

Brazil

B

England

C

France

D

Spain

FIFA President Gianni Infantino faced much resistance with a radical new plan for football. What did the FIFA boss want to change?

A

Selling World Cup shares to investors

B

Merge all continental tournaments

C

Admitting Extra-European Nations to the European Cup

D

Sell the World Cup trophy for one billion dollars

The Tour de France ended this summer with a familiar winner. Who won the Tour de France for the fifth time?

A

Jonas Vingegaard

B

Remco Evenepoel

C

Tadej Pogačar

D

Mathieu van der Poel

During the Tour de France Femmes, the organisers carried out a remarkable new check.

What were the cyclists checked for?

A

Breast Enlargement

B

The hardness of the tyres

C

Aerodynamic sunscreen

D

The use of male hormones

Athletes were in the news this summer

for unusual reasons.....

Match the person with the correct event:

Benjamin Mendy

Jonas Vingegaard

Vaibhav Suryavanshi

15 year old called up for Indian National Cricket Team

Footballer who sold his World Cup trophy for €54,000

Cyclist woken up at 2:00 am for an unannounced doping test

'Quirky' News

Extraordinary reports, remarkable lawsuits, viral news and silly season news

Ronde 4

A Canadian lawyer was suspended for six months due to misleading conduct in the courtroom.

What did the lawyer do?

A

Confidential client data entered into ChatGPT

B

Having her plea written by a student

C

AI used during a live court session

D

Non-existent, AI-fabricated legal cases and documents used

In India, thousands of young people demonstrated against high unemployment under the name of a satirical protest party. Which animal is central to the name of this party?

(Fill in 1 word)

A German ICE train made an unscheduled stop for a very practical reason.

Why did the driver stop the train at a supermarket?

A

To seek medical assistance

B

Due to an engine malfunction

C

To stock up on toilet paper

D

To remove a difficult passenger

A British man caused a stir by dressing as the Grim Reaper and staring at patients from the roof of a hospital. Why did he do it, according to the police?

A

He was shooting a horror film

B

He wanted to pull a Halloween prank

C

He wanted to scare patients and cause trouble

D

He was protesting about patient survival rates at the hospital

Over the summer some people stood

before the court or police for strange reasons.

Match the protagonist to the offence:

South-Korean Chef

French student in Singapore

Icelandair pilot

Drank from a straw at a vending machine and put it back

Performed an illegal low 'fly-by' over his hometown

Discuss dangerous allergens in his dishes

Science & Nature

News on technology, artificial intelligence, natural phenomena and space

Ronde 6

Just before the summer holidays, a video went viral on social media featuring a remarkable animal named Jimothy. Due to a rare condition (Short Spine Syndrome), the creature has almost no neck and an extremely short, round body.

What kind of animal is Jimothy?

A

A beaver

B

A possum

C

A capybara

D

A raccoon

AI hacks AI. AI can already do this (better than humans).

Which company's AI programme hacked competitor Hugging Face?

A

ChatGPT

B

Gemini

C

OpenAI

D

Grok

Ramming a dead sunfish until it exploded into thousands of pieces, for fun......

Which animals did this in front of astonished researchers?

A

Dolphins

B

Sharks

C

Orcas

D

Sea Turtles

What is now required by new EU regulations when someone calls with an AI telephonist?

A

That the system may only be used outside office hours

B

That the system must always connect to a staff member

C

That the system first tries to sound like a human

D

It should be immediately clear that you are speaking with an AI system

Because the moon has no atmosphere, objects can easily crash onto it.

What object crashed onto the moon this summer?

A

The Tesla that was launched into space

B

A Russian rocket from the Cold War era

C

A European weather satellite

D

A part of a SpaceX rocket

How did the news quiz go for you?

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