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Asian American/Pacific Islander Quiz

The following quiz is composed of questions and answers taken from the infoplease.com Web site. 

Question 1. Who was named Time magazine's 1996 Man of the Year for his breakthroughs in AIDS research?
a. David Ho
b. Jerry Yang
c. Har Gobind Khorana

Correct answer: David Ho
Dr. Ho is recognized as a leader in the fight against AIDS for his bold yet cohesive hypotheses about the incurable disease.

Question 2. Which Asian-American leaders were instrumental in establishing APA Heritage Month in 1977?
a. Norman Mineta and Daniel Inouye
b. Gary Locke and Benjamin Cayetano
c. Elaine Chao and Yvonne Lee

Correct answer: Norman Mineta and Daniel Inouye
Representatives Mineta of California and Horton of New York introduced a House resolution in June 1977. The following month, Senators Inouye and Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

Question 3. Who is the Chinese-American architect who designed the glass pyramid of the Louvre?
a. Eero Saarinen
b. Maya Lin
c. I.M. Pei

Correct answer: I.M. Pei
Pei's design for the Louvre met with great controversy in 1987. Pei also designed the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Boston's John Hancock tower, and Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Question 4. Who became the first Asian-American woman appointed to a presidential cabinet?
a. Joyce Chen
b. Connie Chung
c. Elaine Chao

Correct answer: Elaine Chao
President Bush's secretary of labor, Elaine Chao, came to the U.S. at the age of eight without speaking a word of English. She served for a time as the director of the Peace Corps.

Question 5. Which Asian-American fashion designer pursued a figure skating career for 15 years?
a. Vera Wang
b. Ann Curry
c. Donna Karan

Correct answer: Vera Wang
Vera Wang made her name designing elegant wedding dresses.

Question 6. Who was the first Chinese-American governor of the United States?
a. Governor Gary Locke
b. Governor Benjamin Cayetano
c. Governor Jesse Ventura

Correct answer: Governor Gary Locke
Governor Locke was elected Washington's 21st governor in 1996. Governor Cayetano was elected Hawaii's 5th governor in 1994, and the first of Filipino ancestry. Governor Ventura was elected Minnesota's 38th governor in 1999.

Question 7. Who became the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973?
a. Yo-Yo Ma
b. Tan Dun
c. Seiji Ozawa

Correct answer: Seiji Ozawa
Ozawa was born in Shenyang, China, and attended music school in Tokyo. He will retire from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to lead the Vienna Philharmonic in 2002.

Question 8. The 2005 movie Sideways put this actress on the public's radar and since 2005 she's been a weekly visitor to American homes in the TV series Grey's Anatomy:
a. Michelle Yeoh
b. Sandra Oh
c. Ziyi Zhang

Correct answer: Sandra Oh

Question 9. Who is the stand-up comic who starred in All-American Girl, the first Asian American sitcom?
a. Margaret Cho
b. Vera Wang
c. Michelle Yeoh

Correct answer: Margaret Cho

Question 10. Who is the martial arts superstar who made his American debut in Lethal Weapon 4?
a. Jet Li
b. Jackie Chan
c. Chow-Yun Fat

Correct answer: Jet Li

Bonus Points

The following questions and answers are taken from the Wikepedia Web site.

Bonus Question 1. Which department administers the Territory of Guam?
a. Department of the Navy
b. Department of the Interior
c. Department of the Air Force

Correct answer: Department of the Interior
Politics of Guam takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the Governor is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States with policy relations between Guam and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs a unit of the Department of the Interior.

Bonus Question 2. Who was the first delegate from the Territory of Guam to the US House of Representatives?
a. Vincente T. Blaz
b. Antonio B. Won Pat
c. Madeleine Z. Bordallo

Correct answer: Antonio B. Won Pat
Congressman Won Pat served in the 93rd, 94th, 95th, 96th, 97th and 98th Sessions of Congress.

Bonus Question 3. The people of Guam are American citizens who are able to vote in the presidential general election.
a. True
b. False

Correct answer: False
Guam is governed by a popularly elected governor and a unicameral 15-member legislature, whose members are known as senators. Guam elects one non-voting delegate, currently Madeleine Z. Bordallo, to the United States House of Representatives. Citizens in Guam vote in a straw poll for their choice in the U.S. Presidential general election, but since Guam has no votes in the Electoral College, the poll has no real effect. However, in sending delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, Guam does have influence in the national presidential race, though these convention delegates are elected by local party conventions rather than voters in primaries.

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