1) According to a report released on Aug. 17 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drunk driving fatalities in New Mexico have changed in what way since 2005? a. They’ve increased by nearly 23 percent.b. They haven’t changed.c. They’ve decreased by almost 9 percent.d. Offenders are more severely prosecuted. 2) What did Albuquerque’s Downtown jail announce last week? a. It may have to lay off up to 100 employees.b. It’s overcrowded.c. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 600 of its detainees earlier this month because standards weren’t met in the facility.d. all of the abovee. a and c 3) A University of Minnesota team of astronomers discovered something startling last week. What did they find? a. A massive black hole.b. The Earth is really only 1 billion years old.c. A huge void in the universe.d. Pluto’s a planet, after all. 4) Now that former Executive Director and Rio Rancho Mayor Kevin Jackson is out of the picture, the Albuquerque nonprofit abstinence program Best Choice is: a. Under investigation.b. Fine and dandy.c. Experiencing a backlash from the community.d. Working with more schools than ever before.
Answer Me This
ANSWERS: 1) C. It’s good news for a change–New Mexico is one of 28 states where drunk driving fatalities decreased, lowering by 8.7 percent. 2005 saw 149 fatalities while last year saw 136. It’s not a huge difference, but at least it’s going in the right direction.2) E. Since the federal agency removed so many of its detainees, the jail has fewer than 200 inmates (and the capacity for 970). If the jail doesn’t hear from the agency about returning the detainees by Sept. 9, 100 of its 185 employees will be laid off.3) C. The "cosmic blank" stretches 1 billion light-years wide and is devoid of stars, galaxies, black holes and dark matter. It equates to 6 billion trillion miles of emptiness. While "cosmic blanks" have been found before, this one is 1,000 times bigger than expected. 4) A. The organization is being investigated for the way it handled federal grant money during Jackson’s tenure. Concurrently, the U.S. Department of Health is considering whether to award a five-year grant to the organization.
