2011 was a remarkable news year. Europe was hit by a serious debt crisis, Japan was devastated by a tsunami followed by a nuclear disaster, former general Ratko Mladic was arrested and notorious leaders Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong-il left the world stage. But more than anything else 2011 was the year of the revolution.

To end our 'My Little Revolution' series: take part in the Great Little Revolution Quiz. You can find the answers at the foot of the page.

My Little Revolution

The other revolutions of 2011

2011 was the year of revolutions. From the Arab Spring which led to the toppling of undemocratic regimes to the rise of new markets and global protest against the greed of financial institutions.

But there have also been small revolutions. From the end of December we are featuring some of these life-changing events in our seasonal series, My Little Revolution. The story on this page is one of them.

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A. He joined Mohammed El-Baradei’s presidential campaign team.

B. He returned to Dubai, where he continued to work as head of marketing at the regional Google branch.

C. He wrote a book on the revolution; the proceeds of which are to go to a fund to combat poverty and finance education in Egypt.

Question 2. 
In Sudan, there was a democratic revolution in 2011: the south seceded from the north, after a referendum in which 98.83 percent of the population voted for independence. Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first president of South Sudan. What is this former rebel’s trademark?

A. He always wears a gold badge with his initials SKM.

B. He never goes outdoors without his black cowboy hat.

C. He often wears a shirt in the national football team colours, green and red, at official events.

Question 3.
In recent years, there have been a number of revolutionary discoveries at the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva in the field of physics. But what was not discovered in 2011?

A. Traces were found of the Higgs-particle, which is also known as ‘God’s particle’ because it ensures objects have mass.

B. The Spock particle was finally discovered, which makes it possible to teleport objects and people over great distances.

C. Speeds of neutrinos were measured that were faster than light, which makes it theoretically possible to travel through time.
 

Question 4.
The Jasmine revolution in Tunisia began with the self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor with a university degree in the town of Sidi Bouzid. His fruit stall was confiscated by the police, because he did not have the right licence. When he went to the town hall to recover his losses, he was humiliated by civil servants. Furious he set himself alight on and died of his injuries on 4 January 2011. Later one of the details in this story turned out to be wrong. Which one?

A. Bouazizi did not have a university degree.

B. Bouazizi did have the right licence.

C. Bouazizi did not sell fruit, he sold T-shirts with inflammatory texts
 

Question 5.
The climate revolution continued unabated in 2011. Which climatic novelty took place on 7 May?

A. There was so much snow in Venezuela that Hugo Chávez went langlauf ski-ing in Caracas.

B. The Netherlands was the warmest country in Europe for one day with 28 degrees.

C. In Jakarta, there was more rain in one day than normally in a whole year.
 

Question 6.
A former Dutch model Talitha van Zon overshadowed the Libyan revolution now and then in the news. She was one of the few Dutch nationals who stayed in the country during the uprising. Which of the following is true?

A. Talitha had a relationship with Mutassim Gaddafi, a son of Muamar, who she met in jet set circles.

B. Talitha jumped from the balcony of a five star hotel in Tripoli and bruised her arm out of fear of what the Libyan rebels might do to her.

C. Talitha was arrested in the Netherlands because she lured a friend of hers to Libya under false pretences, the friend claimed to have been raped by Mutassim.

Question 7.
In the field of sport, football legend Johan Cruyff initiated a so-called velvet revolution at his old club Ajax. His little revolution ended in a ‘bloodbath’. His words filled newspapers and television news programmes alike. But what did Cruyff NOT say to one of his fellow board members at Ajax?

A. You are only here because you are black.

B. You are only here because you are a woman.

C. You are only here because you are gay.
 

Question 8.
In Syria, a bloody revolution is still raging. One of the revolution’s faces is cartoonist Ali Farzat. He drew cartoons of President Bashar al-Assad and received the Sacharov prize from the European Parliament. How has the Syrian regime dealt with Farzat?

A. The regime has left him be – strangely enough.

B. He was deported and now publishes his cartoons in Jordan.

C. He was arrested and beaten so badly that his right hand and some of the fingers on his left hand were broken.
 

Question 9.
While Europe heaved a sigh under the euro crisis, another kind of monetary revolution took place on the Dutch islands of Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba in the Caribbean. Which one?

A. The islands gave up the guilder in exchange for dollars.

B. The islands swopped its dollar for the euro.

C. The islands gave up the euro and went back to using the guilder.

Question 10.
2011 was also the year of the (yet unfinished) Occupy revolution. One of the sources of inspiration for the Occupy movement is the radical left-wing Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. He held a famous speech at Occupy Wall Street. What did the eccentric Zizek say after visiting Occupy Amsterdam?

A. My god, it is all so chaotic. Like a carnival. I like order, discipline etcetera.

B. The importance of the Occupy movement is in the rejection of what they don’t want. If they go beyond that they come out with the most naive nonsense.

C. The demonstrators smell so bad. My first reaction is always: where are the police?

Question 11.
For a change, there were no revolutions of any importance in Latin America this year, partly due to the illness of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. However the news in Chile was dominated by continuing student protests organised by the mediagenic 23-year-old student Camila Vallejo. Which of the statements below about Vallejo is not true?

A. She has been named ‘person of the year’ in Chile.

B. She gave an ‘interview’ in the December edition of Chile’s Playboy.

C. She was not re-elected presidente of the Chilean student federation. 

Question 12.
Opposition in the land of the Russian Revolution also  began to emerge in 2011. More and more Russians seem to be turning against the hegemony of Prime Minister and future president Vladimir Putin. Even his traditional annual act of heroics was a flop in the media. What went wrong?

A. Putin recovered two antique Greek vases from the Black Sea in a diving trip, but they turned out to have been placed underwater for him specially.

B. Putin was supposed to shoot whales in the Black Sea, but the whale didn’t turn up.

C. Putin wanted to save a little girl being attacked by a bear with his bare hands, but the bear ran off before he got a chance to.

ANSWERS:

1  C
2  B
3  B
4  A
5  B
6  A,B and C are right
7  C
8  C
9  A
10 A, B and C are right
11 B
12 A