It’s time for our third Lowdown pub quiz. In last week’s battle of wits (or in Steve’s case, half of it), Jackie narrowly edged Steve six to five to stretch his lead to four points. Can Steve get off the schneid this week and close the gap or will Jackie massacre him yet again? Hit the jump to find out.

Before we get started, you can see how you stack up to the boys by taking this week’s quiz yourself at the BBC News website.

Question #1: Tragedy struck British tycoon Sir Richard Branson this week when his Caribbean island home was hit by lightning. No-one was hurt and the island tortoise also survived. But what’s it called?
Answers: ET, Alfie, Necker

Steve’s Answer: Alfie
Jackie’s Answer: ET

Correct Answer: ET
It is ET, after the book Esio Trot by Roald Dahl. “Esio Trot” is “tortoise” backwards – but the name of the tortoise in Dahl’s story is Alfie. The author once visited Branson’s island, Necker, in the British Virgin Islands.

Question #2: An Austrian woman has become the first woman to reach all the Himalayan summits above 8,000m (26,000 ft) without using bottled oxygen. How many peaks did she conquer?
Answers: 14, 10, 6

Steve’s Answer: 10
Jackie’s Answer: 14

Correct Answer: 14
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner climbed 14 summits, of which Mount Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga are the most famous.

Question #3: The natural world contains about 8.7 million species, according to a new estimate, described by scientists as the most accurate ever. What percentage of that figure has already been identified?
Answers: 14%, 25%, 37%

Steve’s Answer: 14%
Jackie’s Answer: 14%

Correct Answer: 14%
It’s 14%. About 1.2 million species have been formally described, the vast majority from the land rather than the oceans.

Question #4: A piece of artwork – a neon sign – has been installed at the home of the British prime minister, No 10 Downing Street. Who created it?
Answers: Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin

Steve’s Answer: Damien Hirst
Jackie’s Answer: Andy Warhol

Correct Answer: Tracey Emin
It’s Tracey Emin and it reads “More Passion”. Emin has created a series of neon works spelling out heartfelt messages.

Question #5: A report from the US Department of Defense this week described China’s growing military might as a threat to stability. But China described the idea as…?
Answers: Hogwash, Cock-and-bull, Codswallop

Steve’s Answer: Cock-and-bull
Jackie’s Answer: Cock-and-bull

Correct Answer: Cock-and-bull
It’s cock-and-bull. “The allegation is an utterly cock-and-bull story about the Chinese military based on a wild guess and illogical reasoning,” said an English-language commentary published by the state news agency, Xinhua.

Question #6: Neolithic Arabians “BLANK horses”
Answers: Ate, Worshipped, Tamed

Steve’s Answer: Worshipped
Jackie’s Answer: Ate

Correct Answer: Tamed
It’s Tamed. Excavations in Saudi Arabia are said to indicate that horses were domesticated there in 7,000BC. Up to now the received wisdom has been that horses were first tamed in Central Asia some 3,500 years later.

Question #7: “There are terrible things happening in the world but at least England is number one at cricket.” Who said that?
Answers: Hugh Grant, John Major, David Cameron

Steve’s Answer: John Major
Jackie’s Answer: David Cameron

Correct Answer: David Cameron
David Cameron said it to US President Barack Obama in a phone call. Actor Hugh Grant and former PM John Major are known to be big fans of the game.

This week’s tally:
Steve: 2/7
Jackie: 5/7

Overall Score:
Jackie: 16/21
Steve: 9/21

This week, Jackie nearly doubles his points lead from four to seven. It’s results like this that make you wonder what Steve does all week because he’s clearly not reading the news.