Questions are based on news reports in The Times this week. Answers appear on page 35.

1. In New York City, people shed these shoes for athletic footwear to participate in a race more frenetic than the Marathon. What activity was it?

2. Mikhail S. Gorbachev's vision of a more open Soviet Union emerged somewhat battered by a recent test, his long-awaited speech on Soviet history, which marked the 70th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Explain.

3. Scientists are faced with a quandary: what to do with the contents of vials stored in freezer lockers for 10 years at high-security laboratories in Moscow and Atlanta. What do the vials contain and what is the dilemma?

4. The resignation of Caspar W. Weinberger as Secretary of Defense comes at a pivotal period for two policies on which he had taken firm positions. What policies are they?

5. The triumph of Priscilla Welch of Britain, the female champion of the New York City Marathon, was a victory for a generation of runners. Explain.

6. An announcement by President Daniel Ortega Saavedra of Nicaragua was a dramatic reversal of the position Sandinista leaders have vigorously defended for years. What was it?

7. CBS News has taken the unusual step of soliciting advice from an independent lawyer before approving a Walter Cronkite documentary that was secretly taped. What is the documentary about and what was the reason for the network's action?

8. Immigration officials said they had detected fraud in thousands of applications for legal status filed by illegal aliens who said they worked as farm laborers. What is significant about the farm laborer category?

9. Those who believe that clothes make the man are reading significance into this man's sartorial style. Identify him and explain.

10. Senate aides say the confirmation hearings for the nomination of Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg to the Supreme Court are more likely to focus on the 14 months from July 1984 to September 1985, when he was the White House official in charge of reviewing and issuing Federal regulations, than on his time on the Federal bench. Why?

11. Luciano Pavarotti did it in Chicago, Ghena Dimitrova did it in San Francisco and Pittsburgh, and other opera stars have been doing it with increasing frequency in other American cities. What has been

12. For many Israelis, no news is good news. Explain.

13. The man considered the top runner in pro football will be scoring his touchdowns for a new team. Who is he and what happened?

14. A potential conflict between members of the New York City Board of Education and a special panel concerns the type of qualifications the next Schools Chancellor should have. What is at issue?

15. The final obstacle to the expected indictment of Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North and others involved in the Iran-Contra affair was removed. What happened and why was it significant?

16. Leading nations embarked on a coordinated policy of reducing interest rates and letting the dollar slide until it finds a new plateau the foreign exchange markets will accept. But there is an inherent risk in these measures. What is it?

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