NewsTracker Answers for week of Dec. 13, 2010

Q: Sharks of different species are behind a series of attacks on tourists at Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a U.S. investigator says. Where is the Red Sea?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Sharm el-Sheikh is on the coast of the Red Sea at the tip of the . . .

A. Nile Delta

B. Horn of Africa

C. Cape of Good Hope

D. Sinai Peninsula

D. The Sinai Peninsula lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa. The Red Sea separates Africa from Asia.

Q: What connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean?

A. Gulf of Aden

B. Persian Gulf

C. Suez Canal

D. Dead Sea

A. The seawater inlet connects to the ocean through the 20-mile-wide Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. Scientists theorize that the earliest migration of modern humans out of Africa occurred at the Bab el Mandeb strait roughly 60,000 years ago when the oceans were much lower and the strait was much narrower or dry.

Q: The Gulf of Aden is known by the nickname "Pirate Alley." Where do almost all of the gulf pirates come from?

A. Egypt

B. Somalia

C. Sudan

D. Yemen

B. Piracy off the Somali coast has become a serious threat to international shipping as the nation plunged into political disarray and economic depression during nearly 20 years of civil war and foreign military interventions.

Q: The Red Sea is a major international shipping route because of the Suez Canal which connects it to the Mediterranean Sea. How long have ships passed through the Suez Canal?

A. 51 years

B. 101 years

C. 151 years

D. 201 years

C. Opened in November 1869, the canal allows water transportation between Europe and southern and eastern Asia without navigating around Africa.