NewsTracker Answers for week of June 20, 2011

Q: Women in Saudi Arabia have been openly driving cars in defiance of an official ban on female drivers. Where is Saudi Arabia?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Why aren't Saudi women allowed to drive?

A. Road safety

B. Religious rules

C. Kidnapping fears

D. Terrorist bombings


B. The motoring ban is not enforced by law, but it is a religious fatwa imposed by conservative Muslim clerics. But, the rules are supported by the government which last month arrested a woman who uploaded a video of herself driving.


Q: The government of Saudi Arabia is a . . .

A. Absolute monarchy

B. Democratic republic

C. Constitutional monarchy

D. Theocracy


A. The country is ruled by descendants of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who founded the kingdom in 1932. The Saud family long has been allied with the leaders of an ultra-conservative branch of Islam often called Wahhabism. Religious freedom is virtually non-existent in Saudi Arabia.


Q: Saudi women usually must rely on hired drivers. Like many of the workers in the the oil-rich country, the drivers often come from . . .

A. South America

B. Eastern Europe

C. Southeast Asia

D. Southern Africa


C. According to the CIA, "Saudi Arabia is a destination country for workers from South and Southeast Asia who are subjected to conditions that constitute involuntary servitude including being subjected to physical and sexual abuse, non-payment of wages, confinement, and withholding of passports as a restriction on their movement."


Q: The United States considers Saudi Arabia a . . .

A. Key ally

B. Outlaw state


A. The nation, which has the world's largest oil reserves, is considered a major ally in the fight against terrorism. While Saudi Arabia has suffered several terrorist attacks in recent years, most of the 9/11 hijackers came from the country and Saudi donors have been called a "major source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."