NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 22, 2012

Q: British Prime Minister David Cameron and Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, signed an agreement last week to let Scotland's voters decide in the fall of 2014 whether they wish to leave the United Kingdom. Where is Scotland on this map?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The agreement is named after Scotland's capital where the pact was signed. What is the capital of Scotland?

A. Balmoral

B. Edinburgh

C. Glasgow

D. St. Andrews


B. Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish government and parliament. It is Scotland's second largest city behind Glasgow. St. Andrews is named after Scotland's patron saint and is known as the "home of golf." Balmoral is the name of a Scottish castle owned as a private estate of the British royal family.


Q: More money is spent on Scotland's citizens than they pay in taxes. But, proponents of independence say most of the difference could be made up by revenue from oil and gas in the . . .

A. Scottish Highlands

B. English Channel

C. Scottish Lowlands

D. North Sea


D. Scottish politicians believe Scotland is entitled to a 90 percent geographical share of the North Sea oil and gas fields, which generated about $19 billion in revenue at their peak in 2008-2009. The North Sea is on Scotland's east coast.


Q: Scotland occupies the northern third of . . .

A. England

B. Great Britain

C. Hebrides

D. Ireland


B. Scotland is comprised of the northern third of the island of Great Britain as well as 790 smaller islands, including the Hebrides and Northern Isles. England and Wales occupy the southern two thirds of Great Britain.


Q: About one-third of Scots now favor independence from the United Kingdom, which once included . . .

A. All of Ireland

B. India

C. Canada

D. All of the above


A. In 1707, the English and Scottish Parliaments passed Acts of Union to create a Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1800, English and Irish Parliaments created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the Irish Republic gained independence. India and Canada were part of the British Empire but not the UK.