NewsTracker Answers for week of July 15, 2013

Q: An unattended train with 72 tanker cars of shale oil rolled down a slope and crashed into the Quebec village of Lac-Megantic setting off explosions and fires that killed at least 33 with another 17 people missing and presumed dead. Where is the province of Quebec on this map?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Lac-Megantic is about 86 miles south of Quebec's capital . . .

A. Montreal

B. Ottawa

C. Quebec City

D. Toronto

C. Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America. It was founded by Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer and diplomat on July 3, 1608.

Q: The town of Lac-Megantic is located on a lake which empties into the same river that flows past Quebec City. What is the name of this river, which also drains the waters of the Great Lakes into the Atlantic?

A. Great Atlantic

B. Quebec

C. Seine

D. St. Lawrence

D. The St. Lawrence River runs about 1,900 miles from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin. The Lac-Megantic crash spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the waterway leading to the St. Lawrentce River, but environmental officials say they have controlled the spill.

Q: What is Quebec's largest city?

A. Montreal

B. Ottawa

C. Quebec City

D. Toronto

A. Montreal is the largest city in Quebec and the second-largest city in Canada after Toronto, Ontario. The city is located on the Island of Montreal on the St. Lawrence River about 150 miles upriver from Quebec City. Ottawa in Ontario is the capital of Canada.

Q: The oil that destroyed most of Lac-Megantic was being shipped from North Dakota. The oil was obtained by "fracking" the Braaken shale formation which North Dakota shares with its western neighbor . . .

A. Minnesota

B. Montana

C. Saskatchewan

D. Wyoming

B. Besides covering northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana, the Braaken shale formation extends north into the southern part of Canada's province of Saskatchewan. "Fracking" is the process of pumping water and chemicals into the ground under high pressure to fracture rock formations to release trapped oil or natural gas.