NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 09, 2013

Q: Tokyo was chosen last week as the site of the 2020 Summer Games after Japan assured Olympics officials that the city was safe from radiation leaking from the severely damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Where is Japan on this map?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Japan's government said it will spend $500 million to stop radiation leaks and decontaminate radioactive water around the plant that was wrecked in 2011 by a . . .

A. Bombing

B. Earthquake

C. Hurricane

D. Landslide


B. A 9.0 magnitude undersea earthquake triggered a tsunami that washed over the nuclear plant and surrounding area, killing 15,883 people. The tsunami damage led to a meltdown and explosions at the nuclear plant. It was the largest recorded earthquake in Japan, which sits on what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.


Q: The Fukushima plant and Tokyo are both on Japan's largest island . . .

A. Honshu

B. Java

C. Mindanao

D. Taiwan


A. Japan is comprised of 6,852 islands, and Honshu is the largest and most populous. The islands of Java in Indonesia, Mindanao in the Philippines and Taiwan off the coast of China were all occupied by the Japanese during World War II.


Q: Recent leaks of highly toxic water from Fukushima led to a ban on fish imports by Japan's neighbor to the west and north . . .

A. Indonesia

B. Philippines

C. South Korea

D. Vietnam


C. Japan and South Korea are separated by the Korea Strait, which is about 120 miles wide. The Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam are all far south of Japan.


Q: Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Olympics over a transcontinental city straddling Europe and Asia. Which city is that?

A. Sochi

B. Budapest

C. Moscow

D. Istanbul


D. Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey. Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives across the Bosphorus strait in Asia. Hungary's capital Budapest is comprised of the cities of Buda and Pest on either side of the Danube River. Sochi, site of next year's Winter Olympics, and Moscow are both in Russia which sprawls across Europe and Asia.