NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 14, 2013

Q: A boat carrying an estimated 200 migrants from Tunisia capsized last Friday off the Italian island of Lampedusa where a shipwreck about a week earlier left more than 300 dead. Where is Italy on this map?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Rescuers from Italy and Malta responded to Friday's shipwreck which occurred in Maltese waters. Malta is south of Italy in the . . .

A. Andaman Sea

B. Baltic Sea

C. Caribbean Sea

D. Mediterranean Sea


D. The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean on the west, but it is almost completely enclosed by land. Africa lies to the south; Asia is on the east and northeast; and Europe is on the northern and western shores of the Mediterranean.


Q: The migrants were bound for the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . . .

A. Cyprus

B. Sicily

C. Capri

D. Sardinia


B. Earlier on Friday at least 500 more migrants in at least three separate boats arrived or were rescued on the way to different parts of Sicily, which lies off the "toe" of Italy's "boot."


Q: According to the UN, 32,000 migrants have arrived in southern Italy and Malta this year alone and around two thirds have filed requests for asylum. Where do most of these migrants originally come from?

A. North Africa

B. Western Asia

C. Sub-Saharan Africa

D. South America


C. Most migrants come from nations that are south of Africa's Sahara Desert, but this year many are fleeing the Syrian civil war or political turmoil in Egypt and other parts of North Africa.


Q: Many migrants are drawn by hopes of finding work in Europe. The influx of migrants and a troubled economy has led to the rise of nationalist, right-wing parties including in the "birthplace of democracy" . . .

A. Greece

B. Britain

C. Italy

D. Iraq


A. Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of Ancient Greece, considered the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy. In the last few years a neo-Nazi political party called Golden Dawn has drawn followers in Greece with its rabidly anti-immigrant stance.