NewsTracker Answers for week of Nov. 24, 2014

Q: Nicaraguan officials say construction of a $50 billion canal linking the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans will start December 22nd. Where is Nicaragua on this map of Central America?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The Nicaragua canal would be more than three times longer and much wider than the canal which crosses the Panama . . .

A. Archipelago

B. Isthmus

C. Cape

D. Peninsula

B. The Isthmus of Panama is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. 

Q: Nicaraguan leaders have been talking about building a canal since 1825. Some of the proposals drew opposition from Nicaragua's southern neighbor . . .

A. Honduras

B. El Salvador

C. Costa Rica

D. Panama

C. The latest canal route runs a little north of the Costa Rican border and crosses Lake Nicaragua, an important source of fresh water. Honduras is Nicaragua's neighbor to the north.

Q: Chinese investors will build the Nicaraguan canal in return for operating it for the next 50 years. Which nation controlled the Panama Canal for more than 60 years?

A. Britain

B. France

C. Spain

D. United States

D. The United States bought the unfinished canal project from the French in 1904 and completed the canal in 1914. It continued the control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until 1977 when the territory was turned over to Panama.

Q: Nicaraguan leaders hope the canal will boost the economy of the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Which nation is poorer than Nicaragua?

A. Benin

B. Cabo Verde

C. Haiti

D. All of the above

D. All of these nations are poorer than Nicaragua, but Benin and Cabo Verde are part of Africa. Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.