NewsTracker Answers for week of Jan. 27, 2020

Q: Chinese officials have placed 50 million people in a virtual lockdown and warned that a new coronavirus could soon start spreading at an even faster rate. It has sickened around 3,000 people worldwide and killed at least 80 people in China. Where is China?

Circle the area on this map

Q: A handful of travelers from China have been diagnosed with the illness in other countries including the United States and China’s tiny neighbor Nepal. Nepal lies in which mountain range?

A. Andes

B. Balkans

C. Himalayas

D. Urals

C. The Himalayan Mountains run along China’s southeastern borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan. The range has many of Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest on the border between Nepal and China.

Q: In its efforts to control the spread of the pneumonia-like virus, the Chinese government is attempting the largest quarantine in history. The government’s travel ban affects about 50 million people – that is roughly equal to the population of which European country on the Iberian Peninsula?

A. Greece

B. Italy

C. Norway

D. Spain

D. Spain shares Europe’s Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. The coronavirus is centered in China’s central Hubei province, where the lethal virus first appeared last month. The first cases were linked market selling wild game in the province’s sealed-off capital city of Wuhan and its population of 11 million people. It is believed the virus may have originated in bats.

Q: In addition to the Hubei travel restrictions, China also has shut down many tourist attractions including the Forbidden City in the nation’s capital . . .

A. Beijing

B. Hong Kong

C. Shanghai

A. The Forbidden City in Beijing was the Chinese imperial palace for more than 500 years. Chinese officials have closed several other tourist sites including part of the Great Wall and Disneyland theme parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Health experts warn that quarantines are unlikely to stop a rapidly spreading epidemic.

Q: With a population of more than 1.4 billion people, China is the most populous nation. With an area of about 3.7 million square miles, it is just about the same size as . . .

A. Australia

B. Brazil

C. Canada

D. United States

D. With just a little less than 3.7 million square miles, the United States ranks as the fourth largest country behind Russia, Canada and China. With 329 million people, the United States is the third most populous nation with a billion fewer people than either China or India.