NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 02, 2010

Q: A UN panel has voted to remove Ecuador's Galapagos Islands from its list of precious sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse. Where is Ecuador?

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Q: The Galapagos Islands are located in the . . .

A. Atlantic Ocean

B. Pacific Ocean

C. Caribbean Sea

D. Indian Ocean

B. The islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean, 605 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

Q: The islands' unique animals were studied by Charles Darwin and contributed to his inception of his theory of evolution through natural selection. Where did Darwin start his journey to the Galapagos?

A. United States

B. Great Britain

C. Australia

D. Ecuador

B. Darwin was the naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle during its voyage of discovery from 1831 to 1836. After returning to Great Britain, studied his findings more than 20 years before publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859.

Q: Unesco's World Heritage Committee said the Ecuadorian government had made significant progress addressing threats to the islands. What is the capital of Ecuador?

A. Quito

B. Bogota

C. Lima

D. Santiago

A. Ecuador claimed ownership of the Galapagos Islands in 1832, just two years after it became an independent republic and made Quito its capital.

Q: While the UN panel removed the Galapagos Islands from its "red list" of endangered sites, it added Madagascar's forests and Florida's Everglades to the list. Where is the island of Madagascar?

A. Atlantic Ocean

B. Pacific Ocean

C. Caribbean Sea

D. Indian Ocean

D. Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, lies in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. Unesco said illegal logging of the island's tropical rainforests was seriously threatening many animal species found nowhere else in the world.