NewsTracker Answers for week of Nov. 08, 2010

Q: Norway was listed last week as the country with the best quality of life in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Where is Norway?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The index uses many factors including life expectancy, average income, education, income inequality, gender equality and even Internet use to measure the quality of life in 169 countries. At the bottom of the list is a southern African nation once called Rhodesia and now known as . . .

A. Algeria

B. Bhutan

C. Belize

D. Zimbabwe

D. While Norway has a life expectancy of 81 years and average annual income of $58,810, Zimbabwe has a life expectancy of just 47 years and per capita income of $176.

Q: Which area of the world has made the greatest strides in recent decades, largely because of rapid economic growth?

A. Asia

B. Europe

C. South America

D. North America

A. The countries improving most since 1970 are the Asian nations of Oman, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Laos and South Korea and the north African nations of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Q: The United States, which once dominated the top of all the measures, has gradually shifted downward into fourth place in the HDI. Which of these nations now ranks higher than the United States?

A. Canada

B. Germany

C. New Zealand

D. Sweden

C. While the United States is well ahead of New Zealand in income, the remote island nation ranks first in education and much higher in life expectancy. The top HDI nations in order are Norway, Australia, New Zealand, U.S., Ireland, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Germany.

Q: Overall, average life expectancy around the globe jumped to 70 years in 2010, up from 59 in 1970. Is the United States above or below that average?

A. Above

B. Below

A. The U.S. ranks 29th with an average life expectancy at birth of 79.6 years. Japan has the longest life expectancy at 83.2 years, and war-torn Afghanistan has the shortest at 44.6 years.