NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 20, 2018

Q: Ecuador declared a state of emergency along its northern border last week because of a wave of migrants fleeing the hyperinflation, severe food shortages and violence that has gripped Venezuela. The nation then refused entry to anyone without a passport. Where is Ecuador or Venezuela?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The desperate migrants are crossing which nation that lies between Venezuela and Ecuador?

A. Argentina

B. Brazil

C. Colombia

D. Dominican Republic


C. Colombia protested Ecuador's passport requirement, saying vulnerable people will be trapped on its side of the border. Migrants had been using identity cards on their journeys. The United Nations estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled the economic crisis in their homeland.


Q: Venezuelan migrants also have fled across the nation’s southern border with ...

A. Argentina

B. Brazil

C. Chile

D. Dominican Republic


B. Brazil complained last week that Venezuela was doing nothing to stop the spread of an outbreak of measles in Brazil and other neighboring countries that was sparked by the migrant exodus. Residents of a Brazilian town attacked a Venezuelan migrant camp on Saturday and drove the occupants back across the border.


Q: Hospitals in Venezuela’s capital have been canceling surgeries because of water shortages blamed on a lack of maintenance on the city’s water system. What is the capital of Venezuela?

A. Asuncion

B. Bogota

C. Buenos Aires

D. Caracas


D. Caracas is in a valley perched at about 2,953 feet above sea level and its water is pumped from much lower sources. But the pumps have not been maintained, spare parts are scarce and the nation is short of cash. UN officials said shortages of basic medicines and medical supplies in Venezuela “have led to a sharp deterioration of the quality of hospitals.”


Q: The UN said that more than half the people fleeing Venezuela are suffering from malnutrition. Venezuela’s economy has collapsed despite the nation being rich in ...

A. Oil

B. Gold

C. Diamonds

D. Copper


A. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves, and the eighth largest natural gas reserves in the world. But production fell drastically after a 2003 strike led to the firing of 40 percent of the state oil company’s workers. The nation’s economic crisis worsened after oil prices fell in 2014, and the resulting lack of investment has caused further declines in production.