NewsTracker Answers for week of Dec. 14, 2020

Q: In an announcement broadcast live on national television, Nepal said last week that new surveys place the official height of Mount Everest at 29,031.69 feet above sea level, about 3 feet higher than a measurement dating back to the 1950s. Where is the small Asian nation of Nepal?

Circle the area on this map


Q: The new official figure is the culmination of an exhaustive process involving two trips taking equipment to the summit and years of measurements to calculate Everest’s precise height above sea level. The measurements were conducted by Nepal and its northern neighbor . . .

A. Bangladesh

B. Bhutan

C. China

D. India


C. Mount Everest is on the border between Nepal and China, which also announced the new official height. China borders Nepal to the north, while India borders it to the east, south and west. India separates Nepal from Bangladesh by about 17 miles and Bhutan by less than 40 miles.


Q: Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level along with nine other of the tallest peaks in which mountain range?

A. Andes

B. Appalachians

C. Himalayas

D. Rockies


C. The Himalayan Mountain range separates the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia. The mountains have been lifted up by the Indian tectonic plate sliding under the Eurasian tectonic plate.


Q: Mount Everest is highest mountain above sea level, But when measured from its submerged base to its peak, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain. Mauna Kea is in which nation?

A. Indonesia

B. Ecuador

C. New Zealand

D. United States


D. The base of Hawaii’s dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, is 19,700 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Measured from its base to its peak it is 33,500 feet tall.


Q: The top of Mount Chimborazo is the farthest point on the Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center – making it the highest point on the planet. Mount Chimborazo is in which nation?

A. Indonesia

B. Ecuador

C. New Zealand

D. United States


B. The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges outward at Equator and flattens at the poles. A person at the Equator would be up to 13 miles closer to the moon than someone at the North or South pole. Mount Chimborazo sits just one degree from the Equator and its 20,703-foot altitude above sea level makes it the world’s highest spot.