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Show Nelson takes eighth in state required good common senseor a lot of luck in answering. Not only did Nelson finish eighth overall, she was the only finalist in the top 10 to live north of Salt Lake H f HiM-i -r-"F-"iiMnffl - "r -'-a -' , I ' y a K -" -1 te l ft . y w ; Brittany Nelson of South Davis Junior High School 'blanked out" when asked the location of Cuba on a world map, but she still finished eighth among 450 students competing com-peting in the state 1991 Geography Bee. She was among the final 100 fourth to eighth grade students to reach the top of the ladder and be selected to compete in the State Geography Ge-ography Bee Championships held recently at Weber State University. "I'm embarrassed to have missed miss-ed the location of Cuba because it was one of the easiest questions they asked me," said Nelson, seventh sev-enth grade daughter of Scott and Julie Nelson of Bountiful. She said she successfully answered an-swered seven of eight questions in the preliminary round and missed only the question about Cuba in the final match. The 100 state finalists were divided into five groups of 20 students each, and Nelson finished first in her group to advance to the finals. "All questions were oral and there was no way of knowing what kind of question you would get," she said. "Some of them were easy, some were difficult and some just 100, only the top two from each of the five groups of 20 students-comprised students-comprised mostly of eighth graders and consisting of only two girls-competed girls-competed in the finals. A few of the questions asked Nelson, which she answered correctly, cor-rectly, were: (1) What two mountain ranges comprise the Mississippi River Valley? (Appalachian and Rockies). (2) What animal is known by more than 100 names? (Camel). (3) What sea is named for the algae beneath its water? (Red Sea). Brittany said the only way she could study for the competition was to "curl up with a lot of maps" and just absorb as much information as she could without knowing what types of questions she would be asked. "Mom was a former teacher of geography and she helped me study," said Nelson. Her brother, Paul, is also a top geography student stu-dent who helped in her studies. "Paul beat me for the school title last year, but I was able to outlast him this year," she said with a smile. Not only is geography her favorite subject, Nelson is also a "straight-A" student with a 4.0 grade point average. "It all helps," she said. "But you can't absorb everything there is to know about geography. ' ' BRITTANY NELSON City, and only one of two girls to finish in the final 10. She noted that only one student from each school qualified for the final meet to determine who would go to state. More than 450 students took the qualifying test. Of the final |