NDA (I) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 69 of 146

Correct — B, 2 only. Statement 2 is true: crossing the line from west to east you set the calendar back one day, so the date just east of the line is a full day earlier than the date just west of it. Statement 1 is false because it says the line deviates to avoid land 'surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean' — the International Date Line actually runs down the middle of the Pacific Ocean, roughly along the 180 degree meridian, bending east and west to keep whole countries and island groups on one date. Since only statement 2 holds, the answer is 2 only.

• (a)1 only — Statement 1 is the false one — the line lies in the Pacific, not the Atlantic — so choosing '1 only' picks the wrong statement.
• (c)Both 1 and 2 — This would be right only if statement 1 were also correct, but its 'Atlantic Ocean' claim is wrong, so both cannot be true.
• (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Statement 2 is correct — the date to the east of the line is a day earlier — so 'neither' is wrong.

The International Date Line is an imaginary line running roughly along the 180 degree meridian in the Pacific Ocean, where the calendar date changes by one day. It is not perfectly straight: it zig-zags east and west so that countries and island groups near it are not split between two dates. Crossing it westward adds a day; crossing it eastward subtracts a day.

Test statement 1 on the ocean it names — the line is a Pacific feature, so 'Atlantic Ocean' makes it false, even though the rest (roughly 180 degrees, deviating to avoid land) is correct. Test statement 2 with a mental map: places just west of the line, such as Kiribati and New Zealand, are a day ahead, while places just east, such as the Aleutians and Hawaii, are a day behind, so the eastern side is indeed the earlier date.

• The International Date Line lies in the Pacific Ocean, close to the 180 degree meridian.
• It deviates around Russia, the Aleutians, Kiribati, Samoa and other island groups to keep them on a single date.
• Crossing the line travelling eastward you subtract a day; travelling westward you add a day.
• It is linked to but distinct from the Prime Meridian (0 degrees) used to define standard time zones.

• Placing the International Date Line in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific.
• Getting the direction wrong — east of the line is a day earlier, west is a day ahead.
• Confusing the Date Line (near 180 degrees) with the Prime Meridian (0 degrees).

Exams ask which ocean the Date Line lies in, how the date changes when you cross it, or which places lie either side — anchor the answer to the Pacific and the eastward-subtract-a-day rule.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A traveller crossing the International Date Line from west to east must

  • (a)add one day to the calendar
  • (b)subtract one day from the calendar
  • (c)set the clock forward by 12 hours only
  • (d)make no change to the date

  Answer(b) subtract one day from the calendar — going eastward across the line the date is set back by one day.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The International Date Line broadly follows which meridian?

  • (a)0 degrees (Prime Meridian)
  • (b)90 degrees E
  • (c)180 degrees
  • (d)82.5 degrees E

  Answer(c) 180 degrees — the Date Line runs roughly along the 180 degree meridian in the Pacific, with deviations to avoid land.