Becca’s GED Social Studies Blog

It’s GED time again… and I’ve got an answer for the GED practice question from last week, about the International Date Line.

I hope you got some time to think about this GED question:

Which direction do you need to travel around the world to arrive on what seems to you is Tuesday, when everyone where you land thinks it’s Monday?

1. North

2. South

3. East

4. West

This is a GED question that makes you think about what you already know. And, you’ve got to visualize what’s going on. That means, like, picture it in your head. You’d be surprised how much, on GED questions, it helps to picture the problem in your head.

The good news is you can use another easy GED strategy, too… eliminating wrong answers. Answers 1 and 2 are north and south… going north and south doesn’t change the time zone you’re in, and you won’t go over the International Date Line. I mean, the sun is what causes the time change, since the sun’s in a different place in the sky, depending on where you are on Earth. But the sun doesn’t go north and south… so you can get rid of answers 1 and 2. You’ll be able to eliminate a lot of wrong choices on the GED.

So, the two choices are east or west. On the GED, that’s a fifty-fifty chance if you have to guess. But let’s figure it out. Which one will make you GAIN a day? Arrive on Tuesday, when everyone thinks it’s Monday? The sun goes from east to west… picture it in your head going across the Earth.

Now, think about traveling west. This is easy if you’re like me, and traveled a lot. If you start in California and go east to New York, are you going to gain time or lose time? You’re traveling in the opposite direction from the sun, so the sun gets closer and closer to you, or farther and farther behind you, as you travel. Like two trains going in opposite directions. You get closer to the sun faster than if you were standing still. So you lose time, like time is sped up. It SEEMS like the sun is moving faster, cuz you’re going toward it. Get it?

Or maybe it will help to think like this. It’s three hours ahead in New York, according to time zones. I don’t know how long it takes to travel to New York, but say it takes 8 hours in a plane. So, you have to set your watch ahead 3 hours… so your watch will say 11 hours. You’re LOSING time. It’s later than you thought, not earlier.

So the opposite is true going the other way. Think trains again. You and the sun are both moving… east to west… so it SEEMS like the sun is going slower, cuz you’re going westward with it.

Or same thing with the time change. If you go from New York to California, you set your watch BACK 3 hours. So if it takes 8 hours to travel, your watch will say it took 5 hours. So to everyone in California, it’s 3 hours EARLIER than it seems to you. Since Monday is earlier than Tuesday,we’ll looking for the answer where it seems earlier when you arrive than if you hadn’t changed your watch. So, traveling west is the answer…answer 4. Did that confuse you? It’s just about thinking it through, like a lot of stuff on the GED. Try going over it in your mind until you can get it straight. That helps me when I study for my GED. Let me know what you think…

To find out more about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.