Consider the following water bodies: I. Lake Tanganyika II. Lake Tonle Sap III. Patos Lagoon. Through how many of them does the equator pass?

Answer: (d) None

Tanganyika is south of it, Tonle Sap north, Patos far south.

Statement by statement

1. ✗ NO — about 3°–9°S It lies south of the equator in East Africa. The equator crosses Lake Victoria, further north.

2. ✗ NO — about 13°N Cambodia’s great lake is well north of the equator.

3. ✗ NO — about 31°S It is in southern Brazil, near Porto Alegre.

The idea

The equator crosses water at Lake Victoria (Africa), the mouth of the Amazon, Indonesia’s seas (Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi) and the Maldives’ southern tip.

Why the others are wrong

(a) Usually picks Tanganyika because it is in “equatorial Africa”. It lies at 3°–9°S; the equator crosses Lake Victoria.

(b) Adds Tonle Sap by thinking of South-East Asia as equatorial. Cambodia is at ~13°N.

(c) Patos Lagoon is at ~31°S in southern Brazil — far from the equator.

The trap

Lake Tanganyika is in “equatorial Africa”, so it feels right. The equator actually cuts Lake Victoria.