The Panama Canal opened in 1914, links

The correct answer is B, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal cuts across the narrow Isthmus of Panama in Central America and joins the Caribbean Sea, an arm of the Atlantic, with the Gulf of Panama on the Pacific. It is about 82 km long and uses a system of locks to lift ships up to Gatun Lake and lower them again on the other side. Before it opened in 1914, ships sailing between the east and west coasts of the Americas had to go all the way around Cape Horn at the tip of South America, so the canal cut thousands of kilometres off the voyage. It was built by the United States and handed over to Panama in 1999. Option A is wrong because the Red Sea and the Mediterranean are joined by the Suez Canal in Egypt. Option C is wrong because no canal links the Indian and Pacific Oceans; ships use straits such as Malacca. Option D is wrong because the Adriatic and the Black Sea are not linked by any canal. Exam tip: Panama = Atlantic–Pacific (1914, locks); Suez = Mediterranean–Red Sea (1869, no locks).