Page 41 - Exercise 4

Page 41 - Exercise 4

At the end of 2011. The small islands of Samoa in the Pacific Ocean decided to move from one side of the international dateline to the other. They moved from the eastern side of the line to the western side. When the 29th of December 2011 ended, the next day wasn’t the 30th of December. But the 31st. In Samoa 30th of December 2011 didn’t happen. Why did they do it? They wanted to be on the same date as Australia and New Zealand. They do most of they’re trade with those countries now. So it’s better to have the same day and date. Before the change when it was Friday in Samoa. It was already Saturday in Australia. So nobody was at work there. Then when people in Samoa went to work on Sunday. It was Monday in Australia. So it was difficult if you wanted to phone people in offices, banks, and so on. Most people were happy about the change. As they got an extra days money. Employers paid people for 30th of December. Even though people didn’t go to work then. But some people weren’t happy. People with birthdays on the 30th of December. Didn’t have a birthday in 2011.