Time zones exercise - Free Printable

Let’s solve the problems step by step.

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First question:
> Look at Madrid and Beijing. How many hours ahead is Beijing?
Beijing is ___ hours ahead.

Look at the clocks:
- Madrid clock shows 12:00 (noon).
- Beijing clock shows 7:00.

Wait — that doesn’t make sense if Beijing is ahead. Let’s check again.

Actually, looking closely:

Madrid clock: hour hand on 12 → 12:00

Beijing clock: hour hand on 7 → 7:00

But if it’s 12:00 in Madrid and 7:00 in Beijing, then Beijing is *behind*, not ahead. That contradicts real-world time zones.

Wait — maybe we misread the clocks?

Let me re-express:

The problem says: “In Madrid it’s day but in Vancouver it’s night.” And the map shows Madrid in light, Vancouver in dark.

Also, the text box says: “It’s day/light” over Asia/Australia, “It’s dark” over Americas.

So when it’s daytime in Madrid (Europe), it should be nighttime in North America (Vancouver, Mexico City) and possibly still daytime or early morning in Asia (Beijing).

But let’s look at the actual clock times shown:

From left to right:

1. Madrid → 12:00
2. Beijing → 7:00
3. Mexico City → 5:00
4. Vancouver → 3:00

That can’t be right for “ahead”. If Madrid is 12:00, and Beijing is 7:00, then Beijing is 5 hours behind — which is wrong geographically.

Wait — perhaps the clocks are showing local times, and we’re supposed to calculate differences based on what’s shown, even if it seems off?

But the question says: “How many hours ahead is Beijing?”

If Madrid is 12:00 and Beijing is 7:00, then Beijing is 5 hours behind — so not ahead.

This suggests I may have misread the clocks.

Let me double-check the image description.

Actually, in standard educational materials like this, they often show:

When it’s noon in Madrid (UTC+1), it’s around 7 PM in Beijing (UTC+8) — which would be 19:00.

But here, the Beijing clock shows 7:00 — which might be 7 AM? But that would mean it’s earlier than Madrid.

Alternatively, maybe the clocks are drawn with the hour hands pointing to numbers, but we need to interpret them correctly.

Looking again:

Madrid: both hands on 12 → 12:00

Beijing: hour hand on 7, minute hand on 12 → 7:00

Mexico City: hour hand on 5, minute hand on 12 → 5:00

Vancouver: hour hand on 3, minute hand on 12 → 3:00

Now, if Madrid is 12:00, and Beijing is 7:00, then Beijing is 5 hours behind — but that’s incorrect geographically.

Unless... the clocks are not all set to the same reference? Or perhaps there’s a mistake in interpretation.

Wait — maybe the Beijing clock is showing 19:00 (7 PM)? But it’s drawn as 7:00 with no indication of AM/PM.

In analog clocks, 7:00 could be 7 AM or 7 PM.

Given the context: “In Madrid it’s day but in Vancouver it’s night.” So if Madrid is 12:00 (noon), then Vancouver being 3:00 could be 3 AM (night), which makes sense.

Similarly, Beijing at 7:00 — if it’s 7 PM, that would be 19:00, which is after midnight relative to Madrid? No.

Let’s think logically.

Real-world time zones:

- Madrid: UTC+1 (or UTC+2 in summer)
- Beijing: UTC+8 → so 7 hours ahead of Madrid
- Mexico City: UTC-6 → 7 hours behind Madrid
- Vancouver: UTC-8 → 9 hours behind Madrid

So if Madrid is 12:00, then:

- Beijing: 12 + 7 = 19:00 (7 PM)
- Mexico City: 12 - 7 = 5:00 (5 AM)
- Vancouver: 12 - 9 = 3:00 (3 AM)

Ah! So the clocks are showing:

- Madrid: 12:00
- Beijing: 7:00 → meaning 7 PM, or 19:00
- Mexico City: 5:00 → 5 AM
- Vancouver: 3:00 → 3 AM

So numerically, from Madrid 12:00 to Beijing 19:00, that’s 7 hours ahead.

Even though the clock face shows "7", in context, it represents 19:00 because it's evening in Beijing while it's noon in Madrid.

Similarly, Mexico City 5:00 is 5 AM, which is 7 hours behind Madrid (12 - 7 = 5).

Vancouver 3:00 is 3 AM, which is 9 hours behind Madrid (12 - 9 = 3).

So for the first question:

> How many hours ahead is Beijing?
Beijing is 7 hours ahead.

Because 12:00 + 7 hours = 19:00 (which is shown as 7:00 on the clock, implying 7 PM).

Second question:

> Look at Mexico City and Vancouver. How many hours behind is Vancouver?
Vancouver is ___ hours behind.

Mexico City clock: 5:00
Vancouver clock: 3:00

So from 5:00 to 3:00 is 2 hours behind.

Check with real time zones:

Mexico City: UTC-6
Vancouver: UTC-8 → difference is 2 hours.

Yes, Vancouver is 2 hours behind Mexico City.

So answers:

- Beijing is 7 hours ahead of Madrid.
- Vancouver is 2 hours behind Mexico City.

Final verification:

Madrid 12:00
Beijing 19:00 → 7 hours ahead ✓
Mexico City 5:00
Vancouver 3:00 → 2 hours behind ✓

Perfect.

Final Answer:
Beijing is 7 hours ahead. Vancouver is 2 hours behind.