The canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Isthmus of Panama, built by the United States between 1904 and 1914, is the...

• A. Suez Canal
• B. Erie Canal
• C. Cape Cod Canal
• D. Panama Canal

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is identifying the major waterway that allows ships to move directly between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America. The Panama Canal fits this description exactly: it cuts through the Isthmus of Panama and was built by the United States from 1904 to 1914 after a prior French attempt. This canal dramatically shortened sea routes, enabling quicker global trade and stronger naval mobility by avoiding the long voyage around South America. The other waterways are located elsewhere or serve different routes—Suez connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas, Erie links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic via the Hudson, and Cape Cod Canal is a regional Massachusetts canal—so they don’t match the described canal.