In a school sports tally, Neelgiri House stands at −18 points and Aravalli House at +15 points. Which house's tally is further from zero, and by how much further?

'How far from zero' is absolute value: |−18| = 18 and |+15| = 15. So Neelgiri is further, by 18 − 15 = 3 points. The trap is that Aravalli has the greater tally (15 > −18) yet the smaller distance from zero — greater and further apart are different questions. Answering 33 adds the two distances instead of comparing them.