1. The problem asks how much closer it is to travel directly from Aurora to Clifton compared to traveling from Aurora to Clifton through Burlington. 2. We are given the distances: - Aurora to Clifton: 97 km - Aurora to Burlington: 65 km - Burlington to Clifton: $x$ km (unknown) 3. The distance traveling through Burlington is the sum of Aurora to Burlington and Burlington to Clifton, which is $65 + x$ km. 4. To find how much closer the direct route is, we calculate the difference: $$\text{Difference} = (65 + x) - 97$$ 5. Without the value of $x$, we cannot find a numeric answer, but the expression for how much closer the direct route is compared to the route through Burlington is: $$\boxed{(65 + x) - 97}$$ 6. If $x$ is known, substitute it into the expression to find the exact difference.