Schedules, as the 21st century people know

题目内容：

Schedules, as the 21st century people know, simply did not exist in the 17th and 18th centuries. We are upset if a plane arrives an hour late. Our ancestors weren’t upset if an April ship didn’t show up until June. They began to worry in July and were often happy when it showed up in August. When a long-distance ship finally did get to the port, the whole city became busy and excited. Businessmen hurried down to check the goods they had ordered. The ship would probably stay in port for at least three days, often a week, to take on businessmen, give the sailors a rest, find out about the latest news, weather conditions, and so on.

Travel time could only be approximate. One never knew when the winds would be good. So even though “average sailing time” was given, time could change considerably, shortening the voyage by up to 25% or putting it off by up to 500% or more! The average run from England to Boston was about a month and a half, but there were also voyages of three months. One voyage in 1640 lasted six months!

Travel time is not the same in both directions, due to the winds and currents. This is especially true in the Caribbean, where winds are from the southeast the entire year. Ships sailing west across the Atlantic spend longer than ships sailing east, and the contrary winds can prevent a ship from actually making it to the harbor even if it gets close. One ship was held off the North Carolina coast for 17 days before being able to land!

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. No sailor was allowed to have fun when the ship reached land.

B. People in ancient times didn’t care about other people’s safety.

C. The ship would leave for a voyage when all of the preparations were made.

D. A long-distance ship would create a lot of excitement in the place where it landed.

2. According to the passage, travel time can’t be fixed due to ___________ .

A. the people at the port B. average sailing time

C. the changeable climate D. the businessmen and the sailors

3. The underlined word “cu

A. the movement of water B. the movement of winds

C. direction of the traveling ship D. travel time of ships

最佳答案：

小题1:D

小题2:C

小题3:A

答案解析：

略

考点核心：

人物传记类文章的文体特征：

人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。