2. 外语
  3. Before the mid 1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at this

Before the mid 1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at this

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问题      Before the mid 1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at this Missouri River, approximately the center of the country. At the point the trains turned their freight, mail, and passengers over to steamboats, wagons, and stagecoaches. This meant that wagon freighting, Stage coaching, and steam boating did not come to an end when the first train appeared; rather they became supplements or feeders. Each new "end of track" became a center for animal drawn or waterborne transportation. The major effect of the railroad was to shorten the distance that had to be covered by the older, slower, and more costly means. Wagon freighters continued operating throughout the 1870’s and 1880’s and into the 1890’s. Although over constantly shrinking routes, coaches and wagons continued to crisscross the West wherever the rails had not yet been laid. The beginning of a major change was foreshadowed in the later 1860’s, when the Union Pacific Railroad at last began to build westward from the Central Plains city of Omaha to meet the Central Pacific Railroad advancing eastward from California through the formidable barrier of the Sierra Nevada. Although President Abraham’ Lincoln signed the original Pacific Railroad bill in 1862 and a revised, financially much more generous version in 1864, little construction was completed until 1865 on the Central Pacific and 1866 on the Union Pacific. The primary reason was skepticism that a railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain, and semiarid plain could pay a profit. In the words of an economist, this was a case of "premature enterprise", where not only the cost of construction but also the very high risk deterred private investment. In discussing the Pacific Railroad bili, the chair of the congressional committee bluntly stated that without government subsidy no one would undertake so unpromising a venture; yet it was a national necessity to link East and West together.
What can be inferred about coaches and wagon freighters as the railroad expanded?
选项 A、They developed competing routes.
B、Their drivers refused to work for the railroads.
C、They began to specialize in private investment.
D、There were insufficient numbers of people to take them.
答案D
解析 事实细节题。根据文章可知随着铁路线的不断延伸，马车货运的路线日益减少，虽然马车货运经营者们继续在西部发展货运线路，但是它们只是铁路运输的补充。也就是说，乘坐这些交通工具的人将越来越少，故只有选项D 为正确。选项A“他们发展了有竞争性的线路”可以排除；而选项B 、C文中根本没有提及。
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