The First Navigational Lights In the New World the first navigational lights were probably lanterns hung at harbor entrances

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问题                    The First Navigational Lights
    In the New World the first navigational lights were probably lanterns hung at harbor entrances. The first lighthouse was put up by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1716 on little Brewster Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor. Paid for and maintained by "light dues" levied on ships, the original beacon was blown up in 1776. By then there were only a dozen of so true lighthouses in the colonies. Little over a century later, there were 700 lighthouses.
    The first eight lighthouses erected on the west coast in the 1850’s featured the same basic new England design: a Cape Cod dwelling with the tower rising from the center or standing close by. In New England and elsewhere, though, lighthouses reflected a variety of architectural styles. Since most stations in the Northeast were built on rocky eminences, enormous towers were not the rule. Some were made of stone and brick, others of wood or metal. Some stood on pilings or stilts; Some were fastened to rock with iron rods. Farther south, from Maryland through the Florida Keys, the coast was low and sandy, it was often necessary to build tall towers there, massive structures like the majestic Cape Hatteras, North Carolina lighthouse, which was lit in 1870. At 190 feet, is the tallest brick lighthouse in the country.
    Notwithstanding differences in appearance and construction, most American lighthouses shared several features: a light, living quarters and sometimes a bell (later, a foghorn). They also had something else in common, a keeper and usually, the keeper’s family. The keeper’s essential task was trimming the lantern wick in order to maintain a steady, bright flame. The earliest keepers came from every walk of life ; they were seamen, farmers, mechanics, rough mill hands and appointments were often handed out by local customs commissioners as political plums. After the administration of lighthouses was taken over in 1852 by the United States Lighthouse Board, an agency of the Treasury Department, the keeper gradually became highly professional.  
We can know from the passage that the coast of North Carolina is______.

选项 A、rocky eminences
B、high and flat
C、low and sandy
D、high and sandy

答案C

解析 本题考查考生的推论能力。考的是北卡罗来纳州的海岸情况。根据原文第二段第七、八句话:Farther south,from Maryland through the Florida Keys,the coast was low and sandy, it was often necessary to build tall towers there-massive structures like the majestic Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, lighthouse, which was lit in 1870, At 190 feet, it is the tallest brick light-house in the country. 可知,马里兰(Maryland)和佛罗里达海岸(the Florida Keys)需建同北卡罗来纳州(Cape Hatteras)一样高大的灯塔。由此可以推知北卡罗来纳州(Cape Hatteras)的海岸情况与马里兰((Maryland)和佛罗里达海岸(the Florida Keys)相似,而马里兰(Maryland)和佛罗里达(the Florida Keys)的海岸是low and sandy。所以,北卡罗来纳州也应是low and sandy。选项A:rocky eminences指的是美国东北海岸,选项B、D根本没有提及。所以,正确答案是C。
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