Biography of Samuel Cunard and his shipping company

文章大意

讲座介绍加拿大出生的航运大亨塞缪尔·库纳德，他创办库纳德航运公司（库纳德邮轮前身），从事北大西洋航运。1812年战争中参军升至上尉，后赴英国与友人合伙成立航运公司，1838年英国政府招标用蒸汽船运送跨大西洋邮件，库纳德借此建立定期跨洋蒸汽船队。

题目与答案

1. 31 Where did he get the shipping experience?
   • sea voyage
   • family
   • first job

   答案：first job

   原文定位：When he first left home, he was still a teenager. Then he came into a US company as a worker and learned how to sail there

   同义替换：「get the shipping experience」↔「learned how to sail there」

2. 32 The company experienced
   • The immediately profitable business
   • The business which dealt with one commodity
   • The business world widely

   答案：The business world widely

   原文定位：The company had instant wealth and could deal with more than one cargo, for its major business was in North America and the Atlantic

3. 33 Why did he want the mail contract?
   • faster
   • stronger
   • more reliable

   答案：more reliable

   原文定位：Back then, mail contact through steamships brought more punctuality, while other types of ships were always delayed. The journey times were flexible, with a transatlantic crossing lasting for six weeks and with no fixed times of departure or arrival. So it was never known when the mail would arrive, or since so many sailing ships founded, whether it would arrive at all

   同义替换：「mail contract」↔「carry the transatlantic mails by steamer」，「reliable」↔「punctuality」

4. 34 What did he do when he won the bid?
   • reduced the fleet of the ships
   • opened a new company
   • appointed a new British agent

   答案：opened a new company

   原文定位：The bid was successful. Almost at the same time, Cunard cooperated with an English businessman and established the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, the ancestor of the Cunard Line

   同义替换：「won the bid」↔「The bid was successful」，「opened a new」↔「established」

5. 35 Why did he choose Boston?
   • It was supported by the government
   • It had a good business environment
   • He once worked there

   答案：He once worked there

   原文定位：After a lot of consideration, he finally opted for Boston because he was very familiar with this city where he had once worked it

   同义替换：「choose」↔「opted for」

6. 36 What could be revealed about the 1844 event?
   • Boston had the biggest shipping company
   • Boston was not a good location for port
   • The U.S. had bad weather conditions

   答案：Boston was not a good location for port

   原文定位：Winters can be tough here in Boston. For example, in the year of eighteen forty-four, one ship sank because of the winter freeze. The ship hit icebergs and caused a heavy loss to the company. Then the board recommended the company to move to New York

7. He improved the sail safety by using 37_____ communication.

   答案：radio

   原文定位：Cunard's conservative nature enabled his company to see off rivals and to take a measured and steady approach when it came to the introduction of new technologies like radio communication

8. 38_____ were produced on the board, so passengers would not feel uneasy during the journey.

   答案：newspapers

   原文定位：In order to make sure that the passengers could have a comfortable journey, newspapers were printed on board

   同义替换：「produced」↔「printed」，「would not feel uneasy」↔「could have a comfortable」

9. Before 1912, shipping companies paid more attention to the 39_____ of the ships.

   答案：speed

   原文定位：Prior to nineteen twelve, the shipping line had focused on speed and soon was renowned for its velocity and safety

   同义替换：「Before」↔「Prior to」，「paid more attention to」↔「had focused on」

10. Afterwards, companies poured more money into decoration, which made the ships more like 40_____ .

    答案：hotels

    原文定位：After that, for affluent transatlantic passengers, Cunard brought new levels of luxury to ocean travel, lavish suites, a swimming pool, gymnasium, ballroom, electricity, and more, just like that of luxurious hotels

    同义替换：「more like」↔「just like that of」