Before the 1500’s, the western plains of North America were dominated by farmers. One group, the Mandans, (31) in the upper Missouri River country, primarily in present-day North Dakota. They had large villages of houses (32) close together. The (33) arrangement enabled the Mandans to protect themselves more easily (34) the attacks of others who might seek to (35) some of the food these highly capable farmers stored from one year to the next. The women had primary responsibility for the fields. They had to exercise (36) skill to produce the desired results, (37) their northern location meant fleeting growing seasons. Winter often lingered; autumn could (38) by severe frost. For good measure, during the spring and summer, drought, heat, hail, grasshoppers, and other (39) might await the wary grower. Under (40) conditions, Mandan women had to grow maize capable of weathering (41) They began (42) it appeared feasible to do so in the spring. Harvesting proceeded in (43) stages. In August the Mandans picked a small amount of the crop (44) it had matured fully. This green corn was boiled, dried, and shelled, with some of the maize (45) for immediate consumption and the reststored in (46) bags. Later in the fall, the people picked the rest of the corn. They saved the best of the harvest for seeds or for trade, (47) the remainder eaten right away or stored for later use in underground reserves. With appropriate (48) of the extra food, the Mandans protected themselves (49) the disaster of crop failure and accompanying (50) .
A. to B. as C. for D. with
Longitude and Latitude The meridians of longitude are imaginary great circles drawn from pole to pole around the earth. By international agreement, the meridian of longitude passing through Greenwich, England, is numbered zero. The earth is divided into 360 degrees, and the meridians are numbered east and west from Greenwich. There are 180 degrees of longitude east of Greenwich and 180 degrees in the westerly direction. New York has a longitude of 74 degrees west (74oW.) which means that it lies on the 74th meridian west of Greenwich. Since the sun appears to travel around the earth in 24 hours, it will move 360/24 or 15 degrees in one hour. This reasoning can be used by navigators to determine their longitude. Imagine that we have set sail from Greenwich, England, after having set a very accurate clock, or chronometer, to the local Greenwich time. As we travel westward toward New York, we notice that the sun is going "slower" than our chronometer. At the time that our timepiece reads 12 o’clock, the sun has not quite reached the zenith. As a matter of fact, when our clock reads noon, what it really means is that it’s noon in Greenwich, England. Our clock continues to tell us the time, not at our present location, but at Greenwich. Let us wait until the sun is directly overhead (noon at our location) and then read the time on our clock. Suppose it reads i o’clock. This means that there is one hours difference in time between our longitude and that of Greenwich. As we mentioned earlier, this corresponds to exactly 15 degrees of longitude, so our longitude must be 150 W. The world is divided into 24 time zones, and each zone corresponds to 15 degrees of longitude. New York is approximately 5 time zones west of Greenwich, so the time difference must be about 5 hours. By maintaining chronometers on Greenwich time, ships can determine their longitude on any sunny day by merely noting the difference in hours between Greenwich time and local sun time and multiplying this difference by 15 degrees. Of course, longitude gives only half of the information needed to determine our precise location. We must also know our latitude, which tells us how far we are north or south of the Equator. The Equator is the zero line for the measurement of latitude. Circles are drawn parallel to the Equator to indicate other values of latitude. There are 90 degrees of south latitude. In the Northern Hemisphere there is a star called Polaris almost directly over the North Pole. This makes it possible to determine the latitude of a given point by setting our sextant (六分仪) to measure the angle between Polaris;the North Star, and the horizon. Mathematicians tell us that this angle is equal to the latitude at the point in question. To get idea of our location, therefore, we need to know local time, Greenwich time, and the angle between Polaris and the horizon. A navigator’s chronometer will always show _____________.
A. Greenwich time
B. noon time
C. local time
D. sun time