Question

The Pony Express

Chapter I
At A Nation's Crisis

The Pony Express was the first rapid transit and the first fast mail line across the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. It was a system by means of which messages were carried swiftly on horseback across the plains and deserts, and over the mountains of the far West. It brought the Atlantic coast and the Pacific slope ten days nearer to each other.

It had a brief existence of only sixteen months and was supplanted by the transcontinental telegraph. Yet it was of the greatest importance in binding the East and West together at a time when overland travel was slow and cumbersome, and when a great national crisis made the rapid communication of news between these sections an imperative necessity.

The Pony Express marked the highest development in overland travel prior to the coming of the Pacific railroad, which it preceded nine years. It, in fact, proved the feasibility of a transcontinental road and demonstrated that such a line could be built and operated continuously the year around—a feat that had always been regarded as impossible.

The operation of the Pony Express was a supreme achievement of physical endurance on the part of man and his ever faithful companion, the horse. The history of this organization should be a lasting monument to the physical sacrifice of man and beast in an effort to accomplish something worthwhile. Its history should be an enduring tribute to American courage and American organizing genius.

Read this sentence from the text:

The Pony Express was the first rapid transit and the first fast mail line across the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.

What does this sentence imply about the period in which the Pony Express developed? (5 points)

There were no trains that went to the Pacific Coast.

There was little need for rapid transit before the war.

Previous forms of transit to the West did not include mail.

There was little need to cross the continent before the war.

Answer 1

There were no trains that went to the Pacific Coast.

Step-by-step explanation:

The given sentence implies that there were no trains that went to the Pacific Coast at the time the Pony Express was developed. Trains would be with no doubt a faster and more convenient way to deliver mail than men riding horses. If there were trains going to the Pacific Coast at the time, there would be no need for the Pony Express.

The war isn't mentioned at all, which is why we can automatically eliminate the second and fourth options as correct.

The third option is incorrect because we can't conclude that previous forms of transit to the West did not include mail. They probably did, because the mail had to be delivered somehow, but they weren't fast at delivering.

This is why the first option is the correct one.