Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. You should decide on the best choice and write down your answer on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 4

It was September of 1620 when their ship, called the “Mayflower” left port with 102 men, women and children on board. This was the worst season of the year for an ocean crossing, and the trip was very uneven. After sixty-five days at sea, she landed in Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts.

The Pilgrim leaders knew that they were in unsettled territory which had no governing body. They also knew that in order to survive, every society needed a means of establishing and enforcing proper rules of conduct. Partly to protect themselves from others, forty-one men aboard the ship held a meeting to choose their first governor and sign the historic Mayflower agreement, the first one for self-government in America.

For about a month longer, the Pilgrims lived aboard ship and sent out parties to explore the coastline of the bay. They found a harbor, and cleared land, which was an Indian village, but a disease a few years earlier had killed the entire Indian population. Coming ashore in their small boat, the Pilgrims landed on a large rock later named Plymouth Rock. This was the beginning of the second permanent English settlement in America.

The Pilgrims were poorly trained and poorly equipped to cope with life in the wilderness. During their first winter in the new land, they suffered a great deal. Poor food, hard work, diseases, and bitterly cold weather killed about half of them. By the end of this terrible first winter, only about fifty Plymouth colonists remained alive.

One spring morning in 1621, an Indian walked into the little village of Plymouth and introduced himself in a friendly way. Later he brought the Indian chief, who offered assistance. The Indians taught the Pilgrims how to hunt fish, and grow food. Because of this help from the Indians, the Pilgrims had a good harvest. Then the first Thanksgiving dinner was cooked and served out-of-doors, and the holiday was a great success.