阅读理解 Canals existed in Egypt thousands of years ago. The great canal at Babylon was built about 2000 B. C.. The Grand Canal of China, which is over 900 miles long, was begun about 2500 years ago, and took centuries to finish. During the seventeenth century, France built many canals that are still in use today. However, they are not so heavily traveled as they were a hundred years ago, before railways were built. One such canal is a short-cut between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Canals in Germany permit boats to go from the Black Sea to the North Sea. The Kiel Canal provides a passageway between the North Sea and the Baltic. In America, the Great Lakes are all connected by canals, enabling ships to go from the Atlantic Ocean and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Superior.
It is impossible to answer the question, "Who built the first canal?" Perhaps some people long ago, living in a dry country, discovered that they could dig ditches to irrigate their fields with river water. And, naturally, in the days when boats were the most important means of transport, canals were the easiest means of reaching a place that was not on a river. A canal joining two rivers proved both easy and time-saving for boat travel.
Today, most countries in the world have canals. Even in the twentieth century, goods can move more cheaply by boat than by any other means of transport. Some canals, such as the Suez or the Panama, save ships weeks of time by making their voyage a thousand miles shorter. Other canals permit boats to reach cities that are not located on the coast. Still other canals drain lands where there is too much water, help to irrigate fields where there is not enough, water, and furnish water power for factories and mills.

单选题 Which of the following pairs of places has not yet been connected by canal?

单选题 According to this passage, canals in Europe were built primarily for_________.

单选题 It is implied in the passage that the first canal was probably built_________.

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to this passage?

单选题 The main purpose of the author in writing this passage is most probably to _.