The person who can see a ship without some feeling of excitement must have very little imagination. Even the idea of leaving the solid land (1)_____ most of us were born and brought (2)_____ and going out on to the ever-moving waters must rouse (3)_____ some feelings of strangeness. We may remember stories of terrible storms, with waves (4)_____ mountains, and of people from ships which have sunk (5)_____ weeks in small boats hundreds of miles from land. But we have also (6)_____ joy of traveling on calm seas under blue (7)_____ and of the (8)_____ excitement of coming to a new beautiful land which we have seen only in pictures before. (9)_____ ships are not, of course, made chiefly for pleasure: their biggest use is in carrying goods from country to country. (10)_____ ships can carry more goods than (11)_____ means of transport, and can (12)_____ so more cheaply. If ships (13)_____ the British government would not be able to feed (14)_____ people. 　Ships have also made (15)_____ to discover more and more distant parts of our world. (16)_____ is known to all, Columbus used a ship to discover America about 450"years ago. And (17)_____ ships are used for exploring the Antarctic. (18)_____ would, in fact, not be (19)_____ to say that ships have for thousands of years (20)_____ one of the most important parts in shaping society.