閱讀理解
It is 9:00 a.m. in Venice, and a peaceful silence covers the city's narrow streets and canals (運河). Day-trippers begin to arrive at the lagoon (環礁湖), while Luca Padoan leans against a wall near the Rio della Misericordia. As he watches the neighborhood come alive, a few tourists approach, asking if they can photograph the gondola boat to his left. "I have always explained that this is not a gondola, but its ancestor," Padoan said. Smaller than gondolas, sandoli are ancient boats that have been used by everyday Venetians for centuries.
"If you do not understand the origin of the city and its development, you cannot explain the historical importance of the sandolo. The average depth of the lagoon in the past was incredibly shallow. With a normal boat, you couldn't get there," explained Valentino Scarpa, who oversees the nine stations where sandolo boats continue to carry Venetians and tourists through the canals today.
"Historically, every family owned a sandolo. It was the means used in the city to carry people around, to fish, and to transport materials," said sandolo rower Livio Bon. But as Venetians began to realize that rowing a gondola was easier than rowing a sandolo, these ancient boats started to be replaced by gondolas. "It's clear that being able to go with two oars (槳) in a sandolo is an advancement because it allows you to go faster. However, the gondola, being asymmetrical (不對稱的), is more manageable and easier to row in small canals," Scarpa explained. "The gondola became more and more popular. As a result, the number of sandoli has decreased."
Today, only 20 sandolo rowers (sandolisti) are left in Venice, compared to 433 gondola rowers. Yet, according to the few remaining sandolisti, riding through the canal in a sandolo is one of the most unique ways to experience Venice's history. Not only do most sandolisti believe its design inspired the gondola and that it holds a special place among many Venetians, it can also explore areas of the city where gondolas can't go.
1. What does the story in paragraph 1 try to express?
A. Venice is getting busy with tourists.
B. Few people know about the sandolo boat.
C. Luca Padoan enjoys explaining Venice's culture.
D. The sandolo boat is frequently used by tourists.
2. What made gondolas more popular than sandoli?
A. They were more spacious.
B. They could travel faster.
C. They were simpler to handle.
D. They had a longer service life.
3. What do sandolo rowers think of the sandolo?
A. It will lose its popularity.
B. It is a means of earning a living.
C. It inspires the future boat design.
D. It is a reminder of Venice's history.
4. Which of the following could be a suitable title for the text?
A. Venice's Forgotten Boat
B. Development of Gondolas
C. Venice's Ancient Waterways
D. The Last Sandolo Rowers
答案：1. B
解析：根據第一段游客誤將sandolo當成gondola可知，很少有人了解sandolo，選B。
2. C
解析：根據第三段“the gondola, being asymmetrical... is more manageable and easier to row”可知，gondola更容易操作，選C。
3. D
解析：根據最后一段“riding through the canal in a sandolo is one of the most unique ways to experience Venice's history”可知，sandolo是威尼斯歷史的象征，選D。
4. A
解析：文章主要介紹了被遺忘的sandolo船，A項“Venice's Forgotten Boat”符合主旨，選A。
4. Which of the following could be a suitable title for the text?
A. Venice's Forgotten Boat
B. Development of Gondolas
C. Venice's Ancient Waterways
D. The Last Sandolo Rowers
答案：A
解析：全文圍繞sandolo展開，強調其歷史重要性及被gondola取代的現狀，A項“威尼斯被遺忘的船”概括主旨。B項“貢多拉的發展”偏離主題；C項“古老水道”范圍過大；D項“最后的sandolo槳手”僅為細節。
