【摘要】
Passage Three
Hotels go far back into history. There may have been inns as long ago as 500 B.C., when adventurous Greeks began to roam the world. There were hotels at Pompeii, too. Their damaged foundations were discovered in the 1800’s, but they tell very little of how these hotels were operated.
We have information about hotels in the Orient in the thirteenth century. Trade routes from Egypt and Europe into Asia were well traveled by merchants and their followers. Places in which these travelers could find shelter for the night gradually grew up along the way. At first they were only plots of ground near a spring. A little later the plots of ground were enclosed within high walls for the protection of the travelers. Still later, roofs were built over the walls. As civilization progressed, so did hotels. In time, they began to serve food and drink.
During the early Middle Ages, inns were extremely important. When civilization was centered in southern Europe and in the East, travelers who lived at great distances from one another met in inns. Travel then was a leisurely affair, and people spent days exchanging news and comments. They discussed the customs of their different countries and told one another facts, fables, poems, and stories. This word- of- mouth exchange played a great part in the spread of civilization.
The first inn to be identified by a particular name was the Great St. Bernard, established about 962 A.D. It was located in the Alps for the convenience of weary pilgrims on their way to Rome. It was a massive stone structure offering shelter for approximately three hundred people and capable of supplying beds for seventy to eighty travelers. The Great St. Bernard was first in another way too. It was the first inn to offer special service to travelers—in this case, the famous dogs kept by the monks to track down travelers who had lost their way.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. To when can the earliest hotel be traced back?
34. According to the passage, when civilization was centered in southern Europe and in the East, which of the functions was the most important for the hotels?
35. In the first inn with a particular name, what was the special service for travelers?