单项选择题

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage: In 1857, when Mark Twain, born Samuel Clemens, became an apprentice river pilot, steam boating had been a part of the Mississippi scene for a quarter of a century. The steamboat dominated life along the old river. How well Sam knew the magic cry. S-t-e-a-m-boat are-coming, which woke his sleepy little hometown of Hannibal Missouri. Ten minutes before a steamboat touched the dock, the town would be dead, and ten minutes after the boat had departed, the familiar boatman’s sounding call “mark twain", meaning that the river depth measured two fathoms, or twelve feet of water, could still be heard. Twain’s first experience as a cub pilot was aboard the steamer Paul Jones, out of New Orleans, and his instructor was the strict Horace Bixby. Through his experience as a pilot, Sam Clemens soon learned that there was more to piloting on the Old Mississippi than having sharp eyes. The most important skill was the necessary of a memory. About three years after Clemens received his pilot’s license, the Civil War cut off Mississippi steam boating in its prime. It never fully recovered; just when fine boats like the Natchez and the Robert E. Lee were reviving the old glory, along came the depression of 1873.

The depression in 1873 （）.

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