one more passage from 1989

[Dipendra]

When the persuading and the planning for the Western railroads had finally been completed, the really challenging task remained: the danoerous, sweaty, backbreaking, brawling business of actually building the lines. The men who took Ii on comprised the most cosmopolitan work crew in American history. They included Civil War veteran and freed slaves, Irish and German immigrants. Mormons and atheists. Shoshonis. Palutes, Washos. and Chinese.

 

At the peak of their labors, the work crews laid two to five miles of track a day. The men filled ravines. ran spidery trestles across rivers and valleys, and punched holes through mountains. And they did alt these jobs largely by their own muscle power. Flaicars carried rails to within half a mile of the railhead; there the iron was loaded onto carts. An eyewitness described the procedure: 'A light car, drawn by a single horse, gallops up to the front with its load of rails. Two men seize the end of a rail and start forward. the rest of the gang taling hold by twos Until it is clear of the car. They come forward at a run. At the word of command. the rail is dropped in its place. right side up Less than thirty seconds to a rail for each gang. and so four rails go down to the minute.',

 

 

4. Which of the following phrases could be substituted for the phrase "clear of" (line 12)without changing the meaning of the sentence?

 

(A) put through

(B) visible to

 

© away from

 

(D.) open to

 

I think the answer is B, but not sure. please explain

[wasleys]

Two men seize the end of a rail and start forward. the rest of the gang taling hold by twos until it is clear of the car.

 

4. Which of the following phrases could be substituted for the phrase clear of without changing the meaning of the sentence?

 

(A) put through

(B) visible to

© away from

(D.) open to

 

I think the answer is B, but not sure. please explain

Dipendra,

 

C. In this sense clear has the meaning of being out of the way of something or clearly separated from other things.

 

Examples might include 'stand clear' and 'two clear days'. A similar use is of clearance to mean the gap between two things, eg 'limited clearance between the train and the tunnel wall'.

 

Michael