5．
阅读短文，回答问题。
In early November of
1503, during Christopher Columbus's fourth and final trip to America, his ship was
seriously damaged in a storm. Columbus and his men had to live on a small island
for several months while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain.
At first, the local
people on the island were very kind to the European visitors, giving them all the
food and clothes they needed to survive. However, as months passed, the local people
became more and more unhappy with their guests, who were tricking and stealing from
them. Finally the locals decided to stop helping. Without food or any way to leave
the island, Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble.
Luckily for Columbus,
he had a book about the stars and planets on his ship. It described the movements
of all the objects in the night sky. The book, written by a well-known German scientist,
said there would be a total lunar eclipse(月全食) on the evening of February 29, 1504 and how long it would last.
Columbus worked out
the difference in time between Germany and North America. He then had a meeting
with the local leaders just before the eclipse would take place. In this meeting,
Columbus told them his god was angry because the local people were no longer giving
food. So his god would take away the moon to punish them. The moment Columbus finished
talking, just as he had planned, the moon began disappearing.
The local leaders grew
panicked and quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted.
But first, Columbus's god had to return the moon. Columbus told them he would have
to discuss the idea with his god on his ship. Knowing the moon would stay completely
hidden for about 48 minutes, Columbus returned just before the moon began to reappear.
From that day on, until they finally left, Columbus and his men no longer had any
trouble getting the food they needed.
