What does this sentence imply about the period in which the Pony Express developed?

Question

 

The Pony Express was the first rapid transit and the first fast mail line across the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.

 

What does this sentence imply about the period in which the Pony Express developed? 

 

  

A)There were no trains that went to the Pacific Coast.

B)There was little need for rapid transit before the war.

C)Previous forms of transit to the West did not include mail.

D)There was little need to cross the continent before the war

  

       I think maybe B

Answer 1

I would eliminate choices B & D simply because no reference to war is given or implied in this sentence. Further, that the phrase "There was little need..." is problematic because it seems either to contradict the very existence of the Pony Express or to be a blatant misrepresentation. "Rapid transit" might not have been in demand, but it certainly would have been welcomed & utilized. I eliminate C because, as people migrated westward, some form of mail delivery always followed them - even if mail spent many months in transit.

Answer 2

A. trains would have been much faster than the Pony Express.