Question

Which of the following passages best expresses Mark Twain's purpose in "A Cub Pilot"? There is one faculty which a pilot must incessantly cultivate until he has brought it to absolute perfection. Nothing short of perfection will do. That faculty is memory. He [a pilot] must have good and quick judgment and decision, and a cool, calm courage that no peril can shake. "You shouldn't have allowed me or anybody else to shake your confidence in that knowledge. Try to remember that." I had become a good steersman; so good, indeed, that I had all the work to do on our watch, night and day.

Answer 1

Answer:

He [a pilot] must have good and quick judgment and decision, and a cool, calm courage that no peril can shake. "You shouldn't have allowed me or anybody else to shake your confidence in that knowledge. Try to remember that."

Explanation:

The purpose is the lesson, and the lesson was that he shouldn't have let anybody sway him in his surety.