Question

Read the passage. Answer the question that follows.

The Pony Express was the first fast mail line across America from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. It was a system where messages were carried swiftly on horseback across the plains and deserts, and over the mountains of the far West. It brought the Atlantic coast and the Pacific slope ten days nearer to each other.

It only lasted sixteen months before it was replaced by the transcontinental telegraph. Yet it was of the greatest importance in connecting the East and West when land travel was slow and difficult. It came at a pivotal point when a national crisis required swift communication among locations in the United States.

The Pony Express marked the highest development in land travel and was around nine years before the Pacific Railroad.

Which sentence states the central idea of the passage?

The Pony Express was the first mail line.
The transcontinental telegraph replaced the Pony Express.
There was a national crisis in the United States during the 1800s.
The Pony Express was instrumental in changing communication speeds and methods.

Answer 1

The Pony Express was instrumental in changing communication speeds and methods.

Step-by-step explanation:

"It came at a pivotal point when a national crisis required swift communication among locations in the United States." & "The Pony Express marked the highest development in land travel and was around nine years before the Pacific Railroad."