The firstnavigational lights in the New World wereprobably lanterns hung at harbor en-trances .The first lighthouse was put up bythe Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1716 on

Little Brewster Islandat the entrance to Boston Harbor.Paidfor and maintained by“lightdues”levied（征收）on ships,theoriginal beacon was blown up in 1776.Until then

there were only adozen or so true lighthouses in the colonies .Little over a century later,therewere 700 lighthouses.

The first eightlighthouses erected on the West Coast in the l850s featured the same basic NewEngland design:a Cape Cod dwelling with thetower rising from the center or

standing close by.In New England andelsewhere,though,lighthouses reflected a variety of architectural styles.

Since most stationsin the Northeast were set up on rocky eminences（高处）,enormous towers were not the rule .Some were made ofstone and brick,others of wood or

metal.Some stood on

pilings orstilts;some were fastened to rock with iron rods.Farther south,from Maryland through the Florida Keys,thecoast was low and sandy.It was often necessary to build

tall towersthere—massive structures like the majestic lighthouse in Cape Hatteras,NorthCarolina,which was lit in 1870.190 feet high,it is the tallest brick lighthousein the

country.

Not withstandingdifferences in construction appearance,most lighthouses in America shared several features:alight,living quarters,and sometimes a bell(or,later,a

foghorn).They alsohad something else in common:a keeper and usually the keeper's family.Thekeeper's essential task was trimming the lantern wick（灯芯）in order to

maintain asteady,bright flame.The earli-est keepers came from every walk of life,theywere seamen,farmers,mechanics,rough mill hands and appointments were often

handed out by localcustoms commissioners as political plums.After the administration of lighthousewas taken over in 1852 by the United States Lighthouse Board,and

agency of theTreasury Department,the keeper corps gradually became highly profes- sional.It can be inferredfrom the passage that lighthouses in the Northeast did NOT need high tow-ersbecause______.

A.ships there hadhigh masts

B.coastal waterswere safe

C.the coast wasstraight and unobstructed

D.the lighthouseswere built on high places