<blockquote>
<p>Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的<strong>工具</strong> (A <strong>tool</strong> used by sailors to make wishes, communicate, and convey information when a ship is wrecked)</p>
<p>用于航海 - It was a tool <strong>used in sea-travelling</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-26T05:23:30.100Z
2024-09-26T05:23:30.100Z
Tang Ho
<p>Quote:- &quot;...my understanding is that 用于航海 means something like &quot;used to sail the seas&quot; or &quot;used for navigation&quot;. I don't see how the given answer could possibly be correct: you can't use a message in a bottle for navigation....&quot;</p>
<p>I think it is a case of &quot;lost in translation&quot;</p>
<p>My view is that 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 be translated as &quot;Early on, message-in-a-bottle were mostly used during sea voyages&quot;, in contradistinction to 如今便捷的聊天儿工具, (present day's usage as a tool for leisure chit-chat)</p>
<p>If 用于航海 is translated as &quot;used to sail the seas&quot; or &quot;used for navigation&quot;, it becomes, (as you implied), nonsensical, simply because message-in-a-bottle could not possibly be used as a tool for navigation, like a magnetic compass or a sextant, thus making the answer &quot;seemed&quot; wrong.</p>
<p>Therefore the material parts of the passage in question says that in the early days of seafaring voyages, the message-in-a-bottle was originally used by seafarers as a &quot;tool&quot; for &quot;making wishes&quot;, &quot;to communicate&quot;, and &quot;send out messages&quot; in case of shipping disasters, (漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具), and absolutely nothing about it being used as a &quot;tool&quot; or instrument for &quot;navigating&quot; the high seas, as you would a magnetic compass or sextant.</p>
<p>Finally, if one were to doggedly stick to translating 航海 in this context as &quot;navigation&quot; or &quot;navigating&quot;, then common sense would tell us that it could not be right as it sounds nonsensical, and added to that, the other suggested answer options, A, B, &amp; C, were decidedly wrong, with the possible exception of &quot;B&quot; which is also not quite correct as people still do toss messages-in-a-bottle overboard ships with the romantic notion that some soulmate somewhere would fatefully pick it up and reply to whatever message therein.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-26T11:15:50.923Z
2024-09-26T11:45:09.933Z
2024-09-26T11:45:09.933Z
Wayne Cheah
<blockquote>
<p>航海是人类在海上航行，跨越海洋，由一方陆地去到另一方陆地的活动。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>航海：sail the seas
航海者：seafarer</p>
<p>现在许多社交软件上都有“漂流瓶”交友这一功能，.
Nowadays， many social media platforms have a function for making friends called Message-in-a-Bottle,<br />
其实，
In fact,<br />
漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、<br />
Message-in-a-Bottle was used by early seafarers to make wishes,<br />
交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具。<br />
for communication, and, in case of maritime accidents, they were used as a tool to send messages. (Really??)<br />
从最初简易的邮递方式到如今便捷的聊天儿工具，<br />
From this ancient, simple style of sending a message, to our present day convenient and rapid chat tools,<br />
漂流瓶见证了人类沟通的变迁。<br />
Message-in-a-Bottle has witnessed many changes in human communication.</p>
<p>Just like Tangho said, the bottle was a tool, not quite as fast or certain of reaching it's intended destination as, say, an email!</p>
<p>The article is rubbish!</p>
<p>Did you get my bottle?<br />
No.<br />
But I sent it 19 years ago!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-26T10:04:29.010Z
2024-09-26T10:04:29.010Z
Pedroski
<p>This is from the HSK6 Official Examination Papers, 2018版 (汉语水平考试真题集), third paper, listening section, question 14:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>现在许多社交软件上都有“漂流瓶”交友这一功能，其实，漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具。从最初简易的邮递方式到如今便捷的聊天儿工具，漂流瓶见证了人类沟通的变迁。 (<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/36YEZBlD.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original</a>)</p>
<p>A. 漂流瓶被称为海上雷达<br />
B. 现代人已不需要漂流瓶<br />
C. 漂流瓶曾是盛食物的容器<br />
D. <strong>早期的漂流瓶多用于航海</strong>  (<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GsjI8jGQ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The official answer is in bold.</p>
<p>My understanding is that 漂流瓶 is literally a message in a bottle:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gdwZXGIz.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gdwZXGIz.png" alt="photo of a message in a bottle; cropped from original image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-glass-bottle-on-brown-sand-4724049/" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>and my understanding is that 用于航海 means something like &quot;used to sail the seas&quot; or &quot;used for navigation&quot;.  I don't see how the given answer could possibly be correct: you can't use a message in a bottle for navigation, nor does the audio say that you can.</p>
<p>As always, there's a chance I may have missed something, so...</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?</p>

<meaning>
Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?
# Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-26)

This is from the HSK6 Official Examination Papers, 2018版 (汉语水平考试真题集), third paper, listening section, question 14:

> 现在许多社交软件上都有“漂流瓶”交友这一功能，其实，漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具。从最初简易的邮递方式到如今便捷的聊天儿工具，漂流瓶见证了人类沟通的变迁。 ([original](https://i.sstatic.net/36YEZBlD.jpg))
>
> A. 漂流瓶被称为海上雷达  
> B. 现代人已不需要漂流瓶  
> C. 漂流瓶曾是盛食物的容器  
> D. **早期的漂流瓶多用于航海** ([original](https://i.sstatic.net/GsjI8jGQ.jpg))

The official answer is in bold.

My understanding is that 漂流瓶 is literally a message in a bottle:

> [![photo of a message in a bottle; cropped from original image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clear-glass-bottle-on-brown-sand-4724049/](https://i.sstatic.net/gdwZXGIz.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/gdwZXGIz.png)

and my understanding is that 用于航海 means something like "used to sail the seas" or "used for navigation". I don't see how the given answer could possibly be correct: you can't use a message in a bottle for navigation, nor does the audio say that you can.

As always, there's a chance I may have missed something, so...

**Question**: Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?

**Tags:** meaning


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-09-26. Score: 1

> Is there any way 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 could be correct?

航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的**工具** (A **tool** used by sailors to make wishes, communicate, and convey information when a ship is wrecked)

用于航海 - It was a tool **used in sea-travelling**


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### Answer by username_2 on 2024-09-26. Score: 1

Quote:- "...my understanding is that 用于航海 means something like "used to sail the seas" or "used for navigation". I don't see how the given answer could possibly be correct: you can't use a message in a bottle for navigation...."

I think it is a case of "lost in translation"

My view is that 早期的漂流瓶多用于航海 be translated as "Early on, message-in-a-bottle were mostly used during sea voyages", in contradistinction to 如今便捷的聊天儿工具, (present day's usage as a tool for leisure chit-chat)

If 用于航海 is translated as "used to sail the seas" or "used for navigation", it becomes, (as you implied), nonsensical, simply because message-in-a-bottle could not possibly be used as a tool for navigation, like a magnetic compass or a sextant, thus making the answer "seemed" wrong.

Therefore the material parts of the passage in question says that in the early days of seafaring voyages, the message-in-a-bottle was originally used by seafarers as a "tool" for "making wishes", "to communicate", and "send out messages" in case of shipping disasters, (漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具), and absolutely nothing about it being used as a "tool" or instrument for "navigating" the high seas, as you would a magnetic compass or sextant.

Finally, if one were to doggedly stick to translating 航海 in this context as "navigation" or "navigating", then common sense would tell us that it could not be right as it sounds nonsensical, and added to that, the other suggested answer options, A, B, & C, were decidedly wrong, with the possible exception of "B" which is also not quite correct as people still do toss messages-in-a-bottle overboard ships with the romantic notion that some soulmate somewhere would fatefully pick it up and reply to whatever message therein.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2024-09-26. Score: 0

> 航海是人类在海上航行，跨越海洋，由一方陆地去到另一方陆地的活动。

航海：sail the seas
航海者：seafarer

现在许多社交软件上都有“漂流瓶”交友这一功能，.
Nowadays， many social media platforms have a function for making friends called Message-in-a-Bottle,  
其实，
In fact,  
漂流瓶最早是航海者用于许愿、  
Message-in-a-Bottle was used by early seafarers to make wishes,  
交流和船舶失事时传达信息的工具。  
for communication, and, in case of maritime accidents, they were used as a tool to send messages. (Really??)  
从最初简易的邮递方式到如今便捷的聊天儿工具，  
From this ancient, simple style of sending a message, to our present day convenient and rapid chat tools,  
漂流瓶见证了人类沟通的变迁。  
Message-in-a-Bottle has witnessed many changes in human communication.

Just like Tangho said, the bottle was a tool, not quite as fast or certain of reaching it's intended destination as, say, an email!

The article is rubbish!

Did you get my bottle?  
No.  
But I sent it 19 years ago!


---

