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LC · Live Cattle ·Bridge of Death · Question 08 of 11

The Container Line

The scene

You are a Knight of the Round Table — a Launcelot, a Galahad, a Sir Robin, perhaps King Arthur himself — and your quest, as you shall shortly declare, is to seek the Holy Grail. The road requires crossing the Gorge of Eternal Peril. The only way across is the Bridge of Death. There stands the Bridgekeeper, an old man with a staff, who will ask you three questions. Answer rightly, and he waves you past. Answer wrongly, and — into the gorge you will be thrown. Good luck.

At the bridge

“STOP! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.”

, Gorge of Eternal Peril.

1Question the first

What… is your name?

“

Answer

State your name.

2Question the second

What… is your quest?

“

Answer

I seek the Holy Grail of trading.

3Question the third

What… is the length, in miles, of the line if every shipping container of US beef bound for China in a year were placed end to end at the port?

In 2003, China banned all US beef after the first American BSE case. For fourteen years, shipments ran at zero. In 2017, Beijing reopened the market. Today, roughly 200,000 tonnes a year of US beef cross the Pacific, bound for Chinese restaurants, hotpot chains, and e-commerce platforms like Alibaba’s Freshippo. The Bridgekeeper, inspecting the dock at Qingdao, asks how long the line of containers runs.

Select one of the five answers below. Choose carefully, and accept your fate.