Nowadays , ships and boats are no longer so important in transportation as they used to be .   True . With the extension of railways and highways , and the improvement of safety and capacity of airplanes , ships and boats have been giving place to trains , planes and automobiles .   I read in the newspapers that the passenger liners from Shanghai to Ningpo and Dalian have been out of business ; and the liners up and down the Yangtze River have been reduced by 70 % . 