1．Because the flights to the Northeast were canceled. 根据第一段Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm.可判断作答。
2．By train. 根据第二段We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.可判断作答。
3．To bring out the topic. 根据第二、三段的过渡可判断作答。
4．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be. 根据最后一段可判断作答。
