The number of people who lost homes reached as many as 250,000. [《高中英语教科书》第一册(上),人教社,p.26]
与该书配套的《教师教学用书》(p.108)对 as many as 的解释是：“‘as many as’的意思是‘和……一样多’，类似的结构还有 as long as（和……一样长），as high as（和……一样高），as wide as（和……一样宽）等。”
在 as many as + 数词结构中, as many as 是“和……一样多”的意思吗?
当 as many(long, high, wide) as 与数词连用时，它是一种表达说话人“言其多（长、高、宽）”的口气的，因此，不能解释为“与……一样多（长、高、宽）”，而应解释为“多（长、高、宽）达……”或“……之多（长、高、宽）”。把句中的 as many(long, high, wide) as 去掉之后，句子仍是完整的，但却失掉了说话人“言其多（长、高、宽）”的口气（参见 as … as ）。例如：
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Three people offered to buy it. 有三个人出价买这件东西。(此句没有表达出说话人认为三个人是多,还是少,只是客观地描述)
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As many as three people offered to buy it. 出价买这件东西的有三人之多。（此句表达出了说话人“言其多”的口气）
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He can jump 1.8 metres. 他跳高可以跳到 1.8 米。(说话人没有表达出跳到 1.8 米是跳得高,还是跳得低)
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He can jump as high as 1.8 metres. 他跳高可以跳到1.8米之高。（表达了说话者“言其高”的口气，外行人也可以看出跳到1.8米算是很高的了）
请做下面的英语试题：
After supper she would sit down by the fire, sometimes for ____ an hour, thinking of her young and happy days.
A. as long as B. as soon as C. as much as D. as many as(上海高考,03春-25)