请教曹老师:

Punctuality is a necessary habit in all public affairs in civilized society. Without it, nothing could ever be brought to a conclusion; everything would be in state of chaos. Only in a sparsely-populated rural community is it possible to disregard it. In ordinary living, there can be some tolerance of unpunctuality. The intellectual, who is working on some abstruse problem, has everything coordinated and organized for the matter in hand. He is therefore forgiven if late for a dinner party. But people are often reproached for unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting things fine. It is hard for energetic, quick-minded people to waste time, so they are often tempted to finish a job before setting out to keep an appointment. If no accidents occur on the way, like punctured tires, diversions of traffic, sudden descent of fog, they will be on time. They are often more industrious, useful citizens than those who are never late. The over-punctual can be as much a trial to others as the unpunctual. The guest who arrives half an hour too soon is the greatest nuisance. Some friends of my family had this irritating habit. The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other guests. Then they arrived just when we wanted them.

1）The intellectual 和 The guest 这2个用the是特指吗？为什么第一次提及就用the特指呢？

2）unpunctuality when their only fault is cutting things fine. - 这是when引导的定语从句吧？（感觉理解成when状语从句不通顺）；其中 is cutting things fine 是 is + 动名词，而不是进行时？

3）辅导书上说 The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other guests. =  The only thing to do was ask them to come half an hour later than the other guests (were asked to come), 对吗？

以上3个问题，麻烦老师分析指正，谢谢。