In the early 20th century, at the advent of the telephone, it was considered a superfluous instrument which would never be of practical use in the average household.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】本题中，advent的意思是“出现，到来”。A项appearance“出现”符合题意，如：His sudden appearance surprised her．(他的突然到来使她很惊讶。，popularity“普及，流行”，dominance“优势，统治”，consolidation“巩固，合并”都不正确。