单选题
Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an
interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton
considered some theoretical' aspects of it in his writings, but he was {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}to go to sea to {{U}} {{U}} 2
{{/U}} {{/U}}his work. For most people the sea was {{U}}
{{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}, and with the {{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}of early international travelers or others who earned a living
from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, {{U}}
{{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The
flint time that the question "What is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be
answered with any commercial {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}was when
the {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}of a telegraph cable from Europe
to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the
{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}to estimate the length of cable that
had to be {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}. It was
{{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}Maury of the US Navy {{U}}
{{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in
1853, {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}information on this matter.
The cable was laid, but not until 1866 {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the connection made {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}and
reliable. At the early {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}, the cable
failed and when it was taken out for repairs {{U}} {{U}} 16
{{/U}} {{/U}}was found to be covered in living {{U}} {{U}} 17
{{/U}} {{/U}}, a fact which {{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}}
{{/U}}contemporary scientific opinion {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}}
{{/U}}there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea. Within a
few years oceanography was {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}}
{{/U}}way.
单选题
A. reluctant
B. irreluctant
C. reductant
D. redundant
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本空缺所在的句子有三个关键词，它们是theoretical，but和go to sea，据此，我们知道虽然Newton做了一些理论研究工作，但其不愿go to sea进行进一步的实践活动，所以在此要选A。