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}}(26) {{/U}} to go to sea to {{U}}(27)
{{/U}} his work. For most people the sea was {{U}}(28)
{{/U}}, and with the {{U}}(29) {{/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}}(30) {{/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}}(31) {{/U}} was
when the {{U}}(32) {{/U}} of a telegraph cable from Europe to America
was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the {{U}}(33)
{{/U}} to estimate the length of cable that had to be {{U}}(34)
{{/U}}. It was {{U}}(35) {{/U}} Maury of the US Navy
{{U}}(36) {{/U}} the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853,
{{U}}(37) {{/U}} information on this matter. The cable was laid, but not
until 1866 {{U}}(38) {{/U}} the connection made {{U}}(39) {{/U}}
and reliable. At the early {{U}}(40) {{/U}}, the cable failed and when
it was taken out for repairs {{U}}(41) {{/U}} was found to be covered in
living {{U}}(42) {{/U}}, a fact which {{U}}(43) {{/U}}
contemporary scientific opinion {{U}}(44) {{/U}} there was no life in
the deeper parts of the sea. Within a few years oceanography was
{{U}}(45) {{/U}} way.
【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。