单选题
Severe winter storms have worsened the nation's usual post-holiday blood shortage, 27 an urgent call today for people to donate blood. Type O blood is the most urgently needed, because it is the 28 blood type, meaning it can be safely 29 to most people in an emergency. 'The severe winter weather has forced the cancellation of blood drives and limited our 30 to collect blood,' American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole said. The Red Cross reported having less than one day's supply of Type O blood on hand in 18 of the organization's 38 collection regions. The Red Cross 31 about half of the nation's blood supply. America's Blood Centers, which supplies most of the rest, also has reported shortages. Reacting to the shortage, a Pittsburgh blood bank asked 40 hospitals in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to 32 elective surgeries through Wednesday. At least 1,000 donors are needed each day for the next several days to stabilize the supply, said Mark Lynch, spokesman for the Central Blood Bank. 'We're talking about (postponing) hip replacement, for example, and orthopedic cases. These are sick people who need surgery, but it's not life 33 ,' he said. When its blood supply is 34 , the blood bank needs about 700 donors each day to maintain normal inventory. The Pittsburgh blood bank last asked hospitals to postpone elective surgeries because of a blood shortage in October 1995. Such procedures were canceled for almost a week. Nationwide, donations typically fall off during the holidays, when donors become too busy to give blood 35 . Bad weather increases shortages both by 36 blood drives and by causing increased blood demand to treat accident victims. A. threatening B. popular C. postpone D. regularly E. receives F. ability G. universal H. refuse I. transfused J. stable K. immediately L. prompting M. blocking N. density O. provides
问答题
【正确答案】L
【答案解析】分析句子主干可知，空格前是一个成分完整的分句，空格后是名词短语，因此空格处应填现在分词，作伴随状语。符合语法条件的三个选项threatening、prompting和blocking中，只有prompting与句中的blood shortage和an urgent call today for people to donate blood相对应，prompt意为“促使，催促”。故选L。 [参考译文] 每年节后全国都会出现储血短缺，今冬的大暴雪使这一情况更加严重，促使现在紧急号召人们献血。O型血最为急需，因为O型血是通用血型，也就是说在紧急情况下给大多数患者输送O型血都很安全。“今冬严寒的天气使得献血活动被迫取消，我们的采血能力也受到限制。”美国红十字会主席伊丽莎白·多尔说。红十字会称在该机构的38个采血地区中，有18个地区的O型血储血量不足一天的需求量。红十字会提供美国约一半的用血。其余用血大部分由美国血液中心提供，而该中心的储血量也同样告急。 为应对血液短缺，匹兹堡一家血库要求西宾夕法尼亚、西弗吉尼亚以及俄亥俄州的40所医院将非急需施行的手术推迟至周三。中央血库的发言人马克·林奇表示，在接下来的几天里，每天至少需要1000名献血者献血才能使血液供应稳定。“我们指的是(推迟)如髋关节置换术以及整形外科手术这样的手术。这些病人需要接受这些手术，但推迟手术不会危及生命。”他说。血液供应稳定后，血库每天需要约700名献血者以保证储血量维持在正常水平。匹兹堡血库上一次因储血不足而要求医院推迟非急需施行的手术还是在1995年10月。当时这种取消手术的规定大约持续了一周。 在美国全国范围内，节假日期间献血者往往会减少，因为人们假期通常会很忙，不能照常献血。而恶劣的天气更是加剧了供血不足，一是由于献血活动受阻，二是由于治疗意外受伤患者所需的血液增加。