单选题 The sea is the common property of all nations. It belongs equally to all. None can appropriate it exclusively to themselves; nor is it "foreign" to any.
This was the decision of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States from 1801 to 1835. It was stated as a fundamental rule of the sea that no one, and therefore everyone, owns the ocean. This means that outside territorial waters (the waters within three miles of a country"s coast), the law is whatever nations agree on in peacetime and whatever the strongest naval powers can enforce in wartime.
After the United States purchased Alaska, Americans began to seize Canadians who were hunting seals outside Alaskan territorial waters. The Americans claimed that the seals were American property because they often came in to the Alaskan shores owned by the United States. International arbitrators disagreed with this reasoning. In some cases, however, the special rights of a nation that makes use of an open-sea area are recognized.
All of the sea"s rules of the road are established by international conferences and treaties.

单选题 The fundamental rule of the sea means that ______.

A、 the sea should be equally divided among all the nations in the world
B、 any area of the sea belongs to the nation closest to it
C、 no nation has any sea rights
D、 no nation has exclusive right to the open sea

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 由文章第一段第二、三句“It belongs equally to all. None can appropriate it exclusively to themselves; nor is it "foreign" to any.”和第二段第三句“It was stated as a fundamental rule of the sea that no one, and therefore everyone, owns the ocean.”可知D项正确。

单选题 The Americans" claim to the seals was based on ______.

A、 the idea that the seals coming to American shores were American property
B、 the idea that they were international arbitrators
C、 the fact that the United States had purchased all the waters of Alaska
D、 the fact that the United States had special rights for open-sea areas

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 从第三段第二句“The Americans claimed that the seals were American property because they often came in to the Alaskan shores owned by the United States.”可知A正确。

单选题 International arbitrators decided that ______.

A、 Canada had no right to hunt seals of Alaska
B、 the Canadians could hunt the seals outside Alaskan territorial waters
C、 the United States could claim the seals as its property
D、 the Americans could not hunt the seals

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 文章第三段倒数第二句提到“International arbitrators disagreed with this reasoning.”其中“this”指的是前面一句美国的声明。四个选项中只有B项较为符合本句隐含意思，故选B。

单选题 In peacetime, nations may acquire special rights on open waters by ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 文章第二段结尾提到“...the law is whatever nations agree on in peacetime and whatever the strongest naval powers can enforce in wartime.”其中agree on与C一致。

单选题 The main idea of this passage is that ______.

A、 the law of the sea was stated by John Marshall
B、 some nations are able to acquire special open sea rights
C、 every nation owns its territorial waters
D、 the laws of the sea are established by international agreement

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 根据全文的讲述以及最后一句“All of the sea"s rules of the road are established by international conferences and treaties.” 可知D为正确答案。