German Chancellor Angela Merkel won over German voters in the Federal Election on Sept. 27. Can she now be won over by a French charm offensive (1) at repairing the relationship that was once at the heart of Europe That’s the question being asked in Paris, (2) top government officials are (3) talking about their desire to rekindle closer ties (4) their neighbors across the Rhine. (5) the end of World War II the Franco-German relationship has been the motor of European integration, the (6) force behind the creation of the European Union and, more recently, the introduction of the euro. But the ardor has (7) in this decade, particularly under Merkel, who has regularly struggled to (8) her irritation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s grandstanding. Sarkozy, (9) , has often been impatient with what he (10) Merkel’s lack of resolve.
The sometimes (11) personal rapport is a long way from the public shows of affection their predecessors staged, particularly Helmut Kohl and FranCois Mitterrand, who movingly held (12) in 1984 in a Verdun cemetery. There’s been tension on (13) , too. Charles Grant, director of the London-based think tank Centre for European Reform, points out that France and Germany have been (14) on issues from how best to reflate their economies during the economic (15) to the smartest strategies for dealing with Russia.
But influential movers in France are now (16) to put the relationship back on a friendlier footing. In a recent paper French think tank Institute Montaigne (17) an ambitious agenda for the two nations, (18) that a new impetus is needed if Europe’s voice is to be heard in a world (19) of big new players, such as Brazil and India, and at a time when President Obama seems fax more (20) with China and the rest of Asia than with America’s traditional allies in Europe.
11（）
A.sound
B.harmonious
C.tense
D.hostile
参考答案：C
解析：
[解题思路] 空格所在的句子为本段首句，主语是The sometimes______personal rapport，从定冠词The可以看出，该主语是指上文中的私人关系，而上文中说的是两位领导人之间相互不满意，因此此处所选的形容词应该与此相关，且由本段第二句最后的too可以看出，第一句的主语应与tension有关，故[C]为正确答案。[A]sound，作形容词时，意为“合理的，良好的”，与上文提到的两人互相不满的态度相矛盾，用法举例：They have got home safe and sound．他们已平安到家。[B] harmonious也不符合两人的矛盾关系，用法举例：Don’t let this trifling matter affect our harmonious relations．我们别为这点小事伤了和气。虽然两人对对方都不满意，但是却没有到有敌意的程度，因此[D]不符合句意，用法举例：The speaker got a very hostile reception from the audience．演讲人遭到了听众强烈的反对。