The International Whaling Commission’s (IWC) decision to retain its ban on whaling does not mean that the killings will stop. Quite the (1) .
Save the Whale. It’s a phrase which became annoying with (2) , an unfavorable shorthand for liberal consciences. How appalling, then, that in the year 2010, it should be pressed (3) service again, to fight the whaling nations: Norway and Iceland, who exempted themselves from the 1986 prohibition (4) by the IWC, and Japan, which hunts whales under cover of " (5) research".
I am completely (6) by this week’s events in Morocco, where talks broke down. In my heart, I agree with those who have (7) the news that this year’s negotiations of the IWC have broken up, and (8) the prohibition would not be lifted (as the US proposed in a desperate (9) to break the deadlock). Yet reason (10) something else. If we do not (11) some kind of new control, the (12) will be able to go on with their slaughter (13) . Membership of the IWC is (14) , and the ban was only ever intended to be (15) . Japan, which has been buying the votes of nations with no interest in whaling (only in the 16 Japan offers in turn), will continue to press its case, having invested millions of dollars in its (17) . Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand’s Commissioner at the IWC, has proposed a year-long (18) period. In the meantime, more whales will die.
We stand at a crossroad for whales. We see the (19) existence of these animals as an indicator of ecological threat. As symbols of an endangered world, they evoke, and provoke, a feeling that they have the same qualities as human on a scale equal to their size and supposed (20) . To some this is so much sentimental words in the New Age.
16（）
A.advice
B.aid
C.guide
D.lesson
参考答案：B
解析：
[试题考点] 上下文语意关系与名词词义辨析。
[解题思路] 本句的空格设在括号中，括号前的句子意为“日本收买(buying the votes...)那些对鲸鱼问题不感兴趣的国家”，括号内句子意为“他们只对日本作为回报提供的______感兴趣”，括号中的in前面省略了interested, (interested in ______ Japan offers)，将各个选项代入文中，只有选项[B]aid符合文意，“他们只对日本提供的帮助感兴趣”。
[干扰排除] 选项[A]advice意为“意见；建议”，选顶[C]guide意为“向导；指导”，选项[D]lesson意为“经验；教训；榜样”，既然这些国家为日本提供了选票支持，那么他们肯定期望的是实质性的回报，故选项[A]、[C]、[D]都可排除。