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.
9（）
A.position
B.attempt
C.need
D.mood
参考答案：B
解析：
[试题考点] 上下文语意关系和固定搭配。
[解题思路] 本题空格位于括号中，可将括号中的内容视为句子的状语，该句意为“因为美国______提议打破僵局”，空格所在部分in a desperate ______ to在该部分中作状语。观察四个选项，只有选项[B]attempt符合要求，in an attempt to do sth意为“尝试做某事……”，代入文中意为“美国竭尽全力要打破僵持状态”，符合文意。
[干扰排除] 选项[A](in a) position (to do)意为“处于做……的处境”，选项[C](in a) need (to do)的搭配不存在，而in need of(需要做……)是常见搭配，选项[D](in a) mood (to do)意为“想做……”，可见这三个选项均无法完全符合此处语意和语法的要求，故排除。