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.
19（）
A.abundant
B.fragile
C.subtle
D.affluent
参考答案：B
解析：
[试题考点] 上下文语意关系与固定搭配。
[解题思路] 本题空格处应填入一个形容词，作existence的定语。本句意为“我们把这些动物______的存在视为生态威胁的显示器”。既然是“生态威胁”的显示器，那么“这些动物的存在”肯定是情况很不乐观的，四个选项中，只有选项[B]符合文意。fragile意为“脆弱的；易被摧毁的”。
[干扰排除] 选项[A]abundant意为“丰富的；大量的”，选项[C]subtle意为“微妙的；细微的”，选项[D]affluent意为“富饶的；繁荣的”，这三项都无法与后文中的“生态威胁”形成合适的文意，故排除。
