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.
15（）
A.accountable
B.obligatory
C.indefinite
D.temporary
参考答案：D
解析：
[试题考点] 上下文语意关系与形容词词义辨析。
[解题思路] 本题空格所在句意为“国际捕鲸委员会的成员国是自愿加入的，而禁捕令也是______的”，空格应填入表语。由于前句提到各国是自愿加入捕鲸委员会的，且两句之间用并列连词and连接，故可推知，后一分句也意在说明捕鲸禁令的非强制性。将各选项代入文中，只有选项[D]temporary“暂时的；临时的”符合上下文。
[干扰排除] 选项[A]accountable意为“应负责任的；负有责任的”，选项[B]obligatory意为“必须的；强制的”，选项[C]indefinte意为“不确定的；不明确的”，这三个选项均不符合文意，并且选项[B]obligatory与前文中的voluntary意义相反，故均排除。