Question

For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

In 1867 the United States faced the task of rebuilding after the destruction of the Civil War, so it looked westward for the raw materials needed to fuel industrial growth. Geological surveys and mapping journeys were set forth to explore this        1 territory. These groups, in turn, hired mapmakers, scientists, cooks, drivers, and doctors. They also hired painters and photographers as part of the teams. Painters needed few supplies, making it relatively easy for them to travel in the wilderness, ____2____ photographers were not so lucky; they had to transport a fully stocked darkroom on the __3____.

Until the late 1870s, most photographers used the __4___ wet-collodion process. The first step was to wash a clean sheet of glass with a sticky mixture of collodion and chemicals, (collodion or "gun-cotton" was a recent medical discovery used to cover wounds because the viscous (粘性的) solution turned into a protective film when dry.) After it was washed, the plate went into another bath that the picture was __5___ getting darker; Finally, the glass negative (底片) was washed clean with fresh water. __6__ a photograph from the negative had to wait until the photographer went back to the studio. The ___7___ of the negative depended on the size of the camera. Some negatives could be as large as 20 by 24 inches.

Imagine the __8____ of taking photographs in the 1860s and 1870s in the remote western wilderness! Photographers went over Rocky Mountains and through rushing rivers. They were __9____ in the terrible desert heat, with cameras, sheets of glass, and vats of chemicals. Bad weather, equipment failures, and accidents were frequent problems. They persevered, but success in creating a negative did not ___10___ the production of a photograph; plates still had to be ___11___ transported back to the studio before the image could be printed on paper. A photographer could carry 120 pounds of many miles to         ____12____ a magnificent view only to have the easily broken plate        ___13___ in transportation.

__14___, once photographers were successful, the results were superb and much admired. Photographs were put on exhibition, and people bought albums filled with pictures by Timothy O'Sullivan, Carleton Watkins, and William Henry Jackson. Jackson's photographs of Yellowstone's

natural wonders, along with the paintings of fellow Thomas Moran, even helped ___15___ Congress to preserve thousands of acres of this land in 1872 as the nation's first national park.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 A

 C

 B

 D

 A

 B

 D

 B

 C

 C

 B

 B

 A

 C

 A

【解析】略