Question

5. The number of people invited was fifty,but a number of them were        for different reasons.

   A. absent   B. short   C. particular   D. instant

Answer 1

5. A句意为："受邀者共计有50人，但有几个人因不同原因而缺席。"absent意为"缺席的"，文中有转折连词but,此处用absent表缺席，符合题意。