单项选择题X 纠错

Directions :
Read the following text. Choose the best word or phrase for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C, or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.
In 1942, the HMS Edinburgh was sunk in the Barents Sea. It was on its (21) back to Britain with ninety-one boxes of Russian gold. (22) thirty-nine years it lay there, too deep for divers to (23) . No one was allowed to explode it, either, since the bodies of sixty of the crew also lay in the (24) . Then, in 1981, an ex-diver called Jessop decided to try using new diving techniques. (25) he could not afford to finance the (26) which was going to cost four million pounds, he had to look for people who were (27) to take the risk. (28) , they were not even sure the gold was going to be there! First a Scottish diving company, then a German shipping company agreed to join in the retrieval (29) . Not long after that, Jessop (30) a fourth company to take a (31) . Since the gold was the (32) of the British and the Soviet governments, they both hoped to make a (33) , too! The biggest problem was how to get (34) the gold. Fortunately, they were able to examine the Edinburgh’s sister ship, the HMS Belfast, to (35) out the exact location of the bomb room, (36) the gold was stored.
They knew it was to be an extremely difficult and dangerous undertaking. To reach the gold, they would have to cut a large square (37) the body of the ship, go through the empty fuel tank and down to the bomb room. After twenty-eight dives, they (38) to find the first bar. Everyone worked (39) the clock, helping to clean and stack the gold, (40) as to finish the job as quickly as possible.