Although his once ________ army now had less than 50,000 men who were tired and hungry, they had to defend a line almost 60 kilometers long.A. prettyB. mightyC. loftyD. hasty

本题考查形容词辨析，核心在于理解句子中对比关系的运用。句子通过“once”强调“曾经”的状态，与后文“现在疲惫饥饿、人数减少”的现状形成对比，需选择能体现“过去强大”含义的形容词。

选项分析

关键点：空格处需填入一个形容词，修饰“army”，并与后文“now had less than 50,000 men who were tired and hungry”形成对比。

1. A. pretty

   • 意为“美丽的/相当”，无法体现“强大”的含义，与后文对比不成立。

2. B. mighty

   • 意为“强大的/庞大的”，符合“过去军队强大”的语境，与后文“现在人数减少、疲惫”形成鲜明对比，是最佳选项。

3. C. lofty

   • 意为“高傲的/崇高的”，通常修饰抽象概念，不适用于描述“army”的实力。

4. D. hasty

   • 意为“仓促的”，与“army”的状态无关，语义不符。