Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark [A], [B], [C] or [D] on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
The ethical judgments of the Supreme Court justices have become an important issue recently. The court cannot 1 its legitimacy as guardian of the rule of law 2 justices behave like politicians. Yet, in several instances, justices acted in ways that 3 the court’s reputation for being independent and impartial.
Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, appeared at political events. That kind of activity makes it less likely that the court’s decisions will be 4 as impartial judgments. Part of the problem is that the justices are not 5 by an ethics code. At the very least, the court should make itself 6 to the code of conduct that 7 to the rest of the federal judiciary.
This and other similar cases 8 the question of whether there is still a 9 between the court and politics.
The framers of the Constitution envisioned law 10 having authority apart from politics. They gave justices permanent positions 11 they would be free to 12 those in power and have no need to 13 political support. Our legal system was designed to set law apart from politics precisely because they are so closely 14 .
Constitutional law is political because it results from choices rooted in fundamental social 15 like liberty and property. When the court deals with social policy decisions, the law it 16 is inescapably political—which is why decisions split along ideological lines are so easily 17 as unjust.
The justices must 18 doubts about the court’s legitimacy by making themselves 19 to the code of conduct. That would make rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, 20 , convincing as law.
1．______
根据上下文语境，可知此处指的是“…法官表现得像政客时，法庭就不能维持其法规合法卫士的形象”，因此答案应该选C（maintain维持，保持）。
