What some people regard as a         is seen as a plus by many others.

duty

drawback

failure

faith

考查名词词义辨析。句意：一些人认为是一个缺点，而其他许多人则认为这是一个优点。A.duty责任；B.drawback缺点； C. failure 失败；D. faith信念。根据空后plus“优点”可知，空处需用drawback“缺点”与之对应。故选B项。

He punished the children          their carelessness         making them pay for the damage.

by; for

with; by

for; by

about; with

考查介词。句意：他因为孩子们的粗心惩罚他们赔偿损失。根据句意可知：“their carelessness"表示他们被惩罚的原因，需用介词for表原因。"making them pay for the damage"表示他们被惩罚的方式，需用介词by表方式。故选C项。

I thought we'd be late for the concert,           we ended up getting there ahead of time.

but

or

so

for

考查连词。句意：我以为我们音乐会迟到了，但是我们提前到达了那里。but 但是；or 或者；so 因此；for因为；两个分句在意义上bu是转折关系，故用but。故选A项。