PREPOSITION USE

Choose the correct preposition for each blank.

Can We Stop Storms?
by Michael Behar


_ Back (1) the 1960s and '70s, legions of scientists explored technologies to zap strength from hurricanes. Those efforts were scrapped both because experiments were inconclusive and because the cost (2) deploying a full-scale system to regularly battle the cyclones would have been staggering. (3) light of Katrina and Rita's $200-billion-plus swath of destruction—and a forecast (4) even more violent and catastrophic hurricanes to come—that steep price tag now seems like a bargain, and scientists are once again entertaining schemes (5) mitigate monster storms.

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_ One approach, according to veteran hurricane expert Hugh Willoughby, is to create an oily slick on the ocean (6) the path of an approaching hurricane. Willoughby is a professor (7) the International Hurricane Research Center (8) Miami and a former director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Division. The goal (9) the oil, he says, is to weaken a storm (10) preventing seawater from evaporating, a process that fortifies the swirling rain bands that form a hurricane's backbone.

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_ Massachusetts Institute of Technology atmospheric scientist Kerry Emanuel conducted laboratory tests of the oil concept (11) 2002, but the slick quickly dissipated under conditions emulating rough seas. "When the winds blow at 100 knots, there really isn't an ocean surface," Willoughby explains. "It goes from water full (12) bubbles to air full (13) spray, with a smooth transition between the two." He says the trick is to formulate a liquid-like substance that clings to the surface of the ocean even during violent winds. "It could be sprayed (14) a bunch of 100,000-ton tankers."

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