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 their rulings more likely to be seen as separate from politics and, (20)_______, convincing as law.

答案精析：连词辨析题。空格处填入连词作从句的引导词，表明主语和从句之间的关系。从句“法官行事像政治家”是“法院不能维持法治守护者身份的公正性”的前提条件，when可以引导条件状语从句，故正确答案为A选项。

错项排除：B选项表示“以免”，引导目的状语从句，表示主句是为了表明lest后面的情况，在这里不符合逻辑。C选项的before引导时间状语从句，这里没有时间上的先后关系，故C选项错误。D选项表示“除非，如果不”，强调唯一性，用在此处太过绝对，故排除。