题目解析:
cease: 停止, 与C选项ended同义。
对应原文:Clements thought that succession represented discrete stages in the development of the community (rather like infancy, childhood, and adolescence), terminating in the climatic ""adult"" stage, when the community became self-reproducing and succession ceased.考生可以根据本句话里隐含的意义推测cease的意思。本句话提到discrete stages terminate in the climatic adult stage, when xxx and xxx ceased. When是对前半个分句的补充解释,因此cease应该与前一句的动词terminate表示同义,即结束、停止。因此答案为C选项。A选项意为成功;B选项意为平衡;D选项意为进步,与原词意义差距较大,为错误答案。