参考答案

[D] ended his reign in embarrassment

【解析】事实细节题。根据题干要求，定位到文章前两段。而文章第一段的第二句话提到“But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down.”(在最近的欧洲选举中，令人尴尬的丑闻和受欢迎的共和党，均迫使Carlos收回前言并退位)。D选项中，“stand down”是“end reign”的同义置换，且“embarrassment”与导致Carlos卸任的原因“embarrassing scandals”是相呼应的。故D是正确答案。A、B、C均属于无中生有。