1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The three-day torch relay for the Beijing Olympics, shortened considerably because of concerns about the coronavirus, started Wednesday with     1     80-year-old former speed-skater carrying the flame.

The relay opened at the Olympics Foreign Park. Luo Zhihuan, the country’s first internationally competitive speed-skater,     2     (run) the first leg.

The torch will be carried through the three Olympics zones, starting with downtown Beijing     3     heading to Yangqing district and finally Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei Province.

The Beijing Games have already been impacted on a scale similar to that experienced by Tokyo during last year’s Summer Olympics. China says only selected spectators will be allowed to attend events, and Olympic athletes, officials, staff and journalists are required to stay within a bubble that keeps them from contact with the general public.

    4     Beijing, with its 20 million residents, has experienced only a handful of COVID-19 cases and reported just two new ones on Wednesday, in keeping with China’s “zero tolerance” approach to the pandemic, strict rules require lock-downs and mass testing when any real or suspected case     5     (discover).

The truncated program seemed to have little effect on Luo, who after receiving the torch from Vice Premier Han Zheng said it was the realization of decades-long aspiration.

“I’ve never participated in the Winter Olympics, so I had hoped our country     6     host the Winter Olympics and I had the dream for nearly 60 years,” said Luo, wearing a red and white jacket     7     (mark) with No. 1. “Today my dream has come true ... How happy I am!”

The opening of the Beijing Games comes only days after the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, China’s biggest annual celebration     8     millions traditionally travel to their hometowns for family reunions. For the second straight year, the government has advised     9     living away from home to stay put, and train and plane travel has been curtailed.

Participants in the torch relay have undergone health screenings and have been carefully monitored,     10     (start) from two weeks before the event.