1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage 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 Great Voice Actor

Since the creation of animated (动画的) motion pictures, the use of actors supplying voices     1    (be) invaluable. Behind every famous cartoon character’s personality is the actor standing in the recording booth and     2     (stretch) their manner of speaking in unrecognizable ways. For some of these performers, the voices they’ve provided have far surpassed them as people in both recognizability and adoration.

Mel Blanc, known as “The Man of Thousand Voices”,     3     (regard) as the most prolific actor to ever work in Hollywood with over a thousand screen credits. He developed and performed nearly 400 distinct character voices. Whether in legendary shorts or lesser-known commercials, Mel Blanc walked so the voice actors of today     4     run.

Mel Blanc lent his voice to many classic characters, but the one he is best known for is Bugs Bunny. There is little that can be said about Bugs’ impact     5     hasn’t already been said for decades. The character is     6     helped launch Warner Bros. animation into the mainstream. Bugs was even the face of Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, appearing at the beginning of many films.     7     a character may not talk, that doesn’t mean a fair bit of voice acting isn’t involved. Mel provided the various noises of the beloved pet dinosaur, Dino, in The Flintstones. While obviously not as quotable as his caveman companions, every fan knows the excited bark of Dino when he sees his master, Fred, arrive home. In January 1961, at the age of 52, Blanc was severely injured in a car accident and had to tape his part at home with a microphone     8     (suspend) over his bed.

Mel Blanc paved the way for voice acting as a true art, though it’s a skill that often goes unrecognized when praise is focused on movies and TV. The characters we all love wouldn’t be where they are in the public eye without     9     who put a voice to them. Many recognizable or popular voice actors of our modern era have Blanc     10     (thank) for their start, and hope to reach his level of unmatched expertise at bringing countless characters to life the way no one else can.