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 or phrase that best fits each blank.

Few people ever took notice of Mr. Jimmy Tan whenever he entered a room. He was a shy, quiet and simple man who     1     (prefer) to keep to himself in public. On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Kim, a fellow scientist, was a man everyone would notice on the streets. He wore bright outfits with huge flower prints, spoke with a booming voice, and his laughter could     2     (hear) from all corners of a room.     3     the differences in character, Mr. Kim and Mr. Tan were also great rivals (竞争者) at work in the Institute of Future Science.

    4     Christmas Eve, everyone left work early to celebrate the special occasion, except Mr. Tan and Mr. Kim. They were in their laboratory     5     (analyze) the results of their latest experiments. Mr. Tan realized that something special was taking place in his experiment — the bacteria he had cultured     6     (growing) extremely quickly under high pressure and at a very low temperature. After noting down the findings in his notebook, he left the room to prepare for another round of tests. Shortly after, Mr. Kim entered.

“Hey Jimmy,” Mr. Kim called out, “do you have     7     extra copy of the laboratory booking form?”

There was no reply, so Mr. Kim looked through Mr. Tan’s things. He soon found Mr. Tan’s notebook and was surprised     8     (see) that Mr. Tan had managed to make one of the most important discoveries in modern science. He then looked into the deep-freeze cupboard     9     a dish containing the bacteria was kept. He put them into his pocket and returned to his own laboratory.

Mr. Tan came back an hour later to find his notebook and the dish missing. He knew that Mr. Kim     10     (take) them and went to Mr. Kim’s laboratory to find out. When he opened the door, he found Mr. Kim lying on the floor motionless. The deadly bacteria had been handled improperly.