This is a story about a little girl Mary. Mary was A than other girls of that age and she often asked questions. One day asked B father how to behave in a difficult situation. Mary's father C an egg, a potato and some tea leaves three different pans-full of water and put the pans on the stove. He asked Mary to keep an eye on D three pans for ten utes. When the ten minutes were over, he asked Mary to see what had happened. Mary saw that the potato was soft, the egg was d and the tea leaves had turned water into tea. Mary's father said, "The things were in the same situation, but they behaved erently. People are just the same. Some people E get hard, somebody will get soft and somebody will change the uation. What are you like? A 1) clever 2) cleverer 3) cleverest 4) most clever B 1) his 2) hers 3) her 4) herself C 1) puts 2) put 3) will put 4) has put D 1) this 2) that 3) than 4) those E 1) can 2) can't 3) could 4) couldn't

Solution:

This is a fill-in-the-blanks exercise. Let's analyze each blank based on grammar and context:

• A: The sentence compares Mary to other girls. The comparative form of 'clever' is needed. The options are 'clever', 'cleverer', 'cleverest', 'most clever'. 'Cleverer' is the correct comparative form.
• B: Mary asked her father. The possessive pronoun referring to Mary is 'her'. The options are 'his', 'hers', 'her', 'herself'. 'Her' is the correct possessive pronoun.
• C: Mary's father 'put' the pans. The sentence describes a past action. The options are 'puts', 'put', 'will put', 'has put'. 'Put' is the past tense of 'put'.
• D: He asked Mary to keep an eye on 'three pans'. 'This' is used for singular, 'that' for singular, 'than' for comparison, and 'those' for plural. 'Those' correctly refers to the plural 'three pans'.
• E: Some people 'can' behave differently. The sentence discusses general human behavior and capabilities. The options are 'can', 'can't', 'could', 'couldn't'. 'Can' is appropriate here.

Filled-in text:

This is a story about a little girl Mary. Mary was cleverer than other girls of that age and she often asked questions. One day asked her father how to behave in a difficult situation. Mary's father put an egg, a potato and some tea leaves three different pans-full of water and put the pans on the stove. He asked Mary to keep an eye on those three pans for ten minutes. When the ten minutes were over, he asked Mary to see what had happened. Mary saw that the potato was soft, the egg was hard and the tea leaves had turned water into tea. Mary's father said, "The things were in the same situation, but they behaved differently. People are just the same. Some people can get hard, somebody will get soft and somebody will change the situation. What are you like?"

Answer: A - 2, B - 3, C - 2, D - 4, E - 1