Directions: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ___(1)___ at last, but not before keeping the country guessing for two days. In a not-unexpected turn of events, the ___(2)___ executive head of Sri Lanka fled by an Air Force plane, reached the Maldives, and thereafter went to Singapore, presumably on his way to another country. Evidently hedging against the possibility of being turned back by any of these countries, he did not ___(3)___ his resignation on July 13 as promised. As he sent in his resignation Thursday evening, it was clear he was holding out so that he would not lose his presidential ___(4)___ from prosecution until he reached safe haven. Given the widespread ___(5)___ against him, being in Colombo without the shield of office was not an option for him. Instead, he appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to ___(6)___ the President’s functions in his absence, using a provision in the Constitution which allows such an arrangement if the incumbent has to leave the country or is otherwise unable to perform his duties. Mr. Wickremesinghe is now unlikely to ___(7)___ to calls for his resignation, as the country’s Constitution provides that the current Prime Minister shall act as President until a new one is elected. While the legislature is to be convened soon to formally elect a new President, there are questions over whether the mass uprising will abate, as its protagonists have been asking for Mr. Wickremesinghe’s resignation too, seeing him as equally ___(8)___. It is perhaps in anticipation of an ___(9)___ of the protest that Mr. Wickremesinghe has asked the military to do whatever is needed to restore order. But the order is not born of bloodshed; ___(10)___ must be avoided, and efforts made to heed the demands of the people.