Fill in the Blanks

The verb avoid is followed by a gerund (the -ing form of a verb). Therefore, smoking is the correct choice.

Shall is commonly used to express a suggestion or offer, especially in the first person (we shall). While will or may are grammatically possible in some contexts, shall is the most idiomatic choice for a polite suggestion here.

The sentence specifies a past time (in 1976), which requires the simple past tense. Passed is the correct simple past form.

Since is used to indicate a specific point in time in the past from which an action began. For is used for a duration of time.

The sentence describes an action completed before another past action (went in). The past perfect tense (had) is required to show this sequence.

The adjective guilty is idiomatically followed by the preposition of. Guilty of murder is the standard collocation.

When leaving for a destination, the preposition for is used. Leaving for America indicates the direction of travel.

Comparative adjectives ending in -ior, such as superior, inferior, or senior, are followed by the preposition to rather than than.

In English, one is married to someone. While people often say married with, the correct preposition is to.

Many is used with countable nouns, while much is used with uncountable nouns. Since letters are countable, many is the correct choice.

When referring to the medium used for writing, we use the preposition in. For example, in ink or in pencil.

Similar to the first question, the verb avoid requires a gerund. Making is the correct gerund form.

The phrase as if can take the present tense if the speaker is referring to a real possibility or a general truth, though the subjunctive (knew) is often used for hypothetical situations. Given the options, know is the most grammatically standard for a present-tense context.

The word yesterday indicates a completed action in the past, requiring the simple past tense. Finished is the correct form.

 'Two weeks' is a period. 'Since' is used for point of time, not period.