This question is missing the options. I've found the complete question online. It is the following:
Q) Complete the paragraph given below by choosing the correct options from those that follow:
According to the reports issued (1) _____________ the Meteorological office, there has been (2) _____________ fog this winter than during the (3) _____________ one. The Minister of Tourism (4) _____________ that the delayed flights will lead to (5) _____________ cancellations which in turn (6) ______________ mean much loss for (7) _____________ dependent (8) _____________ the tourist arrival.
Options:
1)on/by/at/in
2)much/more/many/most
3)latest/latter/last/later
4)is fearing/fears/fear/feared
5)much/most/many/less
6)can/must/should/will
7)that/those/this/these
8)in/for/upon/from
Answer:
According to the reports issued (1) by the Meteorological office, there has been (2) more fog this winter than during the (3) last one. The Minister of Tourism (4) fears that the delayed flights will lead to (5) many cancellations which in turn (6) will mean much loss for (7) those dependent (8) upon the tourist arrival.
Step-by-step explanation:
1. "by" is used to indicate the agent of an action. In this case, the Meteorological office was the one to issue the reports.
2. This sentence is comparing the two winters with ... + than, so the only viable option is "more".
3. We need a regular adjective to indicate the winter before this one. The best option is "last".
4. The Minister fears something now, at this moment. Since the verb "fear" is not commonly used in continuous tenses, we should use the simple present "fears".
5. "Cancellations" is plural, and we wish to indicate a large number of them. The best option is "many".
6. The passage already uses "will" to talk about the cancellations. If the cancellations will happen, they will affect people. Thus, let's stick to "will".
7. The passage does not explicitly use the word "people". Instead, it uses "those" to refer to the people who will be affected by the cancellations, which is a common technique.
8. The verb "depend"can be completed by the prepositions "on" or "upon". Since "on" is not among the options, let's use "upon".