Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to choose the word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Mai is my neighbor. She turned sixteen recently and her parents (46) _______ a birthday party for her. I was one of those invited. The party began at about three (47) _______ the afternoon. There were about twenty of us gathering in Mai’s house. She didn’t like having the party at a restaurant (48) _______ it is noisy and expensive.

We gave presents to Mai and she (49) _______ opened them. It must really be exciting to receive all those presents. After that Mai’s mother served us soft drinks and biscuits. We then listened to music and played cards. The winners were given prizes. At about four thirty Mai’s mother brought out the birthday cake. It was beautifully decorated with pink and white icing. (50) _______ colorful candles sat in the middle of the cake. We all clapped our hands eagerly and sang “Happy Birthday” as she blew out the candles and cut the cake. We helped ourselves to slices of the delicious cake and sang all the songs that we knew.

Finally at about six in the evening the party came to an end. We were all tired but happy. The parents of other children came to collect them by motorbikes. I helped Mai and her mother clean up the mess we had made. After that I walked home, which was only three doors away.

John’s teacher encouraged him taking part in the international piano competition.