Instructions: In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.
President Barack Obama’s recent statement of his Afghanistan policy has again (1) the intractable situation the United States has (2) since it led the invasion of the country in 2001. In his State of the Union address to the Congress on January 28, Mr. Obama said the mission there would be (3) by the end of the year, and that thereafter the U.S. and its allies would (4) a “unified Afghanistan”, as it took responsibility for itself. With the agreement of the Afghan government, a “small force” could (5) to train and (6) Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations against any AI – Qaeda (7).Washington has (8) 60,000 of its troops from Afghanistan since Mr. Obama took office in 2009, but 36,500 remain, with 19,000 from other countries in the NATO – ISAF coalition. Western plans are for a residual force of 8,000 to 12,000, two – thirds of them American, but sections of the U.S. military have (9) a U.S. strength of 10,000 with 5,000 from the rest of the coalition. Mr. Obama is discussing the (10) with senior officers.
