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

Once upon a time, there was a man (1)____ used to tell the fortunes of people. One day, he was telling the fortune as usual when a man came to him and said, "Somebody (2)____ broken the door of your house and has stolen many valuables. Go home at once!" The fortune teller was (3)______ shocked to hear the news. He could not utter a word out of shock. He just ran to his house as fast as he could. He was in such a hurry that he left all his things behind. Now, one of his customers saw him rushing and (4)_____, "Every day he (5)______ the fortunes of so many people but today he could not see his own future!" The fortune teller felt very embarrassed.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.

The correct answer is tells.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Analyze the context of blank (5):

The sentence reads: "Every day he (5)______ the fortunes of so many people but today he could not see his own future!"

2. Identify subject and time frame/tense:

The phrase "Every day" indicates a routine, habit, or general factual action happening repeatedly. For regular or habitual actions, we use the Simple Present Tense.

3. Subject-Verb Agreement:

The subject is the third-person singular pronoun "he". Therefore, the verb must also be in its third-person singular form in the simple present tense, which ends with an '-s' or '-es'.

4. Evaluate the options:

- tell: Base form / plural present tense verb (incorrect for third-person singular "he").
- telling: Present participle / continuous form (requires a helping verb like 'is' or 'was', so incorrect here).
- told: Simple past tense (incorrect because "every day" indicates a regular habit/present routine context).
- tells: Simple present tense, third-person singular verb (matches the subject "he" and temporal marker "every day" perfectly).

Thus, the correct word to fill in blank 5 is tells.