Read the following passage about women in the workplace and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 18 to 22.
Marcel Bich, a French manufacturer of traditional ink pens, was the man (18) ______. Bich was surprised by the poor quality and high price of the ballpoint pens available at the time. However, he realised that the ballpoint pen was a well-established invention, (19) ______ that would succeed in the market.
"Bich approached the Biro brothers and asked for permission to use their original invention in one of his pens. In return, he offered to pay them for each pen he sold. (20) ______, he used a microscope to examine them closely."
By 1950, he was ready to introduce his new design: a plastic pen with a transparent barrel that wrote smoothly, didn’t leak, and cost only a few cents. The new ballpoint pen (21) ______. The public liked it immediately, and today it is as common as the pencil.
Bich's success allowed him to establish Société Bic, which expanded worldwide. (22) ______, producing not only pens but also lighters, razors, and even mobile phones.