Read the passage and fill each blank with one suitable word. The twentieth century is believed to have been a century of technological advances, (1)__________ many changes were made, which have dramatically affected people’s lives. Take, for instance, life expectancy. Until the nineteenth century, people lived till the age of thirty-five on (2) __________. Growing up in unhealthy living conditions, lack of good quality food and hard work, all contributed to (3) __________ life expectancy. Another big change concerns people’s homes and way of (4) __________. Families once had to settle for the bare essentials. Large (5) __________families lived together in small houses. Nowadays, our houses are bigger and better; extended families have been (6) __________by nuclear families, and both parents work long hours. Transport has come a long way, too. The car (7) __________ the place of earlier means of transport, and public transport has also been improved. As a (8) __________, travel time has decreased drastically and people have been brought (9) __________ together. However, all this progress has come at a cost. We live in a modern world and our life has been made easier, (10) __________ stress and anxiety are major health concerns. Family ties are not as (11) __________ as they used to be, as parents work hard to afford all the luxuries, (12) __________ nowadays are considered to be necessities. Last but not least, cars and other (13) __________ of transport cause congestion and pollution. It is clear that a balance has to be found before the situation gets out of (14) __________.