Dr. Mercer decided not to accept the research grant at Harvard because he is going to take six months off to spend more time with his family.

I still made many good female friends afterwards (27) _______I still maintain contact.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of the primary stress in each of the following questions.

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

        I was an MBA student in the USA and I lived in the university’s coed dormitory. In my culture, usually, if a woman talks to a man, it is a sign of romantic interest. (23)_______, in the first few days of school, I found it strange that so many women were talking to me and I was under the impression that some women on my dormitory floor were interested in me. To (24) _____ their politeness, I would buy them flowers or offer small gifts, as is done in my country. However, I was quite surprised to see that these same women now seemed (25) _______ around me. One was even quite offended and told me to leave her alone. Eventually I talked to the residence adviser on my floor to see what I was doing wrong, and he explained to me the way men and women usually interact in the USA. I was quite relieved to hear that (26) _____ was wrong with me, but rather with the way I was interpreting my conversations with women. Even though I did not find the love of my life while I was in the USA, I still made many good female friends afterwards (27) _______I still maintain contact.

(Source: https://books.google.com.vn)