阅读下面短文,在空白处填写1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
The Chinese invented block printing
more than 1, 400 years ago. The original characters were carved on wood and ink
was then applied. Block printing is time consuming and {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (cost) a lot of manpower and materials. Misprinted characters cannot
be {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (easy) corrected. These shortcomings
were only overcome after the appearance of movable type printing, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} greatly improved the speed and quality of printing.
Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented
the movable type printing. He carved the Chinese characters on small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (cube) of sticky clay. He baked them in the fire until they became
hard and movable. In the course of presswork, the movable characters were placed
into {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, iron frame until it was full.
He then took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface so that the block of
type became even: Then ink was applied and it was ready {#blank#}6{#/blank#} printing. To be more {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (efficiency), he prepared two
iron boards. When one was being used for printing, the other could be used {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (put) characters in order for the next page. The two boards were used
alternately.
Although what Bi Sheng invented was simple when
{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (compare) to today's letterpress
printing; it already bad the main traits of modem printing. So Bi Sheng's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (contribute) to printing cannot be overstated.