WORD FORMATION and MIXED TENSES

Adapted from an article on Care2 website by TreeHugger on April 13, 2012)

A little over 30 years ago, a ________________ (1 TEEN) named Jadav 'Molai' Payeng began burrying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in _________________ (2 NORTH) India's Assam region _______________ (3 GROW) a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavour, so he moved the site where he could work full-time ________________ (4 CREATE) a lush new forest ecosystem. _________________ (5 CREDIBLE), the spot today __________________ (6 HOST) a sprawling 1,360 acre of jungle that Payeng planted single- ____________________ (7 HAND). The Times of India recently caught up with Payeng in his remote forest lodge to learn more about how he came to leave an indelible mark on the landscape:

It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters _________________ (8 RECEDE), Payeng, only 16 then, ________________ (9 FIND) the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the truning point of his life. The snakes died in the _______________ (10 HOT), without any tree cover. I ________________ (11 SIT) down and _______________ (12 WEEP) over their __________________ (13 LIFE) forms. It was carnage (bloody slaughter). I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing _________________ (14 GROW) there. Instead, they asked me _________________ (15 TRY) _________________ (16 GROW) bamboo. It was _________________ (17 PAIN), but I did it.
There was nobody to help me. Nobody __________________ (18 INTEREST), says Payeng, now 47. While it __________________ (19 TAKE) years for Payeng's remarkable _________________ (20 DEDICATE) to planting to receive some well-deserved ___________________ (21 RECOGNISE) internationally, it didn't take long for wildlife in the region to benefit from the manufactured forest. Demonstrating a keen understanding of ___________________ (22 ECOLOGY) balance, Payeng even transplanted ants to his ___________________ (23 BURGEON flourish) ecosystem to bolster (support) its natural harmony. Soon the shadeless sandbar __________________ (24 TRANSFORM) into a self-functioning environment where a menagerie of creatures could dwell. The forest, called the Molai woods, now _________________ (25 SERVE) as a safe haven for numerous birds, rhinos, tigers, and elephants species ________________ (26 INCREASE) at risk from habitat _________________ (27 LOSE) elsewhere. Despite the ___________________ (28 CONSPICUOUS obvious, striking) of Payeng's project, Forestry officials in the region first learned of this new forest in 2008 and since then they __________________ (29 COME) to recognise his efforts as _________________ (30 TRUE) remarkable, but perhaps not enough. Had he been in any other country, he ____________________________ (31 MAKE) a hero.

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