It is a common ____ to have a cake with candles to celebrate a holiday ，birthday or any other occasion.

It is well known that Madam Curie won two Nobel Prizes for her scientific ______.

Desipt the fact that there was a big ______ over the meeting, it seemed that a good many of the invited guests would still attend it.  

The manager of the company told us that very little ________ was made of the waste material in the past.

His new appointment takes _____ from the beginning of next month.