35. 1) observing 2) noticing 3) remarking 4) looking Alexander Sir Alexander Heathcote was an exact man.30 ______ people were like him. He was exactly six feet three-and-a-quarter inches tall, rose at seven oclock every morning, joined his wife at breakfast to eat one boiled egg cooked for precisely four minutes, two pieces of toast with one spoonful of Coopers marmalade, and drink one cup of China tea. He used to take a carriage from his home inCadoganGardensat exactly 8:20 and31 ______ at the Foreign Office at promptly 8:59, returning home again on the stroke of six oclock. Sir Alexander had been exact from an early age, as he was the only son of a general. But, unlike his father, he chose to serve his queen in the diplomatic service, another exacting calling. He32 ______ in progressing from a shared desk at the Foreign Office inWhitehallto third secretary inCalcuttato minister inPeking. He was delighted when Mr.Gladstone33______ the opportunity to represent the government inChina. For some time he had been34 ______ in the art of the Ming dynasty. This appointment would present him a perfect chance of35 ______ in their natural habitat some of the great statues, paintings and drawings he had previously been able to admire only in books. When he arrived inBeijing, Her Imperial Highness wished him a successful term of office in his appointment and then the audience36 ______ to an end.