8. Fill in the blanks to form a summary

 

The lesson "A Dilemma" is an interesting story written by . Tom, the protagonist, narrates how he was in a to open a box given by his dead uncle. His uncle loved to gather rare stones, which he considered extremely. Uncle Philip called Tom on his  and announced Tom to be his sole heir. After leaving an for Tom, his uncle ordered him to read a letter placed on top of it carefully. Uncle Philip died after about a week. He mentioned in the letter that the box contained many pigeon-blood rubies, diamonds, and . The letter stated that if Tom did not open the box correctly, he would be blown up by the dynamite. Tom was perplexed and unsure whether to believe, so he spent all of his savings on the funeral, making him further . He then considered blowing the box from a safe distance, but this would not be  for him, so he rejected it. He kept the key hidden, but the prospect of it getting lost or stolen worried him. Worst of all, his salary was reduced, and marriage was out of the question. He consulted Professor Clinch about his problems and said that if he helped him, he would offer him the largest ruby. Then Tom met his uncle's doctor, Dr Schaff. The doctor pleaded with Tom to stop thinking about it, and he took his advice. Susan, his , even called off their since Tom appeared insane to her. He had no choice but to advertise in the science magazine. Tom afterwards changed his name and occupation and relocated to the suburbs to avoid the reporters' attention. When the government learnt of the , they wanted to collect the on his uncle's assets. As a result, he wrote a  to hand over the iron box to the .