Fill in the gaps with the verbs in the correct form: (Past Simple Tense)

After the Second World War, Akio Morita, the co-founder of Sony, _______________ (join) forces with a friend, Masaru Ibuka. Both men _______________ (know) a great deal about telecommunications, so they _______________ (use) all their money, about USD 100, and _______________ (set) up a small engineering company, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. They _______________ (find) a small broken-down building to use as a laboratory in Tokyo. There _______________ (be) so many holes in the roof that when it _______________ (rain), they _______________ (have) to continue working under umbrellas.

Their first task _______________ (be) to decide what to make. They _______________ (not / want) to produce radios because of the competition from much larger companies. Instead, they _______________ (decide) to create an entirely new product, a tape recorder. They _______________ (succeed) in making a machine, but unfortunately they _______________ (not have) any tape, and they _______________ (not / know) how to produce it.

So they _______________ (start) to experiment, and _______________ (try) using a number of different materials. Finally, they _______________ (make) a breakthrough. They _______________ (cut) up strips of paper to make a reel, and _______________ (paint) them with a magnetic material that they _______________ (heat) on a frying pan in their small room.

It _______________ (work), and they gradually _______________ (improve) the process. In 1950, they _______________ (begin) trying to sell their revolutionary machine.

And the rest is history!