9: itself 10: better (probably) . The sooner X, the better. I know, you only asked about 9, but for some reason Chris commented instead of answering. :)

I agree with Chris and Nanren about the answers. 9 is a tricky one for two reasons: 1. it's using 'end' with its less-common meaning of 'goal' 2. it's using 'in itself', which is a reduced version of 'in and of itself', or 'per se' (https://learnersdictionary.com/definition/per%20se) Because both of those phrases have more than one possible interpretation, the potential for confusion is high.

Once, children had ambitions to be doctors, engineers, sportsmen, teachers, or scientists. Now, taking (0) THEIR lead from social media, they ‘want to be famous’ and set ‘trends’. Fame is no (1)………….….. a reward for gallant service or great, perhaps even selfless endeavor. It is an end in (2) ………..…. and the sooner it can be achieved, the sooner the lonely bedroom TV can be replaced by a holographic AI-enabled celebrity character, the (3) ………..…. Celebrity is the profession (4)……….… the moment, a vainglorious vacation which, (5) ……..…..some 18th-century royal court, seems to exist largely (6)…….…..…that the rest of us might watch and be amazed (7)…….....its members live out their lives in public, like self-regarding members of some glittering soap opera. Today, almost (8) ……….. can be famous. Never has fame (9)…been/seem/appeared...more democratic, more ordinary, more achievable. (10)……....wonder it’s a modern ambition. Can someone help me with this?

Thanks, Chris! It's really helpful to me. I am thinking of reading a least one English book a month.

As a child, I would read a book a week. In my 30s and 40s, I was busy, but I would read high quality news and commentary on weekends. I haven't read an English book in perhaps 20 years, but for a few years, I used to read a French book or a Spanish book each week. So, the answer is probably that I have a good vocabulary (for words and phrases such as "an end in itself" and "the sooner, the better") due to regular reading. For language learning, "extensive reading" (regular, stress-free reading) is well documented as an effective technique for building good language skills.