Soft-drink sales have been declining for nine straight years. This is much more than a trend—it’s a fundamental shift in consumer tastes that【C1】_____a major problem for soda makers, no matter how【C2】_____their product combination might be.

The latest numbers are astonishing, but not surprising. Sales of soda fell 3％【C3】_____volume in 2013, to the lowest levels since 1995,【C4】__to a report from Beverage Digest issued on Monday. That would be a big【C5】_____ no matter what, and it’s more than double 2012’s decline. People are moving away from soda at a(n)【C6】________rate.

At this point, companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsico must be【C7】_____not on what they’ re doing to save their flagship brands, but on how well they’re【C8】__those brands’ decline. Of course that’s not easy for companies that are named for those very brands, so they’ re still crazily trying to【C9】__how to at least stop the losses, even as they wisely continue to invest in【C10】_____like energy drinks, sports drinks, and flavored water.

Pepsico took measures such as trying a new bottle design and signing with Beyonce,【C11】________sales have continued to decrease.

And the hoped-for savior of the business—diet drinks with【C12】_____sweeteners—are no help. Up until a few years ago, sales of diet sodas were falling at about the same rate as the sugar-filled ones. Now they’re actually falling faster【C13】__consumers continue to hear about health【C14】__. Just yesterday, a study was re leased indicating that consumption of diet soda can【C15】_____the risk of cardiovascular disease in older women.

But health concerns are not the only problem. If they were, it would seem【C16】_____that energy drinks, sports beverages, coffee-based beverages, and flavored waters would be taking up the slack. But they are. That’s a further【C17】__that what’s doing soda in is the increase of【C18】__in the beverage aisle, especially those【C19】__at young people, a growing number of whom think of Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Pepsi— Beyonce not withstanding—【C20】_____the stuff their grandparents drank in the old days.

【C15】