Help the long-suffering roommate express his preference.

"Your kazoo playing is certainly... unique," sighed Mark. "But I would rather you _____ practicing until I finish studying for my finals."

The correct answer is delayed.

When we use would rather to express a preference about someone else's actions in the present or future, we use the past tense for the second verb (would rather + subject + past tense). This is a type of hypothetical or unreal past.