So I decided to make some meat pies. In a short time I was busy     1     butter and flour and my hands were soon covered with sticky pastry. At exactly that moment, the telephone rang. I picked up the receiver between two sticky fingers and was dismayed when I     2     the voice of Mrs Bates. It took me ten minutes to persuade her to ring back later. I had     3     got back to the kitchen     4     the door-bell rang loud enough to wake the dead. This time it was the postman and he wanted me to sign for a registered letter!

This morning, however, a fireman accidentally discovered the cause. He noticed the     1     of a snake which was wound round the electric wires of a 16,000-volt power line. In this way, he was able to solve the mystery. The     2     was simple but very unusual. A bird had snatched up the snake from the ground and then     3     it on to the wires.

We have just moved into a new house and I have been working hard all morning. I have been trying to get my new room     1    . This has not been easy because I own over a thousand books. To make matters worse, the room is rather small, so I have temporarily put my books on the floor. A short while ago, my sister helped me to carry one of my old bookcases up the stairs. She went into my room and got a big surprise     2     she saw all those books on the floor. This is the     3     carpet I have ever seen, she said.

(1) Exploring space has already     1    in the fight against world hunger. It has directly resulted in the many satellites that now orbit Earth. A number of the satellites     2     data on land and weather patterns. Then the data     3     (transmit) to scientists on Earth. After careful     4    , the scientists can provide useful     5     and advice for farmers. As a result, space-based science has helped farming in its efforts to grow enough food to feed Earth’s increasing population.

(2) To the public, he was seen as a slightly     6     but kind and funny man. He had a thick moustache and long white hair, which sometimes stood on end     7    he had just received an electric shock. Although he was a     8    , he sometimes forgot things, like his friends’ birthdays. But     9     his peculiarities, he was loved by his friends and neighbours. There is even a story about how he helped a little girl who knocked on his door and asked for help with her homework. In fact, Einstein often     10     people on the street who would stop him and ask him to help explain things.

Put simply,     1     is your natural ability that can be developed when you try hard enough. Who knows what beautiful works of art you will create, what medical     2     you will make or what     3     technologies you will develop! The     4     are endless, and I have     5     in your ability to make a     6     to your family, to your community and to our country.

You need to make a     7     effort to train your mind and develop your     8    . Senior high school will help you learn and grow, yet you alone are    9     for     10     your great potential.

This wonderful plane can     1     seven passengers. The most surprising thing about it, however, is that it can     2     anywhere: on snow, water. … The man wanted to fly to Rockall, a     3     island in the Atlantic Ocean, but Captain Fawcett did not take him….

He slept very well for the first two nights, but on the third night, a storm    1    .A gust of wind    2    the bed off the roof and sent it    3    into the courtyard below. The young man did not wake up until the bed    4    the ground.

I sat in the front of the bus to get a good    5    of the countryside. After some time, the bus stopped.    6    , I realized with a shock that I was the only passenger left on the bus. “You’ll have to get off here,” the conductor said. … “We are going back now,” said the conductor.“Well, in that case, I    7    stay on the bus,” I answered.

First of all, he wrote out a long list of all the foods which    8    . The list    9    most of the things Herbert loves: butter, potatoes, rice, beer, milk, chocolate, and sweets. Yesterday I paid him a visit. I rang the bell and was not surprised to see that Herbert was still as fat as ever. He led me into his room and hurriedly hid a large parcel under his desk. It was    10    that he was very embarrassed.

The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a     1     business career and study music. My parents, though     2     and sharing my love of music,     3     of it as a     4    . This was     5     in view of the family background. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years at Springhill College and,     6     much beloved and respected in the     7    , earned     8     enough to provide for his large family.     9     a consequence of this example, my parents     10     upon college instead of a conservatory of music.

In Britain and the USA, the managing directors or presidents of big companies are often     1     of being “fat cats”, i.e. bosses whose salaries are often twenty-five times more than the company’s     2     worker. When times are hard and workers are     3     off, they     4     very little. Departing directors, on the other hand, get big golden     5    .

The United States is a     6     nation. Sports in America take a variety of forms. Most sports are     7    , so that what is happening in sports     8     upon the time of year. Some sports are called     9     sports, as the number of spectators greatly     10     the number playing in the game.

It was John’s quick action and knowledge of    1     that saved Ms. Slade’s life. He immediately asked a number of nearby people for bandages, but when nobody could     2    any, his father got some tea towels and tape from their house. John used these to treat the most    3     to Ms. Slade’s hands. He slowed the    4     by applying pressure to the wounds until the police and    5    arrived.