Kevin Mason had risen early, excited by the prospect of his first day as deputy chairman of the new company. His first meeting that day was scheduled for twelve o’clock, when Lucas would ____ him about his progress with a new novel. Kevin planned to publish the book in April, and was delighted that he ____ to persuade Lucas to go on tour to promote the book. After a light breakfast Kevin read the article in the Times for a second time. He was pleased to see his new partner repeating something he’d said to Kevin many times: I am proud to be joining a publishing house with such a fine literary tradition. As it was a clear, crisp morning, Kevin decided to work and savour the thought of starting life anew. He ____ how long it would be before his father understood the situation. He wanted his father to ____ that Kevin had made the right decision if the company were to play in the major leagues. He crossed the road, his smile broadening with each ____ he took. As he walked towards the familiar building, he noticed two smartly dressed doormen standing at the entrance. Not an expense his father would have ____ of. One of the men stepped forward and saluted. “Good morning, Mr Mason.” Kevin was ____ that they knew his name. “We have been instructed, sir, not to allow you to enter the building.” Kevin was struck dumb. In spring Sofia decided to rent a house. The house that Sofia rented at Lake Bala was even better than she ____ from when she drove up to see it, along with several others. It was a big beautiful old home. Obviously, it was well looked ____. It belonged to a family whose children had ____ up and now had children of their own, according to the realtor. They still used it in August, but had decided to rent it in July for the first time. The house was big and comfortable. There were six cozy bedrooms, a bunk room on the top floor, enough bathrooms for everyone, a huge living room and dining room downstairs on the main floor with fireplaces tall enough to stand in, wooden beams and panelling throughout the house. What Sofia liked very much was a big, old-fashioned kitchen where you could ____ prepare meals for an army. And down the slope at the edge of the lake, there was a boathouse with two speedboats in it, a sleek modern one and an old wooden dock that had been impeccably cared ____. The whole property was ringed with beautiful old trees, and there was a tennis court behind the house that had been built fairly recently for teenaged grandchildren. Sophie’s granddaughter was ____ when she saw the house, and ran from room to room trying to decide which one to sleep in. Sophie was happy that she could ____ renting this house. Joyce had always hated everything about Hollywood. She wanted nothing to ____ with a life like her parents' and grandparents' . It was their mother's dream, and Joyce’s youngest sister Leslie had finally ____ her mother's dream for her. Julia, their mother, was ____ now that Joyce didn't have her talent. However, Julia was sure that Leslie was talented. She controlled every aspect of Leslie’s career, just as her father had run her own. Julia had never decided what to have for breakfast, let ____ what parts to take, without him. He made all her decisions for her. Just like Julia was now making Leslie's. The only difference was that Leslie was a child. Julia wasn't, when her father was making her decisions for her. He was running her career and her life. Julia’s main interest was in Leslie’s acting, not her general education. Julia thought Leslie could always catch ____ on school later, though she’d actually never fallen behind. Joyce was conscientious about Leslie’s education, and everyone on the set ____ her. She had an occasional battle with Julia, who didn’t want Leslie to ____ her work with her drama coach, or voice lessons, but Leslie always managed to do all. What she didn’t get to do was hanging out with kids of her own age, or play, except with adults. Gilbert Coleman had edited the fourth draft of Mr Taylor’s remarkable memoirs. Now all he wanted to do was take the first available flight to London and hand the manuscript to his publisher. But there was something even more important that ____ him from leaving. An ____ he had no intention of missing, under any circumstances. His mother’s seventieth birthday party. Susan, his mother, had lived in a cottage on the estate since her second husband’s death three years before. She ____ actively involved with several local charities, and ____ she shortened her jogging distance, she continued to jog every day. Gilbert would never forget the personal sacrifices his mother had made to ____ he won a scholarship to Hartford, and with it the chance to compete with anyone, whatever their background, ____ his oldest friend Dave Dowson. Gilbert and Dave had first met at the church over forty years ago, and seemed an unlikely pair to end up as best friends. One born in the back streets of the docks, the other in a private ward of the London Royal Infirmary. One a scholar, the other a sportsman. And certainly no one would have ____ that Gilbert would fall in love with Dave’s sister, except Alice herself, who claimed she had planned the whole thing after they first met at Dave’s twelfth birthday party. Julie always thumbed a ride back to college, but never told her parents. She knew they wouldn’t ____. Her father would drive her to the station on the first day of term, when she would hang ____ on the platform until she was ceftain he was on his way back home. She would then walk the couple of miles to the freeway, stand near the edge of a road and hold out her hand with the thumb raised as a signal for a vehicle to stop and take her to the city. There were two good reasons why Julie ____ to thumb a ride back to Hartford rather than take a bus or train. Twelve round trips a year meant she could save over a hundred dollars, which was important. Her parents could ____ afford any extra expenses. In any case he and Ma already made quite enough sacrifices to ensure she could ____ college, without causing them any further expense. ____, Julie’s second reason for preferring to thumb rides was that when she graduated she wanted to be a writer, and during the past three years she'd met some fascinating people on the short journey from home to college, who were often willing to share their experiences with a stranger they were unlikely to meet again. Julie had golden rules about who she wouldn’t ____ a ride from. Truck drivers were top of the list. In fact, she avoided most drivers under the age of sixty, especially those behind the wheel of a sports car. The second term started. During it, Oliver never once ____ a lesson at school. When he returned home each evening, he went straight up to the bedroom he shared with his elder brother, where, with the aid of a torch, he studied for hours. There were even ____ when his mother found Oliver sound asleep on the floor, open books scattered around him. Every day he continued to visit his uncle, who seemed to know a great deal about different countries, and continued to teach Oliver about so many other things ____ as if he knew where his teachers had left off. His brother was ____ because Oliver no longer accompanied him to the cinema to watch new film on Saturday night, but returned to school where his teacher of mathematics, Mr Daley gave him extra lessons. It would be years before Oliver ____ that Mr Daley never gave so much attention to his classmates. Oliver was his favourite student because he worked hard and was ____ on mathematics. This morning Oliver was very early at school. He was going to take part in a maths competition. He followed the teacher down a long corridor that was lined with photographs of old school teams and display cabinets filled with silver cups, to ____ the next generation of past glories. When they reached the Headmaster’s office, the teacher said, “You can sit anywhere you like, Oliver. Just make sure to stop talking the moment the Headmaster enters.” Ronald and Brenda left for Wales to spend their holidays in Templeton Castle, the ancestral home of Lord and Lady Usher, Brenda’s late grandparents. The castle brought back many happy memories — they ____ how they’d spent a holiday, there just before Ronald went up to Cambridge. They roamed the hills together during the day, rarely returning to the castle before the sun had ____ behind the highest mountain. They ____ delicious food and after supper they sat by a roaring log fire reading novels and short stories. After a fortnight, during which time they encountered more cattle than human beings, they reluctantly set out on the long journey back to London. They ____ at the Russell House looking forward to a life of domestic tranquility. ____ , it was not to be. Ronald’s mother-in-law confessed that she could ____ wait to get Billy off her hands. Tears before bedtime had occurred once too often, she told them as her cat leapt up on to her mistress’s Iap and promptly fell asleep. “Frankly, you haven’t returned a moment too soon,” she added. “I haven't ____ to complete The Sun crossword once in the past fortnight.” Ronald thanked his mother-in-law for her understanding, and he and Brenda took their hyperactive five-year-old son back to the Russell House. Gilbert was determined that his son Martin was not going to end up working on the shop-floor of a car factory for the rest of his life. He put in hours of overtime to earn enough money to ____ that the boy could have extra tuition in math, general science and English. He felt well ____ when the boy passed his eleven plus exam and won a place at Manchester Grammar school. That pride didn’t falter when Martin went on to pass five O-levels and, ____, two years later added two A-levels. Gilbert tried not to show his disappointment when the boy informed his that he didn’t want to go to university. “What kind of career are you hoping to take up then, lad?” Gilbert enquired. “I have filled an application form to join you on the shop-floor just as soon as I leave school. The point is, Dad, I can’t be ____ to spend my life doing a job I don’t enjoy just to satisfy one of your fantasies." Gilbert promised that the application would be turned down in the morning. He ____ uttered another word to the boy before leaving for the factory. For over a week father and son didn’t speak to each other. It was Martin’s mother who was left to come up with the compromise. She ____ that Martin should go to work to the hotel. He confided that he thought hotel management seemed the least unattractive proposition he had considered so far. He reluctantly ____ to this solution. When I opened the letter, I confess I didn’t immediately recall who Helen Smith was. But then I ____ that there had been an extremely bright, rather plump pupil by that name who always seemed to have an endless supply of cream cakes. The only thing I gave her in return was an art book that had been a Christmas present from my aunt in Scotland. In ____ , by the time I had reached the upper sixth, the precocious little blighter was already in the lower sixth, despite there being a good two years difference in our age. Having read her letter a second time, I couldn’t imagine why the girl should want to see me. I ____ that the only way I was likely to find out was to invite her round to tea at my little place in High Street. When I first saw Helen again, I ____ recognized her. Not only had she lost a couple of stone, but she would have made an ideal model for a lot of advertisements that one saw displayed on the front of every bus — you know, a fresh-faced girl showing off a gleaming set of perfect teeth. I had to ____ I was quite envious. Helen explained to me that all she needed was a room in Oxford while she was up in at the university. I was only too happy to oblige. After all, my mum made it clear on several ____ how much she disapproved of my being in the flat on my own. I couldn’t wait to ____ Ma for that matter, the news that I had found myself an appropriate companion. I was in the hospital for four nights. Mark stayed with me almost the whole time, bringing me sodas when I asked for them, and a razor, and a toothbrush, and a pair of his own pajamas. He also brought me pencils and paper, for which I had little use but which I ____ he would have been lost without, and a great many books, half of which were in languages I couldn’t read and the other half of which might as well have been. One night — head aching from Hegel — I asked him to bring me a magazine. He ____ rather startled, and when he came back it was with a trade journal (Pharmacology) he had found in the lounge. We talked ____ at all. Most of the time he read, with a concentration that astonished me; six hours at a stretch, scarcely glancing up. He ____ me almost no attention. But he was with me on the bad nights, when I had a hard time breathing and my lungs hurt so I couldn't sleep. Once, when the nurse on duty was three hours late with my medicine, he followed her into the hall and there delivered a tense and eloquent reprimand. After that the nurse was much gentler in her handling of me. The emergency room doctor ____ me that Mark had saved my life. This was a dramatic and gratifying thing to hear — and the one which I ____ to a number of people — but secretly I thought it was an exaggeration. In subsequent years, ____, I’ve come to feel that he might well have been right. Angela loved the excitement of being back on a movie set. It made her unbelievably ____ , surrounded by a crew, which almost always became like one big family. Since marrying Jeff, she hadn’t worked at all, and she’d genuinely missed it. She especially ____ being treated like a star. Jeff was the star in their household, and she was his wife — a role she’d never coveted. She’d always had a burning desire to be equally as important, and now she planned on ____ her objective one way or the other. The director of the movie was Linda Brennan, an interesting and smart woman who’d been around Hollywood for quite some time. Linda wrote and directed all her own projects, preferring to maintain control, which was one of the ____ she worked mostly for cable TV, where she found she could get the freedom she desired. Being a female film director was not easy. If a male director made a film that flopped at the box office, he soon got another ____. If a female director did the same thing, her career was almost over. Linda had done the unusual — she’d survived in what was basically a male arena. When Linda strode onto the set, everyone took notice. She was a lean, striking-looking woman with gold-flecked tiger eyes. Angela and Linda hit it off immediately. Angela was secretly thrilled that Linda had ____ her for the part. No interviews, no auditions, she was the actress of choice, and that boosted her ____. She accepted the role. Kate was at a loss. Her parents were ____ that their daughter had real talent, but what do parents know when you're their only child? Especially when one of them was a music teacher and the other an accountant who were thé first to ____ that they didn’t know much about art, but they knew what they like. Still, they seemed quite willing to support her for another year. Kate was painfully aware that, ____ her parents were fairly comfortably off, another year in which she produced no income could only be a burden for them. After much soul-searching, she told them, “One year only. After that, if the paintings aren't good enough, or if no one shows any interest in exhibiting them, I’ll be realistic and look ____ a proper job.” For the next six months Kate worked hours that she hadn’t realised existed when she’d been a student. During that time, she produced a dozen canvases. She allowed no one to see them for fear that her parents and friends would not be frank with her. She was determined to finish her portfolio and then listen only to the toughest ____ possible, those of the professional gallery owners, tougher still, those of the buying public. By the eleventh month, Kate had ____ twenty-seven works, but she still wasn’t sure whether they displayed any real talent. Nevertheless, she felt the time had finally come to allow others to pass ____ on them. The wind was rushing in off the ocean and the purple flowers swayed. Small white clouds floated across the bright blue sky, which made the day seem warmer than it was, I shivered, breathing in the clean air and the scent of the ocean as I wandered the path over to the lighthouse. My phone rang. “Hello?” “Hi, sweetie, I was just calling to see how you were doing?” my mom ____, pretending not to be worried. “Where are you?” I hesitated. “Um, just on the side of the ____.” She laughed nervously. “I hope you're not hitchhiking!” That was exactly what I was doing — hitchhiking in Iceland. I had two weeks off, nine days of which were set aside to ____ my way around the Ring Road, starting and ending in Reykjavik. Over five days I rode in twelve different vehicles, with twenty different people to thank for not leaving me on the side of the road in the cold and wet. The longest I had to wait for a ride was maybe an hour and a half, and even then I had the company of a hitchhiker trying to ____ a ride in the opposite direction. People picked me ____ and gave me snapshots of their lives, why they were there, what they had loved most. When I finally ____ at Reykjavik, I called my mom ain to let her know that I had made it safely. “I'm so glad,” she said, so clearly ____. “I never want you to do that again.” My mother had hoped I wouldn’t hitchhike, but I never wished I hadn't. Iceland is beautiful, with its lava fields and hot springs, but there is more to it than that. There are the kindness and openness of the local people and those who wander there. The ravens are the unique guardians of the Tower of London. They have patrolled the Tower ____ over 900 years. A well-known legend ____ that should the ravens ever leave, the White Tower would collapse and a great disaster would happen to England. Fortunately, these respected residents have been protected by a royal decree. They are kept at the Tower at the ____ of the British government. Ravens live up to an average of 25 years, but have been known to live up to the age of 45. These magnificent birds respond only to the Ravenmaster, a yeoman warder who ____ care of their feeding and well-being. During World War II, the number of the Tower ravens decreased dramatically, it ____ its lowest point soon after the war finished. With the disturbances of the bombing only one raven was left to patrol the Tower. New birds were soon on their way, some were drawn from the wild, some — from animal shelters. Finally, the Tower had its full complement of birds. Thanks to the generosity of visitors the Tower has ____ money to start its own breeding programme. Now there is a complement of six birds plus reserves. They control four different territories within the Tower. In recent years, the Tower has proudly witnessed the birth of a new generation of ravens. The ravens are now a national icon for the British and ____ many tourists make a special effort to see them. St. Martin-in-the-Fields is an architectural masterpiece situated at the corner of Trafalgar Square, one of the world’s most famous squares. The first church on this ____ was built in the Middle Ages, when this area was fields and woodlands. In ____, this fine church is the fourth to stand here. The church was completed in 1726 to a design by James Gibbs. Other well-known buildings by Gibbs include the nearby church of St. Mary and the Radcliffe Library-in-Oxford. The magnificent style of the church with its huge columns, arches and Victorian mosaics has inspired architects ____ hundreds of years, particularly in North America and in Ireland. The cost of preserving this building so that future generations can delight in James Gibbs’ masterpiece is great. The work with the homeless is also costly ____ visitors’ financial support will be very much appreciated.

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