Use of English: Open Cloze

JOB TRAINING IN CALIFORNIA

In California, Ms Brenda Blackman has started a business teaching people
(16)....................... to marry a millionaire. Her students, mainly women, sit
(17)....................... class saying over and over (18)....................... : "I want to be
rich. I deserve to be rich. I was born to be rich. I will be rich."
She (19)....................... them useful information, (20)....................... as the
telephone numbers of the golf and tennis clubs (21)....................... the filthy rich
(22)....................... to be found. She advises them on (23)....................... to wear at
a croquet match. She instructs them (24)....................... the basic etiquette of dealing
(25)....................... servants: "Always address the chauffeur (26)....................... his
surname." (27)....................... homework, her students study the Wall Street Journal.
She trains them to walk (28)....................... straight backs, and to keep their arms
(29)....................... their sides. She also advises them to confirm (30).......................
his chequebook stubs that their target millionaire really does have the money he appears
to have.

THE MAFIA LOAN SHARKS

Loan-sharking - lending money - is the biggest racket in the United States
underworld. It is (01)........................... profitable that one New York gang boss built up
$500,00 (02).......................... $7.5 million in about five years.
(03)................... are four operating levels in loan-sharking. At the
(04).................. is the Mafia boss. Just (05)....................... him are his principal
lieutenants who give money to (06)........................... own subordinates for investment.
These third-echelon underlings lend out much of the money themselves, and pass the
rest (07)........................... to the lowest level, the bookie and the street-corner thug.
A retired expert from New York City's bureau of criminal investigation describes
(08)......................... it works:
"A big racket boss (09)........................ ten trusted lieutenants (10)....................... a
Christmas party in his home, He distributes one million dollars (11)...........................
cash - $100,000 to (12)........................... of these ten men. He doesn't have to keep
any record of the names or the amounts. All he says is, I want one per cent
(13)........................... week. I don't care (14)........................... you get, but I want
one per cent. For the next year's Christmas party, the only problem this gang leader has
is where he is going find five more men to hand out the $500,000 to that he earned
during the year."
Naturally, the interest rate goes (15)........................... as the money goes
through the various echelons. On the second level, the rate may be 1.5 or 2 per cent a
week. On the lowest level, it can be 5 per cent a week, 260 per cent a year.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

Wedding photographers are now asking (01).............................. payment
(02).............................. advance because so many marriages are breaking
(03).............................. in the first few weeks, often (04).............................. the
honeymoon.
One photographer had to sue the bride for his money after the couple split
(05).............................. on their honeymoon. His photographs were submitted
(06).............................. the court who said they were (07)..............................

sufficient standard, and she (08).............................. to pay for this souvenir of her
"happiest day".
(09)............................. another case, the bride's mother saw the photographs and
(10)............................ enlargements and albums. The photographer said; "I called
(11)............................ to say they were ready, and the bride's mother said, 'Don't
bring those bloody photographs round (12)............................ - he's left
(13)............................ .'"
Couples are now (14).............................. to pay a "divorce deposit"
(15)............................ the photographer.

A FOLK STORY WITH MEANING

Nasrudin made a bet that he could spend a night on a mountain, despite the ice
and snow. The bet was accepted.
Nasrudin took a book and candle and sat (01).................. the coldest night he
(02)................... known. (03).................... the morning, he was half-dead as he went
(04).................... to the village to claim his money.
"Did you have (05).................... at all to keep you warm?" The people in the
village asked him, - "Not (06).................. a candle?"
"Yes, I had a candle."
"Then the bet is (07)......................". Nasrudin did not argue.
Some months later he invited the same people (08)................ a feast
(09)..................... his house. They sat. They waited. Hours (10)....................... They
started to mutter (11)....................... food.
Nasrudin said: "Let's go and see how it is getting (12)...................."
They all went (13)....................... the kitchen. They found a huge pot of water.
(14)..................... the pot a candle was burning. The water was tepid.
Nasrudin said: "It is not ready (15)........................ I don't know why - it has
been there since yesterday."

A GRAVEYARD FOR PETS

(01)................... the recession, Britain's pet owners are willing to pay for a
permanent memorial (02)......................... much-loved furred and feathered friends.
The Rossendale Pets Cemetery, near Rawtenstall in Lancashire, now stretches to over 10
acres covered by 1,600 graves and 800 plots for small caskets of ashes.
It was started 26 years (03)..................... by a local farmer who ran his dog
(04)........................ with a tractor and was (05).................... grief-stricken that he
put up a headstone. That has long since been dwarfed (06)......................... elaborate
monuments, including a marble gate flanked by pillars. Dedicated to a horse called
Brandy, it cost well (07)...................... 2,000 seven years ago. Other animals
commemorated in the cemetery vary from budgies to a lioness. The owners of the
cemetery, Mr and Mrs Annable, have had some upsetting experiences:
"We had a man (08)........................ tried to climb into the incinerator to kiss his
Irish wolfhound goodbye. He was an educated man (09)................... well, an English
teacher. In the end, he left half the ashes here and took half home.
"Every Sunday a long-distance driver brings fresh flowers (10)................. his
dog. Rain, hail, fog or snow, he never (11)....................... And then (12).................. is
Kakkoo the parrot, who spoke four languages. His grave is marked by a simple wooden
cross and a bronze plaque.
"(13)..................... couple arrived carrying a cage. They had not seen their
hamster for (14)............... time. Was it in hibernation or was it dead? They couldn't
bear to look. In fact, it was as stiff as a board. When I told them, they burst into tears. I
didn't (15)....................... the heart to charge them."

EURO-DISNEY
In Euro-Disney, an investment of $2 billion has created a monstrous funfair.
Pirates in the West Indies. Ghosts and graveyards and a haunted house. Simulated space
travel. Railway rides and Peter Pan and Dumbo.... There must be (01)..................... of
Europe's 60 or so million children under the age of 14 who are not nagging
(02)..................... parents.
When I hear (03)................ this monstrous creation is a bare 24 miles from the centre
of Paris, I think it represents the death of civilisation. One (04)................... have
thought the French (05)................... more sense, better taste, but, then, they always
did have this love-hate relationship (06)...................... the USA.
(07)................... me be clear about it. Disney should stay (08)................... he
belongs: in the swamps of Florida or the suburbs of Los Angeles. People
(09).................... appreciate him.
Perhaps the most perplexing response (10)................... Disney, that papmerchant, has been made by collectors. In the United States, a four-volume Illustrated
Disneyana Catalog and Price Guide is (11)..................... It lists 26,000 prices
(12)................... $1 for a 1966 Donald Duck book (13)....................... $14,000 for a
tin wind-up walking Mickey Mouse of around 1930.
In America, there are an estimated 50,000 collectors. The highest
(14)................... are paid for cels, paintings on celluloid, a specialised market worth an
annual $60 million. The most paid (15)................... far for a cel has been $286,000.

RUBBER TREES
Los Angeles has planted 2,000 rubber trees (1)....................... the middle of one
of (2).................... main streets. These trees do not produce rubber. They are, in fact,
made of rubber. Mr Joe Dynamo, a spokesman (3)..................... Los Angeles city
council, explained the reasons. He said:
"These trees are representative of our virtual society. We have polystyrene grass
(4)....................... our golf courses. We have non-milk powder to (5)................... our
coffee. We make copies (6)................ plastic of old wooden furniture. We have
fibreglass tombstones. (7)................... shouldn't we have trees made of rubber?
"At 50 miles (8)................... hour, no motorist will see any difference. And our
maintenance costs will be lower. You give the trees an annual rinse (9)......................
detergent, and dust them off twice a year. We save a lot of money because
transplanting, pruning, weeding and leaf-collection are all unnecessary. And we have a
60-year non-fade guarantee on each plant. This is rationalisation (10)........................
its best."