18. The man was under so much stress that he finally _____.

　 A. broke down　　　 B. broke up　　　 C. broke out　　　 D. broke in

17. I can _____some noise while I’m studying, but I can’t stand loud noises.

　 A. come up with　　　 B. catch up with　　　 C. put up with　　　 D. keep up with

16. Every means _____been tried to _____the family expenses.

　 A. have… cut out　　　 B. has… cut down　　　 C. has… cut short　　　 D. have… cut off

15. May is good, kind, hard-working and intelligent. _____, I can’t speak too highly of him.

　 A. As a result　　　 B. In a word　　　 C. By the way　　　 D. On the contrary

14. She has to be very _____because she hasn’t much money.

　 A. economic　　　 B. economical　　　 C. sparing　　　 D. careful

13. We’ll _____the matter, but it will take some time, so you’d better be patient.

　 A. look though　　　 B. look over　　　 C. look after　　　 D. look into

12. How did it come _____that you made a lot of mistakes in your homework?

　 A. about　　　 B. along　　　 C. around　　　 D. by

11. My wallet is nowhere to be found. I _____it when I was in the gym.

　 A. must drops　　　　　　　　 B. had dropped　　　

C. should have dropped　　　　 D. must have dropped

10. He had a part-time job and was paid _____.

　 A. by the hour　　　 B. by an hour　　　 C. by hour　　　 D. each hour

9. He showed great interest in my field of work. He asked me _____fresh development.

　 A. keeping him informed of　　　 B. to inform him

　 C. to keep him informed of　　　　 D. informing him of