18. With no rain for the last three years, the country is in a desperate _____.

　 A. occasion　　 B. case　 　　　C. situation　　 D. background

17. We declared that the decision shall not be carried into ______.

　 A. practice　　 B. action　　　 C. deed　　　 D. effect　

16. Their research into ancient languages seems to have little ______.

　 A. price　　　　 B. cost　　　　 C. value　　　 D. usefulness

15. It is widely accepted that little babies learn to do things because

certain acts lead to _____.

　 A. rewards　　 B. prizes　　　 C. awards　　 D. results

14. I’m learning to cook, just for the ______ of it.　

　 A. habit　　　 B. fun　　　　 C. game　　　 D. custom

13. The cloth has a large _____ of patterns to choose from.

　 A. plenty　　　 B. amount　　　 C. variety　　 D. group

12. When cold winter came, she decided to move to a warmer _____.

　 A. weather　　 B. temperature　　 C. season 　　D. climate

11. In my opinion, the root _____ of the crime problem lies in poverty as well as unemployment.

　 A. reason　　　 B. excuse　　　 C. cause　　　 D. fact

10. You need to apply all your _____ to the job.

　 A. force　　　 B. energy　　　 C. power　　　 D. faith

9. Last weekend when Mum came, she brought me _____.

　 A. quite a few good news　　　 B. a good news

　 C. a good piece of news　　　 D. a piece of good news