—Happy Birthday, Ken! Did you invite Jason?
—Yes, but he _____ a meeting in New York otherwise he wouldn’t be absent from my birthday party．

“Come on. I want to show you something.” “Oh, how nice of you! I ____ you ____ to bring me a gift.”

That Was the first time she     alone at home during the weekends，bored to death．

—The battery in my cell phone is running low.
—I        that last night before we went to bed.

If we use the new recycling method, a large number of trees         .

If you’d written earlier, I’d have known when you      to go on holiday.

We       the top of the mountain but for this awful weather．It rained all day．

—Alice, why aren’t you at work today?
—I       a day off．

Mr. Chapman retired at 70 after he       nearly 40 years with the Gas Company．

．Although it         in the desert most of the year, people still live there．