23、At the end of last year, New York’s stock market fell, ________a global financial crisis.  

A. setting off         B. driving off                C. giving off          D. laying off  

22、The mother used to ________her son’s pockets while he was asleep, looking for letters from his girlfriend.  

A. pick out                   B. go through               C. deal with           D. look into  

21、There’s no point in trying to ________with her because she will never change her mind.  

A. agree                B. compete                   C. compare            D. reason  

20、Nancy asked Smith to take tea with her. He ________,  fearing to cause her inconvenience.  

A. ignored                    B. declined                    C. resisted             D. cancelled  

19、He refused to sell the old house, for it had too many pleasant ________with his childhood.  

A. associations              B. communications        C. contacts            D. combinations  

18、

There being no witness on the spot, the police were delayed by the ________of information about the crime.  

A. analysis                    B. disappearance           C. absence             D. consideration  

17、I was still sleeping __________ （火灾发生了）, and then it spread quickly. （break）

二、选择题

（每空？ 分，共？ 分）

16、Your advice __________ （她等待）till next week is unreasonable, so she is wise not to take it. （wait）

15、 __________ （如果你打开电视） and you will often see advertisements showing happy families. （turn）

14、__________ （你待在那儿越久）, the more you will like the place. （stay） .