Use of English: Open Cloze

JOB TRAINING IN CALIFORNIA

I n Cal i f orni a, Ms Br enda Bl ackman has st ar t ed
a busi ness t eachi ng peopl e( 16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
t o mar ry a mi l l i onai r e. Her st udent s, mai nl y
women, si t (17)....................... class saying over and
over (18)....................... : "I want to berich. I deserve to be
rich. I was born to be rich. I will be rich."She (19).......................
them useful information, (20)....................... as thetelephone
numbers of the golf and tennis clubs (21).......................
the filthy rich(22)....................... to be found. She advises them
on (23)....................... to wear ata croquet match. She instructs
them (24)....................... the basic etiquette of
dealing(25)....................... servants: "Always address the
chauffeur (26)....................... hissurname." (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 appearsto have.
THE MAFIA LOAN SHARKS
Loan- shar ki ng - l endi ng money - i s t he bi ggest
r acket i n t he Uni t ed St at es underworld. It is
(01)........................... profitable that one New York gang boss
built up$500,00 (02).......................... $7.5 million in about five
years.( 0 3 ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a r e f o u r o p e r a t i n g
l e v e l s i n l o a n - s h a r k i n g . A t t h e (04)..................
is the Mafia boss. Just (05)....................... him are his
principallieutenants who give money to (06)...........................
own subordinates for investment.These third-echelon
underlings lend out much of the money themselves, and
pass therest (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).......................
aChristmas party in his home, He distributes one million
dollars (11)...........................cash - $100,000 to
(12)........................... of these ten men. He doesn't have to
keepa n y r e c o r d o f t h e n a me s o r t h e
a mo u n t s . A l l h e s a y s i s , I wa n t o n e p e r
c e n t (13)........................... week. I don't care (14)...........................
you get, but I wantone per cent. For the next year's
Christmas party, the only problem this gang leader hasis
where he is going find five more men to hand out the
$500,000 to that he earnedduring the year."Naturally, the
interest rate goes (15)........................... as the money
goesthrough the various echelons. On the second level, the
rate may be 1.5 or 2 per cent aweek. 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 aski ng
(01). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
payment( 02) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . advance
because so many marr i ages ar e
br eaki ng(03).............................. in the first few weeks, often
(04).............................. thehoneymoon.One phot ogr apher
had t o sue t he bri de f or hi s money af t er t he
coupl e spl i t (05). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . on thei r
honeymoon. Hi s photographs were submi tted


COMPILED BY LIC. FERNANDO CSPEDES SNCHEZ
(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'tb r i n g t h o s e b l o o dy ph o t o g r a ph s r o u n d
( 12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - h e ' s l e f t (13)............................
.'"Co u pl e s a r e n o w ( 14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t o
pa y a " di v o r c e de po s i t " (15)............................ the
photographer.
A FOLK STORY WITH MEANING
Nasrudin made a bet that he could spend a night on a
mountain, despite the iceand 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 thevillage asked him, - "Not (06).................. a
candle?""Yes, I had a candle.""Then the bet is (07)......................".
Nasrudin did not argue.S o me mo n t h s l a t e r h e
i n v i t e d t h e s a me pe o pl e ( 08) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a
f e a s t (09)..................... his house. They sat. They waited.
Hours (10)....................... Theystarted to mutter (11).......................
food.Nasrudin said: "Let's go and see how it is getting
(12)...................."They all went (13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the
ki tchen. 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 hasbeen there
since yesterday."
A GRAVEYARD FOR PETS
(01). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the recession, Britain' s pet owners
are wi lling to pay for apermanent memorial
(02)......................... much-loved furred and feathered
friends.The Rossendale Pets Cemetery, near Rawtenstall in
Lancashire, now stretches to over 10acres 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 heput up a headstone. That
has long since been dwarfed (06).........................
elaboratemonuments, including a marble gate
fl anked by pill ars. Dedicated to a horse
call edBrandy, it cost well (07). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 000
seven years ago. Other animal scommemorated in
the cemetery vary from budgi es to a l ioness. The
owners of thecemetery, Mr and Mrs Annable, have had some
upsetting experiences:"We had a man (08)........................ tried to
climb into the incinerator to kiss hisIrish wolfhound
goodbye. He was an educated man (09)................... well,
an Englishteacher. In the end, he left half the ashes here and
took half home."Every Sunday a long-distance driver
brings fresh flowers (10)................. hisdog. Rain, hail, fog
or snow, he never (11)....................... And then (12)..................
isKakkoo the parrot, who spoke four languages. His grave is
marked by a simple woodencross and a bronze
plaque."(13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . couple arrived carrying a
cage. They had not seen theirhamster for
(14)............... time. Was it in hibernation or was it dead?
They couldn't.


COMPILED BY LIC. FERNANDO CSPEDES SNCHEZ
bear to look. In fact, it was as stiff as a board. When I told
them, they burst into tears. Ididn't (15)....................... the heart
to charge them."
EURO-DISNEY
In Euro-Di sney, an investment of $2 bill ion has
created a monstrous funfai r. Pirates in the West Indies.
Ghosts and graveyards and a haunted house. Simulated
spacetravel. Railway rides and Peter Pan and Dumbo....
There must be (01)..................... of E u r o p e ' s 6 0 o r s o
mi l l i o n c h i l d r e n u n d e r t h e a g e o f 1 4 wh o
a r e n o t n a g g i n g (02)..................... parents.When I hear
(03)................ this monstrous creation is a bare 24 miles from
the centreof Pari s, I think it represents the death of
civil isation. One (04). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . havethought the
French (05)................... more sense, better taste, but, then, they
alwaysdid have this love-hate relationship (06)......................
the USA.(07)................... me be clear about it. Disney should
stay (08)................... heb e l o n g s : i n t h e s w a m p s
o f F l o r i d a o r t h e s u b u r b s o f L o s
A n g e l e s . P e o p l e (09).................... appreciate him.Perhaps
the most perpl exing response (10). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Di sney, that pap-merchant, has been made by collectors.
In the United States, a four-volume IllustratedDi sneyana
Cat al og and Pr i ce Gui de i s ( 11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I t
l i st s 26, 000 pr i ces (12)................... $1 for a 1966 Donald
Duck book (13)....................... $14,000 for atin wind-up walking
Mickey Mouse of around 1930.I n A m e r i c a , t h e r e
a r e a n e s t i m a t e d 5 0 , 0 0 0 c o l l e c t o r s .
T h e h i g h e s t (14)................... are paid for cels, paintings
on celluloid, a specialised market worth anannual $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 oneof (2).................... main streets. These trees
do not produce rubber. They are, in fact,made of rubber.
Mr Joe Dynamo, a spokesman (3)..................... Los
Angeles citycouncil, 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)................... ourcoffee. We make
copi es (6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . plastic of ol d wooden
furniture. We havefibreglass tombstones. (7)...................
shouldn't we have trees made of rubber?"At 50 miles
(8)................... hour, no motorist will see any difference. And
ourmaintenance costs will be lower. You give the trees an
annual rinse (9)......................de t e r g e n t , a n d du s t
t h e m o f f t wi c e a y e a r . We s a v e a l o t o f
mo n e y b e c a u s e transplanting, pruning, weeding and
leaf-collection are all unnecessary. And we have a60-year
non-fade guarantee on each plant. This is rationalisation
(10)........................its best."