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Reports are ...... of a massive earthquake in Mexico

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The United States and China have (16)_______ a deal that allows the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE to stay in business in exchange for paying an additional $1 billion in fines and agreeing to let US regulators monitor its operations. The fine comes (17)_______ Donald Trump stepped in to save the company after US regulators barred it from doing business in the US, an effective death blow for the company. In addition to the fine, a compliance team chosen by the US will be embedded at ZTE and the Chinese company must change its board and executive team. “ZTE is essentially on (18)_______,” said Amanda DeBusk, chair of the international trade and government regulation practice at Dechert LLP and a former commerce official. “It’s unprecedented to have US agents as monitors ... It’s (19)_______ a good precedent for this situation. ZTE is a repeat offender.” The news did little to appease critics. Senator Mark Warner, vice-chairman of the Senate select committee on intelligence, said: “It is the unanimous conclusion of our nation’s intelligence community that ZTE poses a significant threat to our national security. These concerns aren’t new; back in 2012, the House permanent select committee on intelligence released a report (20)_______ the serious counterintelligence concerns associated with ZTE equipment

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She ________ homework in the evenings.

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The company admitted to discharging a lot of waste to the local river and was willing to take responsibility for it.

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Though the trees and the undergrowth had been ....... , branches and dense foliage stooped overhead

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When he goes on holiday, it takes him the first couple of days just to wind __________

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The rapidly ____ population will put a strain on the country's health care system

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He managed to squeeze __________ the crowd at last

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In animals generally, birth is considered to be the ____ of the life span

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 Isolated from the mainland, the Con Dao islands are one of Vietnam’s star (4) _____. Long preserve of political prisoners and undesirables, they now turn heads thanks to their striking natural beauty. Con Son, the (5) _____ of this chain of 15 islands and islets, is ringed with lovely beaches, coral reefs and scenic bays, and remains partially covered (6) _____ tropical forests. In addition to hiking, diving and exploring deserted coastal roads, there are excellent wildlife–watching opportunities, such as the black giant squirrel and endemic bow–fingered gecko. (7) _____ it seems an island paradise, Con Son was once hell on earth for the thousands of prisoners who languished in a dozen jails during French rule and the American–backed regime. Many Vietnamese visitors are former soldiers (8) _____ were imprisoned on the island. Until recently, few foreigners visited Con Dao, but with the commencement of low–cost boat connections this looks sure to change

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Chosen as the nation's capital at the end of the American Civil War, ............. a city of over a million people

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You _______ the washing-up and I'll do the drying

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We can now communicate instantly _________ people on the other side of the world

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Her patience finally gave .........

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We all knew their scheme was dishonest, but we went ......... with it anyway

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The smell was so bad that it completely________ us off our food

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 I always ______________ my parents a long and happy life.

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"Curiosity is one of permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." _ Samuel Johnson

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Advances in mobile technology and social networking websites mean we spend more time online than ever before. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world by population (The Economist, 2010). It is (25) _____ not surprising that so many psychologists, sociologists, and others are eager to give their thoughts on how this is impacting negatively on our society. The biggest criticism levelled at social networking is that young people are losing their offline friends to online friends (26) _____ are unable to provide the same deep connection and emotional support. However, a lot of research shows these criticisms are generally (27) _____. Allen et al. (2010) discovered that it is socially adjusted adolescents who are more likely to have a networking profile than those who are not. One study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2009) found that people are not (28) _____ offline friends with online companions but are using them to support their offline relationships. The study also found that social networks allow us to have discussions with a much more diverse set of people than in the real world, so we share knowledge with people from a wide (29) _____ of backgrounds

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It's time you tidied your room. It's getting ____

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_______ he is more than 65 years old now, he is still quite active