Question 1
(Please note: Questions 1-15 are part of a cloze test. They are interrelated, meaning that the information provided in each question is connected to the others.)
Shopping In Japan
Unlike millions of Britons, who will not know how much the Christmas turkey, child’s bicycle and the January sales have _____ them until the credit card bill arrives, the Japanese _____ to settle up before they’ve even _____ their shopping list.
We say something costs someone an amount of money, so how much the turkey has cost them means how much they paid for it. Not charged, because shops charge people, not the things that are bought.
Question 2
Unlike millions of Britons, who will not know how much the Christmas turkey, child’s bicycle and the January sales have _____ them until the credit card bill arrives, the Japanese _____ to settle up before they’ve even _____ their shopping list.
Prefer to do something means to like one choice more than another. Here the Japanese choose to pay first, unlike the British. Desire to is too formal and strong, and enjoy is followed by -ing, not to.
Question 3
Unlike millions of Britons, who will not know how much the Christmas turkey, child’s bicycle and the January sales have _____ them until the credit card bill arrives, the Japanese _____ to settle up before they’ve even _____ their shopping list.
To write out a list means to write it completely, e.g. She wrote out a shopping list. Write off means to cancel a debt or damage a car badly, and write up means to write a report from notes.
Question 4
The Japanese like to improve on every idea, even if the idea is cash. So they have been _____ about the pre-paid card.
The adjective is followed by about: enthusiastic about something means very interested in it and excited by it. Not keen, because we say keen on, and exciting describes the card, not the people's feelings.
Question 5
It _____ the bother of banknotes and it saves the Japanese _____ the fear of being in _____ to someone else.
The phrasal verb do away with means to get rid of something, e.g. The card does away with the need for cash. Not do without, which means to manage without having something.
Question 6
It _____ the bother of banknotes and it saves the Japanese _____ the fear of being in _____ to someone else.
The pattern is save someone from something, meaning to protect them from a bad situation, e.g. The card saves them from worry.
Question 7
It _____ the bother of banknotes and it saves the Japanese _____ the fear of being in _____ to someone else.
Be in debt to someone means to owe them money. This is a fixed expression. Payment, bill and interest are not used in the phrase in ___ to someone.
Question 8
It _____ with the convenient pre-paid telephone card and has _____ through train ticket cards, taxi cards, and supermarket cards all the way to McDonald’s hamburger cards.
Start with something means that is how it began; the sentence then lists how the idea grew over time. Not introduced, because it needs an object (introduced the card), and the idea itself was not opened.
Question 9
It _____ with the convenient pre-paid telephone card and has _____ through train ticket cards, taxi cards, and supermarket cards all the way to McDonald’s hamburger cards.
Develop means to grow and change step by step. With through ... all the way to, it shows the idea spreading from phone cards to many other kinds of card. Followed, changed and turned do not fit with through ... all the way to.
Question 10
Few Westerners can understand why anyone _____ want to give money to a supermarket or a department store _____ by buying a pre-paid card.
After can't understand why anyone ..., we use would to talk about a person's imagined wish or choice: why anyone would want to .... Not will, which sounds like a simple prediction about the future.
Question 11
Few Westerners can understand why anyone _____ want to give money to a supermarket or a department store _____ by buying a pre-paid card.
In advance means before the time something happens. With a pre-paid card, you pay the shop before you buy anything. Not in time, which means early enough, not too late.
Question 12
But credit companies are held under some suspicion in Japan. People have traditionally preferred cash and will happily stroll the streets with quite large _____ of money in their pockets.
A sum of money is an amount of money, so large sums of money means a lot of cash. Savings and deposits are money kept in a bank, not in your pocket.
Question 13
The fact that street crime is fairly _____ helps.
Rare means it does not happen often, which explains why people feel safe carrying cash. Not seldom, because it is an adverb (Crime seldom happens) and cannot follow is.
Question 14
Pre-paid cards are now as _____ as chopsticks and twice as convenient.
Common means seen or found very often, everywhere, e.g. as common as chopsticks. Not usual, which means normal for a situation, and often is an adverb, not an adjective.
Question 15
About 500 million cards were sold in the first five years after they became _____.
Available means people can buy or get something, e.g. The cards became available in shops. Ready and prepared describe being finished, not being on sale.
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