1. For years now it seems he has been _____ by bad luck. A. bugged B. doomed C. dogged D. haunted 2. There’s a _____ of stars below the Pole Star that has always fascinated me. A. set B. cluster C. crowd D. gathering 3. Everyone is entitled to a ticket _____ of where they come from. A. irrelevant B. prerequisite C. irrespective D. incidental 4. I’m beginning to realise that Alan is just _____ lazy. A. glaringly B. conspicuously C. crass D. downright 5. There’s no point burying our heads in the _____, is there? A. sand B. ground C. snow D. earth 6. It’s _____ that he forgot three consecutive appointments. A. unintelligible B. inscrutable C. incompatible D. inconceivable 7. Contributions to the charity are beginning to _____ up. A. end B. finish C. peter D. dry 8. Rather than take his time to think about the questions, the interviewee _____ out the first answer that came into his head. A. blurted B. blundered C. bungled D. botched 9. I can’t go out wearing something like that. I’d be the _____ of the neighborhood. A. make-me-laugh B. laughing stock C. laughter maker D. laughing gas 10. I’m sure Suzi will ____ when she discovers that her uncle has bought her twin sister a new sport car. A. make hard work B. fall on hard times C. learn the hard way D. feel hard done by 11. The left-wing party seems to have gained enormous power lately. No other party will defeat them in the ____________ (SEE) future. 12. It was her most ____________ (APOLOGIZE) appearance that made us let her go unpunished. 13. As with the earliest ____________ (WRITE) books, radio technology was at first restricted to the few educated scientists and researchers, but later spread to the greater society. 14. Jim is one of the most ____________ (SPEAK) members of the committee. He always expresses his strong opinions very directly without worrying if other people are offended. 15. Since his bad habits were never broken when he was a child, they are now ____________ (CORRECT).