For questions 1-18, read the three texts below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.

Jerome Flynn - Actor Turned Singer
After a variety of jobs, Jerome Flynn became (1) ........ successful with fellow Robson Green in the TV series Soldier, Soldier, and then when they (2) ........ up as singers in 1995, they had three number one hits. 'It was a whirlwind, fantasy time,' says Jerome. 'We made the records because we quite (3) ........ the money, and it paid off. It was a lot of fun, but you can become (4) ........ in the pop world. It's addictive, and once you're a pop star, people tend to (5) ........ you on a pedestal. It was so mad we had to get out while the going was good. Now money doesn't seem so much, although it (6) ........ me to leave my career behind for a while. But Robson wanted to go back to acting and has made quite a success of it. I'd like to work with him again one day.'

The Sailing Trip
A few days ago, I was (7) ........ my new sailing gear ready for my first long trip, around the coast of Britain on the sailing ship Hirta. I watched a TV report of some fellow yachtsmen crossing the finishing (8) ........ off a place called Ushant to complete a record round-the-world voyage. The sea was rough, the wind looked fierce and, although they were putting a brave (9) ........ on it, the winning yachtsmen looked exhausted. What I was seeing on the television screen was not my (10) ........ of yachting. I felt smug knowing I had this marvellous opportunity to drift gently round Britain learning to sail, and that I would be steering (11) ........ of the horrors of ocean sailing. Casually I looked up Ushant on the map. I went quite cold: Ushant was (12) ........ 32 kilometres further south than the starting point for my great journey on the Hirta.

Mrs Murgatroyd
'And there's another thing,' said Mrs Murgatroyd. Beside her in the taxi her husband concealed a small sigh. With Mrs Murgatroyd there was always another thing. No matter how well things were (13) ........, Edna Murgatroyd went through life to the accompaniment of a running commentary of complaints, an endless litany of dissatisfaction. In short, she (14) ........ without ease.
In the seat beside the driver, Higgins, the young executive from head office, who had been selected for the week's vacation at the (15) ........ of the bank on the grounds of being 'most (16) ........ newcomer' of the year, sat silent. He was in foreign exchange, an eager young man whom they had only met in London airport twelve hours earlier and whose natural enthusiasm had gradually (17) ........ away before the onslaught of Mrs Murgatroyd. The driver, full of smiles when they selected his taxi for the run to the hotel a few minutes earlier, had also caught the mood, and he too had (18) ........ into silence.