17、We __ to paint the house at dawn but finished only the front part till dusk.  

      A. set out              B. set off            C. set about         D. set aside

16、He is       a stranger to me though we have met twiee before.

      A. primarily          B. virtually         C. reasonably       D. impatiently

15、 I called Mary many times yesterday evening, but I couldn' t get through. Her brother        on the phone all the time!  

      A. has been talking    B. has talked        C. talked           D. was talking

14、 He has been        to general manager because of his excellent work in the company.  

      A. promoted          B. produced         C. proposed         D. programmed

13、-- Daddy, would you buy me an MP4 player if I do well in the final exam?

-- I         , I promise.   

      A. would            B. shall            C. will            D. can

12、I have no idea of what is in fashion nowadays, so my choice might be quite ____  

     A. abundant           B. arbitrary          C. ambitious         D. aggressive

11、      a hotel, we began to look for somewhere to have dinner.  

     A. Having found      B. To find         C. Find            D. Found

10、 She returned to him the money she' d stolen for the sake of her          

     A.  conference       B.  convenience      C.  consequence       D.  conscience

9、       a slight improvement in sales, the company is still making a loss.  

     A. In case of         B. In course of       C. In spite of       D. As a result of

8、 Margaret asked me to repeat         telephone number        second time so that she could write it down.  

     A. the; the           B. the; a           C. an the           D. an; the