a. I went to the conference but for most of the time I felt (31) .like. a fish out of water. I knew nobody there and everyone else behaved (32)as if they had all known each other for years. I left just (33) as soon as I could and arrived home (34) earlier than planned.
b. I’ve always preferred classical music (35) to pop music. I’d much (36) rather listen to a 45-minute symphony (37) than a three-minute song. Pop songs seem so (38) much less interesting, harmonically and melodically, and the insistent, repetitive drumming is about (39) as much fun (40) as banging your head against a wall.
c. My father was a jack of all trades in those days, as (41) were all village school headmasters: digging holes for swimming pools (42) as a full-time labourer, marking out athletics tracks in the manner (43) of a professional, teaching arithmetic to the top class in (44) as time as he had free. The (45) more he did, the more was expected of him by the village community, as if he should (46) devote every waking hour to the well- being of his pupils. And he did. Nowadays one hears people talk of headmasters as if they (47) were accountants, balancing their (48) books as efficiently (49) as they can. I think I’d (50) not have been a headmaster in the old days.