When it is Tom’s turn for a cut, Mr. Smith places a wooden board covered with a piece of red leather across the arms of the chair, so that the barber doesn’t have to bend to cut the boy’s hair.

“Hey, young man, you’re       , you won’t need this soon, you’ll be able to sit in the chair.” the barber says.

“Wow,” says Tom, turning round to look at his dad. “Dad, Mr. Smith said I could be sitting in the chair soon, not just on the      !”

“So I hear,” his father replies. “I expect Mr. Smith will start       me more for your hair then.”

In the       Tom sees a little head sticking out of a long nylon cape. Occasionally he       glances at the barber as he works. He smells a(n)       of smelly sweat and aftershave as the barber moves around him, combing and cutting.

Tom feels like he is in another world,       except for the sound of the barber’s shoes rubbing on the plastic carpet and the       of his scissors. In the       from the window he could see through the window, a few small clouds moved slowly through the frame, moving to the       of the scissors’ click.

Sleepily, his eyes dropping to the front of the cape where his hair       softly as snow and he       sitting in the chair just like the men and older boys, the special       left leaning against the wall in the corner.

When Mr. Smith has      , Tom hops down from the seat.      , he sees his own thick,       hair mixed among the browns, greys and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and       the broken blonde hair, to       them from the others, but he does not have time.

They reach the pavement outside the shop. “I tell you what, boy, let’s get some fish and chips to take home,       your mum from cooking tea,” says Tom’s dad.

Tom is excited and catches his dad’s hand. He is surprised to find, warming in his father’s palm, a handful of his own       .

1.A. building up        B. sending up                       C. bringing up D. shooting up

2.A. desk                     B. board                               C. couch                      D. sofa

3.A. paying                  B. blaming                            C. charging                  D. accusing

4.A. mirror                           B. book                                C. shelf                      D. catalogue 

5.A. steals                   B. discovers                         C. returns                    D. transforms

6.A. lack                     B. memory                           C. mixture                   D. expression

7.A. helpless               B. noiseless                          C. fearless                   D. thoughtless

8.A. control                B. direction                          C. effect                     D. click

9.A. immigration        B. opposition                       C. reflection               D. assumption

10.A. rhyme               B. trail                                  C. pattern                    D. sound

11.A. falls                   B. covers                              C. melts                       D. explodes

12.A. considers                   B. succeeds                         C. approves                D. imagines

13.A. package            B. bench                               C. scissors          D. carpet

14.A. treated              B. compromised                 C. finished                   D. entertained

15.A. Looking into     B. Looking forward             C. Looking up             D. Looking down

16.A. blonde              B. red                                    C. black                        D. white

17.A. send for            B. find out                            C. gather up                D. show off

18.A. punish               B. separate                           C. deliver                    D. confirm

19.A. persuade          B. save                                  C. excuse                   D. relax

20.A. money               B. tip                                    C. fish                           D. hair