1. We got a nice tax break from the Internal Revenue Service but I am not going to plan on it happening again. Lightening never strikes in the same place .........., Mel said to his wife.

2. My friend said he would help us build the new room and he meant it when he said he'd come. I know when he's lying he's my best friend. I can read him like a .........., Zack said to Sarah.

3. I am vital to this organization. Through my superior creative talents, I consistently provide ideas for new, innovative, value-added products — which are the backbone of this company. I feel that since you require my services, it would only be natural to approve my request for more adequate compensation, Ernest said to the boss. The boss replied, Yes, I need you like I need a hole in the .......... . You are already more than adeQuately compensated for your services and your request is denied at this time.

4. Where did you grow up? I grew up in this little one-.......... town outside of Redding, California called Whitmore, Mark said to his date.

5. I have won the last eight boxing matches. The last match was against the champion of the Chicago area and I knocked his .......... out, Dan said to the reporter.

6. There are several areas where the U.S. 101 highway runs through small towns. At these points, the speed limit often goes from 65 MPH to 35 MPH. These towns are often called "speed ..........," because the towns earn a lot of their revenue from ticketing speeders who fail to cut their speed almost in half.

7. John has a mind like a steel .......... ; he is quick to get the point of things and never forgets a detail or a name, his boss said to his assistant.

8. Did you send out the reports today? Oh, never .........., you already told me that you did, Marcie said to Larry.

9. As the secretary stepped between the boss and the employee he was yelling at for non-performance, she quietly said, "Here are the documents you reQuested. I am going to take myself out of the .......... of fire here and go back to my desk. You know where to find me if you need anything."

10. His dad pressured him to join the army his whole life. His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather and his great-great-grandfather had all been in the army. He didn't want to join but took the path of least .......... . It was easier, in his mind, to do a couple years in the military than to fight with his father.