1. At first, she had told her friends that she wouldn't go out with them that night. She then decided that it would probably do her some good to .......... her heels for a change.

2. He knew that he would have to handle the investigation of the senator's possible corruption with .......... . If something went wrong, which it easily could, his career would be over.

3. The head Research and Development technician had been fired last week for radically changing the product design of the company's leading product at the last moment without permission. The change was not for the better. The last comment from the boss before the technician was led out of the building was, "Thanks for killing the .......... that laid the golden egg."

4. She first met Ellen at a conservation rally. They seemed to have everything in common and started spending a lot of time together. She was glad that she had found a kindred .......... in her new area.

5. Jim, meet Dan. He is the of the castle around here; the regional manager in charge of this office, Wesley said.

6. I sure love this car but it cost a king's .......... . My wife is still mad that I spent as much as I did on it, Mike told his coworker.

7. I can't believe that you betrayed my confidence and told Irma that I was mad at her and why. I didn't figure you for someone who would .......... and tell. I thought I could trust you! Rachel yelled at Jessica.

8. We need to focus on selling a different product. As you know, the one we have been pushing was aimed at buyers from high society. Hanz Crankenborkel, as you know, has a lot of sway with the society types and he gave our product the .......... of death by saying, in front of the public dinner, that our product is too tawdry for his social status, Michael told the team.

9. The whole lot of you failed to meet the standards this month. Every single one of you! You can .......... your performance bonus goodbye, the angry boss told his staff.

10. I am sorry that I punched you in the face when you walked through the door last night, Bill. It was just a knee-jerk .......... . I wasn't expecting you you said you were going to be out of town. I heard the knob rattle at 12 o'clock at night. I went to check it out, the door opened, and I swung. I thought you were a burglar, Matt said.