1. So your idea to make enough money to pay me for the car I sold you is to recycle aluminum cans? I think you are .......... at straws here. I think you need to think of something else and ask someone you know for a loan because you are not going to make enough by recycling cans to pay me, Hank told Jimmy.

2. You know that her husband passed away yesterday and that you will get paid soon. Asking her to pay you for the lawnmower, at a .......... like this, is just wrong, Matt told his brother.

3. Management just told us that a lot of our inventory got destroyed in a fire and that we need to obtain more inventory immediately at all .........., Jim informed Candice.

4. How much will it cost to repair the water damage caused by the leak in the roof? Mary asked the contractor. "At .......... . you are looking at $1,500 for the drywall. I can't tell you for certain how much it will cost until we remove some of the drywall and see whether any of the studs are rotten. If the studs have rotted, it will cost more to fix," he replied.

5. She hated the second and third weekend of the month when she was "on .......... " at the newspaper. She wouldn't get paid unless she was called but she also couldn't leave the area in case of an emergency call.

6. We know that the victim was shot at close .......... . He has gunpowder burns on his dress shirt, the police officer told the reporter at the crime scene.

7. His opponent was quite good at chess. He was very good and didn't usually have a hard time beating his opponent. He tried multiple strategies of attack but had been stopped at every .......... .

8. Is $2,000 a good deal for a 2001 Honda Civic with 100,000 miles on it? Lisa asked Beth. Beth replied, "It seems to be but I wouldn't take it at .......... value. Bring it into the shop and we will take a look to see if there is anything seriously wrong with it."

9. Well, .......... things first, we need to rearrange the shed. Then, we can get the dresser out of the bedroom and that will make room for the new king-sized bed, Steven told Clarissa.

10. We really got a good deal on this house. At first .......... . it didn't look like much but all it needed was paint and landscaping, Bill told his wife.