1. My main ......... for becoming a temporary postman during the Christmas holiday period

cause

incident

rational

reason

2. was because I had amassed some rather large ..........

sums

amounts

bills

totals

3. And what was more ......... I had got no money.

interesting

important

valuable

vital

4. My trainer was a postman by the ......... of Ted.

title

label

name

sign

5. With a life time of ......... in doing all the walks in the town.

experience

knowing

habit

custom

6. It was all a question of ........., he said and then he explained

ruling

straightening

tidying

order

7. the moment I got into the ......... office.

selecting

dividing

choosing

sorting

8. He didn't want any of his ......... to imagine that being a postman was an easy job.

trainers

training

trainees

trains

9. He was ......... up with people he met every so often

eaten

fed

consumed

digested

10. who ......... it was a part-time job because it was all finished by mid-day.

tested

criticised

claimed

held

11. He described the ......... very carefully.

processing

sequence

follows

followed

12. The first thing was to be ......... since you started at a time when most people were asleep.

punctual

pointed

punctilious

pointing

13. Immediately you arrived you had to start sorting the mail into different pigeon ..........

parts

gaps

slots

holes

14. Sometimes you found some ......... handwriting and didn't know where the letter should go.

wonderful

meticulous

terrible

beautiful

15. He was always criticising teachers for not teaching children to write ..........

personally

privately

proper

properly

16. These letters should be put to one side and old Charlie, the handwriting ........., would look through them later.

expert

exponent

exhibitor

executive

17. The next ......... was to draw some cold water, fill the kettle and make a cup of tea.

foot

step

pace

stride

18. Ted was always calm and optimistic. He never let himself get ......... by the job.

doomed

downgraded

depressed

downed

19. He left me alone for an hour to follow his method and asked me to call him if I ......... any difficulties.

encountered

engendered

entered

enquired

20. As he had been very busy in his house since two that morning ......... of a burst water pipe, he went to have a rest.

through

for

on

because