Why did Bill speak seriously?

I bought these shoes in the sale. They were a real ……….

The ….. charged by the architect for the plans of the new building were unusually high.

I wondered whether you would like to ….. to the theatre tomorrow.  

I had to pay ….. on a carpet I bought in through the Customs today.

Read the following passage and choose the most suitable word for each space. 

          According to a magazine article I read recently, we (1) ......... live in an age of increasing leisure. Not only are more and more people reaching (2) ......... age with their taste for enjoyment and even adventure relatively (3) ......... but the working week is becoming shorter and the opportunities for (4) ......... are becoming greater and greater all the time. Not to mention the fact that people (5) .........to spend less time travelling to work or may even be working from home. What I can't understand, however, is who these people are. As far as I can (6) ......... the whole thing is another one of (7) ......... journalistic fictions. I admit that there are a lot of retired people (8) ......... but I am not sure that all of them are dashing about learning hang-gliding or sailing single-handed (9) ......... the world. My own parents seem to (10) ......... most of their time gazing at the television. And as for the shorter working week, I wish someone (11) .........remind my company about it. I seem to be working longer and longer hours (12) ......... the time. The little leisure time I have is eaten into by sitting in the traffic jams or waiting for trains to (13) ......... up at rain-swept platforms. I haven't noticed any dramatic improvements in my (14) ......... either, but perhaps I just have to wait until I get my (15) .........

It can take up to three months to ….. a man to do this specialist work.

Julie had a terrible ………. with her parents last night.