He never（）to read the news but turned at once to the crossword puzzle on the last page.

The price they offered for my old car was so low that I（）it down.

The student's first attempt at writing a play was a far（）from the work of Shakespeare.

I could not persuade him to accept it,（）make him see the importance of it.

People appreciate（）with him because he has a good sense of humor.

Our department（）courses in several foreign languages.

I want you to succeed without（）and firmly believe that you will succeed if you try hard enough.

I tried very hard to persuade him to join our group but I met with a flat（）

The weakening housing market continued to take its（）on the industry.

Nobody knows how long and how seriously the shakiness（不穩(wěn)定） of big businesses will （） down the economy.