Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions or adverbs. 1. It was the worst drought that had ever hit the region. Even the water that was trickling _______ the river would dry________ if the drought lasted another month. 2. They discovered that he was partial_________ fancy cars. So they arranged_________ him to visit a car factory and be given a Cadillac as a gift during the visit. 3. It is generally agreed that the dean is instrumental___________ the reform policy. He keeps telling us that if we are to further increase our standing_________ other language schools, it will have to come_________ raising the quality of our teaching and academic work rather than just diversifying our programs. 4. He refused to resign himself_________ a life defined_________ his father’s terms. He longed________ freedom. 5. That day he caught a man annoying a young girl. He could have looked_________ and pretended not to see, but he didn't. He rushed_______ him. 6. Shortly after he took_______ the case, he received a letter,__________ a bullet in the envelope, which said that if he did not get__________ the case immediately, he would not live to see the end of the week. 7. The bank robber waved his gun________ the teller threatening to blow____ her head if she did not hand________ the money immediately. 8. We have a very strong team working___________ it, and we have come___________ _______ some brilliant new ideas. 9. The man claimed that he had never laid a linger__________ her. In fact he said that he had never laid eyes_______ her. 10. It was getting dark. Most customers had already drifted__________ . But those three young men were still sitting at the table, laughing and chattering_________ . 11. I arrived home and found a stranger. I summed__________ the situation___________ a single glance. The man had a knife in hand and obviously had come_________ my life. So I seized hold________ a shovel and managed to fend________ the man's attacks. 12. The soldiers all had a great liking_________ General Lee and were determined to stick _______ him.