Stacy had recently moved from New York City to Stoneybrook, Connecticut. It was ___1___ for her to make new friends but she finally had three when she joined the Babysitters Club to ___2___ little children whose parents were busy. Claudia, Kristy, and Mary were in her class at school and also the other ___3___ of the club. The girls met at five o’clock on Fridays and waited for the ___4___ to ring. So far they had been busy, in spite of the ___5___ that they couldn’t stay out late and were under 13.
___6___, the girls’ world was invaded(侵犯) by a second group ___7___ themselves the Babysitters Agency. They were ___8___ and the group also included a few boys. The Babysitters Club tried to think of ways to ___9___ with the older group. They could clean and work for less money, however, they ___10___ it would be difficult to compete. The shock was even greater than they had ___11___ when most of their best customers started to call the new group. They ___12___ to get only a few jobs.
To try a new ___13___ Kristy recruited(招收) a few older kids who told the club they didn’t want to ___14___ their money with the other group. The club ___15___ only too quickly that these older girls joined only as spies and didn’t ___16___ for their job assignments(分派). Thus, more parents were ___17___ with the club.
Finally, the girls realized that the ___18___ in the other group were not good babysitters. They watched television, talked on the phone, and invited boyfriends to the house ___19___ they were sitting. When the children of the families started to ___20___, and a near accident almost occurred, the club went to the parents to tell them what was happening.
1. A. active     B. thoughtful       C. easy                         D. hard
2. A. take care of    B. run into                  C. go through              D. take advantage of
3. A. children  B. members                  C. circles D. players
4. A. alarm     B. traffic C. phone D. neighbor
5. A. fact B. degree C. question     D. demand
6. A. Therefore      B. Suddenly    C. Regularly                D. Unwillingly
7. A. attracting             B. finding       C. calling       D. matching
8. A. younger               B. cleverer      C. taller   D. older
9. A. compete B. fight   C. do      D. meet
10. A. heard    B. knew  C. promised    D. shot
11. A. damaged      B. caught C. expected     D. forced
12. A. hoped   B. liked   C. refused       D. seemed
13. A. chance  B. possibility  C. power D. policy
14. A. share    B. give    C. provide      D. mark
15. A. put down     B. paid off      C. found out   D. come through
16. A. check up      B. end up       C. look up      D. show up
17. A. satisfied       B. unhappy     C. curious       D. helpful
18. A. kids      B. adults  C. systems      D. situations
19. A. that      B. when  C. where D. how
20. A. blow    B. complain    C. appreciate   D. spread