44、John is( )hardworking than his sister, but he failed in the exam.

26. The parents almost collapsed upon learning that their child had been diagnosed ( ) a rare disease.

25. The country is making progress on it bailout reform commitments but bad bank loans could ( ) a fledgling recovery .

24. The governor posted a statement online saying he " misspoke " and tried to ( ) his comments .

23. As previously suspected , the inhabitants of the region had been hunter-gatherers living relatively ( ) lifestyles .

22. The volcano ( )on Friday , opening up an 800- meter - long crack in its crater .

21. The program includes an ( )of program options for ESL / EFL teachers .

20. Which of the following italicized phrases is INCORRECT ? ( )

19." After a confused silence , the speaker attempted a weak reply only to halt midway to
confer with his assistant and finally to admit that he had made a mistake." The two infinitive phrases after " midway " are used to ( )

18. Person A : Where is Tim ?
Person B : He might be next door .
What is the function of the modal auxiliary verb " might " in the reply? ( )

17. There is no means ( ) a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking .