8.In international matches, prestige is so important that the only thing that matters is to avoid ______.

295.We consider _______ he should have left without telling anyone beforehand.

294.I was very interested in ______ she told me.

293.A new laptop costs about _______ of a second-hand one.

292._______ the boss says, it is unreasonable to ask me to work overtime without pay.

291.She _______ fifty or so when I first met her at a conference.

290.If there were no subjunctive mood, English _______ much easier to learn.

289.What a nice day! How about the three of us _______ a walk in the park nearby?

288.My mother was determined to help those in need and she ( ) immensely proud of what has been achieved these last 20 years. The italicized part in the sentence expresses ___________.

287.Which of the following italicized words DOES NOT carry the metaphorical meaning?

286.She hired a lawyer to investigate, only to learn that Gabriel had removed her name from the deed. The infinitive verb phrase “only to learn” is to used ____________.