A well-dressed man entered a famous jewelry shop. He explained he ________ to buy a pearl for his ________ birthday and the ________ didn’t matter since business had been very good for him that year.

After examining a number of beautiful and expensive pearls, he chose a(an) ________ black one that ________ $5000. He paid for it in cash, shook hands with the jeweler, and left.

A few days later the man ________ and said that his wife liked the pearl so much that she spent a ________ day with the gift. She wanted another one just like it _________she wanted a pair of earrings made. It had to be exactly the same size and _________ “Can you give me any advice on how to get such a pearl ?” said the man. The jeweler ________ replied, “I would say it’s exactly impossible to find one exactly like that pearl.”

The rich man insisted that the jeweler advertise in the newspapers,________ $ 25,000 for the matching pearl. Many people ________ the advertisement but nobody ________ a pearl that was just right.

Just when the jeweler had given up hope, a little old lady came into his________. To his great ________, she pulled the perfect pearl from her purse. “I don’t like to part with it,” she said ________, “It was given to me by my mother, who had ________ it from her mother. But I really need the ________.”

The jeweler quickly paid her before she changed her mind. Then he called the ________ hotel to tell him the good news. The man, however, was nowhere to be ________. Clever readers, do you know why?