Challenge! 6 Complete the text with the correct words (a–d).
Cheating at cards
1 Mississippi is a long, wide river which flows 2 the south-eastern states of the USA. In the first half of the nineteenth century, steamboats 3 slowly along the river, and, on board the steamboats, men hoped 4 a lot of money by playing card games such as poker and faro. George Devol started playing cards for money on the steamboats in the 1840s, when he was only seventeen years old. However, George was different from most card players. There wasn’t 5 on the steamboats as good 6 George at cheating at cards. People 7 played cards with him lost all the money they had. George wasn’t ashamed 8 his talent. In fact, he wrote a book about his experiences. George had made over $2 million from cheating at cards by the time that he died in 1903.
1 a The b A c - d An
2 a over b through c along d during
3 a had travelled b used to travel c had travelled d were travelled
4 a win b to win c winning d to winning
5 a nobody b everybody c somebody d anybody
6 a as b that c than d at
7 a which b who c whose d when
8 a at b on c of d over