Choose the appropriate words to complete the text.
My idea of the future (1) … may seem rather strange to you, but I think it’s one of the most important in the world and history proves its importance. Early men who lived where sharp rocks hurt their feet, soon began to think of some way of protecting them. So they produced a kind of sandals using flat pieces of wood. In colder parts of the world, man soon felt a need to give his feet even more protection, so he added more material to the top of the sandals, and (2) … the shoe was born. Sandals were worn by the ancient Egyptians as long as 5,000 years ago! At first, in fact, the sandals were worn only by the rich Egyptians. They would walk along followed by a servant who carried a (3) … of sandals just in case the master would need or want to put them on. Later, of course, all the people began wearing them. Sometimes they made the sandals with upturned toes, to give the foot more protection. Egyptians were the first (4) … in the world. The Greek developed the boot by gradually changing the straps which held the sandals to the feet for solid leather. Even today many primitive forms of shoes still survive. We still wear sandals very much (5) … those worn by the ancient Romans and Greeks. We have moccasins which are like those worn by the American Indians. And people in Holland still wear wooden shoes! Modern shoes as we know them began to appear in the Middle Ages about the time the Crusades1 started. Because the Crusaders went on long (6) … they needed good protection for their feet, and so people began to make shoes that would (7) … for a long time. With time shoes became an object of fashion and all kinds of ridiculous styles appeared.
1) a) profession b) job c) career d) pastime
2) a) though b) although c) nevertheless d) thus
3) a) pair b) couple c) group d) set
4) a) shoe producers b) shoe designers c) shoemakers d) shoe manufacturers
5) a) likely b) like c) alike d) liking
6) a) tours b) walks c) rides d) journeys
7) a) last b) stretch c) continue d) survive