—Was he still there when you were away to answer the phone?—There is no doubt about it, but he ________ soon afterwards.

It was a long time before she_________ to his words.

Tom _______ the TV set for $500，which was much cheaper than he had expected．

He ______ his sister to give up the plan for cycling along the Mekong River, but failed. 

 When I was in Spain last summer, I ______ quite a lot of Spanish.