Cheer up! No matter how ________ you progress, you are ahead of those who never tried.

The incomes of skilled workers went up.________，unskilled workers saw their earnings fall.

----- Now that you like the portable personal computer so much, why not buy one? It is of great use to your work. ---- Well, I can’t afford _____ computer at present．

She devoted herself___to her research and it earned her a good reputation in her field.

I’m definitely going to settle in the countryside when I retire. All the words have a similar meaning with the underlined word, Except ______.