English B2 FCE

According to a recent survey, the British are poor savers in (0) COMPARISON with other nations in Europe. They may start out with good (1) ............ (INTEND) but many people end up putting aside only 5.5 percent of their income for ‘a rainy day’. It is believed that only 13 percent of people currently in (2) ............ (EMPLOY) in the UK are saving towards their (3) ............ (RETIRE). One of the reasons for this is that the British spend around 16 percent of everything they earn on luxuries such as holidays and other forms of (4) ............ (ENTERTAIN). As a result, (5) ............ (FINANCE) problems and personal debt have increased sharply. Owning a home is seen as a good (6) ............ (INVEST) by many British people. However, house prices are now so high that they are simply (7) ............ (AFFORD) for many young people starting out unless they receive some kind of (8) ............ (ASSIST) from their parents. At the other end of the scale, over 800.000 households now own a second home abroad.