Use of English B1. Gems 💎

It has been called the largest …          [burglary, heist] in history. Leonardo Notarbartolo and his gang stole over $100 million in gems from the Diamond Centre in Antwerp, Belgium. But how did they break …         [off, through, up, out] some of the toughest security in the world?

It wasn't something they planned overnight. In fact, Notarbartolo had been preparing the heist for three years. In 2000, he …        [bought, sold, rented]an office in the Diamond Centre, giving him access to the building. He then made copies of the master keys and studied the centre's alarm system. All the …            [thieves, police, safeguards] had to do was wait for the perfect moment. Then, in February 2003, it arrived.

The centre was host to the Diamond Games Tennis Tournament, an …          [party, meeting, event] which attracted celebrities from all across the world.

With everybody distracted, the gang …      [turn, go, set] their plan in motion. They entered the building's restricted areas and turned …      [of, off, out, in]the alarm system.

Then to avoid …              [having seen, seeing, being seen] by the security cameras, they stole the CCTV video tapes and replaced them with footage that had been recorded earlier.

When they were ready, the gang approached the diamond       [pole, vault]… . Fixed to the door were two magnetic plates which would …         [trigger, worsen] the alarm when separated. They …        [stuck, stick] a strip of aluminium onto the plates, holding the magnets together.

Then, they unbolted the …          [saucepan, plates, boot] and moved them away from the door. This meant that the thieves were free to enter the vault unnoticed. They collected the diamonds and made their escape.

Although the thieves got away, Notarbartolo made a …           [careless, careful] mistake. While escaping, he had disposed of a bag containing tools and other …                [investigation, witness, evidence] by the roadside.

Inside the bag were the …              [components, ingredients, leftovers] from his lunch: a half-eaten sandwich. This gave …                [criminals, investigators, thieves] the DNA evidence they needed for Notarbartolo's arrest!

He received a 10-year prison …               [imprisonment, sentence] and a $1.3 million …         [payout, benefit, payout, fine] .

…          [Besides, However] , police never found the stolen diamonds.

To this day, their location …            [remain, remains, remaining, remained] a secret - perhaps forever?