20. A Big Stir Made by Wal-Mart in A Quiet Town

Ashland is a town where the grocery store allows people to buy on 1) ____ and doctor makes house calls. It is the only town in America where trains pull into town and let passengers off right on Main Street. Shop 2)___ know every person in the neighborhood and crime is almost unheard of. No wonder people there are fiercely protective of its small-town character. But this gentle way of life has come under threat since Wal-mart 3) ____ its plan to build a super-center on the edge of the town.

Arguments for the store include increased 4) ___ money for the town, low prices for shoppers, and new jobs. Franklin Jackson, a town official, wants to bring in those jobs. People like him believe government should not stand in the way of 5) ____. Those who are opposed to the store include 6) _____ business owners and people who came to Ashland for its quality of life. They feel it will destroy the small-town 7) ____, increase traffic and coffee shop. The town has never faced an 8) ____ that has stirred up as much emotion as this one. Mary Leffler, a mother of four, has become the head of the opposition group. She has been thrown into a 9) ____ fight for the first time. “I feel as if we are about to 10) _____ in the Olympics,” she said, “but we’ve just learned the sport.”