Open cloze

When the only pub in the village of Ashcombe was put up for sale three years ago, residents feared that it would be turned into flats, 1. had happened to so many others in the area. Instead 2. waiting and hoping for a buyer, they decided to buy it themselves. More than two hundred people bought shares, with 3. shareholder having exactly one vote, regardless of how much they had invested. The pub is now run by a small committee, and volunteers help out behind the bar as 4. when they are needed. It has become a great 5. more than a place to have a drink. There is a lending library in the back room, a weekly lunch club for older residents and, on Saturdays, a stall selling vegetables from local gardens. Not everyone was convinced at first. Some people doubted 6. a group of amateurs could make a success of it. As 7. turned out, the pub made a small profit in its very first year, and several of the doubters are now 8. its most regular customers.