Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or Don your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 31 to 35. Living on my own When I tell people about the idea of moving out, many people's reaction is like, “what do your parents say?” because they assume parents would not like their children to leave them. I don't know if my parents like it, but they always support and respect my decisions. They think it is good for me to try and live on my own and ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or Don your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 31 to 35.

Living on my own

When I tell people about the idea of moving out, many people's reaction is like, “what do your parents say?” because they assume parents would not like their children to leave them. I don't know if my parents like it, but they always support and respect my decisions. They think it is good for me to try and live on my own and then I would know it is the best to stay with my family. The most important reason for independent living is to save the travelling time to work. It used to take me one hour fifteen minutes to travel to work from my previous living place.

From my new apartment, it just takes me thirty minutes, so I saved forty-five minutes' travelling time. I don't have to get up early, and I save two thirds of my traveling cost. In addition, I gain my personal space and freedom by independent living. I make my own decisions; I don't have to say whether I would go home for dinner; I can invite my friends to come and stay late.

Money is the main issue in living on your own. You have to be responsible for all the expenses. Therefore, you've got to be well prepared and save up for your bills. Although I find my transportation time much shorter, the saved time is spent on other things, such as cooking and other household chores. Preparing and cooking the food do occupy a significant portion of my time, therefore I always try to make simple meals. Moreover, I have to regularly tidy up my apartment and wash my clothes, so it doesn't really save much of my time after all.

Now I'm getting used to my new life, and I'm enjoying it. I feel that moving out makes it easier for me to strike a balance between my work, my social life, my study and my family. It may be troublesome, but it may be worth it.

(Adapted from https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english)

The word "strike" in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to______.