Book excerpt: This updated worktext for high school and college introductory courses emphasizes functional use of conversational and written Italian with extensive use of fill-in exercises, matching columns, word puzzles, dialogues, and more. Students will also get a review of basic grammar, vocabulary, verb forms, idioms, and sentence structure. Additional features include lists of irregular verbs and Italian-English and English-Italian glossaries. Answers for all exercises, quizzes, and puzzles are presented at the back of the book. Line illustrations throughout.