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CLOZE TESTS (20)
C1. We’ve just come back exhausted after a two-week holiday in France. We were
really exhausted. On the last day, we drove non-stop from Marseille to Calais –we
should have (1)_____our journey in Lyon or Paris. As if that wasn’t enough, the sea
was so rough in the English Channel that the (2)_____ took three hours instead of
one and a half. Next year, we plan to book a cheap (3) _____holiday to Italy. It sounds
marvellous — the cost of the flight, the hotel and all our meals are (4)_____
in the
price. While we’re in Rome, we’ll be going on a guided (5)_____ to Coliseum. The last
time I was (6)_____ Italy, I was in a business (7)_____. I couldn’t see many of the
famous tourist (8)_____on that occasion, but my wife was really interested (9)_____
Italy. We have work hard these years to save money for the next trips in the
(10)_____ years.

C2. According (1)_____computer models that were used to estimate the running
speeds of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex would have been able to outrun a
footballer. The study shows that the dinosaur could reach a top (2)_____of 8 metres a
second, which is (3)_____faster than the average professional footballer. There has
been a lot of controversy (4)_____whether the Tyrannosaurus Rex was a predator or a
scavenger; some believe that its highly developed sense of smell indicates that it
was a scavenger, (5)_____others say that its keen eyesight shows that it was a
hunter. The (6)_____group will appreciate the recent study, as a hunter is more
(7)_____to require such speed. The University of Manchester study used a powerful
supercomputer to calculate the running speeds of five meat-eating dinosaurs and
used data taken (8)_____ from dinosaur fossils, (9)_____than referring to previous
work on (10)_____animals.

C3. In 1993, Greg Mortenson took a (1)_____to Pakistan to climb K2, the second
tallest mountain in the world. On his way down the mountain, he got lost. Food and
water were (2)_____, but Mr. Mortenson found a small village. The people there saw
that he was (3)______and helped him. While in the village, Mr. Mortenson watched

the children write in the dirt for their school lessons. The village did not have money
to build a school or (4)______a teacher. Before he left, Mr. Mortenson (5)______to
return to the village and help them build a school. Mr. Mortenson returned to the US
and wrote to many (6)______people. That idea did not work very well, but
(7)______enough people heard about Mr. Mortenson's plan and helped him. That was
the beginning of the Central Asia Institute, an organization that has (8)______in
building or helping to build more than 130 schools in small villages in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. With the help of (9)______David Relin, Mr. Mortenson wrote the famous
book Three Cups of Tea. Some people have criticized him, however, Mr. Mortenson
was given an (10)_____in 2009 by the government of Pakistan for his work in that
country.


C4. Beijing is the capital city of the People’s Federal Republic of China. “Beijing”
comes from the Chinese words “northern” and “capital” and follows a(n) (1)
_____East Asian tradition of naming capital cities literally. Other similarly named
cities (2)_____Nanjing in Southern China which means “southern capital”, and Tokyo
in Japan, which means “eastern capital”. Beijing is the political and cultural (3)
_____of China and is world-famous for its many historical attractions. Four million
people visit Beijing each year to see (4)_____such as the magnificent Forbidden City,
Tiananmen Square and The Great Wall of China. It is also one of the world’s great
modem metropolises and is (5)______of 21st century vitality. Towering skyscrapers,
huge shopping malls, and modem commercial areas are just as much a (6)_____of
modern-day Beijing. In 2001, Beijing celebrated the news that it had been selected
to (7)______the 2008 Summer Olympics. Hundreds of thousands of flag-waving
Chinese poured into Beijing’s streets, singing and cheering. Fireworks (8) _____up the
sky as the city rejoiced. The morning after the (9) ______, the titles of all Beijing’s
newspapers were printed in red — a special colour in Chinese (10)______that is
reserved for good and important news.

C5. Most people think that the capital of the (1)_____world is Hollywood, in the
(2)_____. However, the real movie capital is Mumbai, in (3)_____. Mumbai used to be
known as Bombay, and the movie industry there is often called “Bollywood.”
Bollywood makes twice as many movies each year as Hollywood — more than 1,000
movies a year. The (4)_____ from Bollywood are very different from those made by
Hollywood studios. For one thing, Bollywood movies are much (5)_____than most
Hollywood movies. Most Bollywood movies are more than three hours long, and
contain singing, dancing, action, adventure, mystery, and romance (but usually no
kissing). Because Bollywood movies contain so many different features, this
(6)_____of movie is sometimes called a “masala” movie — “masala” is an Indian
word for a mixture of spices. Another big (7) _____between Bollywood and Hollywood
movies is the way the movies are made. It takes much longer to make a movie in
Hollywood than in Bollywood. (8)_____, filming may begin on a Bollywood movie
before the script is even finished. The director and writers can make (9)_____the
story while the movie is being made. Sometimes they will even write the script by
hand instead (10)_____taking time to type it. Bollywood actors are very popular and
some are in such high demand that they may work on several movies at the same
time.

C6. There is an old English (1)_____, “Laughter is the best medicine”. One person
who certainly would have agreed with this is Norman Cousins. Norman Cousins the
editor of a magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote
and (2) _____about world peace and anti-nuclear and anti-war issues, traveling
(3)_____many different countries to share his ideas. In the 1960s, after returning to
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the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, Mr. Cousins got sick. He
discovered he had a rare disease known as <i>ankylosing spondylitis</i> that
caused the joints between his bones to (4)_____ stiff. In less than a week after he got

(5)_____, he could not stand. Every move that he (6)_____was painful. He was not
able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not (7)_____how to
cure his problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however,
refused to give (8)_____hope. Mr. Cousins thought that the illness could be caused
(9)_____unhappy thoughts. He did not want to (10)_____medicine to cure himself.
Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.

C7. Human memory, formerly believed to be rather inefficient, (1)_____really much
more sophisticated than that of a computer. Researchers approaching the problem
from a variety of (2)_____of view have all concluded that there is a great deal more
stored in our minds than has been generally supposed. Dr. Wilder Penfield, a
Canadian neurosurgeon, proved that by stimulating (3)_____brains electrically, he
could elicit the total recall of complex events in his subjects’ lives. Even dreams and
other minor events supposedly forgotten (4)_____many years suddenly emerged in
detail. The memory trace is the term for (5)_____forms the internal representation of
the specific information about the event stored in the memory. Assumed to have
been made by structural changes in (6)____brain, the memory trace is not subject to
direct observation but is rather a theoretical construct that is used to speculate
about how information presented at a particular time can cause performance at a
later time. Most theories include the (7)____of the memory trace as a variable in the
degree of learning, retention, and retrieval possible for a memory. One theory is that
the fantastic capacity for storage in the brain is the result (8)____an almost unlimited
combination of interconnections between brain cells, stimulated by patterns of
(9)_____. Repeated references to the same information support recall. Or, to say that
another way, improved performance is the result of (10)_____the chemical bonds in
the memory.

C8. Psychologists generally (1)_____memory into (2)_____least two types, short-term
and long-term memory, which combine (3)_____form working memory. Short-term
memory contains what we are actively (4)_____on at any particular time, but items

are not retained longer (5)_____twenty or thirty seconds without verbal rehearsal. We
use short-term (6)_____when we look up a telephone number and repeat it to
ourselves until we can place the call. On the other (7) _____, long-term memory can
store facts, concepts, and experiences after we stop thinking (8)_____them. All
conscious (9)_____of information, as in problem solving for example, involves both
short-term and long-term memory. As we repeat, rehearse, and recycle information,
the memory trace is strengthened, allowing that information to move (10)_____
short-term memory to long-term memory.
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C9. I have (1)____ to my hometown of Wilson Creek after an absence of 10 years. So
many things have changed around here. When I left Wilson Creek, there (2)____ a
small pond on the right as you left town. They have filled in this pond and they have
built a large shopping mall (3) ____ . A new post office has also been built just across
from my old school. There is a baseball (4) ____ on the outskirts of Wilson Creek
which has been changed (5) ____. They have now added a new stand where probably
a few thousand people could sit. It looks really great. The biggest changes have
taken place (6) ____ the downtown area. They have pedestrianised the centre and
you can't drive there anymore. A European-style fountain has been (7) ____ and (8)
____ benches have also been added along with a grassy area and a new street cafe.
My street looks just the same as it always has but a public library has been built in
the next street along. There (9) ____ to be a great park there but they have cut down
all the trees which is a pity. The library now has a large green area in front (10) ____
it but it's not the same as when the park was there.

C10. Philology (1)_____the traditional study of language, especially of written
languages in their cultural settings. Because philology (2)_____with the relationship
of languages, it is usually comparative; because these relationships evolve
(3)_____time, it is typically historical. Languages (4)_____ to change in the direction

of greater diversity; one language tends to be superseded by several: a
(5)_____“dead” language preserves evidence of the earlier forms from which “living”
languages developed. The descendants of Latin have diverged to the point that,
though Italian is related (6)_____English, they are now foreign to each other as is
their common “parent” to both. Also cultures change the meaning and use of many
words. In English, piano is a keyboard (7)_____; in Italian piano not only names the
instrument, it also means “soft” as opposed to “loud”. The original name for the
instrument was pianoforte (soft-loud), because it was more (8) _____of varying sound
volume than instruments like the harpsichord that came before it. The special
meaning of the Italian phrase results from its (9)_____context and the distinctive
feature of the instrument it names. But in English and other languages, we
abbreviate it to piano. The English word still (10)_____the same instrument but the
abbreviation discards “and loud" from the original Italian phrase and hence becomes
a name and not a description.
C11. Edward Patrick Eagan was (1)_____April 26, 1897, in Denver, Colorado, and his
father died in a railroad accident when Eagan was only a year old. He and his four
brothers (2)_____raised by his mother, who earned a small income from teaching
foreign languages. Inspired (3)_____Frank Merriwell, the hero of a series of popular
novels for boys, Eagan pursued an education for himself as well as an interest
(4)_____boxing. He (5)_____the University of Denver for a year before serving in the
U.S. Army as an artillery lieutenant during World War I. After the war, he entered Yale
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University and, while studying there, won the U.S. national amateur heavyweight
boxing title. He graduated from Yale in 1921, attended Harvard Law School, and
received a Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford (6)_____he received his
A.M. in 1928. While studying at Oxford, Eagan became (7)_____first American to win
the British amateur boxing championship. Eagan won his first Olympic gold medal as
a light heavyweight boxer (8)_____the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

Eagan also fought at the 1924 Olympics in Paris as a heavyweight but failed to get a
medal. Though he had (9)_____ the sport just three weeks before the competition, he
managed to win a second gold medal as a member of the four-man bobsled team at
the 1932 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Thus he became the only athlete to
(10)____gold medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

C12. Vitamins, taken in tiny doses, (1)_____a major group of organic compounds that
regulate the mechanisms by which the body converts food (2)_____energy. They
should not be confused (3)_____minerals, which are inorganic in their makeup.
Although in general the naming of vitamins followed the alphabetical order of their
(4)_____, the nomenclature of individual substances may appear to be somewhat
random and disorganized. Among the vitamins (5)_____today, five are produced in
the body. Because the body produces (6)_____quantities of some but not sill
vitamins, they must be supplemented in the daily diet. (7)_____each vitamin has its
specific designation and cannot be replaced by another compound, a lack of one
vitamin can interfere with the processing of (8)_____. When a lack of even one
vitamin in a diet is continual, a vitamin deficiency may (9)_____. The best way for an
individual to ensure a necessary supply of vitamins is to maintain a balanced diet
that includes a variety of foods and provides adequate quantities of all the
compounds. Some people take vitamin supplements, predominantly in the (10)
_____of tablets.

C13. What has caused these major changes? One reason (1)_____economic necessity
may be that the husband has (2)_____his job and the wife must support the family.
Or even if the husband is working, some families say they can’t survive on only
(3)_____paycheck. But probably a (4)_____important influence has been the
“women’s liberation movement”. Women are being told in (5)_____magazines and TV
programs that “You can be successful on your own. Don’t be satisfied with
(6)_____being a wife and mother. Use your intelligence and talents to do something
bigger. And you should be paid (7)____much as a man.” (8)_____doubt this

movement has accomplished much good. But it has also contributed to a selfish “me
first” attitude that is breaking up many families. Sometimes women (9)_____are
happy staying at home feel that working women look (10)____them. There are no
easy answers to these problems. But certainly women’s influence will continue to
grow in business, education and politics.
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C14. Leisure is generally seen as an (1)______ which takes place outside (2)_____
hours. The peak leisure time for most people is between 6.00 pm and 12.00 am,
although in recent years there has been an increase in people working (3) ____hours
and shifts, together with more "flexitime". Leisure is often thought of purely as a
(4)____ activity, i.e. playing sport. Although many people use their (5) time in this
way, there are plenty of other leisure opportunities that are more (6) ____in nature,
such as of one's life- watching television or sunbathing on a beach. It is important to
realise that leisure can embrace a whole range of experiences and activities,
although personal choice may be limited due to factors such as age or provision of
local (7)_____. The leisure emphasis will normally change at different (8)_____ cycle.
Different types of leisure (9)______tend to be popular with varying age groups. It's
probably true, however, that some members of the older (10)______are more capable
of pursuing active pastimes than they are sometimes given credit for.

C15. Our journey to Greece began at six in the morning, when my family and I set
off from the house in our old car. We'd only gone a mile when we got a (1) ____tyre,
and after we'd fixed that we had to hurry to the airport. We (2)____to reach the
check-in just before it closed, then went through to the departure lounge. Soon we
were (3)_____the plane, and looking forward to our week on an island in the sun. I
had a window seat, but since I was directly above the (4)____I couldn't see much, so
I asked the flight (5)____if I could move to another seat. She found me one nearer
the front of the plane, and later on I had a wonderful (6) ______ of the snow-covered

mountains as we crossed over the Austrian Alps. The weather became sunnier as we
approached Greece, and our plane arrived right on (7)____ at Athens' very smart new
airport. Half an hour after we landed, we (8)____the train for the centre of Athens,
where we (9)_____trains for the port of Piraeus. It wasn't long before we were on the
waterfront. After a short wait we were on board our ferry and sailing out to sea. It
was a lovely trip, and when finally we reached our destination, the holiday was a
(10)___come true.
C16. Right now, I am (1)_____at a shelf full of relics, a collection of has-beens, oldtimers, antiques, fossils. Right now, I am looking at a shelf full of books. If you have
some spare cash (the going rate is about $89) and (2)_____looking to enhance your
reading experience, then I highly suggest you consider (3)_____an e-reader. Ereaders are replacing the books of old, and I welcome them with open (4)_____. If
you haven't heard of an e-reader and (5)_____ know what it is, then please permit
the following explanation. An e-reader is a device (6)_____allows you to read ebooks. An e-book is a book-length publication in digital (7)_____, consisting of text,
images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or
other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional (8)_____book,
e-books can also be born digital. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the e-book
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as "an electronic version of a printed book," but e-books can and do exist without
any printed equivalent. So now you know what an e-reader is. But you still may be
wondering why they put printed books to shame. E-readers are superior to printed
books because they (9)_____space, are (10)____friendly, and provide helpful reading
tips and tools that printed books do not.

C17. Many of us are trying to think of new (1)____to help the environment. Groups
which are involved in protecting the environment think they may have found a longterm (2)_____. Most of the current ways of getting people involved in helping the
environment mean that people have to (3)_____a large organisation and they can
sometimes feel the problem is too large or (4)_____to manage. A new (5) _____is that
groups are set up locally to deal with small issues that affect just the community
they (6) _____in. It is hoped this will make people more (7) _____ of the importance

of helping. Also, this plan means that each community works together by
contributing (8)_____the environment and this makes for a strong community. If
every community does this then organisers are (9) _____the effect will be national.
The government may even offer some (10) _____help for projects set up by these
local groups. The idea came from someone who thought that reducing the size of
what we do would actually be more productive. Also, it should mean that helping
becomes a pleasure rather than a chore.

C18. E-readers are superior (1)_____printed books because they save space. The
average e-reader can store thousands of digital books, (2)_____a veritable library at
your fingertips. Moreover, being the size and weight of a thin hardback, the e-reader
(3)_____is relatively petite. It is easy to hold and can fit in a pocketbook or briefcase
easily. The average novel is about 300 pages (4)_____. Therefore, if a novel is printed
1000 times, it will use 300,000 pieces of paper. That's a lot of paper! If there are
about 80,000 pieces of paper in a tree, this means it (5)_____almost 4 trees to make
these 1000 books. We know that the average bestseller sells about 20,000 copies
per week. That means that it takes over 300 trees each month to sustain this rate.
And for the super (6)_____, these figures increase dramatically. For example, the
Harry Potter book series has sold over 450 million copies. That's about 2 million
trees! Upon viewing these (7)_____, it is not hard to grasp the (8)_____impact of
printed books on the environment. Since e-readers use no trees, (9)_____represent a
impact significant amount of preservation in terms (10)_____the environment and its
resources.

C19. The latest blockbuster to hit our cinemas is an adventure film which was made
(1)______location in Spain. The (2)______is quite simple; a teenager discovers
(3)_____secret papers which show that the President is in danger. Then she
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disappears! We interviewed the actress who (4)_____the part of the teenager in the
film, Juliet Roberts. It (5)______things did not always go well during the production.
First, Juliet nearly missed being in the film. Apparently, a copy of the (6)______, which
the producer had sent her to read, got lost in the post. Then, in the middle of
filming, part of the background (7)_______fell on a member of the camera (8)_______.
Luckily, the man was not seriously hurt but they had to (9)_____ another cameraman
to take his place at short notice. Something even worse happened a few days later
when the director slipped and broke his leg. It (10)_____him quite a long time to
recover from the shock and he had to direct the final scenes of the film from his
wheelchair.

C20. Mona (1)_____ like to ask people for help. But it is hard (2)_____her to perform
daily activities on her own. She is almost 13, yet she is no larger than a 5-year-old.
Mona has trouble (3)_____her balance and can’t walk very far. When she uses a
wheelchair, she can’t push it (4)_____. Fortunately, Mona has a wonderful service
dog (5)_____Sam. A service dog is a dog that has been trained to assist someone
who has a physical problem. Sam (6)_____Mona lean on him when she walks. He also
pulls her wheelchair and turns lights on and off. When Mona drops something, Sam
picks it up. He (7)_____pulls her socks off at night. Sam also helps Mona with
everyday tasks at school. He carries her books from class to class in a special
backpack. He puts Mona’s completed assignments in her teachers’ homework trays.
In the lunchroom he throws away her trash. (8)_____making Mona less dependent on
other people, Sam helps her lead a fuller life. Mona’s classmates flock around Sam
like geese. This has helped her (9)_____friends. Sam also helps Mona be more active.
With his aid, she raised over $500 in a walk-a-thon for her local society. Because of
Sam, Mona doesn’t have to ask people for help. Sam brings her closer to other kids.
And he even helps her (10)_____to her community.

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