15 Multiple-Choice Cloze Practice Questions with Answers | Cambridge C2 Proficiency
Multiple-Choice Cloze is Part 1 of the Reading and Use of English paper in Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE). You read a short text with eight gaps. For each gap you choose the best word or phrase from four options (A, B, C or D). It tests your vocabulary, including collocations, phrasal verbs, and fixed phrases. This post gives you 15 Cambridge C2 Proficiency Multiple-Choice Cloze practice questions with answers. Every answer comes with a short note that explains the correct choice. Try each text first, then open the answers to check your work.
Question 1
The Meaning of a Pause
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
In older transcripts, pauses were sometimes dismissed as (1) ______ filler and removed. Mina Crowe of the Spoken Thread Archive argues that silence can carry considerable (2) ______. A speaker may be at a (3) ______ for words, weighing what can be said publicly, or simply recalling a name. In each case, the pause may speak (4) ______, but not necessarily in the same way.
On (5) ______, an interviewer may remember a facial expression that clarifies one silence. Crowe nevertheless warns against reading too much (6) ______ a hesitation when the recording supplies no such evidence. Her transcripts draw (7) ______ to duration without labelling the speaker's emotion.
The notation must be understood in (8) ______. Three seconds after a difficult question differs from three seconds while someone searches a list. Preserving a pause is therefore not a claim about its meaning; it is an invitation to listen more carefully.
1. A) marginal B) spare C) mere D) vacant
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C (mere). ‘Mere filler’ means material regarded as having no importance beyond occupying space.
2. A) gravity B) pressure C) intensity D) weight
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D (weight). To ‘carry weight’ is to possess importance or influence.
3. A) loss B) lack C) shortage D) deficit
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A (loss). ‘At a loss for words’ means temporarily unable to express oneself.
4. A) pages B) volumes C) chapters D) books
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B (volumes). If something ‘speaks volumes’, it conveys a great deal without an explicit statement.
5. A) impulse B) instinct C) reflection D) reflex
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C (reflection). ‘On reflection’ means after further careful thought.
6. A) over B) onto C) across D) into
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D (into). ‘Read too much into’ something means infer more significance than the evidence supports.
7. A) attention B) notice C) awareness D) observation
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A (attention). ‘Draw attention to’ means deliberately make something noticeable.
8. A) setting B) context C) relation D) frame
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B (context). To understand something ‘in context’ is to interpret it alongside the surrounding circumstances.
Question 2
Darkness by Design
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
A blackout curtain looks straightforward at first (1) ______, yet expensive fabric alone rarely guarantees a dark hotel room. Designers go to considerable (2) ______ to control the routes by which light can (3) ______. Two panels must (4) ______ sufficiently at the centre, while the track needs to extend beyond the sides of the window.
A narrow uncovered edge can (5) ______ an otherwise costly installation. At the same time, designers must (6) ______ cleaning, fire requirements and access to heating controls. A curtain that blocks light perfectly but cannot be maintained without removing heavy fittings is unlikely to remain effective for long.
Prototypes are therefore examined in the room, not merely as flat samples. Curtains should be easy to (7) ______ back far enough for daytime use, hang without catching furniture and still close easily after repeated handling. The final arrangement has to (8) ______ up when guests use it imperfectly. Darkness is achieved by the relationship between fabric, track, wall and human behaviour, not by any one component in isolation.
1. A) sight B) viewing C) impression D) appearance
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A (sight). “At first sight” is the fixed expression for an initial impression.
2. A) distances B) measures C) extents D) lengths
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D (lengths). “Go to considerable lengths” means make a substantial effort.
3. A) reach its route B) take its course C) find its way through D) make its road
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C (find its way through). “Find its way through” naturally describes light entering by an indirect route.
4. A) touch B) overlap C) gather D) double
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B (overlap). The panels must “overlap”, meaning extend across the same central area.
5. A) reduce the worth of B) bring a loss to C) make a mockery of D) set a failure against
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C (make a mockery of). “Make a mockery of” means render the expensive installation ineffective or absurd.
6. A) factor in B) count over C) reason over D) reckon through
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A (factor in). “Factor in” means include practical constraints in a calculation or plan.
7. A) haul B) trail C) fetch D) draw
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D (draw). “Draw back” is the natural phrasal verb for moving curtains away from a window.
8. A) size B) measure C) amount D) reach
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B (measure). “Measure up” means meet the required practical standard.
Question 3
A Name at a Glance
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
A conference badge has only seconds to work. It should reveal a name at a (1) ______, yet many designs prove (2) ______ because decorative branding overwhelms the information people actually need. Visual clutter must be kept at (3) ______ if a badge is to support conversation rather than become another piece of advertising.
The wearer's name should take (4) ______ over a long job title, and the type must (5) ______ out from a reasonable distance. This sounds obvious on a computer screen, where every badge is upright and well lit. Once worn, however, cards tilt, lanyards twist and jackets cover their lower edges. Additional information is best kept to a (6) ______.
Prototypes prove their (7) ______ when tested during a real gathering. Designers can observe whether people lean forward to read, whether clips hold the card at a useful height and whether staff can distinguish different access categories without broadcasting them unnecessarily. A badge may be visually elegant, but it is not fit for (8) ______ unless it works on moving bodies in imperfect rooms.
1. A) sight B) look C) glance D) view
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C (glance). “At a glance” is the fixed phrase meaning after a very quick look.
2. A) fragile B) confusing C) elaborate D) inadequate
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D (inadequate). “Prove inadequate” means turn out not to meet the practical requirement.
3. A) distance B) bay C) reserve D) remove
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B (bay). “Kept at bay” means prevented from intruding or becoming troublesome.
4. A) precedence B) influence C) preference D) prominence
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A (precedence). “Take precedence over” means be treated as more important than something else.
5. A) stand B) come C) rise D) set
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A (stand). “Stand out” means be clearly noticeable against its surroundings.
6. A) shortage B) minority C) minimum D) reduction
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C (minimum). “Kept to a minimum” is the fixed expression for limiting quantity.
7. A) merit B) value C) point D) worth
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D (worth). “Prove their worth” means demonstrate their practical value under real conditions.
8. A) task B) purpose C) function D) service
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B (purpose). “Fit for purpose” means suitable for the function it is intended to perform.
Question 4
Testing Recipes from the Past
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Modern cooks have precise scales and regulated ovens at their (1) ______. By contrast, many recipes held by the Pelmere Kitchen Archive leave much to be (2) ______. Their writers rarely (3) ______ out how hot a fire should be or how large a spoon they used, because such knowledge was shared within the household.
In the (4) ______ of standard units, food historian Sela Wren proceeds by trial and (5) ______. She prepares several versions, changing one variable at a time. None can be proved identical to the original dish, though a result may come (6) ______ to matching contemporary descriptions of texture. Wren must also make (7) ______ with ingredients now available when an old variety has disappeared.
These experiments shed (8) ______ on technique as much as taste. A vague instruction to knead until dough ‘answers the hand’, for example, becomes intelligible when repeated batches reveal the change in elasticity that an experienced cook would have felt.
1. A) disposal B) release C) removal D) clearance
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A (disposal). ‘At one's disposal’ means available for one to use as needed.
2. A) requested B) desired C) expected D) preferred
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B (desired). ‘Leave much to be desired’ means be notably inadequate or unsatisfactory.
3. A) map B) trace C) etch D) spell
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D (spell). ‘Spell out’ means explain something explicitly and in detail.
4. A) shortage B) omission C) absence D) want
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C (absence). ‘In the absence of’ means when something is unavailable or does not exist.
5. A) error B) failure C) mistake D) fault
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A (error). ‘Trial and error’ is the fixed expression for learning by testing alternatives.
6. A) adjacent B) close C) similar D) next
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B (close). ‘Come close to’ means nearly achieve or resemble something.
7. A) work B) cope C) manage D) do
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D (do). ‘Make do with’ means manage using something that is less than ideal.
8. A) clarity B) insight C) light D) focus
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C (light). ‘Shed light on’ means make a subject easier to understand.
Question 5
Keeping the Failed Prototypes
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
A design team may spend months on an idea and have little to show (1) ______ it. Once a prototype is written (2) ______ as a dead end, the temptation is to discard it. Lina Firth of the Bracken Works Archive argues that, with (3) ______, such objects often prove more informative than polished products.
A hinge that repeatedly broke may have paved the (4) ______ for a stronger mechanism used years later. Notes beside the prototype show which assumptions failed, and those lessons may eventually bear (5) ______ elsewhere. A successful design can owe much (6) ______ versions that never reached a customer.
By the same (7) ______, Firth cautions against romanticising every failure. Some proposals came to (8) ______ because they addressed no real need. The archive's task is not to award belated praise, but to preserve enough evidence for researchers to distinguish productive experiments from avoidable mistakes.
1. A) from B) with C) by D) for
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D (for). ‘Have little to show for’ an effort means possess few results despite making that effort.
2. A) out B) away C) off D) over
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C (off). ‘Write something off’ means dismiss it as unsuccessful or worthless.
3. A) review B) hindsight C) retrospect D) reflection
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B (hindsight). ‘With hindsight’ means with understanding gained after an event.
4. A) way B) gate C) door D) ground
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A (way). ‘Pave the way for’ means create conditions that enable a later development.
5. A) yield B) produce C) return D) fruit
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D (fruit). ‘Bear fruit’ means produce successful or useful results.
6. A) from B) for C) to D) with
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C (to). ‘Owe much to’ means be substantially attributable to or dependent on something.
7. A) sign B) token C) mark D) symbol
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B (token). ‘By the same token’ introduces a related point that follows from the same reasoning.
8. A) void B) nil C) blank D) nothing
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D (nothing). ‘Come to nothing’ means fail to produce any useful result.
Question 6
Recovering a Lost Glaze
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Ceramics researcher Iris Vale begins by (1) ______ down the likely firing range of a damaged bowl. She then recreates kiln conditions (2) ______ to the chemical reaction that produced its colour. Analysis of surviving fragments allows her to (3) ______ on evidence rather than appearance alone.
Tiny bubbles and changes at the rim provide (4) ______ signs of excessive heat. Test tiles reveal how each mixture turns (5) ______ after firing, and Vale alters only one ingredient at a time. The patience can (6) ______ off: a sequence of failures may identify a very narrow (7) ______ for error.
Even a close match can sit on the (8) ______ of instability, changing colour after prolonged light exposure. Vale therefore distinguishes reconstruction from replacement. Her samples explain how the glaze may have been made; they are not used to disguise what time has done to the original.
1. A) narrowing B) widening C) opening D) broadening
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A (narrowing). ‘Narrow down’ means reduce a range of possibilities through investigation.
2. A) hostile B) resistant C) neutral D) conducive
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D (conducive). ‘Conducive to’ means creating conditions that make a result more likely.
3. A) pull B) take C) draw D) extract
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C (draw). ‘Draw on evidence’ means use it as a source for reasoning or action.
4. A) tell-all B) telltale C) tellable D) told
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B (telltale). ‘Telltale signs’ are details that reveal the presence or cause of something.
5. A) over B) up C) out D) off
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C (out). ‘Turn out’ describes the final result of a process.
6. A) pay B) give C) bring D) yield
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A (pay). ‘Pay off’ means produce a successful result after effort.
7. A) border B) margin C) verge D) brink
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B (margin). A ‘margin for error’ is the amount by which a process can vary without failing.
8. A) crest B) summit C) peak D) brink
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D (brink). ‘On the brink of’ means very close to entering a particular state.
Question 7
The Interval Is Not Empty Time
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
The theatre interval is sometimes (1) ______ as a commercial concession, inserted mainly so that drinks can be sold. In practice, it gives both performers and technicians valuable (2) ______ space. Costume changes can be completed, scenery adjustments carried (3) ______ and problems from the first half addressed without keeping the audience in their seats.
Its length, however, has a knock-on (4) ______ throughout the building. If it is too brief, queues remain unresolved and late return delays the restart; if it is too generous, the dramatic thread loosens. Front-of-house teams therefore (5) ______ to an agreed schedule while watching how quickly people move through the available space.
By the same (6) ______, an interval may be cut (7) ______ when an earlier technical pause has already extended the evening. Such a decision is not made casually, since staff and performers may rely on that time. Planned well, the interval becomes part and (8) ______ of the event's rhythm, allowing a temporary release of attention before inviting the audience to concentrate again.
1. A) put aside B) cast away C) set apart D) written off
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D (written off). “Written off as” means dismissed as having only the stated, limited value.
2. A) resting B) breathing C) waiting D) empty
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B (breathing). “Breathing space” is the fixed phrase for a short period in which pressure is relieved.
3. A) out B) across C) onward D) along
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A (out). “Carried out” means performed or completed.
4. A) influence B) aftermath C) effect D) outcome
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C (effect). “Knock-on effect” is the fixed expression for a secondary consequence.
5. A) keep B) hold C) remain D) stay
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A (keep). “Keep to a schedule” means follow its agreed timing.
6. A) mark B) sign C) token D) symbol
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C (token). “By the same token” introduces a closely related point based on the same reasoning.
7. A) brief B) short C) down D) little
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B (short). “Cut short” means ended sooner than originally planned.
8. A) portion B) share C) section D) parcel
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D (parcel). “Part and parcel of” means an essential or integral feature of something.
Question 8
Before the Music Begins
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
A concert programme note is easily (1) ______ for a condensed biography followed by a summary of what the audience is about to hear. Yet even a generous page cannot do (2) ______ to an entire composition, and too much information may prescribe a response before the first note has sounded.
The most effective writers decide what knowledge cannot safely be taken for (3) ______. A reference that specialists recognise instantly may mean nothing to a first-time listener. Explaining it can open a door, provided the writer resists the temptation to (4) ______ every musical turn. A note that appears to (5) ______ down the law about what a passage signifies leaves little room for attentive disagreement.
Tone matters as much as content. Specialist language can be useful, but unexplained terminology (6) ______ across as a test the reader has already failed. Editors therefore (7) ______ historical research and musical expertise to bear on a practical question: what will enrich these particular minutes of listening? At its best, the note is worth reading in its own (8) ______, while remaining modest enough to withdraw once the performance begins.
1. A) exchanged B) mistaken C) confused D) substituted
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B (mistaken). “Mistaken for” is the correct complementation for wrongly identifying one thing as another.
2. A) tribute B) favour C) justice D) praise
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C (justice). “Do justice to” means represent the scale or quality of something adequately.
3. A) granted B) assumed C) given D) accepted
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A (granted). “Taken for granted” is the fixed phrase for assuming knowledge without checking.
4. A) open up B) disclose C) uncover D) spell out
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D (spell out). “Spell out” means explain something in exhaustive, explicit detail.
5. A) lay B) put C) set D) place
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A (lay). “Lay down the law” is the fixed idiom for speaking with excessive authority.
6. A) passes B) comes C) gets D) carries
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B (comes). “Comes across as” describes the impression the terminology creates.
7. A) make B) set C) turn D) bring
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D (bring). “Bring something to bear on” means apply relevant knowledge to a problem.
8. A) regard B) claim C) right D) terms
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C (right). “In its own right” means independently of the performance it accompanies.
Question 9
Benches That Invite a Pause
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
There is more to a successful public bench than (1) ______ the eye. A sculptural seat may win praise yet fail to fit the (2) ______ if older users cannot rise from it comfortably. Seatwise Collective makes (3) ______ for different bodies by varying seat height and including armrests at intervals.
Designer Caius Lorne says these details are sometimes omitted in (4) ______ of a cleaner visual line. Nor is accessibility simply a matter of adding features. A bench must (5) ______ for people who want company and those who would rather sit alone. Dividers may put sleepers (6) ______, but they can also make a seat unusable for someone who needs to lie down briefly.
Maintenance must not stand in the (7) ______ of welcome, either. Materials need to withstand weather without feeling hostile to the touch. All too (8) ______, Lorne argues, benches are treated as ornaments viewed from a distance, when their real success can be judged only by who chooses to stop.
1. A) greets B) catches C) takes D) meets
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D (meets). ‘More than meets the eye’ means more complex or significant than is initially apparent.
2. A) bill B) invoice C) receipt D) account
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A (bill). ‘Fit the bill’ means be suitable for a particular requirement.
3. A) preparation B) arrangement C) provision D) supply
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C (provision). ‘Make provision for’ means take measures to accommodate a future need or group.
4. A) expectation B) pursuit C) regard D) preference
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B (pursuit). ‘In pursuit of’ means in an attempt to achieve a particular quality or aim.
5. A) provide B) attend C) serve D) cater
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D (cater). ‘Cater for’ means provide what a person or group needs.
6. A) off B) away C) aside D) out
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A (off). ‘Put someone off’ means discourage them from doing or using something.
7. A) route B) course C) way D) path
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C (way). ‘Stand in the way of’ means obstruct or prevent something.
8. A) little B) often C) few D) seldom
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B (often). ‘All too often’ is the fixed expression meaning regrettably frequently.
Question 10
Breakfast by Design
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
The phrase “hotel breakfast buffet” (1) ______ up an image of effortless abundance. On the contrary, little is left to (2) ______ when food, equipment and half-awake guests must share a limited room. The layout has to keep (3) ______ with demand while preventing everyone from converging on the same counter.
Experienced managers place cups away from the busiest machines and keep staff (4) ______ to replenish small dishes. Oversized trays may look generous at opening time, but they can give (5) ______ to waste or leave food sitting (6) ______. Smaller quantities, replaced frequently, create an impression of freshness without requiring a mountain of food to remain on display.
Guest behaviour is observed rather than guessed. If people repeatedly double back for cutlery, the arrangement is at fault; if one dish is untouched, its position may be as relevant as its recipe. Hotels can (7) ______ down on waste by adjusting both quantities and sequence. This is by no (8) ______ an argument for making choice disappear. The aim is to make variety legible, so that abundance feels welcoming rather than merely difficult to navigate.
1. A) raises B) draws C) makes D) conjures
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D (conjures). “Conjures up an image” is the standard collocation for evoking a mental picture.
2. A) chance B) accident C) fortune D) coincidence
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A (chance). “Left to chance” means allowed to happen without deliberate planning.
3. A) step B) speed C) pace D) time
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C (pace). “Keep pace with” means respond at the same rate as changing demand.
4. A) at call B) on hand C) in reach D) by attendance
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B (on hand). “On hand” means present and ready to help.
5. A) way B) rise C) birth D) start
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B (rise). “Give rise to” means cause or produce an unwanted result.
6. A) outside its peak B) behind its freshness C) over its quality D) past its best
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D (past its best). “Past its best” naturally describes food whose quality has begun to decline.
7. A) cut B) turn C) hold D) set
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A (cut). “Cut down on” means reduce the amount of something, here waste.
8. A) way B) account C) means D) measure
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C (means). “By no means” is the fixed expression meaning not at all.
Question 11
The Future Stored in Old Soil
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Little (1) ______ the founders of the Deepfield Soil Bank know which questions later scientists would ask. Samples gathered decades ago are now re-examined in the (2) ______ of new methods that can detect traces once invisible. Arun Tebb keeps part of every sample in (3) ______ rather than allowing a single project to consume it.
Even modest samples may (4) ______ comparison with newly collected soil, revealing how microbial communities have changed. A sample takes (5) ______ greater significance when its original location and depth were recorded precisely. Used in (6) ______ with maps and farming records, it can connect a chemical shift to changes in land management.
Material once regarded as surplus is thus put to (7) ______ in ways its collectors could not predict. Future researchers stand to (8) ______ too, provided the bank resists the pressure to use everything now. Preservation is an investment in questions that have not yet been formulated.
1. A) were B) did C) have D) should
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B (did). The inversion after ‘Little’ requires ‘did’: ‘Little did the founders know’.
2. A) glow B) shine C) light D) brightness
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C (light). ‘In the light of’ means considering new information or circumstances.
3. A) storage B) waiting C) suspension D) reserve
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D (reserve). To keep something ‘in reserve’ is to save it for future need.
4. A) bear B) hold C) carry D) keep
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A (bear). ‘Bear comparison with’ means be sufficiently similar or good to be compared with something.
5. A) up B) over C) on D) in
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C (on). ‘Take on significance’ means acquire importance in a particular context.
6. A) isolation B) succession C) rotation D) tandem
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D (tandem). ‘In tandem with’ means working together with another source or process.
7. A) use B) usage C) utility D) usefulness
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A (use). To ‘put something to use’ is to employ it for a practical purpose.
8. A) receive B) gain C) obtain D) collect
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B (gain). ‘Stand to gain’ means be likely to benefit from a situation.
Question 12
A Catalogue That Admits Uncertainty
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Cataloguers are often hard (1) ______ to assign a complex work to one category. At the Lattice Catalogue, a single community history may come under the (2) ______ of social research while also resembling memoir and geography. Editor Vera Sol is at (3) ______ to record this uncertainty rather than conceal it.
Multiple labels leave (4) ______ the possibility that readers will approach the work for different reasons. They also acknowledge that communities may take (5) ______ to terminology inherited from older catalogues. Occasionally, an imperfect category remains in use for (6) ______ of a replacement that is both precise and widely understood.
Terms are revised in (7) ______ to creators when they explain how they describe their own work. On (8) ______, Sol argues, a catalogue is most trustworthy when it shows where classification is provisional. Its purpose is to guide discovery, not to turn debatable judgements into facts.
1. A) taxed B) driven C) strained D) pressed
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D (pressed). ‘Hard pressed to’ means finding it very difficult to do something.
2. A) caption B) subtitle C) heading D) headline
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C (heading). To ‘come under the heading of’ something is to be classified within that category.
3. A) pains B) trouble C) efforts D) struggles
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A (pains). ‘Be at pains to’ means take particular care or effort to do something.
4. A) free B) open C) loose D) vacant
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B (open). ‘Leave open the possibility’ means avoid excluding it.
5. A) exclusion B) exemption C) omission D) exception
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D (exception). ‘Take exception to’ means object strongly to something.
6. A) need B) desire C) want D) wish
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C (want). ‘For want of’ means because a suitable thing is lacking.
7. A) deference B) concession C) observance D) acknowledgement
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A (deference). ‘In deference to’ means out of respect for someone's judgement or wishes.
8. A) total B) balance C) average D) sum
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B (balance). ‘On balance’ means after weighing the relevant considerations.
Question 13
Should Old Instruments Be Played?
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Many historic instruments are consigned to (1) ______ because playing them may cause damage. Yet Elsa Rill of the Northcote Instrument Room argues that permanent silence carries its own cost: researchers run the (2) ______ of misunderstanding how an instrument was meant to respond.
No object is simply put through its (3) ______. Rill first checks joints, strings and earlier repairs, and assessment of some instruments stops (4) ______ of a sound test altogether. Those judged stable are played briefly at carefully spaced (5) ______. Even then, old materials are (6) ______ to react differently from modern ones, so performers use less force than they would in concert.
The resulting sound offers valuable (7) ______ into construction, although it can recreate the past only to some (8) ______. Room acoustics, technique and replacement strings all affect what is heard. For Rill, a test is evidence rather than a performance, and restraint is part of the method.
1. A) silence B) muteness C) noiselessness D) speechlessness
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A (silence). ‘Consigned to silence’ means made to remain permanently unplayed or unheard.
2. A) danger B) risk C) hazard D) threat
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B (risk). ‘Run the risk of’ means expose oneself to the possibility of an undesirable result.
3. A) steps B) motions C) paces D) stages
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C (paces). To ‘put something through its paces’ is to test its capabilities thoroughly.
4. A) early B) near C) close D) short
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D (short). ‘Stop short of’ means halt before reaching or undertaking a particular stage.
5. A) pauses B) intervals C) breaks D) gaps
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B (intervals). ‘At intervals’ means with periods of time separating repeated events.
6. A) liable B) liability C) reliably D) reliance
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A (liable). ‘Liable to’ means likely to experience or do something, especially unpredictably.
7. A) awareness B) knowledge C) notice D) insight
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D (insight). ‘Offer insight into’ means provide a deeper understanding of something.
8. A) breadth B) reach C) extent D) range
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C (extent). ‘To some extent’ means partly, but not completely.
Question 14
Where the River Used to Be
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Place names on maps may look permanent, but they are not set in (1) ______. At the Alderwash Survey, Mira Venn studies villages where a river has shifted course while the names of lanes and fields still refer to its former path. Automatically replacing those names would run (2) ______ to the way residents describe their surroundings.
Surveyors therefore keep (3) ______ of local usage before revising an edition. Sometimes an old form gradually gives (4) ______ to a newer one; elsewhere, both persist for different purposes. A historical name may be retained on the (5) ______ that it helps people interpret property records or flood accounts. Previously overlooked documents, once they come to (6) ______, can alter that decision.
The issue has a direct (7) ______ on navigation too. A name cherished locally may confuse emergency crews if it no longer appears on signs. Venn says the hardest judgement is where to draw the (8) ______ between recording communal memory and depicting the landscape as people encounter it now.
1. A) rock B) marble C) stone D) ground
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C (stone). ‘Set in stone’ means fixed permanently and not open to change.
2. A) opposite B) counter C) sideways D) inverse
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B (counter). ‘Run counter to’ means conflict with or oppose an idea or practice.
3. A) level B) alongside C) parallel D) abreast
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D (abreast). ‘Keep abreast of’ means remain informed about current developments.
4. A) way B) route C) path D) passage
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A (way). ‘Give way to’ means be replaced or superseded by something else.
5. A) foundations B) reasons C) grounds D) causes
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C (grounds). ‘On the grounds that’ introduces the reason or justification for a decision.
6. A) shade B) light C) colour D) brightness
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B (light). If something ‘comes to light’, it is discovered or made known.
7. A) direction B) relation C) connection D) bearing
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D (bearing). To ‘have a bearing on’ something is to be relevant to or influence it.
8. A) line B) edge C) mark D) limit
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A (line). ‘Draw the line between’ means decide where one category or acceptable position ends and another begins.
Question 15
Letters Seen in Passing
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
A public sign must catch the (1) ______ without demanding prolonged attention. Noa Fenn of the Civic Lettering Unit says decorative type often fails to get its message (2) ______ when people see it from a moving bus. Designers therefore take viewing distance and speed into (3) ______ from the outset.
Some letter shapes are particularly (4) ______ to confusion. A narrow opening can make one character easy to mistake (5) ______ another, while reflected light may put (6) ______ to an otherwise elegant colour scheme. Computer previews cannot reproduce every street condition.
The unit tests full-size signs on the (7) ______, recording how quickly unfamiliar readers identify them. A design is not considered up to (8) ______ merely because specialists admire it. Fenn's criterion is practical: the lettering succeeds when ordinary people understand it before they have consciously noticed its style.
1. A) look B) sight C) eye D) gaze
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C (eye). ‘Catch the eye’ means attract visual attention.
2. A) along B) through C) over D) across
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D (across). ‘Get a message across’ means communicate it successfully.
3. A) account B) consideration C) thought D) notice
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B (consideration). ‘Take something into consideration’ means include it when making a decision.
4. A) prone B) proneness C) pronely D) pronged
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A (prone). ‘Prone to’ means especially likely to suffer from a problem.
5. A) with B) for C) as D) by
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B (for). ‘Mistake one thing for another’ means incorrectly identify the first as the second.
6. A) paid B) given C) made D) done
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A (paid). ‘Put paid to’ means bring an end to or ruin something.
7. A) speck B) dot C) spot D) stain
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C (spot). ‘On the spot’ means in the actual location where something will be used.
8. A) scuff B) scrape C) mark D) scratch
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D (scratch). ‘Up to scratch’ means meeting the required standard.