HOMEWORK

CLOZE EXERCISES

Learning a musical instrument

Learning to play an instrument is (1) __________________ that can give a lot of pleasure. It’s also
an achievement and a skill (2) ___________________ stays with you for life. Music has a part to
play in everyone’s life, and has been described (3) ___________________ a `primary language’.

Learning to play an instrument isn’t easy at the beginning (4) ____________________ takes effort
and determination. And while there’s nothing wrong with aiming (5) ____________________ the
top, music is definitely (6) _____________________ something to take up because you think you
ought (7) ___________________ do it.

A lot of adults regret not (8) _______________________ learnt to play an instrument when they
were younger. But it is never (9) ______________________ late to learn! And the advantages of
learning an instrument are far greater than just the pleasure of producing a marvellous sound.
When you’ve progressed far (10) _____________________, there are lots of amateur groups
which you can join (11) ____________________ you want to be part of a larger group. Once
you’ve reached a good enough standard to join a band or orchestra, you add the team skills like
(12) _____________________ you get from playing sport. There’s also a great social side to playing
with others, as (13) ____________________ as the chance to travel through touring.

1) something 8) having
2) which/that 9) too
3) as 10) enough
4) and 11) if/should
5) for 12) those
6) not 13) well
7) to
 Acoustic archaeology

Acoustic archaeology studies the role played (1) _______________________ sound in the ancient
world. It examines the connection (2) _______________________ acoustics and religious or
spiritual sites. The main question is whether the acoustics of a place are relevant to the way (3)
_____________________ was used.

Archaeologists have noticed that (4) _______________________ number of ancient sites have
echoes at very low frequencies. When sounds are (5) _______________________ low as this, you
feel them in your body rather (6) ______________________ just hearing them, and this creates a
feeling of happiness and contentment. Sites with such echoes were probably chosen (7)
_______________________ purpose, to make visitors feel they were in a place of worship.

If you stand in (8) _____________________ of the Maya Temple in Mexico and clap your hands,
you can hear an echo that sounds (9) _____________________ the chirp of the Maya sacred bird.
This chirping echo (10) _______________________ produced because the steps of the long temple
staircase are at different distances from the listener. Some archaeologists claim that the Maya
purposefully constructed this temple (11) ______________________ achieve this sound. Priests
used this echo effect to make people believe that the gods were speaking to (12)
________________________. Similar acoustic phenomena have been observed in sites (13)
________________________ over the world.

1) by 8) front
2) between 9) like
3) it 10) is
4) a 11) to
5) as 12) them
6) than 13) all
7) on
 Mosquitoes

According to the World Health Organisation, malaria, a disease spread (1)

_____________________ mosquitoes, affects millions of people every year. Everyone knows how
irritating the noise made by a mosquito, (2) _____________________ by a painful reaction to its
bite, can be. It is astonishing that so (3) ______________________ is known about why
mosquitoes are drawn to or driven away from people, given (4) ______________________ level of
distress and disease caused by these insects. We know that the most effective chemical (5)
_______________________ protecting people against mosquitoes is diethyltoluamide, commonly
shortened (6) _______________________ deet. (7) _______________________ deet works well, it
has some serious drawbacks: it can damage clothes and some people are allergic to it.

Scientists know that mosquitoes find some people more attractive than others, but they do not
know (8) ______________________ this should be. They also know that people vary in (9)
_______________________reactions to mosquito bites. One person has a painful swelling while
(10) ________________________ who is bitten by the same mosquito (11)
_________________________ hardly notice. Scientists have (12) _____________________
discovered the reason for this, but they have carried (13) _______________________ experiments
to show that mosquitoes are attracted to, or put (14) _______________________ by, certain
smells. In the future, scientists hope to develop a smell that mosquitoes cannot resist. This could
be used in a trap (15) _____________________ that, instead of attacking people, mosquitoes
would fly into the trap and be destroyed. For the time (16) ____________________ however, we
have to continue spraying ourselves with unpleasant liquids if we want to avoid getting bitten.

1) by 9) their
2) followed 10) another
3) little 11) may/might/will
4) the 12) not/never
5) for 13) out
6) to 14) off
7) Though/Although/While/Whilst 15) so
8) why 16) being