OPEN CLOZE TESTS

1. Part 2. Read the following text and fill in the blank with ONE suitable word. Write your answers in
corresponding numbered boxes.
The majority of lottery winners change their lives (1) but little, and continue on their settled way happy ever
after. A couple of years ago, a Mr. David won a million. He had been struggling to (2) make a success of his dry
cleaning shop for the past 12 months. He accepted his cheque in a small ceremony (3) at the premises at 2.30,
and by three o’clock he had reopened for business. The reaction of Mr. Pasquale Consalvo who won $30
million in the New York state lottery was very (4) similar .He was unhappy not to be able to fulfill his desire to
go to work as (5) usual on the day he won. He also said that if the money made him (6) unhappy he would give
it back. In fact, the chances of his life being made a misery by his new-found wealth are almost (7) as slim
though not quite as the sixty million-to-one odds he beat to take a jackpot (8) that had remained unclaimed
through six previous draws. Gambling small amounts (9) on the lottery is a harmless if futile hobby. (10)
However, gambling can become an addition, increasingly so as the activity becomes socially acceptable.
2. Part 2. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in
each space. (15 points)
Many celebrated artists have found it hard to makes ends meet early on in their careers. (1) With a few
well-known exceptions, however, (poor Van Gogh being perhaps the most famous one) most went on to find
recognition within their own lifetime. Picasso’s life story is the kind of rags-to-riches tale which gives hope to
many (2) an unknown artist. In 1904, he was sharing a draughty and primitive studio complex (3) with thirty
other artists. But by his death, he was a multi-millionaire and probably the most celebrated modern artist ever.
Nevertheless, (4) for every success story, there must be dozens of artists (perhaps some potential ‘greats’) who
have endured a lifetime (5) of hardship in obscurity. Whether they were never recognized because their work
was out of sympathy with the prevailing fashion, or (6) because they lacked talent, is impossible to say. Most
people see art (7) as a vocation rather (8) than a career. There may indeed be some truth in the idea that artists
need to (9) be exceptionally dedicated to succeed, and even relatively successful artists sometimes have (10) to
supplement their income by working in other areas occasionally.
3. Part 2: Fill in each gap with one suitable word. Write your answer in the box provided. (10 points)
THE FUTURE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
There is a scene in the film Minority Report in (0) __which__ Tome Cruise stands in front of a vast
Perspex-like screen housed in the police department’s Pre-Crime Unit. He gazes (1)in earnest at the transparent
surface, waving his hands across the tablet to swirl great chunks of text and moving image across the screen to
(2) form a storyboard of yet-to-be-committed crimes. With a simple twist of his finger or a flick of his wrist,
pictures expand and enlarge, word scroll, and whole trains of thought come to tangible fruition (3) right there on
board. The year is 2054.
Yet it seems the era of true touch-screen technology is already here. Indeed, when Apple boss Steve Jobs
unveiled the iPhone in San Francisco a few years ago, he grandly declared: “We are reinventing the cell phone.”
(4) One of the main reasons for Jobs’ bold claim was the iPhone’s futuristic user interface- “multi-touch”.
As demonstrated on stage by Jobs (5) himself, multi-touch was created to make the most of the iPhone’s large
screen. (6) Unlike most existing smart phones, the iPhone has only one conventional button-all the rest of the
controls appear on the screen, adapting morphing around your fingertips as you use the device, almost (7) in the
giant tablet in Minority Report.
The demonstration iPhone handset certainly looked like re-invention, but multi-touch, while it was new
for Apple, is (8) by no means a new technology. The concept has been around for years, waiting for the
hardware side of the equation to get small enough, smart enough, cheap enough to make it a reality. While it
still remains something of a novelty now, there is a good chance that the (9) coming years will bring many more
computers and consumer gadgets that depend wholly or (10) partly on multi-touch concepts.
4. Part 2. Read the following text and fill in the blank with ONE suitable word. Write your answers in
corresponding numbered boxes. (15 points)

Overland transport in the United States was still extremely primitive in 1790. Roads were few and short,
usually extending from inland communities to the nearest river town or seaport. (1)Therefore all interstate
commerce was carried out by sailing ships that served the bays and harbors of the seaboard. Yet, in 1790 the
nation was on the threshold of a new era of road development. (2)________ to finance road construction, states
(3) request for help to private companies, organized by merchants and land speculators who had a personal
interest in improved communications (4) for the interior. The pioneer in this move was the state of
Pennsylvania, which chartered a company in 1792 to construct a turnpike, a road for the use of (5) either a toll,
or payment, is collected, from Philadelphia to Lancaster. The legislature (6) of the company the authority to
erect tollgates at (7) all along the road where payment would be collected, though it carefully regulated the
rates. (The states had unquestioned authority to regulate private business in this period.)

The company built a gravel road (8) in two years, and the success of the Lancaster Pike encouraged imitation.
Northern states generally relied on private companies to (9) collect their toll roads, but Virginia constructed a
network at public expense. (10) It was the road building fever that by 1810 New York alone had some 1,500
miles of turnpikes extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie.

5. Part 2. Read the article below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only ONE word in each
gap. (15 points)
THE TOUGHEST RUNNERS
There are a few runners who have completed every London Marathon since the first race in 1981. They
are the toughest runners of all. These athletes, (1) in honour of both their mental and physical strength, have
been given a permanent entry in the event for the rest of their lives, provided that they do not miss a year. Other
people have run the race faster or under greater handicaps, (2) because these are athletes with a mission. For (3)
athletes, the annual event is a way of life, not just a worthy fund-raising exercise or a single challenge. Bill
O’Connor is one of these runners. In his case, running is a daily ritual which began in New Zealand (4) where,
as a youngster, he pounded along the wet sand on the edge of the Tasman Sea. Now aged fifty, and working as a
mathematics teacher at a school in London, he retains his fascination (5) for the London Marathon and the
activity of running. He says, “When the first London Marathon was held, I thought (6) for myself that here was
a challenge. I thought that if there was only going to be one race, I wanted to have run in it.” But the London
Marathon went (7) pear-shaped to become the most impressive success story in British sport and Bill O’Connor
has been a constant part of it. (8) Has he ever felt that he would fail to finish? “In 1985. It was a beautiful day
and I started running much (9) fast for the first mile and got worried. So I slowed down for the next mile. Yet
(10) when I expected I would take at least four hours , I finished in two hours thirty-four minutes and twenty-nine
seconds”. It is his best time so far.
6. II. Fill in each gap with one suitable word (15ps)
The knowledge and eloquence that people gain through travelling is usually perceived (1) as the best fulfillment
in life. It is the inquisitive human nature that impels people to seek thrilling experiences and to set out on an
exploration trip. (2) Those who travel frequently and to diverse places benefit from establishing new
relationships and (3) acquire a better knowledge about other cultures and lifestyles. However, there is a grain of
truth in the assumption that people are prone to cherishing clichés and unfounded prejudices about other nations
and their characteristics. Sometimes, it is only the first-hand encounter (4) that can help change the approach
towards the so-called 'inferior communities'. This direct (5) approach with a different civilization enables
travelers to drop their baseless assumptions and get acquainted with the real concept of life in all four (6)
continents of the globe. Beyond question, travelling facilitates friendship and makes (7) it easier for many
individuals to acknowledge the true value of different traditions and customs. Yet, it does not always (8)involve
enjoyment. It (9) does also involve coming close with the atrocities of real existence as well as becoming aware
of the challenges and hardships that other people have to struggle with. Hence, a true voyage is the one with a
good (10) wealth of experience to reminisce about, very often combined with exposure to abhorrent sights and
incredible ordeals. The learning to be complete, thus, requires an ability to observe and analyze the
surroundings, both their glamour and brutality.

7. Fill each blank with ONE suitable word. Write your answers in the numbered blanks provided below the
passage. (15pts)

The early years of MTV

The popular TV music channel MTV was launched in 1981 in the US 0. __with__ the intention of
playing 1. nothing but music videos. It was a brilliant marketing concept, as it came at little cost while 2.was
extremely attractive to record companies and advertisers.

The videos were guided by an air-host 3. known as a VJ-the term is a conflation of ‘video’ and ‘disc
jockey’. The VJs are now a 4. part of the past, but 5. in their heyday, they were MTV, attaining cult status. It
was 6. these presenters on the station that Russell Brand and Alex Zane got their career breaks.

MTV changed the way we experience music: we 7. made records instead of just listening to them.
Record companies were quick to appreciate this, and acts such as Madona and Boy George, 8. whose appeal
was as much about their good looks 9. Therefore their music, went global. Such 10. was the music video’s
impact that film directors at the height of their careers were attracted to the medium.

8. Read the text below and think of the word that best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.
(15 points)
Causes of conflict between adolescents and their parents
Some interesting discoveries have been made by psychologists studying conflicts between adolescents and their
parents. One notable feature is that they seldom argue about such major topics (86) as sex, drugs, or politics.
This is surprising, given that great differences often exist between the attitudes of parents and adolescents on
such issues. Researchers suggest the explanation may be that such topics (87) do not usually relate to day-to-day
family interaction and are (88) rarely discussed as they are not directly relevant (89) to family life. Instead,
parents and children tend to (90) ______out over everyday family matters such as housework.
Despite the changed that have (91) taken place over the past fifty years, adolescents appear to have the same
kinds of arguments with their parents as their parents had (92) when they themselves were young. It seems to
come down to the conflict between the adolescent’s desire for independence (93) from the parents’ authority.
Teenagers spoke of their right to be free of restrictions, while parents were equally sure of their right to exert
control, backing this up (94) ______referring to the needs of the family as a whole. Interestingly, both groups
could see the other’s (95) point of view even though they disagreed with it.
9. Read the text below and think of the word that best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.
(15 points)
Energy is one of the (1) topics that many people are interested in. It is not an unfamiliar word. It is heard, said,
discussed day after day. It is close to everyone’s (2) daily life. You turn on the lamp and it is (3) energy that
gives you light. You turn on a TV and it is energy that gives you pictures and sound. You ride a motorcycle and
it is energy that gives you (4)health. You cook your meals and it is energy that gives you heat to boil rice.
The problem is that the (5)demand for energy is rising and that the price of energy is getting higher and
higher. The supply of energy on earth is limited. It cannot provide us all forever. The (6)shortage of energy in
the future is inevitable. Therefore, saving energy is a must if we want to (7) continue to live in a safe and sound
world.
If we save energy, the environment will be (8) less polluted and our health will be better and we will live a
more meaningful life and more happily. Perhaps the best solution to the problem of energy is a (9) source of
clean energy coming from the sun: solar energy. This kind of energy is easily available, free, and inexhaustible.
Furthermore, it does not cause (10) pollution
10. Part 2: For questions 61–70, fill each of the following numbered spaces with ONE suitable word and
write your answers in the corresponding boxes provided below the passage.
Yoga

There can be hardly anyone who has not heard of yoga, and (61) whether you are 16 or 60, you can reap the
benefits of taking (62) part in a yoga class. Yoga is a system of (63) training the body and the mind. Its goal is
to (64) make it easier for people to remove all distractions preventing them living a life of the spirit in union
with their Maker. Reaching this state is (65) so greater a challenge that might be imagined. The main emphasis
of the physical training is (66) on bringing the body under complete control in such areas as the regulation of
breathing and the flexibility of the muscles, (67) as if which are instrumental in controlling our overall
movements. The mental training, as (68)known as the modifications to the behavior of the physical body, make
undisturbed concentration (69) ________. So perhaps it’s (70) time we all headed for the nearest yoga class and
started training right now.