Proficiency – Word Formation

Precious metal
Gold has several qualities that have made it a commodity of (1) …………… (EXCEPTION) value throughout history.
It is attractive in colour, durable to the point of virtual (2) …………… (DESTROY), and usually found in nature in a
(3) …………… (COMPARE) pure form. The history of gold is (4) …………… (EQUAL) by that of any other metal
because of its value in the minds of men from earliest times.
Because it is visually pleasing it was one of the first metals to attract human (5) ……………. (ATTEND). Examples
of elaborate gold workmanship, many in nearly perfect condition, survive from ancient Egyptian, Minoan,
Assyrian, and Etruscan artisans, and gold has continued to be a highly (6) …………… (FAVOUR) material out of
which jewellery and other (7) …………… (DÉCOR) objects are crafted.
The era of gold production that followed the Spanish discovery of the Americas in the 1490s was probably the
greatest the world had witnessed to that time. The (8) …………… (EXPLOIT) of mines by slave labour and the
looting of Indian palaces, temples, and graves in Central and South America resulted in a(n) (9) ……………
(PRECEDENT) influx of gold that literally unbalanced the (10) …………… (ECONOMY) structure of Europe. Until
today the world remains (11) …………… (CAPTIVE) by the allure of gold.

Important social changes are taking place in the areas of (1) …………… (MARRY) and the family. There is a global
(2) …………… (REVOLVE) going on in how we think of ourselves and how we form ties and (3) ……………
(CONNECT) with others.
What most people call the traditional family was in fact a transitional phase in family (4) …………… (DEVELOP) in
the 1950s. By then the idea that romantic love was the best (5) …………… (FOUND) for marriage had replaced
the concept of marriage as an economic contract. The family has since changed further.
In the traditional family the married couple was only one part of the family system. Ties with children and other
relatives were equally important in day-to-day (6) …………… (EXIST). Today the couple is at the core of what the
family is. While statistically marriage is still the norm, for most people its (7) …………… (SIGNIFY) has completely
changed. Although marriage promotes the (8) …………… (STABLE) of a relationship by making a public
declaration of (9) …………… (COMMIT), it is now the quality of the couple's relationship which is considered the
most important element.
A couple has its own exclusive history. It is a unit based upon emotional communication or (10) ……………
(INTIMATE). Communication is both the means of establishing the tie in the first place and the basis for
ensuring continuing (11) …………… (HAPPY) in the relationship.

The presentation of history

When dealing with (1) …………… (SENSE) issues such as the atrocities of war and man's (2) …………… (HUMAN) to
man, interpreters of history may try in vain to give an even-handed (3) ……………. (TREAT) of the subject. This
creates the danger of "softening" the image to make it a little less (4) …………… (HORROR), a little less (5)
…………… (SHAME) and a little more acceptable to the general audience. This is an injustice to history, with too
much emphasis put on the bland and not enough on the harsh reality of the past. Interpreting our heritage is
not a soft option where all that is required is a nice, (6) …………… (SENTIMENT) view of the past. It requires a full
working (7) …………… (PERCEIVE) of the issues and the evidence, together with a (8) …………… (WILL) to be open
about the strengths and weaknesses of our ability to interpret in a way that (9) …………… (DEEP) understanding.
If (10) …………… (PROVOKE) is required to do that, then it should not be avoided for fear of presenting
something (11) ……………. (AGREE).

Laura S. Gieco
 Proficiency – Word Formation

A modern Italian artist

Amedeo Modigliani (1884 - 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor whose (1) …………… (ORIGIN) paintings,
which were characterised by asymmetry of composition, (2) …………… (LONG) of figure, and simple but (3)
…………… (MONUMENT) use of line, are among the most important of the 20th century. They have also gained
(4) …………… (POPULAR) for the entirely personal atmosphere with which they are invested: a kind of mute (5)
…………… (RELATION) between the artist and sitter that implicates the spectator in a truly (6) …………… (REMARK)
way.
After suffering from serious illnesses as a child, he was forced to give up (7) …………… (CONVENTION) education,
and it was then that he began to study painting. After his studies in Italy, Modigliani left for Paris. There, he was
overwhelmed by the painting of Paul Cezanne, which exerted an (8) …………… (QUESTION) influence on the
earliest phase of his work. Furthermore, his (9) …………… (EXTEND) study of African sculpture made a profound
impression on his painting style.
Modigliani was not a professional portraitist in the strict sense of the word. His paintings are almost always
portraits of relatives, (10) …………… (PERSON) of the Parisian literary scene of his times and the contemporary
artistic world, along with many portraits of (11) …………… (IDENTIFY) persons.

Isabella Bird
Life in Victorian Britain was (1) …………… (STIFLE) dull for many women and a few reacted against its (2) ……………
(RESTRICT) by seeking freedom and adventure in travel. Although she had an otherwise conventional (3)
…………… (BRING), Isabella Bird (1831 - 1904) learnt two skills in childhood which proved to be (4) ……………
(VALUE) when she grew up. As she was a frail child, a doctor recommended frequent excursions (5) ……………
(DOOR) so Isabella learnt to ride and her clergyman father took her with him on trips round his parish. On these
rides he taught her to be (6) …………… (OBSERVE) and exact in her description of nature and people, attributes
which made her later travel writings successful.
At the age of 18 Isabella travelled to the Scottish Highlands to aid her recovery from an operation. From then
on, her life followed a pattern of periods at home plagued by back pain, headaches, and (7) …………… (SLEEP),
interspersed with periods of adventurous travel to (8) …………… (INCREASE) remote and exotic locations.
The books in which she (9) …………… (COUNT) her journeys met with success and the (10) …………… (COME)
from these supplemented a modest inheritance from her mother and allowed her to finance further travels.
Her achievements were (11) …………… (OFFICE) recognised in 1892 when she and fourteen other ladies were the
first women to be invited to join the Royal Geographical Society.

Laura S. Gieco