More Tips and Practice- Part 2- Open Cloze- Reading and Use of English

Tips for the B2 First (Cambridge English: First, FCE) Open Cloze (Part 2)

Part 2, the Open Cloze, focuses mainly on grammar. Here are some tips to follow when attempting the Open Cloze task:

• Make sure you read the title and the complete text first before attempting to answer any questions. Having an overview of the content will sometimes help you to identify missing words.
• Remember that only one word is missing and that contractions count as two words!
• Pay attention to the clauses and words around each gap as these will usually help you identify which part of speech is missing. For example, if the gap is after a verb, is it possible a dependent preposition is missing? If the gap follows a comma, could the missing word be a relative pronoun? If the gap appears at the beginning of a sentence, could the missing word be a linking word such as ‘However’ or ‘Although’? You’ll need to read the sentences before and after to work this last one out.
• Remember that Part 2 focuses mainly on grammar so the missing words are likely to be pronouns, prepositions, determiners, adverbs, linking words etc.

Let’s Practice

For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). Write your answers in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Example

(0) AS

Motorbike Stunt Rider

I work (0)AS a motorbike stunt rider – that is, I do tricks on my motorbike at shows. The Le Mans racetrack in France was (1) …….. I first saw some guys doing motorbike stunts. I’d never seen anyone riding a motorbike using just the back wheel before and I was (2) …….. impressed I went straight home and taught (3) …….. to do the same. It wasn’t very long before I began to earn my living at shows performing my own motorbike stunts.

I have a degree (4) …….. mechanical engineering; this helps me to look at the physics (5) …….. lies behind each stunt. In addition to being responsible for design changes to the motorbike, I have to work (6) …….. every stunt I do. People often think that my work is very dangerous, but, apart (7) …….. some minor mechanical problem happening occasionally during a stunt, nothing ever goes wrong. I never feel in (8) …….. kind of danger because I’m very experienced.

(Source: FCE Handbook. Reproduced with permission from Cambridge English)

Check your answers⇓

Answer key

1. where
2. so
3. myself
4. in
5. which/that
6. at/on
7. from
8. any