CEPT Practice C2 level open cloze test about Queen Victoria (1 minute to answer)

 

QUEEN VICTORIA 

Victoria first learned of her future role as a princess (0) during a history lesson when she was 10 years old. (1) .................................................... four decades later, Victoria's governess recalled that the future queen reacted to the discovery (2) ....................... declaring, "I will be good". This combination of earnestness and egotism marked Victoria (3) .................... a child of the age that bears her name. (4) .................... was an era of industrialisation and colonial expansion (5) ........................ had not happened before. By the end of her reign, about a third of the known world was (6) .................. her rule. (7) ............................. , the queen herself was resistant to technological change (8) ................................ while mechanical and technological innovation was reshaping the face of European civilization. (9) ................................... Significantly, Victoria was a queen determined to retain political power; yet she presided (10) ..................... the transformation of the sovereign's political role into a ceremonial (11) ......................... and thus helped to preserve the English monarchy. When Victoria became queen, the political role of the crown was by (12) ......................... means clear or defined; nor (13) ............................ the permanence of the throne (14) ............................. When she died, the change in the monarch's roles was one of social (15) ............................ than of political focus. 

c

h

e

c

k

y

o

u

r

a

n

s

w

e

r

s

1. Over / Nearly / Almost

2. by

3. as

4. It

5. which

6. under

7. However

8. even

9. Most

10. over

11. one

12. no

13. was

14. itself

15. rather

CEPT Practice C1 level Open cloze test about Doodling is Good (1minute to answer)

 

Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.

Doodling Is Good

The next time you are caught doodling, that is making unconscious or unfocused drawings (1) _____ you should be listening, declare that you are simply trying to boost your concentration. Recent research suggests that, (2) ____ than something to be frowned on, doodling should be actively encouraged because it improves our ability to pay attention. A study which compared (3) ____ well people remembered details of a dull speech found that people who doodled throughout retained much more information than those trying to concentrate on listening.

Doodling, however, is not the same as daydreaming. It is quite common (4) ____ people to start daydreaming when they are stuck in a boring lecture (5) ____ listening to a tedious discussion, and then to pay little attention to what is (6) _____ on around them. But the research suggests that doodling should no (7) _____ be considered an unnecessary distraction. Not (8) _____ is doodling sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting our task performance, it may actually help keep us (9) _____ track with a boring task.

c

h

e

c

k

y

o

u

r

a

n

s

w

e

r

s

1 when

2 rather

3 how

4 for

5 or

6 going

7 longer

8 only

9 on

CEPT Practice C1 Level Short Listening about a book's cover

 

You hear a woman telling a friend about a book he gave her. Why does she mention the book’s cover?

A to suggest that it failed to reflect its contents

B to criticise a weakness in the book’s plot

C to explain why the book has sold well

Audioscript

Man: So, what did you think of the book I gave you?

Woman: The Man in the Forest? It was certainly an emotion-packed tale. There wasn’t much about the man in the first half. I thought it got more gripping once he came into it more. I really identified with the main female character – the woman called Lucy. I can see why you thought it’d be my sort of thing – the blend of crime, mystery and social issues. It was quite disturbing in parts, as you suggested it would be. I did wonder why they chose that cover for the paperback edition though.

Man: What? The picture of the key? I thought it made the book look quite intriguing.

Woman: It doesn’t really evoke the essence of what it’s all about though. The book’s chief strength is as a tightly plotted thriller that also draws attention to certain social injustices. I mean the image on the front cover has the potential to summarise the content or at least highlight the issues the book tackles, which it totally missed doing. If it had done, I’d have been more convinced it was going to be the kind of thing I’m typically drawn to. Still, it’s sold over ten million copies, so what do I know …

c

h

e

c

k

y

o

u

r

a

n

s

w

e

r

The correct answer is letter A