Virtual University ENG 101

Lesson -17
Dr.Surriya Shaffi Mir

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So far the main reading activity that you
have had practice in has been the usual
reading comprehension. It required you
to concentrate only on certain sections of
the reading passage. In today's lesson
you will be introduced to another
procedure for developing reading
comprehension, known as the CLOZE
procedure.

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What is this cloze procedure? A passage
is selected from which words are deleted
at regular intervals. You, the reader, have
to fill in the missing words. Very easy,
you will say. Well let’s see if it is all that
easy. The deletion of words at regular
intervals ensures that the learner
concentrates on a wider proportion of the
text. It also requires him / her to make
inferences as well.
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The deleted words usually comprise
grammatical and lexical words and it is the
student’s choice of words to fill in the gaps
that reveals his / her understanding of the
passage as well as grasp of the language.
The cloze has several points in its favour.
1. It encourages fluent reading.
2. It requires the reader to use a range of
reading skills to complete the task.
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3. It is thought provoking as it trains the
student to explore within a semantic field
or area for related concepts
4. It trains the reader to look carefully at
all structural clues
Cloze thus helps in developing the habit of
concentrated reading, of going beyond the
immediate sentence for drawing meaning,
in skimming to recap on what has been
read and in scanning for unspecified
information in order to predict. 6
The cloze is essentially a cognitive / mental
task which requires the completion of
meaning based on understanding and
reason. It involves the reader in active
interaction with the text to predict the
missing word while making use of context
clues. Once you have grasped the basic
techniques you will begin to enjoy it as a
guessing game - not wild guesses, but
informed guesses. Look at the following
passage quickly - the whole passage so that
you get a rough idea of what it is7about.
Notice the first two sentences and the last
sentence do not have any gaps. This is to help
you understand the overall meaning of the
passage.
- Discuss the context of the passage.
- Each gap stands for just ONE word
that is missing.
- Explain why certain words are
appropriate.
- A word can only be accepted if it fits
in the context without changing
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the
Ex: 1. A good education should, among other
things, train you to think for yourself. The
examination system does anything but that.
What has to be learnt 1____ strictly laid down
by 2 _____ syllabus, so the student 3____ ___
only what is prescribed. Examinations 4
______ not motivate a student 5______ read
widely; they 6_____ his reading. They do 7__
encourage him to seek 8______ knowledge;
they narrow the 9______ of study.

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They lower 10_____ standards of teaching, for
11______ deprive the teacher of 12_____
freedom. Teachers themselves are 13___ judged
by examination by results, 14_____ instead of
teaching their 15_____, they are reduced to
16____ their students in the 17______ of taking
examinations which 18______ despise. The most
successful 19_______ are not always the 20_____
educated. They are merely the best trained in the
technique of working under stress and strain.

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Ex : 2. Global warming is by no means a
new phenomenon: it has been around since
the creation of Planet Earth itself. At first
the process was beneficial: it brought Earth
out of the ice ages into a time when
humanity could survive on it. Now,
however, it has become a problem. 1 ____
has happened in 2 _____ ways, the ‘runway’
3 ______effect and ozone 4 _____depletion.
This is 5 ____ the greenhouse effect 6
______: ordinarily
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energy from 7____ Sun reaches the 8
_____ and is reflected 9 _____ into space,
but 10 ____ greenhouse gases forming
layer around the planet, the reflection
process cannot take place and the energy
is trapped, heating up the atmosphere.
(Saifullah & Ismail)

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Ex: 1. A good education should, among other
things, train you to think for yourself. The
examination system does anything but that.
What has to be learnt 1__ is__ strictly laid
down by 2 ___the__ syllabus, so the student
3____does / learns___ only what is
prescribed. Examinations 4 ___do___ not
motivate a student 5___to___ read widely;
they 6___restrict / curb__ his reading. They
do 7__not__ encourage him to seek
8___further / more___ knowledge; they
narrow the 9___field___ of study.13
They lower 10__the___ standards of teaching,
for 11___they___ deprive the teacher of
12___all / his / her___ freedom. Teachers
themselves are 13__often__ judged by
examination by results, 14__so / and___ instead
of teaching their 15,__subjects___ they are
reduce to 16__training__ their students in the
17___art / technique___ of taking examinations
which 18___they___ despise. The most
successful 19__students___ are not always the
20__best___ educated. They are merely the best
trained in the technique of working under stress
and strain. 14
Ex : 2. Global warming is by no means a
new phenomenon: it has been around since
the creation of Planet Earth itself. At first
the process was beneficial: it brought Earth
out of the ice ages into a time when
humanity could survive on it. Now,
however, it has become a problem. 1 This
has happened in 2 two ways, the ‘runway’ 3
greenhouse effect and ozone 4 layer
depletion. This is 5 how the greenhouse
effect 6 works: ordinarily
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energy from 7 the Sun reaches the 8 Earth
and is reflected 9 back into space, but 10
with greenhouse gases forming layer
around the planet, the reflection process
cannot take place and the energy is
trapped, heating up the atmosphere.
(Saifullah & Ismail)

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These were samples of regular, standard
type of cloze where the gaps / blanks
occur after a fixed number of words and
these blanks may be filled with any word
that is appropriate in terms of linguistic
and contextual criteria. There are many
variations of the standard cloze. Now I
shall pace you through some alternative
forms.

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Ex : 3 Selected Deletion Cloze
Notice the blanks are not after a fixed number of words.

My dear children,
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for a
month. The time passes so quickly and
there’s so much to do. I’ve managed to see
all the members of the family. I 1 ______as
much time as I can

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with the children. Last week I 2 ____Mark
and Michelle to the circus. 3 ______never
been to one before as they live quite far
from the nearest city and their parents 4
_____ have time to drive them there. I 5
________ that’s what grandmothers are for.
At any 6 _____ Susan lent me her car - it’s
a brand 7 _____ bright red Mini. We left
early in the morning so as to make a day of
8 ____.
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In the morning we 9 _____ to the zoo and in
the afternoon to the circus.
As 10 _____can imagine, the children were
very excited. They loved everything. Mark
11 _____ the wild animals the most exciting
and Michelle is 12 _____ to be an acrobat
when she grows 13______.

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After we’d been there for about two hours
we 14 ______ an announcement over the
loudspeaker. The owner of the red Mini,
number PUR 727V, 15 ______ requested to
come to the manager’s office 16 _________.
Naturally, I didn’t know the number of 17
___________ car so I left the children and
went to the manager’s office to 18 _____
out if it was our car.

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The manager looked very upset and
19______________________. No one else had
answered his call so I assumed correctly
that it was Susan’s car.
20___________________that I’d left the
lights on, or parked in 21 ________way, I
wasn’t 22 ________concerned, but I didn’t
know why the manager looked so
disturbed. He began to 23 _________what
happened and it took me some time to
understand 24 ______confused explanation.
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25 ____appears that the elephants are
trained to sit on red boxes. One of the
elephants 26 _____escaped and when he
saw the 27 ______red car he promptly sat
on 28______! As you can imagine the car
looked a mess. One side was squashed 29
________but it was still possible to drive.
The manager assured 30 _____that the
circus would pay for the 31________. He
couldn’t have been more apologetic.
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The children were very 32 _______ and
giggled about the incident all the way
home. 33 __________before we got there,
we 34 _________the scene of a serious
accident. About a mile 35 _______on a
policeman stopped us and asked if we’d 36
_________involved in the accident. I wish
I had a 37 _______of his face when I told
him what had happened 38 ______the car.

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I think he wanted to arrest me for drunken
driving! Fortunately the 39 ______were
there to back me up.
40______are you managing without me?
Please don’t 41 ______to water my plants.
I’m planning to leave here 42____ the end of
the month.
My love to you all.

Mom.
(Cloze in Class: Moller & Whiteson)
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Ex : 3 Selected Deletion Cloze
Notice the blanks are not after a fixed number of words.

My dear children,
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for a
month. The time passes so quickly and
there’s so much to do. I’ve managed to see
all the members of the family. I 1 spend as
much time as I can

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With the children. Last week I 2 took Mark
and Michelle to the circus. 3 They’d never
been to one before as they live quite far
from the nearest city and their parents 4
never have time to drive them there. I 5
suppose / think that’s what grandmothers
are for.
At any 6 rate Susan lent me her car - it’s a
brand 7 new bright red Mini. We left early
in the morning so as to make a day of 8 it.
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In the morning we 9 went to the zoo and in
the afternoon to the circus.
As 10 you can imagine, the children were
very excited. They loved everything. Mark
11 found the wild animals the most exciting
and Michelle is 12 going to be an acrobat
when she grows 13 up.

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After we’d been there for about two hours
we 14 heard an announcement over the
loudspeaker. The owner of the red Mini,
number PUR 727V, 15 was requested to
come to the manager’s office 16
immediately. Naturally, I didn’t know the
number of 17 the / Susan’s car so I left the
children and went to the manager’s office
to 18 find out if it was our car.

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The manager looked very upset and 19
embarrassed / disturbed. No one else had
answered his call so I assumed correctly
that it was Susan’s car. 20 Imagining /
Thinking / Fearing / Assuming that I’d left
the lights on, or parked in 21 someone’s
way, I wasn’t 22 too / very concerned, but I
didn’t know why the manager looked so
disturbed. He began to 23 explain what
happened and it took me some time to
understand 24 his confused explanation.
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25 It appears that the elephants are trained to
sit on red boxes. One of the elephants 26
had escaped and when he saw the 27 little
red car he promptly sat on 28 it! As you can
imagine the car looked a mess. One side
was squashed 29 badly / flat but it was still
possible to drive. The manager assured 30
me that the circus would pay for the 31
damage. He couldn’t have been more
apologetic.
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The children were very 32 amused and
giggled about the incident all the way
home. 33 Just / But before we got there, we
34 passed the scene of a serious accident.
About a mile 35 further on a policeman
stopped us and asked if we’d 36 been
involved in the accident. I wish I had a 37
picture of his face when I told him what
had happened 38 to the car.

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I think he wanted to arrest me for drunken
driving! Fortunately the 39 children were
there to back me up.
40How are you managing without me?
please don’t 41 forget to water my plants.
I’m planning to leave here 42 at the end of
the month.
My love to you all.

Mom.
(Cloze in Class: Moller & Whiteson)
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Ex : 4. Multiple Choice Cloze
Here words are provided and you have to
choose and write in each blank the word
you think belongs there.

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Over population is one of the most serious
problems facing the world today. The
world’s exploding population
even more growing pains for
already crowded areas. new United
Nations study
that by the year five billion
persons will added

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to the 6.5 in the world
today. more troubling than the
number of inhabitants is
estimate of where they will be
concentrated.
(Advanced Reading Skills)
Markstein & Hirasawa

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Over population is one of the most serious
problems facing the world today. The
world’s exploding population

experiences, signals, predicts, even more growing

pains before, now, ahead for already crowded
areas. The, Some,A new United Nations study

signals, forecasts, tells that by the year 2000, 2001, 2015

five billion persons will have, be, not be37added
to the 6.5 billion, million, thousand in the world
today. Even, Far, No more troubling than the

big, small, increasing number of inhabitants is

an, the, estimate of where they will be

Concentrated.
(Advanced Reading Skills)
Markstein & Hirasawa

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Ex : 5. Inflectional Cloze
Here the inflectional endings of words
are deleted. E.g. plural endings of nouns,
past form of regular verbs, etc…This
type of cloze is good for practicing
grammar in a connected passage. e.g.

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If there were a perfect robot, what would
it be like? Imagine a ______able to wax
the_____, wash the_____, and iron the
_____,not to mention the fact that it
would be able to entertain, learn, and
perform several other____. What a time-
saver a self-ambulatory robot would be.
Who wouldn’t want to sit back and relax
while a robot did the house chores?
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If there were a perfect robot, what would
it be like? Imagine a machine able to wax
the car, wash the dishes and iron the
clothes, not to mention the fact that it
would be able to entertain, learn, and
perform several other jobs. What a time-
saver a self-ambulatory robot would be.
Who wouldn’t want to sit back and relax
while a robot did the house chores?
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If I were to design my own robot it would
need to do more than just the everyday
house _____like making the ____ and
dusting the ____. First of all, it would need
to be intellectual. It would need to be able
to reason, understand, and carry out other
_____ of mental activity, such as helping
me complete difficult math _____ or
proofreading my English ______ for
grammatical or spelling _____. Intellect
would be the key quality of my
personalized robot. 42
Ex : 6. Cloze with Phrases
This type requires phrases instead of single
words to fill in the blanks which occur at
random. This is a more difficult exercise
and is used in the development of creativity
in language use.
In the following passage there are blanks
which may be filled with a word or a
phrase. Insert the word or phrase that makes
sense according to the meaning of the
passage. 43
Oliver is a film about an orphan 1 _____ .
The story 2 _______ Charles Dickens,
the famous novelist. It 3 ________ in
England during the 4__________. Oliver,
5________ escapes from a workhouse
and 6_________ London. 7__________
he meets the villian, Bill Sykes, and
Nancy, his girl friend, the pickpocket,
artful Dodger, and Fagin, the old beggar.
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8___________, the beggar and the
pickpocket teach him 9_________ to
survive, but then the police 10________.
The judge lets him 11____________ with
his uncle, Mr. Brownlow, a 12__________
man. 13___________ Bill Sykes is killed,
and Oliver goes to 14_____________
happily 15___________ uncle. It’s such an
16_________ and 17__________ story about
a boy’s 18___________ for 19________ that
nobody should 20______. 45
Ex : 7 Cloze without Blanks
This is an advanced level exercise. Here a
word is omitted from each line / sentence
without a blank marked on the page. You
are required to first mark the place where
you think the word has been omitted with a
stroke (/), and then write the word that has
been omitted in the right hand margin. The
first two have been done for you. I can give
you a clue - there are ten insertions to be
made. 46
A robot is a machine designed
to do tasks usually / by people. …done...
Robots already do / jobs. They …many...
weld parts and spray paint in car …...
factories. They do dangerous work 1…...
as handling explosives. Some even …...
in space and under the ocean. 2…...
hard working machines usually 473…...
don’t have human shapes. If I …...
were to design my own robot …...
it would need to do than just 4 …...
household chores. My robot will be …...
a masterpiece, to perform almost 5 …...
any task with agile precision. It will …...
be able to solve tough problems a 6…...
matter of seconds that would 48 …...
normally human beings hours to 7…...
complete. It will use intelligence and …...
agility to perform numerous tasks. …...
My robot will be maid, my business 8…...
partner and my library rolled into 9…...
unique machine. There is but 10….
problem. How many decades until …...
this ideal robot is actually built? 49 …...
With this we come to the end of this
lesson .I hope you found it useful and
learnt yet another way to improve your
reading comprehension abilities.

Allah Hafiz.

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