OPEN CLOZE - DHBB 18

PASSAGE 1.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
There has been a significant shift (0) …………in……………..entertainment trends over the last twenty
years or so. Entertainment used to be public; now it is becoming more and more (1) __private____.
Formerly, people wanting to amuse themselves did so in groups; these (2) __days__, people increasingly
entertain (3) __themselves__ on their own.
Long, (4) ___long___ ago, there were storytellers. They used to travel around the country and their
arrival was awaited (5) __with_eager anticipation. In the more recent (6) __past___, people used to have
musical evening, they used to play games (7) __together__or simply sit around the fire and chat.
Nowadays, (8) _instead_of playing board games in a group, children play video games alone or with
one (9) __other__ person. People of all ages spend their evenings alone watching television, videos and
DVDs. And large numbers of young (and not (10) _so__ young) enthusiasts spend their free time surfing
the net, (11) __which__, by its very nature, tend to be a solitary activity.
Forms of entertainment have always been changing, of course, but (12) __it__ could be said that
these recent changes–all products (13) ___of___technological development - mark a more fundamental
shift. One could further argue that this shift is symbolized by the earphones that are in evidence
everywhere. Can this deliberate attempt to shut (14) __out___ the rest of the world really be (15) -
__called__ entertainment?

PASSAGE 2
Getting ready for Mars
The 'Mars 500 project' (1) ___was__ an experiment that simulated a return mission to Mars. Spending 18
months in a sealed facility in Moscow (2) __without__ access to natural light or fresh air, six men were
monitored as they attended (3) ___to___ their daily duties. A study into (4) __how___ each of them
coped with the psychological and physical constraints of the mission has found that there were wide
differences in their wake-sleep patterns. For example, (5) __when__ most of the crew began to sleep for
longer periods as the mission progressed and boredom set (6) __in__ , one individual slept progressively
less, resulting in him becoming chronically sleep-deprived towards the end of the (7) ___mission__ .
Identifying bad sleepers could be important on a real Mars mission, during (8) ___which___ people are
required to be constantly alert even when days are tediously similar. Researchers warn that for any
astronaut heading to Mars, exciting as the trip might initially seem, there could be problems with stress (9)
__brought___ on by the monotony of routine. However, they also report that despite some
(10)_personal__ tensions between crew members, there was overall harmony within the group.

PASSAGE 3.
HOWARD’S CAREER AS A PALAEONTOLOGIST
Howard became a paleontologist because of a rise in interest rates when he was six years old.
His father, a cautious man (1) ___with_ a large mortgage and thoughts focused merely on how the
economic situation would affect him, announced that the projected holiday to Spain was no longer (2)
_feasible__. A chalet was rented on the English coast instead and thus, on a dank August afternoon,
Howard picked up a coiled fossil shell, called an ammonite, on the beach.
He know for a long time that he wanted to become a paleontologist, and (3) _towards_ the end
of his time at university he became clear as to what sort of paleontologist he wanted to be. He found the
focus of his interest reaching further and further back in time. The more spectacular areas were not for
him, he realized, turning his back on the Jurassic, on (4) _dinosaurs__. He was drawn particularly to the
beginnings, to that ultimate antiquity (5) __where__ everything is decided, from which, against all odds,
we derive. So he studied delicate creatures revealed on the surface of grey rocks.
Work on his doctoral (6) __thesis__ came to an end, and, he knew, possibly a bitter one. Would
he get a job? Would he get a job in the sort of institution he sought? He was far from being without self-
esteem and knew that his potential was good. But he knew that whose who deserve do not always get,
and that while the objectives of science may be pure and uncompromising, the process of appointment to
an academic position is not. When the Assistant Lectureship at Tavistock College in London came up, he
applied at once, though (7) __without___ high hopes.
(8) __On__ the morning of Howard’s interview, the professor who would chair the panel had a
row with his wife. As a consequence he left home in a state of irritation and inattention, drove his car
violently into a gatepost and ended up in the Casualty Department of the local hospital. The interview took
place without him and without the support he had intended to give to a candidate who had been a student
of his.
The professor who (9) __replaced__ him on the panel was a hated colleague, whose main
concern was to oppose the appointment of his enemy’s protege; he was able to engineer without much
difficulty that Howard got the job. Howard, surprised at the evident favoritism from a man he did not
know, was fervently grateful until, months later, a colleague kindly enlightened him as to the correct
interpretation of events. Howard was only slightly chagrined. It would have been nice to think that he was
the obvious (10) _candidate_ , or that he had captivated those present with his ability and personality. But
by then the only thing that really mattered was that he had the job and that he could support himself by
doing the sort of work he wanted to do.
PASSAGE 4.
Population growth increased significantly as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace ……from…..(1) 1700
onwards. The last 50 years have seen a yet ……more.…….(2) rapid increase in the rate of population growth
due to medical advances and substantial increases in agricultural ……productivity….(3), particularly
beginning in the 1960s, made by the Green Revolution. In 2007 the United Nations Population Division
projected that the world's population will likely surpass 10 billion in 2055. In the future, world population
has been …expected… (4) to reach a peak of growth, from there it will decline due to economic reasons,
health concerns, land …exhaustion.. (5) and environmental hazards. According to one report, it is very
likely that the world's population will stop growing before the end of the 21st century. Further, there is
some ……likelihood...(6) that population will actually decline before 2100. Population has already declined
in the last decade or two in Eastern Europe, the Baltics and in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
The population …pattern (7) of less-developed regions of the world in recent years has been marked by
gradually declining birth rates ……following.……...(8) an earlier sharp reduction in death rates. This ……
transition……...(9) from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates is often referred to as (10)
the demographic transition.
PASSAGE 5
Over the last century the world has become increasingly smaller. Not geographically, of course, but in the
sense that media, technology and the opening of borders has enabled the world’s citizens to view, share
and gain (1)__access___ to a much wider range of cultures, societies and world views. In this
(2)__melting__ pot that the world has become, today’s child is privy (3)___to__ facets of the human
experience that his immediate predecessors had no inkling even existed. It (4)__stands__ to reason that in
order to absorb, configure and finally form opinions about this information-laden planet, children must be
supplied with certain tools. (5)__Included__ in this list of ‘tools’ are: education, social skills, cultural
awareness and the acquisition of languages, the most important of these being the latter. Until recently, a
child who had the ability to speak more than one language would have been considered a very rare entity.
(6)__This____ one-language phenomenon could be attributed to a combination of factors. One of them is
that the monolingual environment in which a child was raised played a strong role, (7)___as____ did the
limited, biased education of the past. With regard to immigrants, the sad fact was that non-native parents
tended to withhold the teaching of the mother tongue so that the child would acquire the ‘more
prestigious’ language of the adopted country. Nowadays, the situation has (8)__undergone___ an almost
complete reversal. In the majority of North American and European countries, most children are given the
opportunity to learn a second or even a third language. Children acquire these foreign languages through
various and diverse means. In many countries, learning a foreign language is a (9)__compulsory___ subject
in the state school curriculum. Other children rely on language schools or private tuition to achieve their
goal. In other instances, children are (10)__born__ to bilingual parents, who, if they so desire, may teach
the children two languages.

PASSAGE 6.
Sad as it is, a social misperception of the disabled is still (1) ___________ in many communities. It is only in
a few (2) _______ civilized states where the problems and needs of people with physical or mental
incapacities are given the proper consideration. In the remaining countries, the discrimination against the
disabled is still (3) ___________ in many areas of social life. As in the past, they are ignored, denounced
and forced to stay away from the normal community which, (4) ________, isn’t capable of making any
provisions for its less fit members. For decades, the hale and hearty part of every society has stripped the
disabled of their fundamental (5) ___________ as their job applications have been turned down, their
active participation in business life has on most occasions been disallowed and there has been little
concern for their convenience in access to public transport. Equally little effort has been made to help the
disabled fully (6) ___________ with the able-bodied thus (7) ________ foundations for greater community
awareness of the drawbacks that the handicapped have to wrestle with daily. There’s an urgent need to
offer the disabled more adequate assistance and support in their struggle for putting their basic rights (8)
_______ operation. The key principle is that the stereotyped approach towards the impaired individuals
ought to be exchanged for a more considerate one. (9) _____ pressing matter is that the disabled shouldn’t
be appraised on the (10) __________ of their handicap, but society should rather focus on providing them
with complete acceptance irrespective of any imperfections thus treating them as fully-fledged citizens.