Word Formation Passa

Book 1

By Tim Bucklette
 BLACK WIDOW SPIDER
The black widow spider’s (0. NOTORIOUS) _____________ is not without foundation. However, an
element of exaggeration has led to certain (1. CONCEPT) _____________ regarding its evil nature. Firstly, this
spider is not as dangerous as is often thought. While it is indeed one of the most (2. VENOM) _____________
species of spider, its venom being fifteen times stronger than that of the prairie rattlesnake, its bite injects such
as amount of venom by (3. COMPARE) _____________ that it is unlikely to kill humans. In fact, (4. FATAL)
_____________ are rare. Black widows bite only if they are touched or their web is threatened. Furthermore,
only the adult female is poisonous. Those most at risk from the female are the spider’s natural pray-insects-and
male black widow spiders. The latter are vulnerable as the female is (5. SOLITUDE) _____________ by nature,
and has been known to kill and eat the male after mating. Such (6. OCCUR) _____________ are rare, but they
explain how the spider got its name – and its reputation. Nevertheless, the (7. PLEASE) _____________ effects
of this spider’s bite should not be (8. ESTIMATE) _____________, and if you live in a temperate climate and
have a fireplace in your home, it is advisable to take (9. CAUTION) _____________. Black widow spiders
often inhabit wood piles, so you should wear gloves when handling firewood. Furthermore, since black widow
spiders are (10. RESIST) _____________ to many insecticides, you should regularly clean out likely hiding
places.
The cosmic game of darts
‘The End of the World is Nigh!’ screamed newspaper (1. HEAD) __________ recently after
astronomers warned that a massive asteroid was heading (2. AVOID) __________for Earth. It was predicted
that the mile-wide asteroid ZF11 would hit the Earth in 2028 with (3. CATASTROPHE) __________
consequesces. It sounded like the stuff of science fiction, but for a while it seemed (4. ALARM)
__________threatening. Then suddenly, the danged disappeared. New calculations showed that the asteroid
would miss by 600,000 miles-only fairly close in (5. ASTRONOMY) __________terms, but in practical terms a
fairly (6. SIGNIFY) __________risk. ZF11 may not pose a danger, but the threat of other strikes still looms,
and there is (7. ABOUND) __________evidence of past asteroid strikes. One of the most (8. ORDINARY)
__________of these is the crater in the Yucatan Peninsula which measures some 200km in diameter. It is
thought that this is the impact site of an asteroid that struck sixty-five million years ago, wiping out the
dinosaurs and leading to the destructon of 70% of the Earth’s species. Scientist belive that it is only a matter of
time before another celestial hulk hits home in this giant game of cosmic darts. But what really worries
astonomers is the (9. REAL) __________that they have identified very few of the asteroids near the Earth.
There are (10. FORTUNATE) __________ thousands more that they do not know about.
MEDITATION
People are often put off meditation by what they see as its many mystical associations. Yet meditation is
a (1. STRAIGHT) _____________technique which merely involves sitting and resting the mind. In addition to
its (2. SIMPLE) _____________, meditation offers powerful help in the battle against stress. Hundreds of
studies have shown that meditation, when (3. TAKE) _____________in a principled way, can reduce
hypertension which is related to stress in the body. Research has proved that certain types of meditation can (4.
SUBSTANCE) _____________decrease key stress symptoms such as anxiety and (5. IRRITATE)
_____________In fact, those who practise meditation with any (6. REGULAR) _____________see their
doctors less and spend, on average, seventy per cent fewer days in hospital. They are said to have more stamina,
a happier (7. DISPOSE) _____________and even enjoy better relationships. When you learn to meditate, your
teacher will give you a personal 'mantra' or word which you use every time you practise the technique and
which is (8. SUPPOSE) _____________chosen according to your needs. Initial classes are taught individually
but (9. SEQUENCE) _____________classes usually consist of a group of students and take place over a period
of about four days. The aim is to learn how to slip into a deeper state of (10. CONSCIOUS) _____________for
twenty minutes a day. The rewards speak for themselves.
Give the correct form of each bracketed word in the following passage.
Levels of literacy and numeracy remain (1. STARTLE) _____________high in the developing world,
and will continue to be so until the West provides or sponsors new education initiatives, (2. PREFER)
_____________also getting directly involved. A better education is a prerequisite should the (3. POOR)
_____________masses of Africa ever wish to hold any genuine hope of gaining their emancipation from the (4.
METAPHOR) _____________shackles of poverty. Education initiatives for young people as well as life-long
learning programmes will also help to breach the gulf that separates the working classes from their ruling elite,
a (5. PRIVILEGE) _____________ few who enjoy the trappings of Western wealth and the lifestyle that goes
with it, while those in their midst are completely (6. OCCUPY) _____________ with the daily struggle for
survival. Furthermore, we must promote a culture of (7. TOLERATE) _____________ of corruption, and help
to create a new generation for whom education rather than an (8. SCRUPLE) _____________ nature will reap
the true rewards. Education will also help to bridge another gap; that of the cultural one which separates the
West from its brethren in the developing world. The slums and shanty towns are a hotbed of religious and
political (9. EXTREME) _____________, but hopefully education will serve to create a better sense of
understanding between all the peoples of the world, (10. RESPECT) _____________ of background.
Fill in each blank with the most suitable form of the word in brackets.
We often think of ourselves as living in a time of (1. CONTINUE) _____________ technological
change and development. We tend to believe that we are unique in history in dealing a constantly (2. EVOLVE)
_____________ world of gadgets, devices and innovations. However, the end of the nineteenth century and the
start of the twentieth was also a time that saw many (3. REVOLT) _____________ changes. People had needed
to show (4. FLEXIBLE) _____________ throughout the nineteenth century, as the effects of the industrial
revolution meant constantly making (5. ADJUST) _____________ to deal with changing working conditions.
Towards the end of the century, though people had to become more (6. ADAPT) _____________ than ever
before. The typewriter (1983), the telephone (1876), the electric bulb (1879) and other (7. INFLUENCE)
_____________ developments gave people the (8. CAPABLE) _____________to live and work in ways their
grandparents couldn’t have imagined. Over the next 30 years, little remained (9. ALTER) _____________ as
the camera, the cinema, the phonograph all had an (10. ELECTRIC) _____________ effect on people and
society.
The secret of happiness: Family, friends and your environment
Adapted from an article in The Independent, 15 August 2010, by Rachel Shields
How do you find (0. CONTENT) _____________ in an acquisitive society? “By changing the things
you spend your money on”, says a US academic.
We've suffered horrendous job cuts and falling investment values, and watched the high streets grow (1.
INCREASE) _____________ unattractive because of empty shopfronts, even as we face public sector job
losses and the (2. POSSIBLE) _____________ of a double-dip recession. We might be forgiven for allowing
ourselves a moment of misery. And yet, a growing school of thought believes that we have actually gained
something from the last few years of (3. ECONOMY) _____________ gloom; that we are starting to value the
things that matter: our friends, homes and the world we live in. Even more remarkably, they suggest that these
things are making us happier than the conspicuous (4. CONSUME) _____________ and (5. HEDONISTIC)
_____________ of the boom years.
 While, (6. ARGUE) _____________, everyone could be forgiven for battening down the hatches and
looking after number one, it seems that across the UK people are becoming less (7. MATERIALISM)
_____________ and more outwardfacing: volunteering, joining clubs and caring for the environment in record
numbers.
From more Brits spending their weekends involvedin wholesome outdoor pursuits instead of scouring
the high street for the latest must-have item, to the (8. GROW) _____________ in household savings – which
rose to 6.9 per cent of disposable income in the first quarter of 2010, up from less than zero in the first quarter
of 2008 –experts believe there is (9 EVIDENT) _____________ that people have realised that happiness may
not lie in the relentless pursuit of more, and better, "stuff".
The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show that (10. RETAIL) _____________ selling
big-ticket items such as flat-screen TVs, carpets and kitchens are reporting negative like-for-like sales when
compared with last year, while the number of people who walk for leisure increased by almost a million, rising
10 per cent between 2006 and 2008, and the number of (11. RECREATION) _____________ cyclists rose by
6.4 per cent between 2008 and 2009.
Although we may be on the cusp of a "new" happiness movement, the quest for it is as old as mankind,
and has preoccupied some of the finest minds in history, all of whom have had differing theories. While a
definitive answer to the question of what makes us happy might have eluded everyone from Socrates to Thomas
Aquinas, a US academic now believes she has the answer.
Elizabeth Dunn argues that spending money (12. WISE) _____________ is a sure-fire route to
happiness, which is clearly highlighted in her new paper, "If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You
Probably Aren't Spending It Right".
Training Sports Champions
What are the abilities that a (0. PROFESSION) _____________ sports person needs? To guarantee that
opponents can be (1. COME) _____________, speed, stamina and (2. AGILE) _____________ are essential,
not to mention outstanding natural talent. Both a rigorous and comprehensive (3. FIT) _____________ regime
and highly nutritious diet are vital for top-level performance. It is carbohydrates, rather than proteins and fat,
that provides athletes with the (4. ENDURE) _____________ they need to compete. This means that pasta is
more (5. BENEFIT) _____________ than eggs or meat. Such a diet enables them to move very (6. ENERGY)
when required. Failure to follow a (7. SENSE) _____________ diet can result in the (8.
ABLE) _____________ to maintain stamina.

Regular training to increase muscular (9. STRONG) _____________ is also a vital part of a
professional's regime, and this is (10. TYPE) _____________ done by exercising with weights. Sports people
are prone to injury but a quality training regime can ensure that the (11. SEVERE) _____________ of these can
be (12. MINIMUM) _____________.
Turn A Hobby into a Business
It is not (0. USUAL) _____________ to make a hobby pay for itself even if initially you had no (1.
INTEND) _____________of turning it into a business. For those looking to make a profit on their (2.
CREATE) _____________, these days an audience for (3. PRODUCE) _____________ can range from the
local to the truly global. Some (4. HOBBY) _____________ begin by donating a piece of work to a (5.
CHARITY) sale just to see how quickly and (6. PROFIT) _____________ it sells. Local shops can be the next
outlet for items, often the step taken by those making things like (7. HAND) _____________ greetings cards for
instance. And for the truly (8. AMBITION) _____________, websites like eBay enable the hobbyist to reach a
(9. WORLD) _____________ audience. As with any business idea, an honest (10. APPRAISE)
_____________should be undertaken regarding the demand for the work and the price the customer is prepared
to pay in (11. REAL) _____________. However, do not forget the degree of personal (12. SATISFY)
_____________ as well.
21st Century Workplace
The economy of the 21st century is based on skills and (0. KNOW) _____________ according to a
recent report. The study shows that throughout this century there will be more jobs for those with the right
qualifications and the right skills, and fewer jobs for those with none. The best employee will be one with a (1.
DEMONSTRATE) _____________ level of academic or (2. VOCATION) _____________ achievement that
can (3. ABLE) _____________ the individual to support their CV with evidence of desirable personal qualities.
As (4. GLOBE) _____________ increases and technological advances make typical working practices
redundant, (5. PROSPECT) _____________ employees will need to show various personal attributes. As well
as wanting people who are flexible, companies are also looking for evidence of (6. ADAPT) _____________
It is also (7. INCREASE) _____________ necessary to be an excellent communicator as the majority of
companies make their profits from the skills of people selling their goods as much as from the producers
themselves. The (8. RECRUIT) _____________ of the very best people is crucial. Unless businesses show
the (9. WILL) _____________ to adapt they may find they are (10. SUSTAIN) _____________ according to
the authors of the report.
People of the Forest
This TV (0. DOCUMENT) _____________ follows a family of chimpanzees which live in the forest of
Tanzania. Set in (1. SPECTACLE) _____________ scenery the programme gives us a (2. FASCINATE)
_____________ insight into the life and social (3. ACTION) _____________ of these creatures.
(4. APPEAR) _____________ we humans share 98% of our genes with chimpanzees; indeed, they are our
closest relative in the animal (5. KING) _____________ and scenes in the documentary offer clear evidence of
our (6. SIMILAR) _____________. The focus of the film is on Fifi and we first see her as a (7. PLAY)
_____________ five-year-old who spends all her time annoying her younger brother. Meanwhile, the older
male chimps seem to be involved in an endless fight for (8. SUPREME) _____________. And it is no suprise to
learn that while all this is taking place the females are left to deal with day-to-day matters.
Make sure you set aside an hour to watch this. The (9. SPLENDID) _____________ of the location makes this
programme worthwhile viewing, although our (10. LIKE) _____________ to these animals will make you
think.
China celebrates 60th anniversary but the public isn't invited
Adapted from an article in The Telegraph, 30 September 2010, by Peter Foster
It has been billed as a "national (0. CELEBRATE) _____________" of China's rising power on the
world stage as the Communist Party celebrates 60 years in power.
But ordinary Chinese people have been warned to stay away from the (1. MASS) _____________
military parade on Thursday over fears of public disorder. Any thoughts that a (2. SPONTANEITY)
_____________, flag-waving crowd might be allowed to cheer on the 180,000 marchers as they processed
through Beijing's Tiananmen Square were scotched by security restricting the 'crowd' to carefully vetted VIPs.
China's authorities, ever (3. FEAR) _____________ of the threat of public disorder, have left nothing to
chance, (4. MOBILE) _____________ more than 950,000 volunteers to help seal off large sections of the
capital 24 hours in advance of the parade. The flying of kites and pigeons has also been banned. China's state
media reported that the authorities would deploy the full might of the country's "artificial weather (5.
MANIPULATE)" apparatus in an attempt to disperse the murk.
A report by Beijing's (6. METEOROLOGY) _____________ bureau said that 18 modified transport
aircraft were on standby to spray rain-catalyst into the atmosphere shortly before daybreak in an attempt to clear
the skies before the parade began.
In the evening Tiananmen Square, which at 100 acres is the largest public space in the world and
capable of holding several hundred thousand people (7. COMFORT) _____________, will host a night-time
firework and laser light-show attended by 60,000 carefully vetted people and (8. PERFORM) _____________.
The (9. SPECTACLE) _____________ show, designed by Zhang Yimou the director behind the lavish
Olympic opening ceremony, will use more than double the amount of fireworks used last August, including
three firework 'paintings' whose subject remain a closely guarded secret.
The lack of (10. PARTICIPATE) _____________ from ordinary people has echoes of the opening night
of last year's Olympic Games where the streets of Beijing were left deserted after similar orders were issued for
people to stay at home and watch on television.
Even those lucky enough to have windows or balconies (11. LOOK) _____________ the parade as it
progresses down Chang'an Avenue – or The Way of Heavenly Peace – have received official letters warning
them not to open windows, step onto their balconies or invite friends over for parties.
Most Chinese seemed resigned to the (12. DECIDE) _____________ not to invite the public to
participate in the parade, apparently accepting that security concerns were paramount, (13. PARTICULAR)
_____________ following the (14. BREAKING) _____________ of violence in Xinjiang and Tibet in the last
two years.
"There is definitely more (15. SECURE) _____________ than at the last parade [in 1999]," said 75-
year-old Wang Ming, a retired telecoms engineers as he hurried home to beat impending road closures, "but I
can understand the government's fear as the splittist [separatist] forces have caused more trouble in the past ten
years."
I took my kids offline
Adapted from an article in The Guardian, 1 January 2011, by Melissa McClements
"It's weird when you have to text your kids to come to the (0. DINE) _____________ table," says Susan
Maushart. At the end of 2008, she was (1. ANXIETY) _____________ about the amount of time her three
teenagers spent (2. FIX) _____________ by technology.
All she usually saw of her 15-year-old son, Bill, was the back of his head as he played on his games
console. Her elder daughter, Anni, 18, binged on social-networking sites and 14-year-old Sussy seemed (3.
PHYSICAL) _____________ attached to her laptop, often staying logged on to the internet through the night.
Over a period of months, Maushart, a single mother, had a dawning (3. WARE) _____________ that something
was not right. But when she watched Sussy receive video clips of her friends streamed live over the internet, her
worries became (4. FOUND) _____________ panic.
"My concern," she says, "was that we had ceased to function as a family. We were just a (4. COLLECT)
_____________ of individuals who were very (5. CONNECTION) _____________ outwards – to friends,
business, school and sources of entertainment and information. But we simply weren't connecting with one
another in real space and time in any sort of (6. AUTHENTICITY) _____________ way."
 Maushart, now 52, decided to take (7. ACT) _____________. She (8. INITIALLY) _____________
what she describes as an experiment in living and banned all technology at home for six months.
During their half-year of technological (9. DEPRIVE) _____________, the family did eat together more
(10. REGULAR) _____________. They talked more. They played board games. They went on (11. OUT)
_____________ to the cinema and restaurants. Anni took to studying in the university library. She cooked
lasagne. Bill (12. REDISCOVERY) _____________ his saxophone and got into reading novels by the Japanese
author Haruki Murakami. Sussy, as the youngest and most technologically (13. LITERACY), struggled more.
To her mother's dismay, she moved to her dad's house for the first six weeks. Eventually, however, she
succumbed to the idea of a night not lit up by the glow of the computer and found her erratic sleep patterns (14.
ERADICATION) _____________.
Anni, Bill and Sussy confronted boredom – something that they were previously (15. FAMILIAR) with
because of their endless access to online entertainment. They found out that it made them (16. SOURCE)
_____________. Indeed, their mother thinks boredom is fundamentally important in terms of creativity: "If
nothing's wrong, you're never motivated to change, to move out of that (17. DISCOMFORT) _____________
zone."
Tourist hordes told to stay away from world heritage sites by the locals
Adapted from an article in The Observer, 6 September 2009, by Tracy McVeigh
From Easter Island to Venice, communities are up in arms at the (0. ENVIRONMENT) damage being
caused by mass tourism.
In the brochure or guidebook they look (1. HEAVEN) _____________ and fascinating. (2. SPOIL)
_____________ beaches, ancient monuments and (3. HISTORIAN) _____________ cities dripping with charm.
But the Wish You Were Here postcard scenes of the world's tourist sites do not show you an (4. INCREASE)
_____________ common sight: the band of placard-waving locals who wish you weren't.
Last week the Chilean under-secretary of the interior, Patricio Rosende, travelled more than 2,000 miles
to a (5. VOLCANO) speck in the ocean to spend two days in heated talks with the people of Easter Island.
Those who live on the island, which is part of Chile and famed for its massive ancient stone statues, believe
they are facing (6. ECOLOGY) _____________ disaster because of hordes of tourists. But their (7.
COMPLAIN) _____________ have fallen on deaf ears and lack support from those on the island who survive
on visitor dollars.
Last month, (8. PROTEST) _____________ resorted to blocking the airport, moving tents and trucks on
to the runway and demanding that the 65,000 visitors who fly in each year, some of whom choose to stay on
and work, should be capped. As about 600 angry US tourists expressed their (9. IRRITATE) after they faced the
(10. RESULT) _____________ flight (11. CANCEL) _____________ at the airport in the Chilean capital,
Santiago, the government agreed to discuss the islanders' concerns about (12. CROWD) _____________, the
environment and controls on commerce.
"The only thing we are looking for is an answer from the (13. GOVERN) _____________ regarding the
need for greater control on who comes to Easter Island," said the island's mayor, Luz Zasso. "We ask, for
example, that those who arrive have a card which describes the (14. ACTIVIST) _____________ they will be
doing here, just like in the Galápagos Islands."
With a population of 4,900 that has grown by 29% since 2002, the island is forced to deal with more
than it can handle. A similar problem led to the Pitcairn Islands, also in the Pacific, establishing (15.
MIGRATE) _____________ controls, with (16. CATOGORICAL) _____________ for "short-period" tourists
with a maximum stay of 14 days and "long-period" tourists with a maximum stay of six months.
 The Galápagos Islands already have a limit on visitors but still suffer from what some call backpacker
fatigue. Only a few weeks ago British and Ecuadorian scientists discovered that a mosquito carrying avian
malaria that may (17. THREAT) _____________ the unique ecosystem of the islands was being brought in by
tourists. The discovery may help local environmental activists, who are (18. HUGE) _____________ concerned
about the future of the islands, which two years ago were added to the list of 31 (19. DANGER)
_____________ world heritage sites by UNESCO.
The Galápagos – an archipelago in the Pacific famed for its huge number of endemic species – saw an
increase in the number of visitors from 40,000 in 1990 to more than 170,000 last year, making tourism a major
source of income for the islands and mainland Ecuador. In 2007 there were 2,194 (20. FLY) _____________ to
the islands and an estimated 363,000 passenger days on boats.
THE STORY OF MUSCLE CARS
Muscle cars were never intended to be valuable. In fact, the whole idea behind muscle cars was to make
them (1. EXPENSIVE) ... and fast. Muscle cars were stripped-down versions of the most (2. UTILITY)
_____________ homely, and basic mass-produced cars to ever roll out of Detroit. These rattle trap, bare bones,
crude devices were built to conform to a price point with little regard given to sophistication or (3. LONG)
_____________, and aimed squarely at the (4. YOUNG) _____________ market. And this market couldn't get
enough of them. These were the cars every red-blooded American kid wanted. The image, the speed, the
lifestyle were all highly addictive. Looking back, the muscle car years were (5. RELATIVE) _____________
brief moment in time that we will never see the likes of again. It was a perfect storm, just what the market
wanted, and was presented at the right place in the right time. So how did these seemingly (6. DISPOSE)
_____________ cars, built in large numbers and owned by kids who (7. LITERAL) _____________ tried to kill
them from the first twist of the key, become so valuable? More importantly, why did they become so valuable?
Most people are astounded when they hear the recent sales results of the most (8. DESIRE) _____________
muscle cars. We call them two-comma cars, cars that are worth so much money that you need two commas to
separate all the zeroes in the price.
CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
Most carnivorous plants stand alone in the plant world not only in their unique method of (1.
SUPPLEMENT) _____________ nutrition, but in the extraordinary degree to which the leaves have become
changed from our idea of a typical leaf-blade to meet this end. Some have evolved into pitcher forms, often (2.
REMINISCE) _____________ of strange flowers, while others have developed the power of movement,
reminding one in their actions of steel traps, mouse traps, or even sea anemones. The (3. USUAL)
_____________ to bizarre appearance of most is curious enough, but the varied and often (4. ASTONISH)
_____________ artful methods employed in the (5. SEDUCE) _____________ of the prey frequently combined
with added (6. REFINE) _____________ of technique which may be peculiar to a species, cannot fail to
fascinate. Carnivorous plants occur both amongst the flowering plants and in the Fungi. While some reference
will be made to the principle trap types of the latter, they remain a subject in themselves, and it will be the
former which concerns us here. On these, a number of works have already been published in English, mainly in
the United States. While the (7. MAJOR) _____________ of these have been brief works of a popular kind
there have been some (8. NOTE) _____________ exceptions. Quite apart from the interest provided by their
traps, it should be not forgotten that they are attractive plants in themselves; some are indeed beautiful.
The Cup of Humanity
Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, it entered the realm
of poetry as one of the polite (1. ADORE) _____________. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a
religion of aestheticism - Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the (2. AMUSE) _____________ of the beautiful
among the sordid facts of everyday (3. EXIST) _____________. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery
of mutual charity, the (4. ROMANTIC) _____________ of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the (5.
PERFECT) _____________, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing
we know as life. The Philosophy of Tea is not mere aestheticism in the ordinary acceptance of the term, for it
expresses (6. CONJOIN) _____________ with ethics and religion our whole point of view about man and
nature. It is hygiene, for it enforces (7. CLEAN) _____________; it is economics, for it shows comfort in (8.
SIMPLE) _____________ rather than in the complex and costly; it is moral geometry, in as much as it defines
our sense of proportion to the universe.
Visual Skills
There are several ways to find photographs for viewing. (1. EXHIBIT) _____________ of original
prints in museums, galleries, and similar settings allow you to see photographs in the form of (2. PRESENT)
_____________ most likely favoured by the photographer. Books and magazines are a good source of
photographs for viewing. Many monographs and (3. COLLECT) _____________ have been printed with a
quality that approaches that of display prints. Several books that feature the images of widely (4. CLAIM)
_____________ photographers are listed in the bibliography. When examining photographs for the purpose of
enhancing your seeing, try to suspend critical judgment and assess your (5. INTUITION) _____________
feelings about each image. Do you like or dislike the image? Do you think it works well for its intended
purpose? Look (6. CARE) _____________ at the photographs you like and try to figure out why you like them.
(7. CONVERSE) _____________ look at photographs that do not appeal to you and determine why. Try to
avoid judging photographs based on how closely they follow compositional (8. GUIDE) _____________.
The Worlds of Christopher Columbus
In the world of the late twentieth century, events on one continent (1. ROUTINE) _____________
influence developments on the others, for good or for ill. In the broad expanse of (2. HISTORY)
_____________ time, however, these (3. EXTEND) _____________ connections developed quite recently,
starting in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In one sense, the process began with Christopher Columbus's
four voyages, the first (4. ATLANTIC) _____________ excursions to have far-reaching and long-lasting
consequences. In another sense, however, Columbus's voyages were less a beginning than the (5. CONTINUE)
_____________ of a centuries-old human process of (6. EXPLORE) _____________ and migration. When
Columbus was born , Europe, Africa, and Asia were each part of the Old World of the Easter Hemisphere, but
they were also separate worlds culturally, (7. RELIGION) _____________ and politically. Columbus’s voyages
shattered that (8. ISOLATE) _____________ once and for all, in what is arguably the most fateful encounter
between disparate human groups that history has ever known.
Ghost Hunting
The (1. WIDE) _____________ public interest in Ghost Hunting today makes it easy to forget that not
too long ago exploring the paranormal was "taboo". Just twenty years ago, the mere (2. MENTAL)
_____________ of the word, "ghost" sent shivers through a person's spine. A ghost encounter often doomed a
person to keep silent about the experience for fear of being labelled "crazy". For those who dared to explore
beyond the perceived (3. BOUND) _____________ of what was considered "normal", society reacted (4.
ADVERSE) _____________ to their persistent (5. DEVOIR) _____________. However, during the last ten
years, ghost hunting has changed in leaps and bounds. The (6. POPULAR) _____________ of television shows
with paranormal themes has spawned tens of thousands of ghost hunting groups across America. Now, instead
of running from ghosts, people are flocking to "haunted" (7. LOCATE) _____________ to gather evidence of
paranormal activity or to experience a chance encounter. Not only is it a new "sport" for some, but it is also
serious research for others. Ghost hunting groups believe they are already using a (8. SCIENCE)
_____________ approach to ghost hunting.
 Spain and Portuga
Spain and Portugal are (1. ESCAPE) _____________ linked to one another by their geographical position and
their (2. HISTORY) _____________ experience. That these two countries have preserved their separate
identities within the Iberian Peninsula is due to a complex array of physical, political, economic, and cultural
factors and, at times, (3. PREDICT) _____________ accidents of fate. Modern Spain and Portugal emerged
from more than 2,000 years of life on the periphery of Western civilisation. Like most of the Mediterranean
peoples, The Iberian and Celtic (4. INHABIT) _____________ of the peninsula experienced Greek, Phoenician,
Carthaginian, and Roman influence in varying degrees. Roman rule, as elsewhere, yielded to the triumph of
Christianity and the (5. ASCEND) _____________ of Germanic tribes. The arrival of Muslim invaders in the
Iberian Peninsula in 711 created a distinct dimension of European history. For the next eight centuries Islam,
Christianity, and Judaism (6. EXIST) _____________ in a relationship that was often financially and
intellectually enriching but (7. PERIOD) _____________ disrupted by religious tensions and civil strife. During
the Middle Ages a number of Christian kingdoms (8. RISE) _____________ pursuing a "Reconquest" of the
territory lost to the "Moors".
INFINITE WORLDS
Modern concepts of Mars as a world and possible abode of life are rooted in ancient times. The
relationship is as (1. DEFINE) _____________ but as abstract as the relationships of present life forms on Earth
with (2. SUCCEED) _____________ more ancient life forms. This is (3. INHERE) _____________ in systems
where heritage and innovation work together to make the next generation better suited to a changing
environment - or at least makes something new that is able to hang on to (4. EXIST) _____________. In
evolving Marsthink, the "environment' consists of understood facts and raw observations; the latter has
expanded (5. EXPOUND) _____________ since the age of modern astronomy began, and present
understanding somewhat lags the deluge of data we now have. Learning with and competition from our peers is
a part of the system. Books and journal papers, conference (6. PROCEDE) _____________ and seminars,
media reports and bar-room and lunch-time discussions have painted for (7. PLANET) _____________ an
evolving picture - accurate or not - of how Mars works as a system. An evolving (8. INNOVATE)
_____________ element is our continual scientific reinterpretation of observations.
Ther Origin Of The Cork
Cork is a biological material with unique properties. It has attracted the attention of man since (1.
ANTIQUE) _____________ and has been used since then in various applications. Today, cork is widely known
as the closure of wine bottles and, as such, many certainly wonder about the origin of the cork that pops out of
the wine bottle. The (2. GO) _____________ discussion among wine makers and oenologists on the differences
between cork and (3. ALTERNATE) _____________ closures has also triggered attention to the wine-closure
(4. ACTION) _____________ and to the role of cork in the bottle aging of quality wines. Cork is obtained from
the cork oak tree as a (5. RENEW) _____________ and sustainable product during the tree's life. It supports a
(6. BIOLOGY) _____________ rich and important environmental system of the western Mediterranean. Hence,
cork and its role in conservation of nature are certainly drawing the attention of environmental organisations. In
spite of cork's historical record and its current fame, there is no (7. COMPREHEND) _____________ work on
the cork that summarizes its biology, properties, industrial processing and applications. Research has been
active since the 1990s and (8. NUMBER) _____________ international publications have enlarged the body of
knowledge on cork and on the cork oak.
Speed of Light
The speed of light is often noted as 186,000 miles per second, but the most accurate and modern
accepted measurement puts it at 299,792,458 km per second, which is (1. SLIGHT) _____________ more than
186,000 miles per second. The first measurements within one percent of the finally agreed-on figure were made
during the Age of (2. SCIENCE) … Revolution. Before the 1600s, scientists assumed that light travelled in an
instant, supported by a number of (3. ASTRONOMY) … observations. The fact that Earth's shadow passes over
the Moon during a lunar eclipse with no (4. APPEAR) _____________ lag time between the calculated passage
of the Moon out of the shadow and the moment of our perceiving the passage suggested that light travelled the
immense distance from the Moon to Earth (5. INSTANT) _____________. However, Galileo Galilei (1564-
1642) suggested that perhaps the speed was finite but simply too fast to measure by that method or with (6.
CONTEMPORIZE) … instruments. He was right, and his (7. SIGHT) _____________ might be regarded as the
discovery that light had a speed that could be measured. The discovery of precise measurement of the speed
resulted from improvements in technique and (8. EQUIP) _____________.
Leonardo da Vinci
The artist Leonardo da Vinci embodies both modern intellect and the combination of (1. SUPER)
_____________ expression in art and science: a thinker, a poet and a wizard, Leonardo da Vinci is an artist
whose fascination is still (2. RIVALRY) _____________ today. While studying his art in its (3. COMPARE)
_____________ variety, we find in his very caprices, to use Edgar Quinet's motto with a slight modification,
"the laws of the Italian Renaissance and the geometry of universal beauty". Outside a small number of his
finishe compositions: The Last Supper, Saint Anne, the Mona Lisa, his painted and sculpted works were left to
us in (4. MARVEL) … fragments. We must turn to his drawings to understand all the (5. TENDER)
_____________ of his heart and all the (6. WELL) _____________ of his great imagination. There are two
specific periods of human life that fixed Leonardo da Vinci's attention: (7. ADOLESCENT) _____________
and old age; childhood and (8. MATURE) _____________ had less interest for him. He has left us a whole
series of adolescent types, some dreamy some ardent. In modern art, I can think of no creations so free, superb,
spontaneous, in a word, divine to oppose to the marvels of antiquity.
Scotland
Scotland has, in an eminent degree, a haunting character. Every country, of course, has its special
flavour, sometimes describable, never strictly (1. DEFINE) _____________. Not even the most casual visitor to
Egypt or Japan could fail to note something distinctive about each. If, however, you have deep (2.
ANCESTOR) _____________ roots in a country, she will grab you, not to say trap you forever, now enfolding
you in her arms like a tender mother, now sulking at you like a (3. CONTENT) _____________ daughter, now
berating you like a jealous wife. The ghosts leap out at you, claiming you as their kin. You are the victim of
what the Jungian (4. PSYCHOLOGY) … call the collective or race (5. CONSCIOUS) _____________. What's
more, you revel in it. Rightly so, for it is good for you. Of Scotland all this is (6. STRIKE) _____________ true.
Moreover, she has a strangely (7. ETERNITY) _____________ quality that makes even Rome seem by
comparison almost fleeting. The Scots rarely make such comparisons, and never without (8. PROVOKE)
_____________ . They assume all around them to be fleeting, so that to make such a point would dub you right
away as a foreigner.
The Wildlife On Film
Moving pictures of animals - domesticated, captive, and wild - have been a part of cinematic history
from its earliest days. Some scholars, looking for cinema's (1. PRECEDE) … in scientific motion-study
photography and (2. PERSIST) _____________ -of-vision mechanism, claim that moving images of animals
predate cinema itself. However, the images of animals that reached early movie screens did not derive directly
from motion studies but rather from the (3. CONVENE) _____________ of precinematic visual technologies
that had long been used to describe and delineate the boundaries of racial difference, sexual difference, and
colonial power, as well as from the often (4. CONFLICT) _____________, occasionally overlapping efforts of
scientists, naturalists, (5. CONVERSE) _____________, hunters, adventurers, and the film industry itself. For
many decades, capturing photographic images of animals, still or moving, was no easy task. In the first few
decades of the photographic era, long (6. EXPOSE) _____________ times excluded all moving subjects, and
therefore most live, free-roaming animals. After about 1870, photographers could take advantage of (7.
INCREASE) _____________ mobile equipment, with quick shutters and (8. SENSE) _____________
emulsions.
China
To the average (1. WEST) _____________, China has always been, ever since Marco Polo, a very (2.
MYSTERY) _____________ and fascinating country. The cloud of mystery which began to be dispelled after
the (3. FORCE) _____________ opening of China in the nineteenth century descended once again with the (4.
EMERGE) _____________ of the Communist regime. Now the cloud is thinning once more, and there is a
surge of interest in China to be felt not only in Europe and America but in almost every country in the world.
Although the West has influenced modern China, that nation cannot be understood without (5. PREFER)
_____________ to all the major phases of its long past. We are here dealing with the (6. EVOLVE)
_____________ of a proud and largely self-sufficient civilization. The attitudes of Chinese alive today are, to an
(7. USUAL) _____________ degree, rooted in a history consciously present to their minds. Chinese history is
not the oldest in the world. We have records of developed civilisations in the valleys of the Nile, the Euphrates-
Tigris, and even Indus which are older than that of the Yellow River. But peoples and (8. LINGUAL)
_____________ have changed out of all recognition in those other centres of early civilisation.
The Legend of Atlantis
The legend of Atlantis has become one of the (1. OBSESS) _____________ of modern popular culture.
Quite literally dozens of books appear every year in the English language alone, each of them promising (2.
DRAMA) _____________ new revelations each of them claiming to have finally solved the riddle of the Lost
Continent. Yet in was not always thus. Until the (3. PUBLIC) _____________ of Ignatius Donnelly's Atlantis:
the Antediluvian World in 1882, few paid attention to the strange story which had first appeared two thousand
years earlier, in Plato's (4. POLITICS) _____________ dialogues, the Timaeus and Critias. In these documents
Plato provides an all too brief description of the (5. MYTH) _____________ island, its history and culture, and
its final destruction. In Plato’s account, the end of Atlantis is presented as (6. ILLUSTRATE) _____________
of a number of beliefs expounded by the Greek philosopher himself, most important of which was the theory of
the cyclic nature of civilizations and the notion of how excessive arrogance is an (7. INDICATE)
_____________ of a civilization's impending collapse. It is true that in the immediate (8. AFTER)
_____________ of the publication of Plato's story, a good deal of interest was generated.
The Tower
Eastward of London Bridge, on the bank of the Thames, stands the Tower, which was in ancient times a
royal palace, and (1. OCCASION) … inhabited by the British sovereigns from the Norman conquest to the time
of Queen Elizabeth. Though tradition ascribes the original (2. FOUND) _____________ of a fortress on this
spot to Julius Caesar, and in (3. CONSEQUENT) _____________ one of the towers has been called Caesar's
Tower, there is no ground for believing that this Roman general ever advanced so far into the island. The tower
just mentioned, called also the White Tower, the most ancient part of the present fortress, was erected about the
year 1078, by command of William the Conqueror, to secure the obedience of the Londoners. (4. CONSIDER)
_____________ additions were made by his (5. SUCCEED) _____________; and in 1190, the Bishop of Ely,
Chancellor of England, who was left at the head of the regency during the absence of Richard I. in Palestine,
surrounded the fortress with an (6. BATTLE) _____________ wall of stone and a broad deep ditch. Henry III.
repaired, (7. STRONG) _____________, and whitened the quadrangular tower erected by the Conqueror, on
which occasion probably it received the name of the White Tower, and added a stone gate and bulwark, with
other buildings, to the west (8. ENTER) _____________.
 Digital Photo
The best thing about a digital photo is that you can manipulate it to the
extent of your (1) _____________ . This manipulation can be achieved thanks to IMAGINE
(2) _____________ software packages available on the market, varying in VARY
(3) _____________ from the feature packed Adobe Photoshop to Paint Shop Pro. COMPLEX
Still, there is magic when a digital photo is modified by experienced
hands and eyes, allowing that (4) _____________ moment to be captured in such a way BELIEVE
as to never be forgotten, but even then they can be refined further.
It is the story or the impression behind that moment that keeps the viewer
(5) _____________ with the photo for a longer period of time. It takes time AMOUR
to become a perfect photographer and one needs to grow through experimentation
and experiences. However, a basic (6) _____________ of the techniques of photographing KNOW
is must. A digital camera is not all that is required to make a good photographer.
(7) _____________, know your camera well. Read the manual top to bottom, and then go out PRIMARY
go out to play with the machine. Now come back to the basics and learn about
other things like exposure, shutter speed, aperture etc. that helps you to
(8) _____________ your digital photo in real time. CUSTOM
Disneyland
Disneyland Park was (0. ARGUE) _____________ Walt Disney's riskiest venture. It was developed on
a shoestring budget and made possible only through Disney's relationship with ABC Television and a (1.
HAND) _____________ of brave corporate sponsors. The capital available was barely (2. SUFFICIENCY)
_____________ to acquire the property and build the park; nothing was left over for the development of hotels
or the (3. ACQUIRE) _____________ and improvement of property adjoining the park. Even the Disneyland
Hotel, connected to the theme park by monorail, was owned and operated by a third party until 1989.
Disneyland's success spawned a wave of development that (4. RAPID) _____________ surrounded the theme
park with whimsically themed mom-and-pop motels, souvenir stands, and fast –food restaurants. Disney, still
deep in debt, looked on in abject shock, (5. POWER) _____________ to intervene. In fact, the Disneyland
experience was etched so deeply into the Disney corporate (6. CONSCIOUS) _____________ that Walt
purchased 27,500 acres and established an (7. AUTONOMY) _____________ development district in Florida
(uncountable to any local or county authority) when he was ready to launch Disney World. Though the Florida
project gave Disney the opportunity to develop a destination resort in a totally controlled environment, the
steady decline of the area (8. CIRCLE) _____________ Disneyland continued to rankle Walt.
Windsor Castle
Standing at the very heart of the British national identity, Windsor is the
oldest and largest castle in Britain and, with 1,000 rooms, the largest
occupied castle in the world. The present queen, Elisabeth II, spent
much of her childhood here, so it is not surprising that her public felt
her pain when a devastating fire (1) _____________ destroyed 100 rooms in the PART
state and private apartments in 1992, her annus horribilis. A
magnificent $53 million (2) _____________ completed in 1997 employed a beehive of RESTORE
(3) _____________ using the same techniques as when the castle was begun under ART
William the Conqueror, 900 years ago. It has been lived in by eight
(4) _____________ royal houses since then. In 1916, King George V assumed the SUCCESS
name of the place out of fondness – and to (5) _____________ the royal family from ASSOCIATE
its Germanic origins. Highlights of a trip to Windsor Castle include the
Changing of the Guards, which takes place even when the queen is not
in (6) _____________; the Queen Mary's Doll House, an exquisite gift in miniature RESIDE
designed in 1923 by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens; and the 16th-century (7) _____________ ARCHITECT
jewel of St. George's Chapel which, together with Westminster Abbey,
shares the (8) _____________ of being a pantheon of many English monarchs. DISTINCT
Jacques Cousteau
Oceanographer, writer, filmmaker, and (1. ENVIRONMENT) _____________, Jacques Cousteau is
known to a generation of readers and television viewers around the world as a (2. PASSION)
_____________ explorer of the world's oceans and rivers. As captain of the Calypso, Cousteau brought
audiences with him on his journeys, creating some of the most breathtaking underwater (3. FOOT)
_____________ ever recorded. He was the first person to share the beauties of the undersea world with a global
population, to argue for the (4. PRECIOUS) _____________ of the oceans, and to warn of the dangers human
(5. RESPONSIBLE) _____________ posed to them. He was able to become a pioneer of undersea observation
because of one invention: in 1943, with French (6. ENGINE) _____________ Emile Gagnan, Cousteau
developed the Aqua-Lung, also known as the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, or "scuba."
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born June 11, 1910, in Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac, a small town in the
southwest of France. The son of Daniel Cousteau and Elisabeth Duranthon, Cousteau travelled (7. EXTEND)
_____________ with his family while his father worked as business manager and legal adviser for a (8.
WEALTH) _____________ American. In 1920 the family moved for a time to New York City, where "Jack"
Cousteau attended Holy Name School. During his two years in the United States, he learnt to speak and write
fluent English.