Use of English PRO

A Day at the Science Museum

Visiting (0) THE science museum can be a great way to spend a Saturday. When I arrived, I bought (1) .......... ticket at the entrance and picked up a map. The building is huge, so it is easy to miss (2) .......... best rooms if you do not plan your route. First, I went to a space exhibition and watched a short film about astronauts. Then I joined (3) .......... guided tour, which explained how old machines were used in factories. After that, I had lunch in the café and ordered (4) .......... sandwich and some juice. In the afternoon, I tried an experiment in a special area where visitors can touch things and learn by doing. I also spoke to (5) .......... staff member who answered my questions patiently. Before leaving, I spent a few minutes in the shop, but I did not buy (6) .......... souvenirs because I wanted to save money for another trip.

About Use of English Open Cloze — Cambridge English B1

In this Cambridge English B1 Use of English Open Cloze exercise you read a short text and think of the one word that best fits each of the 6 gaps.

Open Cloze tests grammar and common fixed expressions — articles, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs and linking words. Only one word goes in each gap, and it is usually a small grammatical word rather than vocabulary.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many gaps are in this B1 Open Cloze exercise?

There are 6 gaps, and you must write exactly one word in each.

What kind of words go in the gaps?

Usually grammatical words: prepositions, articles, pronouns, auxiliaries, relative pronouns and parts of fixed phrases.

What is the best strategy for Open Cloze?

Read the whole text first for meaning, then look closely at the words around each gap — the answer almost always depends on the immediate grammar.

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What to do

This part consists of a short text with a series of gaps. There are no words from which to choose the answers, candidates have to think of a word which fits the gap correctly.

Errors in punctuation are ignored, although spelling must be correct.

Contractions (e.g. don’t, we’ve, won’t) count as two words. However, can’t is a contraction of cannot, which is one word.

Sometimes, there is more than one correct answer. Cambridge will always account for this and all options will be accepted. However, you should not write more than one answer.

Don't spend time in a word you don't know. Wasting time on this activity might cost you points later in the exam because you won’t have enough time to do other tasks well.

Strategy

  1. Read the title and the whole text so that you understand what it is about.
  2. Read the whole sentence in which the gap occurs, to look for clues as to what kind of word you need.
  3. Check the words before and after each gap and look for grammatical collocations.
  4. Remember you must write only one word.
  5. You are never required to write a contraction. If you think the answer is a contraction, it must be wrong, so think again.
  6. Read the whole text through once you have completed it to make sure you have not missed any connectors, plurals or negatives.