Use of English PRO

Remote Learning Challenges

Remote learning became common (0) DURING the pandemic, and many students discovered that studying from home was not as simple as it first seemed. Some enjoyed the freedom, while others found it hard to concentrate, especially if they were living in noisy homes or sharing space (1) .......... other family members. One major difficulty was motivation. Without classmates sitting nearby, students often felt less pressure to keep (2) .......... with tasks or attend lessons regularly. Teachers also had to adapt quickly, since they could no longer rely (3) .......... face-to-face contact to check whether everyone understood the material. Another problem was technology: some learners did not have devices of their own, while others struggled (4) .......... weak internet connections. As a result, they sometimes missed important explanations or were unable to hand work (5) .......... on time. In addition, spending hours in front of a screen can lead (6) .......... tiredness and reduced attention. Even so, remote learning has taught many students to work more independently and to take responsibility (7) .......... their progress. It has also shown schools that online tools can be useful, provided that students are given enough support and opportunities to interact (8) .......... one another.

About Use of English Open Cloze — Cambridge English B2

In this Cambridge English B2 Use of English Open Cloze exercise you read a short text and think of the one word that best fits each of the 8 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 B2 Open Cloze exercise?

There are 8 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.