Use of English - Open Cloze
C2
Cambridge English C2 Exam
For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. Click the gaps to type your answer.
Displaced by Machines
For decades, each wave of automation was said to free workers from drudgery rather than deprive them (0) OF a livelihood. Yet the current surge in artificial intelligence has revived fears that this time may be different. Tasks once thought too complex to be carried (1) .......... by machines are now being performed in seconds, often at a fraction of the cost. Employers, far (2) .......... hesitating, are embracing systems that can draft reports, analyse data and respond to customers without tiring. What makes the trend especially bleak is not merely that jobs are disappearing, but that new roles may not arise quickly enough to replace those lost. Workers who were assured that technology would create opportunities equal (3) .......... those it destroyed are beginning to doubt that promise. In many sectors, the benefits seem to flow (4) .......... owners and investors, while employees are left competing with tools designed to outperform them. Unless governments intervene, whole professions could be reduced (5) .......... a shadow of their former selves. The result may be a society in which efficiency is prized above all (6) .........., and human labour is valued only when machines fall short. Even then, people may find (7) .......... difficult to regain secure employment once their skills have been rendered obsolete. For many, the future looks less (8) .......... progress than abandonment.
About Use of English Open Cloze — Cambridge English C2
In this Cambridge English C2 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 C2 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.
Keep practising Cambridge English C2
Use of English at every level
More Cambridge English C2 skills
Cambridge English Exam Resources
More Cambridge English exam preparation tools from our family of apps:
Made with by Shining Apps
The best Cambridge English apps ever
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
- Read the title and the whole text so that you understand what it is about.
- Read the whole sentence in which the gap occurs, to look for clues as to what kind of word you need.
- Check the words before and after each gap and look for grammatical collocations.
- Remember you must write only one word.
- You are never required to write a contraction. If you think the answer is a contraction, it must be wrong, so think again.
- Read the whole text through once you have completed it to make sure you have not missed any connectors, plurals or negatives.