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.
Judging by Algorithms
In debates about AI-driven judicial systems, rarely (0) IS the discussion confined to technical efficiency alone. Not only (1) .......... such systems promise consistency, but they also raise a troubling ethical paradox: by stripping out human prejudice, they may merely replace it with statistical opacity. Some scholars argue that, but (2) .......... the aura of objectivity surrounding algorithmic tools, courts would be far less willing to hand over moral discretion to them. Others warn that judges must scrutinise the data on which such systems are trained, lest hidden biases be smuggled (3) .......... under the guise of neutrality. So intricate are the feedback loops involved that even when an error is identified, it may prove difficult to trace exactly where it stems (4) ........... Nor should we assume that transparency, valuable though it is, automatically settles the matter; a system may be fully explainable and yet still offend (5) .......... basic principles of justice. What makes the issue especially acute is that legal reasoning depends not only on rules but also on interpretation, mercy and context, none of which can easily be factored (6) .......... by a model trained on past decisions. Were society to rely unquestioningly on such tools, it might wake up too late to the fact that accountability had been designed (7) ........... In the end, the gravest danger may lie not in what these systems do, but in what human institutions gradually cease to answer (8) .......... once they are in place.
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.
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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
- 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.