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Use of English

Level C1

Part 2 - Open Cloze

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For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.

Urban Pressure

Living in a big city is often presented as exciting and full (0) OF opportunity, but the reality can be more demanding than many people expect. Residents are surrounded (1) .......... services, entertainment and career options, yet they frequently complain that they have little time to enjoy any of them. One reason is that daily life tends to revolve (2) .......... long commutes, crowded public transport and the constant pressure to keep up with rising costs. Housing is another major concern. Many people end up paying far more (3) .......... they can comfortably afford for small flats, simply because property in central areas is so expensive. Even those who manage to live near their workplace are not always better off, as noise, traffic and a lack (4) .......... green space can seriously affect their quality of life. Socially, city life can be confusing. You may be surrounded by thousands of people and still feel isolated, particularly (5) .......... you have recently moved there and have not yet built a support network. In addition (6) .......... this, the fast pace of urban life often leaves little room for rest. As a result, many city dwellers dream (7) .......... moving somewhere quieter, even if they know they would miss the convenience and variety that cities have to offer. Whether they stay or leave depends (8) .......... what they value most.

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.

Instructions

For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.

Exercise Details

Author

Saber Google

@saber-ab9d36

User Prompt

"Create an exercise about the challenges of living in a big city"

Tone: Standard
Level: C1

Created on:

May 12, 2026

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