CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH / ADVANCED / CAE / USE OF ENGLISH / open Cloze

For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.
 

Football IN Britain
 

Both the varieties of football that originally hailed (1) ... Britain, the Rugby and Association games, have probably (2) ... been as popular as they are now. The association game, or soccer as it has become generally known, is now almost globally popular and judging by the last few World Cups, (3) ... long a team from Asia, Africa or North America will go on to win the trophy. Rugby's progress has been (4) ... dramatic but the game is becoming increasingly international and is surely destined to continue to expand.
Of course, periodically it is (5) ... that both varieties of football will be afflicted (6) ... problems stemming from a downturn in the world economy and difficulties generated by financial mismanagement. Collectively, however, their future appears bright. Peculiarly enough, (7) ... this very little is known about the origins of modern football and many questions relating to (8) ... growth and development remain unanswered. Football is a very old game, especially in Britain.

[start-answers-block type=1 columns=3 textTransform=none]

[answer="from"]

[answer="never"] [answer="before"] ! [answer="less"][answer="likely"][answer="by#with"][answer="despite"]

[answer="its"]

[end-answers-block]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

answer keys
 

1)    FROM
PHRASAL VERB HAILED FROM
To come from or have been born in a particular place: 
My mother hails from Dublin. 

 
2)    NEVER
ADVERB NEVER
Not at any time, or not once:
She has never been to the United States before.

 
3)    BEFORE
FIXED PHRASE BEFORE LONG
Soon or in a short time: 
It's likely that the law will be abolished before long. 

 
4)    LESS
ADVERB LESS
A smaller amount or not as much:
The blue shirt is less expensive.

 
5)    LIKELY
ADJECTIVE LIKELY
Probably going to happen, or probably true:
The study shows some people are more likely to suffer back problems. 

 
6)    BY\WITH
VERB + PREPOSITION BE AFFLICTED WITH/BY STH
To affect somebody/something in an unpleasant or harmful way:
He's badly afflicted with/by a skin disorder.

 
7)    DESPITE
PREPOSITION DESPITE
Used to show that something happened or is true although something else might have happened to prevent it:
She ran the race despite an injury. 

 
8)    ITS
POSSESSIVE DETERMINER ITS
Belonging to or associated with a thing previously mentioned or easily identified:
The baby threw its food on the floor.