FCE / 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.
How To Speak And Write Correctly
It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, (1) ... for all purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only about 2,000 different words are required. The mastery of just twenty hundred words, the knowing where to place them, (2) ... make us not masters of the English language, but masters of correct speaking and writing. Small number, you will say, compared (3) ... what is in the dictionary!
But nobody (4) ... uses all the words in the dictionary or could use them did he live to be the age of Methuselah, and there is (5) ... necessity for using (6) ... .There (7) ... upwards of 200,000 words in (8) ... recent editions of the large dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of this number will suffice for all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be content to call things by their common names.
[start-answers-block type=1 columns=3 textTransform=none]
[answer="as"]
[answer="will"] [answer="with"] ! [answer="ever"][answer="no"][answer="them"][answer="are"]
[answer="the"]
[end-answers-block]
answer keys
GAP 1 (AS) ... to speak and write correctly, as for all purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only ...
AS + FOR => FIXED PHRASE
AS FOR => with regard to, concerning.
Common Errors:
She's here. As of the boys, they'll arrive later. X AS OF => starting on a particular date!
She's here. As for the boys, they'll arrive later. V AS FOR => WITH REGARD TO!
GAP 2 (WILL) ... where to place them, will make us not masters of the English language, but masters of ...
WILL + BARE INFINITIVE => MODAL VERB
WILL => used to say that something is likely or certain to be true.
Common Errors:
I will do it for you if you will like. X
I will do it for you if you like. V
GAP 3 (WITH) ... you will say, compared with what is in the dictionary! But nobody ever uses all the words in the ...
COMPARED + WITH => VERB + PREPOSITION
COMPARE sth WITH sth => to examine people or things to see how they are similar and how they are different.
Common Errors:
It would be interesting to compare Rome to London. X COMPARE TO => TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!
It would be interesting to compare Rome with London. V COMPARE WITH => TWO THINGS OF THE SAME TYPE!
GAP 4 (EVER) ... dictionary! But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary or could use them did he live to be the, ...
EVER => ADVERB
EVER => used in negative sentences and questions, or sentences with if to mean 'at any time'.
Common Errors:
She was the most beautiful girl that I had ever met before. X
She was the most beautiful girl that I had ever met. V
GAP 5 (NO) ... Methuselah, and there is no necessity for using them. There are upwards of 200,000 words ...
NO + NECESSITY FOR => FIXED PHRASE
NO NECESSITY FOR => when something is unnecessary.
Common Errors:
There is absolutely no necessity to her to go to the meeting. X
There is absolutely no necessity for her to go to the meeting. V
GAP 6 (THEM) ... necessity for using them. There are upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the ...
THEM => PRONOUN
THEM => (THE OBJECT FORM OF THEY) used to refer to certain people, animals, or things as the objects of a verb or preposition.
Common Errors:
Did you drink all of their? X
Did you drink all of them? V
GAP 7 (ARE) ... necessity for using them. There are upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the large ...
THERE + BE => PRONOUN + AUXILIARY VERB
THERE ARE => used to show that something exists or happens.
Common Errors:
There is twenty pupils in the classroom. X
There are twenty pupils in the classroom. V If the NOUN after BE is plural, the VERB is plural!
GAP 8 (THE) ... upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the large dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of ...
THE + NOUN => DEFINITE ARTICLE
THE => used when explaining which person or thing you mean.
Common Errors:
Have they heard latest news. X
Have they heard the latest news. V