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.

 

The Sahara
 

SAH’RA is an Arabic word (1) … means dun or mouse-coloured. For the Arabs it signified originally a flat, barren expanse of grey-brown earth. This is the meaning it has in pre-islamic Arab literature. Sah’ra is the colour of death. El Yakubi, a geographer of the ninth century, (2) ... uses the word Sah’ra as synonymous with cemetery. But in the same century it (3) ... appears in a work entitled “The Conquest of North Africa” by an Egyptian Ibn el Hakam, probably for the first time, to designate a part of the North African desert. To the European the oases are part of the Sahara, like emeralds set (4) ... dull bronze. To the casual visitor, in fact, the oases are undoubtedly the highlights of his experience of the desert. But (5) ... who inhabit the desert, and particularly the nomads, (6) ... associate the Sahara (7) ... the grey pallor of death. (8) ... they speak of it, they are not thinking of the palm-groves, the wells and the oases as living islands in an ocean of barren sand and rubble.

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[answer="which#that"]

[answer="even"] [answer="also"] ! [answer="in"][answer="those"][answer="still"][answer="with"]

[answer="when"]

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answer keys


 

1)    WHICH/THAT
RELATIVE PRONOUN WHICH/THAT
Used to be exact about the thing or things that you mean:
Houses which/that overlook the lake cost more.

 
 
2)    EVEN
ADVERB EVEN
Used to emphasize something that is unexpected or surprising in what you are saying:
It was quite difficult to see, even with the light on.

 
3)    ALSO
ADVERB ALSO
In addition; too:
My aunt was also called Sarah.

 
4)    IN
VER + PREPOSITION SET IN
To put a precious stone into a piece of jewellery:
She had the sapphire set in a gold ring.

 
5)    THOSE
DETERMINER THOSE WHO
Those who => People who:
There are those who disapprove of all forms of gambling.

 
6)    STILL
ADVERB STILL
Despite what has just been said:
Although he promised faithfully to come, I still didn't think he would.

 
7)    WITH
VERB + PREPOSITION ASSOCIATE WITH
To make a connection in your mind between one thing or person and another:
I don't associate him with extreme sports.

8)    WHEN
ADVERB WHEN
Used to mention a type of event or situation when talking about what happens on occasions of that type: 
He always wears glasses except when playing hockey.