CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH examinations / PROFICIENCY EXAM / CPE / USE OF ENGLISH / Multiple Choice Cloze
For questions 1- 8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Diamonds
Diamonds have inspired dreams of wealth and power throughout history. Until modern times, most diamonds were insignias of royalty and were beyond the reach of the common person, who could only ... [elicit/elide/illicit/extort] visions of the astounding beauty and wealth brought ... [forth/off/out/forward] by diamonds. It's no wonder that other gems and precious metals have historically taken a back seat ... [to/for/of/by] diamonds. Some diamonds are so valuable that a person can literally carry a king's ... [ransom/price/bribe/share] in a pocket. A similar value in gold would mean one would have to have access to a forklift, as some of the most valuable diamonds in the world have been ... [appraised/apprised/reprised/reprieved] for many thousands of times that of a similar weigh in gold! Diamond deposits are not easily found. Diamonds occur in some of the rarest rock types on the surface of the earth, and when found , they are disseminated in trace ... [amounts/numbers/proportion/portion] even in the richest deposits. The ... [principal/principle/premiere/predestined] host rock, kimberlite, forms very small deposits. Being a relatively soft rock, kimberlite commonly erodes faster than the surrounding country rock and often is covered by thin layers of soil and regolith derived from adjacent rock ... [outcrops/outfalls/outlets/outposts] .
[answer-table]
ANSWER KEYS
PHRASE | ELICIT VISIONS OF |
To make someone react in the way that you want: To a casual onlooker, a winding river may elicit visions of canoeing, fishing, or swimming. |
PHRASAL VERB | BRING FORTH |
To cause (something) to occur or exist: His controversial comments brought forth strong reactions from the public. |
IDIOM | TAKE A BACK SEAT TO STH |
To become less important: Other issues must take a back seat to this crisis. |
IDIOM | A KING'S RANSOM |
A very large amount of money: I paid a king's ransom for that car. |
VERB | APPRAISE |
To say how much something is worth after you have carefully examined it: He appraised the vase at $1.5 million. |
PHRASE | IN TRACE AMOUNTS |
In a very slight amount: The human body is composed of many elements, including Gold in trace amounts. |
ADJECTIVE | PRINCIPAL |
Most important; main: New roads will link the principal cities of the area. |
NOUN | OUTCROP |
A rock, or a group of rocks, that sticks up out of the ground: Tiny Japanese volcanic outcrop is the spitting image of the Thunderbirds' ocean base. |