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.


 

Costa Brava


Before bustling Barcelona  … [emerged/derived/arrived/originated]  as one of Europe's hippest travel destinations, the sea and sangria resorts of the Costa Brava had long entered the  ... [realms/reels/reeds/reefs]  of lore for sun-starved Northern Europeans. Since the 1992 Olympics, the metropolis to the Costa Brava's south has been discovered in all its vibrant richness. Barcelona has it all, from high culture (Gothic to Gaudi) to high  ... [jinks/beams/days/noons]  (bars and beaches). Still awaiting discovery by the bulk of visitors who land in Barcelona or  ... [frolic/tamper/impose/cram]  in the salty froth of the holiday coast resorts in the region of which Barcelona is capital: Catalunya. From the mountains to the sea, this compact corner north eastern Spain offers a rich and varied palette to rival even the  ... [likes/preferences/favourites/inclination]  of the much more fashionable Tuscany in Italy. The coast alone is full of surprises. Vast ribbons of fine sandy beaches unfold in seemingly endless succession  ... [along/however/so/very]  much of the south coast and just to the northeast of Barcelona. But hidden away among the  ... [impregnable/imputable/impermeable/impeccable]  bluffs of the truly rugged Costa Brava are pristine coves and charming inlets untouched by the  ... [frenzy/chance/grace/name]  of the big resorts.

[answer-table]

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANSWER KEYS

 

1)    EMERGED
VERB + PREPOSITION EMERGE AS
To start to exist; to appear or become known: 
He emerged as a key figure in the campaign.

 
2)    REALMS
PHRASE REALM OF
A general area of knowledge, activity, or thought:  
This is not really within the realms of my experience.

 
3)    JINKS
COMPOUND NOUN HIGH JINKS
The behaviour of people who are excited and having fun: 
We used to get up to all sorts of high jinks at school.

 
4)    FROLIC
VERB FROLIC
To play in an active happy way: 
Lambs frolicked in the next field.

 
5)    LIKES
PHRASE THE LIKES OF
Used to talk about people of a particular type:
Information is collected through the likes of the FBI, CIA, and Scotland Yard.

 
6)    ALONG
PREPOSITION ALONG
In a line that follows the side of something long:
Houses had been built along both sides of the river.

 
7)    IMPREGNABLE
ADJECTIVE IMPREGNABLE
A place that is 'impregnable' is very well protected and difficult to attack: 
This fort is considered to be Sri Lanka's impregnable fortress.

 
8)    FRENZY
PHRASE FRENZY OF
A time when people do a lot of things very quickly: 
Although the waters above appear calm, below the surface there is a frenzy of activity.