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.
Radio
Many people think radio is the fastest-moving, most up-to-date, most … [portable/conveyable/haulable/movable] medium available in any location from ear to kitchen. They perceive newspaper news as lagging ... [behind/beyond/from/with] radio and television. The ... [downmarket/downstream/downcast/downward] tabloids are seen simply as entertaining and ... [titillating/deflating/fellating/reflating] scandal sheets, focusing more on TV and movie stars than real news events. The broadsheet newspapers are perceived as more concerned with detailed analysis and comment. Despite the ... [advent/cause/effect/choice] of 24-hour news channels like CNN, Sky News and BBC News 24, television too is thought of as a complex medium needing a great many people to make it work, with its ability to react fast to a breaking news story sometimes hampered ... [by/to/for/in] technicalities. It is no surprise that when a big news story breaks, TV channels ... [revert/attribute/resort/apply] to 'radio mode' and broadcast telephone interviews with eyewitnesses and reporters ... [while/due to/despite/unless] the necessary satellite equipment takes hours to get to the scene for live pictures and good quality sound. People listen to radio news when they need to know quickly what is going on.
[answer-table]
ANSWER KEYS
| ADJECTIVE | PORTABLE |
| Easy to carry or move around: Portable devices such as MP3 players are becoming increasingly popular. |
| VERB + PREPOSITION | LAG BEHIND |
| To move or develop slowly or more slowly than other people, organizations, etc: He deliberately lagged behind so he could have a cigarette. |
| ADJECTIVE | DOWNMARKET |
| Downmarket goods or services are cheap and not of very good quality: The company wanted to break away from its traditional, downmarket image. |
| ADJECTIVE | TITILLATING |
| Interesting and shocking: People can't resist titillating headlines, especially if they're about Holly wood celebrities |
| PHRASE | THE ADVENT OF |
| The coming of an important event, person, invention, etc.: Life was transformed by the advent of the steam engine. |
| VERB + PREPOSITION | HAMPER BY |
| To prevent somebody from easily doing or achieving something: Our efforts were severely hampered by a lack of money. |
| PHRASAL VERB | REVERT TO |
| To return to a former state; to start doing something again that you used to do in the past: The house was a school for a while, but has reverted to being a private house. |
| CONJUNCTION | WHILE |
| Used to contrast two things: Some people work better to music while others do not |