GAP FILL

Exercises
1. Read the following text about universities.
Religion was central to the curriculum of early European universities. However, its role became less
significant during the 19th century, and by the end of the 1800s, the German university model, based on
more liberal values, had spread around the world. Universities concentrated on science in the 19th and
20th centuries, and became increasingly accessible to the masses. In Britain, the move from industrial
revolution to modernity saw the arrival of new civic universities with an emphasis on science and
engineering.
The funding and organisation of universities vary widely between different countries around the world. In
some countries, universities are predominantly funded by the state, while in others, funding may come
from donors or from fees which students attending the university must pay.
Complete the sentences below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.
1. The German university model, which became popular in the 19th century, promoted .
2. Over the last 200 years, a university education has become the general public.
3. Depending on the country, universities may be funded by the state, by donors, or by fee-paying _ .
2. Read the following passage about creative writing.
New research, prompted by the relatively high number of literary families, shows that there may be an
inherited element to writing good fiction. Researchers from Yale in the US and Moscow State University
in Russia launched the study to see whether there was a scientific reason why well-known writers have
produced other writers.
The study analysed the creative writing of 511 children aged eight to 17 and 489 of their mothers and 326
fathers. All the participants wrote stories on particular themes. The stories were then scored and rated for
originality and novelty, plot development and quality, and sophistication and creative use of prior
knowledge. The researchers also carried out detailed intelligence tests and analysed how families
functioned in the Russian households.
Taking into account intelligence and family background, the researchers then calculated the inherited and
the environmental elements of creative writing. They found what they describe as a modest heritability
element to creative writing.
Fill each gap in the summary below using a maximum of 2 words. TAILIEUONTHI.NET

Creative writing ability may be from parents, according to a new study. Researchers compared
written by children and their parents, looking at elements such as originality and use of _ .
After conducting intelligence tests and allowing for , they concluded that there is a
link between genetics and creative writing.
3. Read the following passage about the discovery of penicillin.
The discovery of penicillin is attributed to Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming. Fleming recounted that
the date of his breakthrough was on the morning of September 28, 1928. It was a lucky accident: in his
laboratory in the basement of St. Mary's Hospital in London, Fleming noticed a petri dish containing
Staphylococcus culture that he had mistakenly left open. The culture had become contaminated by blue-
green mould, and there was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth around the mould. Fleming concluded
that the mould was releasing a substance that was repressing the growth of the bacteria. He grew a pure
culture and discovered that it was a Penicillium mould, now known to be Penicillium notatum. Fleming
coined the term "penicillin" to describe the filtrate of a broth culture of the Penicillium mould.
Fill the gaps in the summary below using words from the passage.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by on September 28, 1928. He found that the growth of
bacteria on a petri dish was by a blue-green mould that had contaminated the culture. He realised
that the mould was producing a substance that was responsible for bacterial growth.
4. IELTS Reading: fill the gaps
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers
who were credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first
controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years
afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft.

The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which
enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This
method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From
the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on developing a
reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This
approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more
emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small homebuilt wind tunnel, the Wrights also
collected more accurate data than anyone had before, enabling them to design and build wings and
propellers that were more efficient than rival models.

They gained the mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with
printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced
their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice.

Fill each gap in the summary below with a maximum of 2 words.

In 1903, the Wright brothers completed development of the first airplane that was capable of sustaining
TAILIEUONTHI.NET
controlled . The key to their success was a system that gave the pilot the means to control
and
the airplane. This set them apart from other inventors who had focused on building .
The brothers had previous experience with a wide variety of , but it was their work with that
had the greatest influence on their ideas.
5. Read the following text about pedestrian zones in cities.
 A large number of European towns and cities have made part of their centres car-free since the early
1960s. These are often accompanied by car parks on the edge of the pedestrianised zone, and, in the larger
cases, park and ride schemes. Central Copenhagen is one of the largest and oldest examples: the auto-free
zone is centred on Strøget, a pedestrian shopping street, which is in fact not a single street but a series of
interconnected avenues which create a very large auto-free zone, although it is crossed in places by streets
with vehicular traffic. Most of these zones allow delivery trucks to service the businesses located there
during the early morning, and street-cleaning vehicles will usually go through these streets after most
shops have closed for the night.

In North America, where a more commonly used term is pedestrian mall, such areas are still in their
infancy. Few cities have pedestrian zones, but some have pedestrianised single streets. Many pedestrian
streets are surfaced with cobblestones, or pavement bricks, which discourage any kind of wheeled traffic,
including wheelchairs. They are rarely completely free of motor vehicles.

Fill the gaps below with NO MORE THAN 3 WORDS from the text.

1. In some cases, people are encouraged to park of the town or city centre.
2. The only vehicles permitted in most pedestrian zones are those used for or cleaning.
3. Certain types of road surface can be used to traffic.
6.Fill the gaps in the text using the 10 words below.
A report says scientists are 95% certain that humans are the "dominant " of global warming
since the 1950s. The report by the UN's climate panel details the physical behind climate change. On
the ground, in the air, in the oceans, global warming is " ", it explained. The panel warns that
continued of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all aspects of the climate
system. To contain these changes will require "substantial and sustained of greenhouse gas
emissions".
After a week of intense negotiations in the Swedish capital, the summary for policymakers on the physical
science of global warming has finally been released. For the future, the report states that warming is
to continue under all . Prof Sir Brian Hoskins, from Imperial College London, told BBC News: "We
are performing a very dangerous with our planet, and I don't want my grandchildren to suffer the
."
emissions, experiment, cause, unequivocal, landmark, consequences, reductions, scenarios, projected,
evidence
Text adapted from BBC website, 27.9.13 TAILIEUONTHI.NET
2. Gap-fill from a useful website
The articles used in the IELTS reading test often come from magazines like The Economist or The New
Scientist. Why not practise for the exam by reading articles from these magazines?

Here are a few paragraphs from an article about the use of wireless communications to improve health
care. I've made it into a gap-fill exercise.
Fill the gaps with one of the following words: cutting, advances, track, coming, empower, chief, developing

Pundits have long predicted that in genetics will usher in a golden age of individually tailored
therapies. But in fact it is much lower-tech wireless devices and internet-based health software that are
precipitating the mass customisation of health care, and creating entirely new business models in the
process.
The hope is that nimble new technologies, from smart-phones to health-monitoring devices, will patients
and doctors, and thus improve outcomes while costs. The near ubiquity of mobile phones
is the reason to think this optimistic scenario may come true. Patients with smart-phones can
certainly benefit from interactive “wellness” applications that track diet, exercise and vital signs.

Many companies are up with “home health” devices embedded with wireless technology. Some
are overtly clinical in nature: Medtronic, a devices giant, is a bedside monitor that wirelessly tracks
the blood sugar levels in diabetic children sleeping nearby. GE has come up with “body sensor networks”,
tiny wireless devices that the vital signs of those who wear them.
3. topic research
The exercise below serves as both IELTS reading practice and topic research for this week's writing lesson
(about 'telework').
Fill the gaps in the passage with the following words:
commute, mobility, instant, efficient, remote, smartphones, locations
Telecommuting, work, or telework is a work arrangement in which employees do not to
a central place of work. A person who telecommutes is known as a "telecommuter", "teleworker", and
sometimes as a "home-sourced," or "work-at-home" employee. Many telecommuters work from home,
while others, sometimes called "nomad workers", use mobile telecommunications technology to work
from
coffee shops or other .
Telework is facilitated by tools such as groupware, virtual private networks, conference calling and
videoconferencing. It can be and useful for companies since it allows workers to communicate over
long distances, saving travel time and cost. Furthermore, with their improving technology and increasing
popularity, are becoming widely used in telework. They substantially increase the of
the worker and the degree of coordination with their organization. The technology of mobile phones
allows
communication through text messages, camera photos, and video clips from anywhere and at any
time. TAILIEUONTHI.NET

Easy reading practice, but good vocabulary for the 'teleworking' topic!