CHAPTER V: READING

CLOZE TEST

Part 1. Cressida Cowell is the author of the widely-praised How to Train your Dragon series of children’s

books. She spent her own childhood holidays on a remote island, where she has left very much to her own

(1)________. As a result, she became an avid reader, entertaining (2)________ with books and

developing a fervent imagination. She even (3)________ up her own secret languages.

Cowell believes that today’s children still have a real (4)________ for language, even though their

attention (5)________ may not be as great as in her day, (6)________ them less tolerant of descriptive

passages in stories. Her books are outlandish and exciting, with vivid imagery, cliffhangers and eye-

catching illustrations. Dragons seem to (7)________ to children of all nationalities, who also seem to

(8)________ with her protagonist, Hiccup, quite easily. Hiccup is a boy who battles his way through’s

life problems, often against the (9)________ .

Cowell is currently planning an illustrated book for teenagers. In her own words, she enjoys breaking the

(10)________ and finds that kids are open-minded enough to accept this.

Part 2. Recent research carried out in Ireland amongst chefs and consumers found that 48% of people

(1)________ to regularly over-ordering in restaurants. A campaign has been launched as a result calling

for the food-service industry to join (2)________ with chefs and consumers to address the issue of food

waste.

To bring the research findings to (3)________, the owner of a restaurant in Dublin is creating a "Great

Irish Waste" menu, reconsidering food ingredients that have been thrown away, rejected or (4)________

inedible and turning them into imaginative dishes that are both appetising and of a suitable (5)________

to serve his customers. He says that while there will always be some (6)________ of waste in the kitchen

due to elements such as bones or fat trimmings, there's an opportunity to minimize wastage in the

restaurant (7)________ through better communication. "Even though so much food comes back on

customers' plates and goes in the bin, the majority of diners aren't aware of the environmental or cost

(8)________ of that waste." Without consumers shifting their (9)________ restaurants will struggle to

reduce food waste significantly.

Tackling this problem as a consumer is straightforward. Ultimately, it (10)________ down to smart

shopping, clever cooking and shrewd storage.

Part 3. The relationship between the modern consumer and his or her rubbish is a complex one. Getting

rid of rubbish has come to mean a great deal more than simply consigning breakfast leftovers

(1)________ a plastic bag. With the (2)________ of recycling, rubbish has now invaded many people’s

personal lives to an unprecedented degree.

There was a time, in living (3)________, when rubbish collection was a simple matter – but today’s

household rubbish, (4)________ being discarded, has to be filed and sorted into colour-coded containers

according to its recycling category.

What is more, we are (5)________ out in a rash of irritation by the suggestion that, if rubbish collections

(6)________ to become more infrequent, people would then make the effort to cut down on shopping and

recycle more. We might be excused for wondering how this would be (7)________. Can people

realistically buy fewer eggs or tubes of toothpaste than their lives (8)_______?

Recycling is (9)________ to be good for us. But for some, it’s just a (10)________ of rubbish.

Part 4. The environmental outlook for the future is mixed. Inspite of economic and political changes,

interest in and (1)________ about the environmental remains high. Problems such as acid deposition,

chlorofluorocarbons and ozone depletions still require (2)________and concerted action is needed to deal

with these. (3)________ acid deposition diminish, loss of aquatic life in nothern lakes and streams will

continue and forest growth may be affected. Water pollution will (4)________ a growing problem as an

increasing human population (5)________ untold stress on the environment. To reduce environmental

degradation and for humanity to (6)________ its habitat, societies must recognize that resources are

finite. Environmentalists believe that, as populations and their demands increase, the idea of continuous

growth must give (7)________ to a more rational use of the environment, but that this can only be

brought about by a dramatic (8)________ in the attitude of the human species.