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.

devices – herself – dreamt – ear – span – making – appeal – identify – odds – mould

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.

admitted – forces - life – deemed – standard – degree – itself – implications - mindset -

comes

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.

to – advent – memory – before – brought – were – possible – require - supposed – load