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Use of English

Level B2

Part 2 - Open Cloze

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For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.

A Turning Point

The printing press is often described as (0) ONE of the most important inventions in history. Before it appeared in Europe, books had to be copied by hand, which meant that only a small number (1) .......... people could own them. This changed in the 15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg developed a system (2) .......... metal letters could be arranged and reused. As a result, books could be produced much more quickly and at a lower cost (3) .......... before. The spread of printed material had effects (4) .......... many areas of life. Ideas travelled faster, and knowledge became available to people who had never had access to it. In some places, rulers tried to control (5) .......... was printed, fearing that new ideas might weaken their power. However, it was difficult to stop such a powerful development. Historians often argue that the printing press was important not only because of the books it produced, but also because it changed the way people thought (6) .......... information. Instead of depending entirely (7) .......... memory or spoken communication, readers could return to the same text again and again. For this reason, many believe it played a key part (8) .......... shaping the modern world.

What to do

This part consists of a short text with a series of gaps. There are no words from which to choose the answers, candidates have to think of a word which fits the gap correctly.

Errors in punctuation are ignored, although spelling must be correct.

Contractions (e.g. don’t, we’ve, won’t) count as two words. However, can’t is a contraction of cannot, which is one word.

Sometimes, there is more than one correct answer. Cambridge will always account for this and all options will be accepted. However, you should not write more than one answer.

Don't spend time in a word you don't know. Wasting time on this activity might cost you points later in the exam because you won’t have enough time to do other tasks well.

Strategy

  1. Read the title and the whole text so that you understand what it is about.
  2. Read the whole sentence in which the gap occurs, to look for clues as to what kind of word you need.
  3. Check the words before and after each gap and look for grammatical collocations.
  4. Remember you must write only one word.
  5. You are never required to write a contraction. If you think the answer is a contraction, it must be wrong, so think again.
  6. Read the whole text through once you have completed it to make sure you have not missed any connectors, plurals or negatives.

Instructions

For questions 1-8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.

Exercise Details

Author

jorge gonzale

@jorge-gonzale

User Prompt

"History"

Tone: Standard
Level: B2

Created on:

Jun 15, 2026

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