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Use of English

Level B2

Part 2 - Open Cloze

Exercises Feed

3
1

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

Living with Uncertainty

Many people find (0) IT difficult to cope with uncertain situations, especially when they feel they have little control (1) .......... what may happen next. Psychologists point out that uncertainty often leads (2) .......... stress because the mind tries to predict possible outcomes and prepare for them all at once. As a result, people may spend too much time thinking (3) .......... problems that have not even appeared yet. This habit can affect daily life in several ways. Some people avoid making decisions (4) .......... they are afraid of choosing the wrong option, while others repeatedly ask for reassurance from friends or family. In both cases, the person may feel better for a short time, but the anxiety usually returns. Experts say that one of the best ways to deal with uncertainty is to focus (5) .......... what can be controlled in the present moment. It also helps to remember that uncertainty is a normal part of life. No one can know exactly what will happen, and trying to remove every doubt is neither realistic (6) .......... healthy. People who learn to accept this are often better (7) .......... managing stress and more able to continue with their plans, even (8) .......... they do not have all the answers.

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

James Ford

@james-ford

User Prompt

"Create an exercise about the psychological impact of uncertainty"

Tone: Standard
Level: B2

Created on:

Jun 15, 2026

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