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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.

Scientific Teamwork

Many of the greatest scientific discoveries have depended (0) ON cooperation rather than individual effort alone. Although popular history often focuses (1) .......... a single brilliant mind, progress is usually the result of researchers working together across institutions, countries and even generations. One reason (2) .......... this is that modern science is too complex for one person to master every aspect of a problem. A biologist may need the help of a statistician, while an engineer might work closely with doctors in order to turn an idea (3) .......... a practical solution. Collaboration also allows scientists to check one another's work, which reduces the risk of error. If results are examined (4) .......... several experts, weaknesses are more likely to be noticed before false conclusions spread. In addition, large international projects, such as space missions or vaccine development, would be impossible without teams that are capable (5) .......... sharing knowledge and resources. Of course, collaboration is not always easy. Scientists may disagree, compete for funding, or struggle to communicate clearly. Even so, the benefits are usually greater (6) .......... the difficulties. Thanks to cooperation, ideas can move more quickly from theory to practice, and discoveries can be used (7) .......... improve lives around the world. Scientific progress, then, depends not only on intelligence, but also (8) .......... the ability to work with others.

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

Irene LV

@irene-lv

User Prompt

"Create an exercise about the role of collaboration in scientific progress"

Tone: Standard
Level: B2

Created on:

Aug 15, 2026

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