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Use of English

Level B2

Part 2 - Open Cloze

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4
1

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

Competition and the Mind

For some people, competition is (0) THE perfect way to stay motivated. It can push individuals to work harder than they otherwise would and to aim (1) .......... higher standards. However, the psychological effects of competition are not always positive. While some people perform better under pressure, others may suffer (2) .......... anxiety, self-doubt, or even fear of failure. In schools and workplaces, competition can encourage people to compare themselves (3) .......... others too often. As a result, they may begin to focus less on personal progress and more on whether they are doing better (4) .......... everyone else. This can damage confidence, especially if success seems out of reach. On the other hand, competition can also teach valuable lessons. People may learn how to cope (5) .......... disappointment, how to recover from mistakes, and how to keep going even (6) .......... results are not immediate. Much depends (7) .......... the environment: healthy competition can inspire growth, whereas constant pressure can lead to stress. For this reason, experts suggest that competition should be balanced with cooperation, so that people do not define themselves only (8) .......... winning or losing.

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

Hozai Sorina

@hozai-bb7173

User Prompt

"Create an exercise about the psychological effects of competition"

Tone: Standard
Level: B2

Created on:

May 8, 2026

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