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Use of English

Level C1

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.

Small Business Innovation

Innovation is often presented as something reserved (0) FOR large corporations with vast research budgets, yet small businesses may benefit even more from it. Because they are usually less tied to rigid structures, they can respond quickly (1) .......... changes in customer demand and experiment with new ideas. In many cases, success depends not only on having a good product but also on knowing how to stand (2) .......... from competitors. For a small company, innovation does not always mean inventing something entirely new. It may involve finding a better way to communicate with clients, improving delivery systems, or making more effective use (3) .......... digital tools. Owners who are willing to invest time (4) .......... refining everyday processes often discover that modest improvements can bring significant results. At the same time, innovation carries risks. New ideas may fail, and limited resources mean that mistakes can be harder to recover from. Even so, businesses that refuse to adapt are likely to fall (5) .......... behind. In a market (6) .......... consumer expectations change rapidly, remaining competitive requires curiosity, flexibility and careful planning. Ultimately, it is not the size of a business (7) .......... matters most, but its ability to learn, adjust and act (8) .......... new opportunities.

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

Alicia Ochoa

@alicia-ochoa

User Prompt

"Create an exercise about the role of innovation in small businesses"

Tone: Standard
Level: C1

Created on:

Aug 28, 2026

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