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Use of English

Level C2

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.

Displaced by Machines

For decades, each wave of automation was said to free workers from drudgery rather than deprive them (0) OF a livelihood. Yet the current surge in artificial intelligence has revived fears that this time may be different. Tasks once thought too complex to be carried (1) .......... by machines are now being performed in seconds, often at a fraction of the cost. Employers, far (2) .......... hesitating, are embracing systems that can draft reports, analyse data and respond to customers without tiring. What makes the trend especially bleak is not merely that jobs are disappearing, but that new roles may not arise quickly enough to replace those lost. Workers who were assured that technology would create opportunities equal (3) .......... those it destroyed are beginning to doubt that promise. In many sectors, the benefits seem to flow (4) .......... owners and investors, while employees are left competing with tools designed to outperform them. Unless governments intervene, whole professions could be reduced (5) .......... a shadow of their former selves. The result may be a society in which efficiency is prized above all (6) .........., and human labour is valued only when machines fall short. Even then, people may find (7) .......... difficult to regain secure employment once their skills have been rendered obsolete. For many, the future looks less (8) .......... progress than abandonment.

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

"Write an exercise about AI taking away jobs from people"

Tone: Pessimistic
Level: C2

Created on:

Apr 12, 2026

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