U9 – Reading and Use of English – Part 2
Reading and Use of English Part 2 Open cloze
Objectives
In this lesson, you will:
- Read a short text about superstitions in sports.
- Boost your preparation for the B2 First exam.
Overview
- You read a short text with eight gaps where the words have been removed.
- No options are given to choose from.
- You write one word in each gap.
- You are given an example (0) (There is no example in the digital exam).
- One mark is given for each correct answer.
Exam strategies
- Read the text through quickly before you try to think of the missing word.
- Start again, attentively reading each sentence or couple of sentences.
- Consider the meaning of the whole sentence and the words both before and after the gap. Underline them.
- Think of the type of word that is missing. Make sure the word fits the whole sentence, not just the gap itself.
- Read through the text with the words in place to make sure they are spelled correctly and that the missing words are grammatically correct.
Do you know these phrases?
| Phrase | Context-based meaning |
|---|---|
| To add a safety net | to have a backup plan or reassurance in case something goes wrong |
| To blame it on (the luck) | to attribute a failure or bad outcome to bad luck |
| To know deep down | to have an instinctual feeling or belief about something |
| To rely on | to depend on something for support or success |
| To stick to (rituals) | to consistently follow a particular routine or set of actions |
| To turn the oven off | a phrase sometimes used to describe forgetting to do something important |
| To turn to (luck) for something | to seek help or comfort from luck or superstitious beliefs |
Remember
The gapped words are function words, e.g., articles (a, an, the), prepositions (to, with, on, by, etc), modal verbs (can, must, should, etc), auxiliary verbs (be, do, did, have, etc), pronouns (it, them, myself, which, etc), conjunctions (and, although, but, etc), quantifiers (much, few, little, etc).