C2 Proficiency · Reading & Use of English · Part 1

C2 Multiple-choice Cloze Practice (Free)

Work on precise vocabulary choices at proficiency level. Look beyond a possible meaning to the idiom, nuance and word partnership the text requires.

This exercise, its explanations and the downloadable PDF are in English.

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Whose heritage?

Choose the best option for each gap. Attend to idiom, precision and the writer's stance.

Original, independent teaching material. No account needed. The result counts correct answers in this sample, not exam marks.

The belief that a district’s heritage resides chiefly in its most imposing buildings still holds over planning debates. Consultations may pay lip to residents’ experience while allowing architectural spectacle to determine what survives. A modest meeting room, however, can embody a more continuous social history than a celebrated facade.

This does not make the preservation of every familiar building a foregone . Uses change, and some structures cannot reasonably be retained. Yet a policy that praises living traditions while eliminating the spaces that sustain them is at with its own stated aims.

A recent neighbourhood survey brought this contradiction into sharp . Officials initially dismissed its findings, but residents took with the suggestion that informal gathering places had no cultural value. Their testimony was not a demand to preserve every wall at all ; it was a request for a fairer definition of significance. Whether that request will carry with the planning committee remains uncertain. The test will be the decisions it makes, not the reassuring language of its next consultation.

Options for the 8 gaps:

A. force; B. sway; C. worth; D. weight;
A. tribute; B. honour; C. respect; D. service;
A. conclusion; B. resolution; C. inference; D. settlement;
A. dispute; B. contrast; C. odds; D. conflict;
A. focus; B. attention; C. notice; D. regard;
A. objection; B. issue; C. exception; D. dispute;
A. costs; B. prices; C. fees; D. charges;
A. power; B. influence; C. weight; D. importance;

No account needed. You can check your answers as often as you like.

Answers and explanations

Read the reason behind each answer, then return to the text and find the evidence yourself.

Question 1: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: B — sway

“Holds sway over” means exercises a dominant influence over. A. Force can be exerted, but hold force over is not this idiom. B. Sway completes hold sway over, matching the influence of grand buildings on debate. C. Worth concerns value, not domination, and does not fit hold ... over. D. Weight can mean influence in carry weight; hold weight over is not the required construction.

Question 2: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: D — service

“Pay lip service to” means profess support without acting on it. A. Pay tribute to expresses appreciation, but lip tribute is not the expression. B. Honour can refer to respect, but lip honour does not complete the phrase. C. Pay respect to is possible without lip; it does not fit the fixed wording here. D. Service completes pay lip service to. The contrast with actual decision-making establishes the insincerity.

Question 3: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: A — conclusion

“A foregone conclusion” is an outcome regarded as certain beforehand. A. Conclusion forms the established expression. The negation rejects automatic preservation. B. A resolution is a decision or solution, but foregone resolution is not this idiom. C. An inference is a conclusion drawn from evidence; foregone inference is not the fixed phrase. D. A settlement is an agreement or resolution of a dispute, not the required expression.

Question 4: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: C — odds

“At odds with” means inconsistent with or opposed to. A. People can be in dispute with someone; at dispute with does not fit. B. The usual pattern is in contrast to or with, not at contrast with. C. Odds completes at odds with: removing meeting places undermines the stated policy. D. The relevant construction is in conflict with, not at conflict with.

Question 5: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: A — focus

“Brought this contradiction into sharp focus” means made it particularly clear. A. Focus fits bring into sharp focus and the survey’s clarifying effect. B. Bring to someone’s attention is possible, but into sharp attention is not. C. Notice would require a different construction, such as bring to public notice. D. Regard can mean consideration or respect, but into sharp regard is not the required construction.

Question 6: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: B — issue

“Took issue with the suggestion” means challenged or disagreed with it. A. The usual pattern is raise an objection to, not take objection with. B. Issue completes take issue with, introducing the residents’ disagreement. C. Take exception to is valid, but the printed preposition is with. D. People dispute a suggestion or enter into a dispute; take dispute with is not the construction.

Question 7: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: A — costs

“At all costs” means whatever sacrifice or disadvantage is involved. A. Costs completes at all costs. The negative phrase rejects preservation regardless of practical consequences. B. Prices are amounts paid for goods; at all prices is not this idiom. C. Fees are payments for services and do not fit at all ... in this sense. D. Charges are amounts billed or accusations; at all charges is not the fixed expression.

Question 8: Reveal answer and explanation

Answer: C — weight

“Carry weight with the planning committee” means influence its judgement. A. Power can be exercised or wielded; carry power with is not this idiom. B. Have influence with or over is possible; carry influence with is not the normal expression. C. Weight completes carry weight with, meaning that the committee takes the request seriously. D. Attach importance to is a different construction; carry importance with does not fit.

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