CAE Multiple Choice Cloze

Index
For questions 1- 8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. EXAM DESCRIPTION

Piracy

Piracy was not (1) ... by men like Blackbeard and ‘Black Bart’ Roberts. It has been around since man first took to the sea, a maritime (2) ... that appeared in historical records since before the building of the Egyptian pyramids. The Mediterranean, (3) ... known as the ‘(4) ... of civilization’, was also a pirate hot-spot, which we know because the Ancient Egyptians (5) ... the time to describe the attacks and their perpetrators.

As in any period , piracy in the ancient world flourished when there was a lack of central control, and in areas beyond the (6) ... of major powers such as the Egyptians, the Assyrians or the Mycenaean Greeks. The first known pirate group was the Lukkans, a group of sea raiders based on the south-eastern coast of Asia Minor. They first appeared in the 14th century BC, when Egyptian (7) ... recorded that they raided Cyprus, (8) ... there are suggestions that their piratical activities started earlier.

  1. A) disclosed B) invented C) discovered D) devised
  2. A) scouter B) scout C) scooper D) scourge
  3. A) besides B) likewise C) moreover D) otherwise
  4. A) cradle B) cot C) crib D) hamper
  5. A) passed B) made C) took D) set
  6. A) limits B) reach C) horizon D) frontier
  7. A) scribes B) scripters C) reporters D) playwrights
  8. A) or B) because C) although D) despite

ANSWERS


INVENTED
VERB INVENT
To make, design, or think of a new type of thing:
When was printing invented?

SCOURGE
NOUN SCOURGE
Something that causes a lot of harm or suffering:
Vaccination has freed us from the scourge of smallpox.

OTHERWISE
PHRASE OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
In a different way to the way mentioned; differently:
Bismarck, otherwise known as 'the Iron Chancellor'.

CRADLE
IDIOM THE CRADLE OF
The place where something important began:
Why is Mesopotamia called the cradle of civilization?

TOOK
IDIOM TAKE THE TIME TO
To spend enough time to do something:
If you take the time to read the directions carefully, you won't have any trouble installing the software.

REACH
PHRASE BEYOND THE REACH OF
The limit of someone's power or ability to do something:
She lives in Peru, well beyond the reach of the British authorities.

SCRIBES
NOUN SCRIBE
A person who made copies of written documents before printing was invented:
The scribes were the copyists of Scripture and teachers of the Law.

ALTHOUGH
CONJUNCTION ALTHOUGH
Used to mean 'but' or 'however' when you are commenting on a statement:
I felt he was wrong, although I didn't say so at the time.
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