Practice Cloze Test Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions – Level 3

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

For centuries, the dry regions of western India depended on an ingenious structure: the stepwell. An ordinary well required water to be drawn up with a rope and bucket. A stepwell, by contrast, allowed people to walk down a flight of steps to the water itself, however far the level had (1)________ during the summer months. Many were far more than (2)________ utilities. Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, built in the eleventh century, is lined with hundreds of finely carved sculptures, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Stepwells also served as cool resting places where travellers could take (3)________ from the scorching heat.

(4)________ their usefulness, many stepwells fell into neglect during the colonial period. Piped water and hand pumps were introduced, and the old structures came to be seen as unhygienic. Several were filled with rubbish or simply abandoned. In recent years, however, conservationists and local communities have begun to clean and restore some of them, (5)________ that these ancient reservoirs can still help recharge groundwater in a time of growing scarcity.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

For centuries, the dry regions of western India depended on an ingenious structure: the stepwell. An ordinary well required water to be drawn up with a rope and bucket. A stepwell, by contrast, allowed people to walk down a flight of steps to the water itself, however far the level had (1)________ during the summer months. Many were far more than (2)________ utilities. Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, built in the eleventh century, is lined with hundreds of finely carved sculptures, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Stepwells also served as cool resting places where travellers could take (3)________ from the scorching heat.

(4)________ their usefulness, many stepwells fell into neglect during the colonial period. Piped water and hand pumps were introduced, and the old structures came to be seen as unhygienic. Several were filled with rubbish or simply abandoned. In recent years, however, conservationists and local communities have begun to clean and restore some of them, (5)________ that these ancient reservoirs can still help recharge groundwater in a time of growing scarcity.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

For centuries, the dry regions of western India depended on an ingenious structure: the stepwell. An ordinary well required water to be drawn up with a rope and bucket. A stepwell, by contrast, allowed people to walk down a flight of steps to the water itself, however far the level had (1)________ during the summer months. Many were far more than (2)________ utilities. Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, built in the eleventh century, is lined with hundreds of finely carved sculptures, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Stepwells also served as cool resting places where travellers could take (3)________ from the scorching heat.

(4)________ their usefulness, many stepwells fell into neglect during the colonial period. Piped water and hand pumps were introduced, and the old structures came to be seen as unhygienic. Several were filled with rubbish or simply abandoned. In recent years, however, conservationists and local communities have begun to clean and restore some of them, (5)________ that these ancient reservoirs can still help recharge groundwater in a time of growing scarcity.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

For centuries, the dry regions of western India depended on an ingenious structure: the stepwell. An ordinary well required water to be drawn up with a rope and bucket. A stepwell, by contrast, allowed people to walk down a flight of steps to the water itself, however far the level had (1)________ during the summer months. Many were far more than (2)________ utilities. Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, built in the eleventh century, is lined with hundreds of finely carved sculptures, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Stepwells also served as cool resting places where travellers could take (3)________ from the scorching heat.

(4)________ their usefulness, many stepwells fell into neglect during the colonial period. Piped water and hand pumps were introduced, and the old structures came to be seen as unhygienic. Several were filled with rubbish or simply abandoned. In recent years, however, conservationists and local communities have begun to clean and restore some of them, (5)________ that these ancient reservoirs can still help recharge groundwater in a time of growing scarcity.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

For centuries, the dry regions of western India depended on an ingenious structure: the stepwell. An ordinary well required water to be drawn up with a rope and bucket. A stepwell, by contrast, allowed people to walk down a flight of steps to the water itself, however far the level had (1)________ during the summer months. Many were far more than (2)________ utilities. Rani ki Vav in Patan, Gujarat, built in the eleventh century, is lined with hundreds of finely carved sculptures, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Stepwells also served as cool resting places where travellers could take (3)________ from the scorching heat.

(4)________ their usefulness, many stepwells fell into neglect during the colonial period. Piped water and hand pumps were introduced, and the old structures came to be seen as unhygienic. Several were filled with rubbish or simply abandoned. In recent years, however, conservationists and local communities have begun to clean and restore some of them, (5)________ that these ancient reservoirs can still help recharge groundwater in a time of growing scarcity.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Stretching across the delta formed by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans make up the largest mangrove forest in the world. For the families who live along its winding creeks, the forest is less a wilderness than a living wall. When a cyclone moves in from the Bay of Bengal, the dense tangle of roots slows the surge of seawater and helps (1)________ the energy of the waves before they reach the embankments.

(2)________ this protective role, the forest has been under steady pressure. Over the past few decades, rising sea levels, erosion and the clearing of land for shrimp farms (3)________ large stretches of mangrove. Each lost hectare leaves the villages behind it a little more exposed.

In response, several local groups have begun replanting the mudflats. Experience has taught them that enthusiasm alone is not enough. The saplings must belong to species that are (4)________ of high salinity, or they wither within a season. The results have been encouraging. Having watched the young trees hold back the water during recent storms, villagers who were once (5)________ about such projects now guard the plantations themselves.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Stretching across the delta formed by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans make up the largest mangrove forest in the world. For the families who live along its winding creeks, the forest is less a wilderness than a living wall. When a cyclone moves in from the Bay of Bengal, the dense tangle of roots slows the surge of seawater and helps (1)________ the energy of the waves before they reach the embankments.

(2)________ this protective role, the forest has been under steady pressure. Over the past few decades, rising sea levels, erosion and the clearing of land for shrimp farms (3)________ large stretches of mangrove. Each lost hectare leaves the villages behind it a little more exposed.

In response, several local groups have begun replanting the mudflats. Experience has taught them that enthusiasm alone is not enough. The saplings must belong to species that are (4)________ of high salinity, or they wither within a season. The results have been encouraging. Having watched the young trees hold back the water during recent storms, villagers who were once (5)________ about such projects now guard the plantations themselves.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Stretching across the delta formed by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans make up the largest mangrove forest in the world. For the families who live along its winding creeks, the forest is less a wilderness than a living wall. When a cyclone moves in from the Bay of Bengal, the dense tangle of roots slows the surge of seawater and helps (1)________ the energy of the waves before they reach the embankments.

(2)________ this protective role, the forest has been under steady pressure. Over the past few decades, rising sea levels, erosion and the clearing of land for shrimp farms (3)________ large stretches of mangrove. Each lost hectare leaves the villages behind it a little more exposed.

In response, several local groups have begun replanting the mudflats. Experience has taught them that enthusiasm alone is not enough. The saplings must belong to species that are (4)________ of high salinity, or they wither within a season. The results have been encouraging. Having watched the young trees hold back the water during recent storms, villagers who were once (5)________ about such projects now guard the plantations themselves.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Stretching across the delta formed by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans make up the largest mangrove forest in the world. For the families who live along its winding creeks, the forest is less a wilderness than a living wall. When a cyclone moves in from the Bay of Bengal, the dense tangle of roots slows the surge of seawater and helps (1)________ the energy of the waves before they reach the embankments.

(2)________ this protective role, the forest has been under steady pressure. Over the past few decades, rising sea levels, erosion and the clearing of land for shrimp farms (3)________ large stretches of mangrove. Each lost hectare leaves the villages behind it a little more exposed.

In response, several local groups have begun replanting the mudflats. Experience has taught them that enthusiasm alone is not enough. The saplings must belong to species that are (4)________ of high salinity, or they wither within a season. The results have been encouraging. Having watched the young trees hold back the water during recent storms, villagers who were once (5)________ about such projects now guard the plantations themselves.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

Stretching across the delta formed by the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, the Sundarbans make up the largest mangrove forest in the world. For the families who live along its winding creeks, the forest is less a wilderness than a living wall. When a cyclone moves in from the Bay of Bengal, the dense tangle of roots slows the surge of seawater and helps (1)________ the energy of the waves before they reach the embankments.

(2)________ this protective role, the forest has been under steady pressure. Over the past few decades, rising sea levels, erosion and the clearing of land for shrimp farms (3)________ large stretches of mangrove. Each lost hectare leaves the villages behind it a little more exposed.

In response, several local groups have begun replanting the mudflats. Experience has taught them that enthusiasm alone is not enough. The saplings must belong to species that are (4)________ of high salinity, or they wither within a season. The results have been encouraging. Having watched the young trees hold back the water during recent storms, villagers who were once (5)________ about such projects now guard the plantations themselves.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.