Class X (Grammar ) - CLOZE PASSAGES

 

I. CLOZE PASSAGES

Read the following passages and complete the blanks in each with a suitable word

in each :

 

1 In March and April is the coffee blossom time (a) ______ Coorg. When blossoms transform into berries, the bushes (b) ______ cropped. The cherry-red fruit is then pulped; the seeds separated, dried and (c) ______ for curing. Coorg or Kodagu is the district which is (d) ______ of the largest producers of pepper, cardamom and honey in the world.

Answers

(a)  in (b) are (c) sent (d) one

 

2 Man’s urge to communicate (a) ______ his associates brought speech and writing. But it was only (b) ______ man developed an aesthetic sense and sought for beauty, rhythm and dynamism in the handwritten (c) ______ that a whole new field, hitherto unknown, began to emerge. The word calligraphy is a composite adaptation of (d) ______ Greek words : kallos (beauty) and graphein (to write).

Answers

(a)  with (b) when (c) words (d) two

 

3 There is the danger that comes (a) ______ making money is more important than quality of information flow. It clearly hampers the honest and unbiased functioning (b) ______ the organisation. for long term solutions, we will have to bank on the (c) ______ institutions to educate, train, groom and prepare the youth to be more discerning viewers rather than passiave spectators or participants in order to avoid (d) ______ irresponsible influence or working of the media.

Answers

(a)  when (b) of (c) educational (d) any

 

4 Raman Shah was sprinting (a) ______ his car to meet a business appointment, when suddenly he felt a sharp (b) ______ in his chest, as if someone was squeezing his chest. He began having trouble with his breathing and (c) ______ not seem to draw in enough air. Later his ECG revealed, that an area of his heart was dead. This area was cut off from its blood supply. Shah (d) ______ suffered a myocardial infraction or heart attack.

Answers

(a)  towards (b) pain (c) could (d) had

 

5 A child marriage is less likely to (a) ______ place if the parents are literate or at least, the father is. He (b) ______ then aware of the legal minimum age and health hazards his (c) ______ will face by an early marriage. If the mother, otherwise literate, has been exposed to family planning message, she is also less likely to solemnize her daughter’s wedding (d) ______ an age below the legal minimum.

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Answers

(a)  take (b) is (c) daughter (d) at

 

6 Long long ago, (a) ______ a big forest, there were many trees. (b) ______ the cluster of trees, there was a very tall pine tree. He was so tall that he (c) ______ talk to the stars in the sky. He could easily look over the (d) ______ of the other trees. One day late in (e) ______ evening, the pine trees sa a ragged, skinny girl approaching him. He could see (f) ______ only because of his height. The little girl was in tears. The pine tree bent (g) ______ much as he could and asked her “(h) ______ is the matter ? Why are you crying?”

Answers

(a) in (b) Among (c) could (d) heads

(e) the (f) her (g) as (h) What

 

7 Except (a) ______ the Congo Peafowl, all the other pheasants are from Asia. Scientists believe that (b) ______ pheasants originated from the Himalayas, and then scattered (c) ______ Tibet, China, Myanmar, South and South East Asian countries as well (d) ______ the Caucasus Mountains. The jungle fowl (e) ______ the peafowl spread (f) ______ South India and Sri Lanka long (g) ______ the early settlers established themselves (h) ______ the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Answers

(a) for (b) all (c) into (d) as

(e) and (f) to (g) before (h) in

 

8 The snow (a) ______ look too deep to me, but the danger wasn’t (b) ______ depth, Daniel said, so much as its icy top layer. “If we slip off, the car (c) ______ turn over,” he suggested, as we (d) ______ Tsetan grab handfuls (e) ______ dirt and fling them across the frozen surface. We both pitched in and, (f) ______ the snow was spread with soil, Daniel and I stayed out of the (g) ______ to lighten Tsetan’s load. He backed up and drove towards the dirty snow, eased the car (h) ______ to its icy surface.

Answers

(a) didn’t (b) its (c) could (d) saw

(e) of (f) when (g) vehicle (h) on

 

9 In the zoo at Lusaka, Zambia, there is a cage (a) ______ the notice reads. ‘The world’s most dangerous animal’. Inside the cage there (b) ______ no animal but a mirror where you see yourself. Thanks to the efforts of a number of agencies in different countries, a new awareness has how dawned upon the most dangerous (c) ______ in the world. He has realised the wisdom of shifting from a system based on domination to one based

(d) ______ partnership.

Answers

(a) where (b) is (c) animal (d) on

 

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10 An angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils as King Tut was (a) ______ from his resting place in the (b) ______ Egyptian cemetery known as the Valley of the Kings. Dark-bellied clouds has scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket grey. It was 6 pm (c) ______ 5 January 2005. The world’s most famous mummy glided head first into a CT scanner brought here to probe the lingering medical mysteries of this little understood young ruler (d) ______ died more than 3,300 years ago.

Answers

(a)  taken (b) ancient (c) on (d) who

 

11 For one thing, if a (a) ______ is to fulfil all the duties that society expects of him, it is important for him to keep healthy. He may be very intelligent, but that has little meaning if he (b) ______ make use of his intelligence, because he is always suffering from bad health. In some ways, the human body is like a machine. If it is not (c) ______ use of, it starts to work badly. People who are not fit grow weak and become more susceptible to disease. Any form of game is useful, provided it gives the body an opportunity to take regular (d) ______ exercise.

 

Answers

(a)  person (b) cannot (c) made (d) physical

 

12 The energy stored in coal and petroleum originally came to the earth from the sun. The bulk (a) ______ the present-day supplies was laid down some 200 to 600 million years ago, when tropical conditions were widespread. Lush, swampy (b) ______ produced huge trees; warm coastal seas swarmed with microscopic forms of life. When these organisms died, much of their tissue was recycled (c) ______ it is today — through scavenging and decay. But a significant amount of dead plant and animal material was covered with mud, (d) ______ prevented complete decomposition.

Answers

(a)  of (b) forests (c) as (d) which

 

13 Whenever someone (a) ______ overseas they are like “a fish out of water.” Like the fish, they (b) ______ been swimming in their own culture all (c) ______ lives. A fish doesn’t know what water is. Likewise, we often do not think too much (d) ______ the culture we are raised in. Our (e) ______ helps to shape our identity. Many of the cues of interpersonal communication (body language, words, facial expressions, tone of voice, idioms, slang) (f) ______ different in different cultures. One of the reasons that we (g) ______ a fish out of water when we enter a new culture, is that we do not know all of the cues that are used (h) ______ the new culture.

Answers

(a) travels (b) have (c) their (d) about

(e) culture (f) are (g) feel (h) in

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14 Among other factors causing parents (a) ______ give away young daughters in marriage is the need felt (b) ______ families having more than one daughter, to keep wedding expenses down. By (c) ______ two daughters at the same time parents save on expenses. Parental anxiety about grown up (14 years and above) daughters gaoing astray forces the less educated to give away their (d) ______ children in marriage.

Answers

(a)  to (b) by (c) marrying (d) female

 

15 The cross cultural spread of English (a) ______ unprecedented, in other ways. It is more widely used (b) ______ any of the other colonial languages like French, Portuguese or Spanish. It even (c) ______ a wider use than some of the languages associated (d) ______ international non-western religious traditions (e) ______ Arabic or Sanskrit. In countries like India and Nigeria, English is (f) ______ at all levels of society: (g) ______ local English language newspapers and broadcasting, in public administration, in university education, in (h) ______ industries etc.

Answers

(a) is (b) than (c) has (d) with

(e) like (f) used (g) in (h) major

 

 

EXERCISE FOR PRACTICE

16 Ideas rule the world. You shape your fate and decide your destiny by (a) ______ thoughts. You have to think high to rise. You (b) ______ to believe and be sure of yourself to win a prize. Life’s battles (c) ______ always go to the stronger or the faster man; but sooner or (d) ______ the man (e) ______ wins is the man, who thinks he can. Success starts (f) ______ your thoughts. Whatever your mind (g) ______ conceive and believe, it can achieve. And your mind is nothing more than a bundle of thoughts. Since you have the power to shape your thoughts, you can do (h) ______ .

 

 

17 Just by the use of colours you (a) ______ balance your diet. All you need to do is to pay a (b) ______ attention to the food you eat. Nutrition experts strongly (c) ______ adding colours to your diet. Sweets and candy bars (d) ______ generally colourful, but remember they do not contain natural colours (e) ______ hence are not healthy. The key solution is a (f) ______ of naturally coloured foods. The deeper the colour, the (g) ______ the benefits. Getting more colours in your diet doesn’t (h) ______ you have to drastically change your current eating habits.

 

18 The happiness of the individual relies on friendships (a) ______ form a necessary human connection. It is perfectly normal to need and want friends and depression is more prevalent (b) ______ those who lack friends. They lack the intimacy and richness friends (c) ______ bring into our lives. Frequently friends reflect similar values to us. Yet these values are often different from the ones we grew up with ; they are the (d) ______ we created for ourselves in our adult lives.

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19 Iraq (a) ______ mostly broad plains and marshes along the Iranian border in the south, (b) ______ large flooded areas. A large part of Iraq’s land area is desert, (c) ______ it has cool winters and dry, hot and cloudless summers. The mountain areas near Iran and Turkey have cold winters. There is heavy snowfall there, and (d) ______ the snow melts in spring, it causes floods in central and southern Iraq.

 

20 India and tea are so intertwined together that life (a) ______ the brew is unimaginable. Tea entered our life only in the mid-nineteenth century (b) ______ the British started plantations in Assam and Darjeeling! In the beginning though, Indians shunned the drink as (c) ______ thought it was a poison that led to umpteen diseases. Ironically, tea colonised Britain where it (d) ______ a part of their social diary and also led to the establishment of numerous tea houses.

 

 

 

ANSWERS OF EXERCISE FOR PRACTICE

16 (a) your (b) have (c) donot (d) later

(e) who (f) with (g) can (h) anything

17 (a) can (b) little (c) recommend (d) are

(e) and (f) variety (g) greater (h) mean

18 (a) which (b) among (c) can (d) values

19 (a) has (b) with (c) so (d) when

20 (a) without (b) when (c) they (d) because