Test 1 / 30

Read the text. Think of the word which best fits each gap. Write the correct word in each gap

Football in the United Kingdom

Both the varieties of football that originally hailed from Britain, the Rugby and Association games, have probably never been as popular as they are now. The association game, or soccer as it has become generally known, is now almost globally popular and judging by the last few World Cups, before long a team from Asia, Africa or North America will go on to win the trophy. Rugby’s progress has been less dramatic but the game is becoming increasingly international and is surely destined to continue to expand.

Of course, periodically it is likely that both varieties of football will be afflicted by|with problems stemming from a downturn in the world economy and difficulties generated by financial mismanagement. Collectively, however, their future appears bright. Peculiarly enough, despite this very little is known about the origins of modern football and many questions relating to its growth and development remain unanswered. Football is a very old game, especially in Britain.

Test 2 / 30

Read the text. Think of the word which best fits each gap. Write the correct word in each gap

Electronic Clerks

The word computer is a misleading name for the ubiquitous machine that sits on our desks. If we go back to the Victorian period, or even the World War II era, the word meant an occupation, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “one who computes; a calculator, reckoner; specifically a person employed to make calculations in an observatory, in surveying, etc.”

In fact|actuality, although a modern computer can work with numbers, its main use is for storing and manipulating information, that is, for doing the kinds of jobs performed by a clerk–defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “one employed in a subordinate position in a public or private office, shop, warehouse, etc., to make written entries, keep|manage accounts, make fair copies of documents, do the mechanical work of correspondence and similar ‘clerkly’ work.” The electronic computer can be said to combine the roles of the human-computer and the human clerk.