TEST FOR GAP FILLING
Read the following passages and choose the word (A, B, C or D) that best fits
the blank space.
PASSAGE 1
As a young girl, Oseola McCarty dreamed of becoming a nurse. However, her family duty stood as
a(n)…………. (1.1) to educational goals. McCarty left school after …………… (1.2) the sixth. Since her
family was done of washerwomen, McCarty followed………… (1.3) their footsteps. She …………. (1.4)
other people’s clothes for over seventy years. Due to … …… (1.5) work and saving habits, McCarty, a
washerwoman,………… (1.6) a great deal of money. She made a …………… (1.7) of $150,000 – a
larger portion of her life…………. (1.8) to the University of Southern Mississippi to help ………. (1.9)
students. She was 88 years old and had never married. She did not have any children. She did not own a
car. From this simple and ……… (1.10) life, she was able to impress the world with a
significant ………… (1.11) act. Though she was unable to complete her own education, it was
her………. (1.12) that her gift would make …………. (1.13) possible for many others in …………. (1.14)
need to do so. Now, with McCarty’s support, specially African American students have an opportunity to
fulfill their……… (1.15) of a college education.
1.1. A. solution B. problem C. obstacle D. difficulty
1.2. A. completing B. able C. obstacle D. complete
1.3. A. with B. in C. on D. complete
1.4. A. cleaned B. made C. cleared D. done
1.5. A. bad B. horrible C. nice D. good
1.6. A. accomplished B. loaned C. paid D. accumulated
1.7. A. money B. donation C. profit D. living
1.8. A. money B. savings C. possible D. need
1.9. A. needy B. need C. have D. do
1.10. A. frugal B. mean C. generous D. selfish
1.11. A. helpful B. charitable C. useful D. remarkable
1.12. A. generosity B. experience C. responsibility D. intention
1.13. A. it B. them C. her D. us
1.14. A. economical B. financial C. healthy D. fashionable
1.15. A. dreams B. mean C. life D. dream

2.11. A. In B. Within C. For D. After
2.12. A. change B. move C. leave D. sell
2.13. A. meeting B. an interview C. a discussion D. a conference
2.14. A. available B. ready C. free D. essay
2.15. A. presented B. offered C. donated D. granted
PASSAGE 3
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and (3.1)…………… to New York City when
she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly
(3.2)……… for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters
seeking (3.3)…………. to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia.
So she determined, that she taught school and gave music lessons to earn money for her
(3.4)………. .
In 1849, after (3.5)……… from medical school, she decided to further her education in Paris.
She wanted to be a surgeon, but a serious eye infection forced her to (3.6)……………… the
idea.
(3.7)………………… returning to the United States, she founf it difficult to start her own
practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with
another female doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for woman and children.
(3.8)…………. Being the first female physician and (3.9)………………… her own hospiatal,
she also (3.10)……………the first medical school for women.
3.1. A. emigrated B. escaped C. exported D. checked in
3.2. A. unable B. incapable C. impossible D. illegal
3.3. A. admission B. acceptance C. entry D.entrance
3.4. A. charge B. incentive C. bonus D. tuition
3.5. A. completion B. conclusion C. graduation D. progression
3.6. A. recede B. abandon C. discharge D. sack
3.7. A. At B. upon C. In D. By
3.8. A. Besides B. Except C. Apart D. Out of
3.9. A. finding B. introducing C. setting D. founding
3.10. A. accomplished B. established C. completed D. furnished

When I was sixteen I (5.1)…………….school and went to work in a butcher’s shop. The
manager was a young man, only a few years older (5.2)………………….me, and he was
very ambitious, also, he was a bit dishonest. When customers asked (5.3)……………….the
best steak he would see them poor-quality beef. He used to do this to young housewives, who
if the meat (5.4)………………tough, blamed themselves for not cooking it properly.
Sometimes, he did not give the (5.5)………… change and the customers did not justice.
One day, just before Christmas, we decided to close early because we (5.6)……… sold all
our meat, except for one small turkey. As I was (5.7)…………….to lock the door, a woman
rushed in and said that she really had (5.8)………… have a ten-pound turkey. The manager
said he (5.9)………… get another one and went to the back of the shop with the turkey. I
knew we did not have (5.10)…………more, so I followed him to see (5.11)……………he
was going to do. He pulled and stretched the turkey to (5.12)………… it looks bigger and
then went back (5.13)…………………said, “Here (5.14)……………are, madam. Here is the
bigger one.”
“Yes, “she said”, “but not (5.15)…………… bigger. I will take both of them”.
5.1. A. leave B. had left C. left D. was leaving
5.2. A. then B. than C. more D. much
5.3. A. for B. in C. with D. on
5.4. A. was B. be C. are D. is
5.5. A. incorrect B. correct C. wrong D. corrected
5.6. A. having B. have C. had D. are
5.7. A. go B. on C. gone D. going
5.8. A. to B. in C. had D. with
5.9. A. will B. would C. won’t D. shouldn’t
5.10. A. some B. several C. much D. any
5.11. A. that B. what C. why C. which
5.12. A. have made B. had made C. make D. made
5.13. A. then B. and C. much D. but
5.14. A. they B. he C. we D. she
5.15. A. much B. more C. many D. several

Why do people like to chew gum? Some people say (7.1)…………like the taste (7.2)………say
they can think better if they chew gum. Some people chew it when they have some boring work
to (7.3)……… Other chew gum when they are nervous.
Gum is a (7.4)…………of things. For many years gum (7.5)……… made gum from chicle.
Chicle is sa natural gum from a tree in Mexico and Central America. Now companies use plastic
and rubber (7.6)…… …from petroleum (7.7)…………….of chicle.
Gum must be soft (7.8)………………you can chew it. A softener keeps it (7.9)…………. . The
gum company makes the softener from vegetables oil. A sweetener makes the gum sweet. The
sweetener is usually sugar. Then the company (7.10)…….the flavor.
Thomas Adams made the first gum from chicle (7.11)………… 1836. (7.12)……., chewing
gum was not new. The Greeks chewed gum from a tree (7.13)……………20 years ago. Mayan
Indians in Mexico chewed chicle. Indians in the Northeastern United States taught Europeans to
chew gum from a tree there.
People first made bubble gum in 1928. Children like to (7.14)…………bubble with bubble gum.
Some university students do (7.15)……………. .
7.1. A. they B. it C. them D. their
7.2. A. the other B. others C. the others D. other
7.3. A. make B. get C. do D. carry
7.4. A. mixture B. roll C. fix D. connection
7.5. A. company B. companies C. factory D. factories
7.6. A. make B. made C. makes D. to make
7.7. A. aside B. apart C. inside D. instead
7.8. A. so that B. then C. for D. that
7.9. A. tough B. softness C. thick D. soft
7.10. A. puts B. places C. adds D. fits
7.11. A. on B. in C. since D. from
7.12. A. however B. more C. but D. though
7.13. A. more B. over C. above D. than
7.14. A. turn B. set C. pass D. blow
7.15. A. so B. too C. then D. same

8.15. A. melting B. replacement C. conversion D. change
PASSAGE 9
The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability
to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading
and writing at a level (9.1)………….for communication, or at a level that lets one understand
and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take (9.2)………… in that society. The
United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) gas drafted the
following definition: “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,
communicate and compute, using printed and written materials (9.3)……………… with varying
contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her
goals, to develop his, or her (9.4)………………and potential, and to participate fully in the
wider society.”
Many policy analysts consider literacy rates a crucial measure of a region’s human capital. This
claim is made on the (9.5)……………that literate people can be trained less expensively than
illiterate people, generally have a higher socio-economic (9.6)………………… and enjoy better
health and employment prospects. Policy makers also argue that literacy increases job
opportunities and access to higher education. In Kerala, India, for example, female and child
mortality rates declined (9.7)…………… in the 1960s, when girls who were educated in the
education reforms after 1948 began to raise families. Recent researchers, (9.8)……………… ,
argue that correlations such as, the one listed above may have more to do with the effects of
schooling rather than literacy in general. Regardless, the (9.9)…………….of educational
systems worldwide includes a basic (9.10)……………around communication through test and
print, which is the foundation of most definitions of literacy.
9.1. A. adaptable B. suitable C. adequate D. important
9.2. A. comfort B. control C. part D. honor
9.3. A. associated B. worked C. appropriated D. related
9.4. A. ability B. knowledge C. performance D. behavior
9.5. A. foundation B. ways C. grounds D. basics
9.6. A. condition B. request C. state D. status
9.7. A. dramatically B. extremely C. actually D. accurately