Use of english Part I

Read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, С or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning.

The sticking plaster

Nowadays, one of the most (0) common items found in the home is the sticking plaster.

Protecting a cut by covering the affected area with a piece of material that sticks to the skin may seem a rather (1) … idea, so it is perhaps surprising to learn that the plaster was not (2) … until about ninety years ago.

The person who thought (3) … the idea was Earle Dickson, an employee of the Johnson & Johnson company. Concerned that his wife Josephine sometimes (4) … accidents while cooking and doing other jobs, he used pieces of cotton material placed inside strips of sticky tape to cover her injuries. This prevented dirt getting into the (5) … and protected it from further harm as she did the (6) … .

Dickson's boss was impressed, so in 1921 Johnson & Johnson put the new sticking plaster into (7) … under the brand name Band-Aid. Sales at first were slow, but somebody at the company came up with the (8) … idea of giving free plasters to the Boy Scouts. This created publicity and from then (9) … it became a commercial success. Dickson was (10) … within the company, eventually becoming a senior executive.

Although the basic design of the sticking plaster has remained similar to the (11) … , there have been many developments in the materials used and it is now (12) … in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. Total worldwide sales are believed to have exceeded 100 billion.

0 A. common	B. frequent	C. general	D. routine
1 A. clear	B. evident	C. plain	D. obvious
2 A. realized	B. imagined	C. invented	D. dreamt
3 A. up	B. over	C. in	D. forward
4 A. did	B. had	C. made	D. took
5 A. wound	B. damage	C. breakage	D. tear
6 A. homework	B. household	C. housework	D. homecoming
7 A. creation	B. formation	C. production	D. construction
8 A. keen	B. bright	C. eager	D. shining
9 A. after	B. to	C. since	D. on
10 A. raised	B. lifted	C. advanced	D. promoted
11 A. model	B. original	C. sample	D. standard
12 A. available	B. achievable	C. accessible	D. attainable

Part II

For questions 1-12, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

How the Tour de France began

The very first Tour de France, the greatest cycle race (0) in the world, was held in 1903. It began when two French journalists, Henri Desgrange and Geo Lefevre, came (1) … with the idea of a race right round the country, (2) … that had never been tried anywhere before.

Nowadays we might think the aim of (3) … an idea would be to bring in lots of television money, or even tourists, but at the beginning of the twentieth century what they wanted to do (4) … sell more copies of their newspaper. And they succeeded. Circulation figures, (5) … had been 25,000, went to 65,000 within a year, and on to half a million by 1923.

The reporters were in fact quite closely involved in organising the race, and Desgrange would go (6) … to remain Tour Director from 1903 right up to 1939. Even (7) …their initial design for the race changed in several important ways before the first one was run. For instance, they had intended (8) … to be held over five weeks, but such a long race was just too much for most riders and very (9) … wanted to take part.

So it became half (10) … length, and it would be run entirely in July (11) … than from late May to early July. As, however, it would still go right round France, the distance travelled each day would be much longer, with cyclists sometimes (12) … to ride at night.