FCE USE OF ENGLISH - OPEN CLOZE ( ONE WORD)

The English Language

Today English is, without doubt, the world's (0) ... most ... important language.
One (1) .......... .... ten people speak it as their mother (2) ........ and it has a larger
vocabulary (3) .. ... .. .. . .. .. . any other language. English belongs to the lndo-
European family of languages, (4)--:-... .......... ... developed from a parent language
first spoken about five thousand years ago in central-northern Europe. From
there, it spread to the (5) ......... of Europe and the Middle East, and over time it
developed into a series of new tongues. One of (6) .. ... ... was Primitive Germanic,
which later split into old English, Dutch, German and the Scandinavian languages.
Old English was later heavily influenced (7) ................. French following
the Norman invasion in the eleventh century. Then, in the sixteenth century, due
(8) ... ......... the invention of printing, the increase (9) ............... ... opportunities for
education and the growth of international trade and communication, this form of
English, which is known (10) ............ Middle English, changed into the language
we now speak, Modern English. Language change continues to the present day, although (11) .. ............... .
1800 the major area of change has been in vocabulary (12) .................. than grammar. Events (13)
................. as the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars are among the reasons (14) ................ the
expansion of vocabulary. (15) ......... ....... factor is the growing influence of the media.

Vegetables
We are frequently told these days that we should eat more vegetables (1) .......... part of a healthy diet.
However, a large (2) .......... of people are still not taking this advice. One of the reasons could be that
they (3) .......... bad memories of the few vegetables they were forced to eat by (4) .......... parents when
they were children. (5) .......... the other hand, potatoes are one (6) .......... of vegetable which we are
familiar (7) .......... although we do not perhaps think of them (8) .......... healthy food to eat. Of course,
chips are not very good for us (9) .......... of their high fat content, but potatoes can (10) .......... cooked
in many other interesting ways which do not harm our health. (11) .......... vegetables which we will almost
certainly (12) .......... eaten are carrots, turnips and parsnips. Carrots can be eaten raw, while parsnips can
be prepared (13) .......... potatoes, and baby turnips are crisp and as sweet as apples when cooked.
Alternatively, there are many different vegetables in the shops, (14) .......... as celeriac, kohlrabi and
salsify. These may (15) .......... strange to us at the moment, but they are as easy to cook as (16) ......... .
of the other vegetables mentioned and make a delicious change.