Plain English - Unit 10

C2 Proficiency · Open Cloze · Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition Workbook, Cambridge University Press

For questions 1–8, 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.

When Chrissie Maher founded the Plain English Campaign in 1979, little (0) ___ she realise what a difference she would make to many people's lives. Exasperated by the complicated language of government forms and documents, Chrissie famously (1) ___ hundreds of these to shreds in Parliament Square, London, and from (2) ___ on the campaign began (3) ___ earnest. Chrissie knew she faced a difficult time persuading government departments and also big companies to use plain English. Luckily, she'd (4) ___ an important lesson from her stunt in London – that publicity was a powerful tool. So she staged the first of her Plain English Campaign Awards. Trophies were given to organisations which communicate clearly and booby prizes to those (5) ___ information was baffling. This (6) ___ the desired effect, and recipients of booby prizes quickly rewrote their literature. Chrissie went (7) ___ to demand clear information for consumer contracts, (8) ___ many lawyers argued that rewriting legal documents in simple English could be unsafe. The Campaign's standards are now recognised worldwide: their 'crystal mark' is a guarantee that a document is written in understandable English.

Plain English

Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

More C2 Proficiency Open Cloze practice · All C2 Proficiency practice