What Was Life Like Before Luggage Had Wheels? - Unit 2

C1 Advanced · Open Cloze · Ready for C1 Advanced 4th Edition Workbook, Macmillan Education

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.

Like many men of his generation, my father (0) ___ always carry our cardboard suitcase on his left shoulder. I never managed that technique, arguing that the suitcase’s handles were there to be used, though the real reason may have been that I simply wasn’t strong (1) ___ . Wheeled contraptions for carrying suitcases existed in the 1960s, but it wasn’t (2) ___ 1970 that Bernard D Sadow had his eureka moment. Struggling (3) ___ two heavy suitcases on his way home from a family holiday, he noticed an airport worker effortlessly moving heavy machinery on wheels. (4) ___ his return, he mounted four wheels on a big suitcase, with a pulling strap attached at the front. Still, rolling luggage was slow (5) ___ catch on. Sadow’s suitcase was rather clumsy and was eventually overwhelmed by the two-wheeler Rollaboard, devised in 1987. The sight of cabin staff marching them through airports established the Rollaboard as the suitcase that professionals used. As their popularity grew, far (6) ___ women began to travel alone on business trips. Perhaps rolling luggage hasn’t been an unalloyed good. It encourages people to take more than they need – more than they could ever (7) ___ carried in the unwheeled age. But outside the cheap flight, (8) ___ other modern development has made travel easier.

What Was Life Like Before Luggage Had Wheels?

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

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