The Slow Arrival of the Wheel - Test 4

C2 Proficiency · Open Cloze · Proficiency Testbuilder, 4th Edition, Mark Harrison, Macmillan

For questions 1–8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.

It is nearly impossible in our post-industrial society to conceive (0) ___ a world without wheels. From clocks to huge machinery and from cars to computer discs, (9) ___ employs cogs, wheels or other types of cylindrical components that spin on an axis. Yet the wheel took a relatively long time to be invented and several civilisations reached a relatively high level of technological sophistication (10) ___ it. The most likely explanation is (11) ___ neither terrain nor climate suited the wheel. Until 10,000 BC, much of the world was (12) ___ the grip of the last vestiges of the Ice Age. (13) ___ was not under ice sheet was covered by desert, jungle or bog – conditions obviously unsuited for something like the wheel. Most experts agree that the wheel evolved (14) ___ the fact that Neolithic man was familiar with moving heavy objects (15) ___ putting a roller, such as a tree trunk, under the load. (16) ___ techniques were used to move the huge stone blocks to build the pyramids around 2980 BC.

The Slow Arrival of the Wheel

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