Lost and Found in Translation

C1 Advanced · Multiple Choice Cloze · Cambridge Ready original exercise

For questions 1–8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning.

merely

barely

scarcely

hardly

go

fall

drop

lie

missed

dropped

gone

lost

ingenuousness

ingenuity

innocence

naivety

restraints

confinements

reins

constraints

distract

subtract

deduct

detract

come

go

stand

fall

compliment

complement

appraisal

approval

When a video game is released in a new country, its script is not simply translated but (0) ___ for local players. This process, known as localisation, involves far more than (1) ___ replacing one word with another. Jokes that work perfectly in one language often (2) ___ flat in another, and cultural references may be completely (3) ___ on a foreign audience. Translators must therefore use their (4) ___ , sometimes inventing entirely new puns or changing a character's name to one that sounds more natural. They also have to work within strict technical (5) ___ : a line of dialogue may need to fit in a speech bubble of a fixed size, however long the translation turns out to be. Mistakes can be costly. A clumsy translation can (6) ___ from players' enjoyment and even become the subject of online ridicule. A skilful one, on the other hand, will (7) ___ unnoticed, which, as one translator wryly observed, is the highest (8) ___ a localiser can receive.

Lost and Found in Translation

accustomed

acclimatised

habituated

adapted

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

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