More Than Books

C1 Advanced · Open Cloze · Cambridge Ready original exercise

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.

(0) ___ was once widely predicted that the internet would make public libraries obsolete. Why visit a building full of books, the argument went, when the sum (1) ___ human knowledge was a click away? Yet libraries have survived by reinventing themselves. Today's library is (2) ___ much a community centre as a place to borrow novels. For some older people, a chat with the staff is the only conversation they have from one week to (3) ___ next. It is also one of the few indoor spaces where nobody expects you to spend money and where you are welcome (4) ___ of your age, income or background. Some branches now lend tools too, on the grounds (5) ___ not everyone can afford to buy things they will rarely use. Critics argue that, in trying to be all things to all people, libraries risk losing sight (6) ___ their original purpose. Supporters reply that this purpose was never books as (7) ___ , but free access to knowledge, and that this matters more than ever in an age in (8) ___ so much information sits behind a paywall.

More Than Books

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