In Defence of Weeds

C2 Proficiency · 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.

saying

speaking

telling

talking

fought

waged

raged

staged

hems

fringes

margins

borders

wealthy

rich

affluent

opulent

pickings

gatherings

takings

harvest

act

stand

play

serve

made

kept

let

left

varnished

manicured

polished

buffed

A weed, it has been (0) ___ , is simply a plant growing in the wrong place. The definition is (1) ___ , since it says more about the gardener than about the plant. For generations, gardeners have (2) ___ war on dandelions, nettles and thistles, pulling and spraying them with a zeal that (3) ___ on the fanatical. Yet many of these plants are (4) ___ in nectar and flower early in the year, when bees find slim (5) ___ elsewhere. Nettles, in particular, (6) ___ host to the caterpillars of several kinds of butterfly, which would struggle to survive without them. None of this means that every garden should be (7) ___ to run wild. Few people want brambles across the doorstep, and some introduced plants genuinely threaten native ones. But a forgotten corner, spared the hoe and the weedkiller, may do more for wildlife than the most (8) ___ lawn, and it asks remarkably little of the gardener in return.

In Defence of Weeds

told

said

spoken

uttered

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

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