The Patience of Trees

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.

stunt

dwarf

cramp

shorten

confuse

misjudge

mistake

mislead

sturdier

burlier

brawnier

beefier

house

residence

home

dwelling

herd

flock

pack

host

else

other

besides

further

take

make

catch

put

little

least

slightest

few

An oak, as the old saying (0) ___ , spends three hundred years growing, three hundred years living and three hundred years dying. Whatever the truth of the figures, the oldest trees (1) ___ us in time as well as in size. It is tempting to (2) ___ a hollow trunk for a sign that a tree is on its last legs, but hollowing is a natural stage of ageing. A hollow tree may even be (3) ___ than a solid one, much as a tube resists bending better than a rod of the same weight. The decaying heartwood, meanwhile, is (4) ___ to a (5) ___ of beetles, fungi and lichens, some of which are found nowhere (6) ___ . That is why ancient trees matter so much to those who study wildlife. Lose one, and nothing we plant today can (7) ___ up for it within our lifetimes, or our grandchildren's. Trees of this age surely deserve, at the very (8) ___ , the protection we already give to ancient buildings.

The Patience of Trees

speaks

goes

sounds

tells

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

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