In Praise of Amateurs

C2 Proficiency · 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.

Few words have suffered (0) ___ a fall from grace as 'amateur'. Derived from the Latin for 'lover', it originally denoted someone who pursued an activity (1) ___ the love of it rather than for financial reward. Nowadays, it is more often a byword (2) ___ incompetence, and to call a piece of work 'amateurish' is to dismiss it out of hand. The shift reflects a culture in (3) ___ only paid, credentialled expertise is taken seriously. Yet the sciences and the arts alike owe a great deal (4) ___ people who never earned a penny from their passion. Unlike professionals, amateurs need not justify their work in terms (5) ___ profit; they are free to pursue questions that no employer would fund, and their enthusiasm, (6) ___ from being a weakness, is frequently their greatest asset. None of this is to deny that expertise matters. Nobody would choose to be operated on (7) ___ a self-taught surgeon. But a society that values only what can be measured and sold risks forgetting the pleasure of doing something well for (8) ___ own sake.

In Praise of Amateurs

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