The Case for Risky Play

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.

Parents of a previous generation would scarcely recognise the modern playground, (0) ___ its spongy rubber flooring, low climbing frames and ubiquitous warning signs. The motive behind such changes is understandable enough: no school or council wishes to be held responsible (1) ___ a child's broken arm. A growing number of educators, however, believe that in eliminating risk we have thrown the baby out (2) ___ the bathwater. Children, they point out, have an instinctive appetite (3) ___ danger, as anyone who has watched them climbing trees or racing downhill on bicycles will attest. Such play teaches them to judge their own limits, and a child who has never been allowed to fall (4) ___ of a tree may grow into an adult ill equipped to cope (5) ___ the inevitable setbacks of life. Far (6) ___ protecting children, then, excessive caution may leave them more vulnerable. Nobody is suggesting that children should simply be left to their (7) ___ devices. The aim, rather, is to let them take risks (8) ___ proportion to their age and abilities, and to accept that the occasional scraped knee is a price worth paying.

The Case for Risky Play

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