Touching Wood

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.

(0) ___ is something curiously stubborn about superstition. Few of us would describe ourselves as superstitious, yet a surprising number of otherwise rational people still avoid walking under ladders or touch wood after tempting fate. Why should habits so plainly at odds (1) ___ reason prove so persistent? Psychologists point out that the human mind is prone (2) ___ detecting patterns where none exist. For our distant ancestors, mistaking a rustle in the grass for a predator was a far less costly error (3) ___ failing to notice a real one. Superstition, on this view, is simply the price we pay (4) ___ an otherwise useful instinct. Rituals also offer a comforting sense of control in situations over (5) ___ we actually have very little. A tennis player who refuses to compete without her lucky socks is (6) ___ no means a fool. The ritual steadies her nerves, and the calmer she feels, (7) ___ better she is likely to play. Superstition only becomes a genuine problem when we start relying on charms and rituals at the expense (8) ___ proper preparation.

Touching Wood

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