Round the Table

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.

In many households, the family meal has become something of a rarity. Busy schedules mean that parents and children often eat at different times, (0) ___ not in different rooms, their eyes fixed (1) ___ a screen. It would be easy to dismiss this as a minor change, but those who champion the shared meal argue that a great deal is lost (2) ___ the process. Around the table, children pick (3) ___ the art of conversation almost without noticing. They learn to listen, to wait their (4) ___ and to disagree without falling (5) ___ . Parents, for their part, hear about their children's day in the children's own words, (6) ___ than having to extract it in monosyllables at bedtime. Even the arguments that break out over who left the milk on the counter have their uses, teaching everyone that a family is a place where disagreements can be survived. None of this, (7) ___ course, requires an elaborate feast, or even a particularly good cook. A pot of soup shared at a kitchen table serves the purpose just (8) ___ well as any banquet, provided everyone sits down to it together.

Round the Table

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