Renting Our Lives

C2 Proficiency · Word Formation · Cambridge Ready original exercise

For questions 1–8, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).

OWN

MAINTAIN

REGULAR

SUBSEQUENT

FURY

ANNOUNCE

DRAW

POWER

Music, films, software, even cars and furniture: more and more of what once sat on our shelves or in our garages is now offered on a (0) ___ basis. For consumers, the attractions are clear. Access replaces (1) ___ , and with it the burden of storage, repairs and (2) ___ . Companies, for their part, prize the (3) ___ of monthly income, which makes planning far easier than relying on one-off sales. The arrangement is not always as kind to customers as it first appears. Many people pay for more services than they use, having signed up for free trials they (4) ___ forgot to cancel. Cancelling itself can be (5) ___ awkward, while price rises tend to arrive (6) ___ , buried in an email few people read. There is a subtler loss, too. A printed book can be lent, resold or kept for a lifetime, whereas a title in a digital library can be (7) ___ overnight when a licensing deal expires, leaving the person who paid for it (8) ___ to object. In a world where we rent nearly everything, it is worth asking what, if anything, we still truly possess.

Renting Our Lives

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