Concrete Affections

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).

FORBID

CEREMONY

LIKELY

COMPROMISE

OPTIMIST

DIGNITY

MOVE

THREAT

For decades, the great concrete buildings of the post-war years were among the most (0) ___ structures in our cities. Dismissed as grey and (1) ___ , many were (2) ___ demolished, with few voices raised in protest. Recently, however, they have acquired an (3) ___ following. Photographers celebrate their bold, (4) ___ geometry, and a new generation of admirers praises their architects' (5) ___ : the conviction that well-designed housing, schools and libraries could make ordinary lives more (6) ___ . Tours are organised, books published, and campaigns launched to save buildings that were once treated as embarrassments. Not everyone shares this enthusiasm. Many of those who actually live in such buildings remain (7) ___ . Concrete stains badly in a wet climate, lifts break down, and elevated walkways that looked elegant on the drawing board can feel (8) ___ after dark. Admiring a building from the outside, they point out, is not the same as raising a family inside it. Perhaps both views contain some truth: the ideals were noble, even where the execution fell short.

Concrete Affections

LOVE

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