Adapted from Close-up (B2) Student’s Book.
For questions 1–10, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
Britain is star-struck. Fascination with celebrities has no equal anywhere else in the world. Walk into any newsagent’s in Britain and you will be confronted by a huge range of magazines that
1.
a public hunger for celebrity gossip.
Britons buy more celebrity magazines than Americans, 2.
having a population that is only one-fifth the size. Celebrity news often makes the
3.
page of British tabloid newspapers. However, celebrity gossip was once a cheap and nasty business, and its journalists
4.
looked down on as second- and third-rate. But it has now turned into its own entertainment industry.
Many celebrities are famous due to the celebrity ‘industry’ created by the press and not for any particular talent. The celebrity depends on the press to 5.
money. The press needs the celebrities to sell more copies. Celebrities and their
6.
, photographers and editors have found that the best way to create an endless supply of celebrity news is to work together. Many people would be surprised to learn that a large proportion of the celebrity pictures that look like an invasion of
7.
are in fact staged.
It is an arrangement 8.
keeps all involved very happy indeed. If the public
9.
known what goes on behind the
10.
, they might look at these pictures differently; instead, remaining completely ignorant, they stay ever hungry for more gossip.
Explanation
Correct Answer: cater to
The phrasal verb cater to means to provide what is needed or wanted by a specific group.
The phrasal verb cater to means to provide what is needed or wanted by a specific group.
Why others don’t fit: Live up to means to match expectations (e.g., live up to expectations), which doesn’t fit a hunger. Nose about means to to look around a place, snoop, or search for something, especially information or hidden items that others might not want you to find. Go around means to be sufficient for everyone or to circulate, which makes no sense here.
Britons buy more celebrity magazines than Americans, 2.
Explanation
Correct Answer: despite
Despite means in spite of, and correctly takes a gerund (-ing phrase) directly after it (despite having).
Despite means in spite of, and correctly takes a gerund (-ing phrase) directly after it (despite having).
Why others don’t fit: But and however are conjunctions that must connect two independent clauses with contrasting meaning but they cannot be directly followed by a gerund like this. In spite is grammatically incomplete; it requires the word of (in spite of) to function.
Explanation
Correct Answer: front
Front page is a set collocation in journalism referring to the cover page of a newspaper where the most important news goes.
Front page is a set collocation in journalism referring to the cover page of a newspaper where the most important news goes.
Why others don’t fit: first, main, and big might make sense logically, but they do not form a term commonly used in the field of journalism.
Explanation
Correct Answer: were
Were forms the past simple passive voice (journalists were looked down on), which is required here because the action was done to the journalists by other people.
Were forms the past simple passive voice (journalists were looked down on), which is required here because the action was done to the journalists by other people.
Why others don’t fit: Had would form the past perfect active voice (had looked down on), which would incorrectly mean the journalists were the ones disrespects someone else. Been cannot follow a noun directly without an auxiliary verb like had or have. Did cannot be used to form a passive construction and is followed by a base form.
Many celebrities are famous due to the celebrity ‘industry’ created by the press and not for any particular talent. The celebrity depends on the press to 5.
Explanation
Correct Answer: make
To make money is a verb-noun collocation meaning to earn a profit.
To make money is a verb-noun collocation meaning to earn a profit.
Why others don’t fit: take, get, and find can be used with money in other contexts (e.g., take money from a bank, get money for your birthday), but they do not fit the specific meaning of earning a professional income or profit through an industry.
Explanation
Correct Answer: agents
An agent is a professional who represents a celebrity, completing the list of industry professionals (photographers and editors) who collaborate on public relations.
An agent is a professional who represents a celebrity, completing the list of industry professionals (photographers and editors) who collaborate on public relations.
Why others don’t fit: Stars is redundant because the text already says Celebrities and their… (celebrities and stars are the same thing). Fans would not work together with photographers and editors to deliberately stage photos. Characters refers to fictional roles in plays or books, not real-life famous people.
Explanation
Correct Answer: privacy
An invasion of privacy is a fixed phrase referring to a violation of someone’s right to keep their personal life secret.
An invasion of privacy is a fixed phrase referring to a violation of someone’s right to keep their personal life secret.
Why others don’t fit: Private and personal are adjectives, but this position requires a noun following the preposition of. Publicity means deliberate media attention, which is the exact opposite of what the pictures claim to invade.
It is an arrangement 8.
Explanation
Correct Answer: which
A relative pronoun used to introduce a relative clause that defines or gives information about an object or concept (an arrangement).
A relative pronoun used to introduce a relative clause that defines or gives information about an object or concept (an arrangement).
Why others don’t fit: who can only be used to refer to humans; what cannot be used as a relative pronoun directly after a specific noun like arrangement; where is used to refer to physical places or locations.
Explanation
Correct Answer: had
This forms a mixed or third conditional structure (If the public had known… they might look…), reflecting a hypothetical past condition that didn’t happen.
This forms a mixed or third conditional structure (If the public had known… they might look…), reflecting a hypothetical past condition that didn’t happen.
Why others don’t fit: The past participle form of known cannot be preceded by would or did. Has doesn’t fit the structure of a conditional sentence about a past condition.
Explanation
Correct Answer: scenes
The idiom behind the scenes is used here to describe something hidden from public view, in this case how celebrity media is managed.
The idiom behind the scenes is used here to describe something hidden from public view, in this case how celebrity media is managed.
Why others don’t fit: Secrets, curtains and stages are not commonly used idiomatically with behind the.
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