B2 Use of English Test 10 – multiple choice gaps

For questions 1-9, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.

Dr Joseph Bell

Dr Joseph Bell was a distinguished Scottish doctor and professor at Edinburgh University in the (1)…………… nineteenth century. He had remarkable powers of observation and deduction. This (2)…………… him to accumulate useful information about patients in a very (3)…………… space of time.

He was very good at (4)…………… where his patients were from by identifying small differences in their accents. He could also (5)…………… a patient’s occupation from marks on their hand. He claimed to be able to (6)…………… a sailor from a soldier just from the way they moved. If he identified a person as a sailor he would look for any tattoos that might assist him in knowing where their travels had (7)…………… them.

Dr Bell’s skills for observation and deduction (8)…………… a great impression on his students, particularly on one called Arthur Conan Doyle. Conan Doyle went on to create the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, whose character was (9)…………… on that of Dr Bell.

1   A   late                   B   previous               C   closing                 D   final

2   A   enabled            B   authorised           C   guaranteed         D   caused

3   A   small                 B   rapid                     C   narrow                 D   short

4   A   showing off     B   working out         C   setting down       D   turning up

5   A   relate                B   acknowledge      C   solve                     D   determine

6   A   change             B   differ                    C   distinguish           D   contrast

7   A   transported     B   brought                C   conveyed             D   taken

8   A   set                     B   made                    C   formed                 D   put

9   A   applied             B   established          C   based                   D   written