Expertise and Public Trust

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Cloze (dropdown)

How to approach this practice

Read the complete context. Check both the meaning and the grammar, including word forms, collocations and links between sentences.

1. Question 1 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: A museum asked a panel of specialists to assess an object whose seller had claimed an unusually early date. Public trust depends on competence and 1___ about how a judgement was reached. Expertise alone does not 2___ that every judgement will be accepted. The public needed to understand not only who the specialists were, but how they reached their judgement.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. secrecy
   2. transparency
   3. opacity
   4. obscurity

   Choices for blank 2

   1. assurance
   2. ensure
   3. entrust
   4. insured
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   transparency

   Blank 2

   ensure

   Transparency makes the reasoning visible; the other nouns describe concealment. Ensure that means make certain that, a guarantee expertise alone cannot supply.

   transparency: Transparency makes the reasoning visible; the other nouns describe concealment. Ensure that means make certain that, a guarantee expertise alone cannot supply.

   ensure: Transparency makes the reasoning visible; the other nouns describe concealment. Ensure that means make certain that, a guarantee expertise alone cannot supply.

2. Question 2 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The specialists agreed about the material but differed over how strongly it supported the proposed date. Experts may agree on the material while 1___ over its implications. Presenting this disagreement as ignorance is 2___. A disagreement about an inference did not mean that one side had failed to recognise the evidence they all accepted.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. differed
   2. differ
   3. to differ
   4. differing

   Choices for blank 2

   1. illuminating
   2. accurate
   3. misleading
   4. faithful
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   differing

   Blank 2

   misleading

   While takes the reduced ing-clause here. Misleading reflects the false equation of disagreement about an inference with ignorance of agreed facts.

   differing: While takes the reduced ing-clause here. Misleading reflects the false equation of disagreement about an inference with ignorance of agreed facts.

   misleading: While takes the reduced ing-clause here. Misleading reflects the false equation of disagreement about an inference with ignorance of agreed facts.

3. Question 3 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The assessment used a model developed from objects whose histories were better documented. The report acknowledges the 1___ of comparisons with better-documented objects. It makes due allowance 2___ uncertainty where those comparisons are weak. Acknowledging where the comparison was weaker helped readers understand which part of the proposed date was less secure.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. benefits
   2. advantages
   3. strengths
   4. limitations

   Choices for blank 2

   1. to
   2. with
   3. at
   4. for
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   limitations

   Blank 2

   for

   The paragraph identifies a weakness, so limitations fits the specific point being acknowledged. Make allowance for means take a difficulty into account.

   limitations: The paragraph identifies a weakness, so limitations fits the specific point being acknowledged. Make allowance for means take a difficulty into account.

   for: The paragraph identifies a weakness, so limitations fits the specific point being acknowledged. Make allowance for means take a difficulty into account.

4. Question 4 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The panel expected future information to refine its advice, but that did not make the present recommendation a guess without reasons. 1___ the advice is provisional, it is not arbitrary. It is 2___ in the best evidence currently available. A provisional conclusion could still guide a sensible decision when its basis and limits were made clear.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. Despite
   2. Although
   3. Because of
   4. In spite of

   Choices for blank 2

   1. grounding
   2. ground
   3. grounded
   4. grounds
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   Although

   Blank 2

   grounded

   Although introduces a finite concessive clause. Grounded in means based on evidence; the passive adjective follows is.

   Although: Although introduces a finite concessive clause. Grounded in means based on evidence; the passive adjective follows is.

   grounded: Although introduces a finite concessive clause. Grounded in means based on evidence; the passive adjective follows is.

5. Question 5 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: An early press release suggested that all specialists had reached exactly the same view. The committee was accused 1___ overstating consensus. It made minority 2___ visible alongside the majority view. Making the minority position visible gave the public a more accurate account of how agreement and disagreement coexisted.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. of
   2. for
   3. to
   4. with

   Choices for blank 2

   1. unanimity
   2. dissent
   3. conformity
   4. acquiescence
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   of

   Blank 2

   dissent

   Accused of introduces the allegation. Dissent is disagreement, which distinguishes the minority position from the appearance of unanimity.

   of: Accused of introduces the allegation. Dissent is disagreement, which distinguishes the minority position from the appearance of unanimity.

   dissent: Accused of introduces the allegation. Dissent is disagreement, which distinguishes the minority position from the appearance of unanimity.

6. Question 6 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The panel considered whether admitting uncertainty would make its work seem less authoritative. Frank acknowledgement can 1___ credibility. Concealing uncertainty, by contrast, can 2___ public trust when the omission is discovered. It concluded that a defensible account of the limits was more trustworthy than certainty that the evidence could not sustain.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. diminish
   2. compromise
   3. undermine
   4. enhance

   Choices for blank 2

   1. bolster
   2. undermine
   3. reinforce
   4. strengthen
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   enhance

   Blank 2

   undermine

   Enhance means improve; undermine means weaken. The contrast assigns opposite consequences to openness and concealment.

   enhance: Enhance means improve; undermine means weaken. The contrast assigns opposite consequences to openness and concealment.

   undermine: Enhance means improve; undermine means weaken. The contrast assigns opposite consequences to openness and concealment.

7. Question 7 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: No procedure could remove every possibility of error in the assessment of an unfamiliar object. The question is not whether experts can be wrong, 1___ whether their procedures make errors 2___ before others rely on them. The relevant safeguard was a process in which assumptions could be checked and mistakes could become visible.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. despite
   2. but
   3. although
   4. unless

   Choices for blank 2

   1. undetectable
   2. invisible
   3. imperceptible
   4. detectable
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   but

   Blank 2

   detectable

   Not...but contrasts the two questions. Detectable means capable of being found, which is the stated purpose of the checking procedure.

   but: Not...but contrasts the two questions. Detectable means capable of being found, which is the stated purpose of the checking procedure.

   detectable: Not...but contrasts the two questions. Detectable means capable of being found, which is the stated purpose of the checking procedure.

8. Question 8 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The museum invited reasoned questions about the report rather than treating professional status as an answer to every objection. An accountable process remains open 1___ challenge. It distinguishes 2___ criticism from unsupported dismissal. At the same time, it asked critics to engage with the actual evidence instead of rejecting expertise as a category.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. with
   2. for
   3. to
   4. at

   Choices for blank 2

   1. unsubstantiated
   2. indiscriminate
   3. groundless
   4. reasoned
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   to

   Blank 2

   reasoned

   Open to challenge permits scrutiny. Reasoned criticism supplies grounds, unlike the unsupported dismissal explicitly contrasted with it.

   to: Open to challenge permits scrutiny. Reasoned criticism supplies grounds, unlike the unsupported dismissal explicitly contrasted with it.

   reasoned: Open to challenge permits scrutiny. Reasoned criticism supplies grounds, unlike the unsupported dismissal explicitly contrasted with it.

What to review next

Explain why each answer fits the meaning and structure. Record useful phrases and write a new example using each pattern you found difficult.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.