Innovation and Unexpected Consequences

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 library introduced self-service borrowing to shorten queues, then found that some users needed more help than before. An innovation can solve one problem while 1___ another. Its evaluation therefore calls 2___ more than a list of immediate benefits. The assessment therefore considered whose time had been saved and where new difficulties had appeared.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. resolving
   2. creating
   3. eliminating
   4. precluding

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   creating

   Blank 2

   for

   The new difficulty experienced by users supports creating, rather than removing another problem. Call for means require.

   creating: The new difficulty experienced by users supports creating, rather than removing another problem. Call for means require.

   for: The new difficulty experienced by users supports creating, rather than removing another problem. Call for means require.

2. Question 2 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The original trial involved confident volunteers who used the library frequently and knew its layout well. The successful early demonstrations were 1___, but their scope was narrow. The results could not safely be 2___ to every setting. A successful demonstration with those users did not establish that the same arrangement would suit everyone who later arrived.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. discouraging
   2. unfavourable
   3. promising
   4. disappointing

   Choices for blank 2

   1. extrapolating
   2. extrapolated
   3. extrapolation
   4. extrapolate
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   promising

   Blank 2

   extrapolated

   Promising describes encouraging early results without guaranteeing wider success. Be extrapolated is the passive for extending results beyond the trial.

   promising: Promising describes encouraging early results without guaranteeing wider success. Be extrapolated is the passive for extending results beyond the trial.

   extrapolated: Promising describes encouraging early results without guaranteeing wider success. Be extrapolated is the passive for extending results beyond the trial.

3. Question 3 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The supplier described the new terminals as a way to free staff from repetitive tasks at the desk. The technology was introduced with a 1___ to saving time. Whether it actually did so depended 2___ how work was reorganised. That benefit depended on practical changes in staffing and support, not on installation of the equipment alone.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. vision
   2. watch
   3. sight
   4. view

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   view

   Blank 2

   on

   With a view to states a purpose and takes an ing-form. Depend on introduces the condition affecting success.

   view: With a view to states a purpose and takes an ing-form. Depend on introduces the condition affecting success.

   on: With a view to states a purpose and takes an ing-form. Depend on introduces the condition affecting success.

4. Question 4 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The terminals handled ordinary loans quickly but made unusual requests harder to resolve without a member of staff. Some gains came at the 1___ of flexibility. This trade-off was not 2___ in the initial publicity. The library had to consider whether speed in the most common transaction justified less choice in the exceptional ones.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. expense
   2. expensive
   3. expensively
   4. expenditure

   Choices for blank 2

   1. acknowledge
   2. acknowledging
   3. acknowledged
   4. acknowledgement
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   expense

   Blank 2

   acknowledged

   At the expense of identifies the cost of a benefit. Was not acknowledged is the passive, describing a point the publicity failed to recognise.

   expense: At the expense of identifies the cost of a benefit. Was not acknowledged is the passive, describing a point the publicity failed to recognise.

   acknowledged: At the expense of identifies the cost of a benefit. Was not acknowledged is the passive, describing a point the publicity failed to recognise.

5. Question 5 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: Some readers discovered shortcuts that helped them finish a loan quickly but bypassed an important check. The designers had not anticipated users 1___ shortcuts that bypassed checks. Those adaptations gave 2___ to new risks. Watching actual behaviour revealed possibilities that a demonstration of the intended procedure had not exposed.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. obeying
   2. respecting
   3. observing
   4. exploiting

   Choices for blank 2

   1. raise
   2. rising
   3. rise
   4. risen
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   exploiting

   Blank 2

   rise

   Exploit a shortcut means make use of it; obey and observe concern rules rather than shortcuts. Give rise to means cause.

   exploiting: Exploit a shortcut means make use of it; obey and observe concern rules rather than shortcuts. Give rise to means cause.

   rise: Exploit a shortcut means make use of it; obey and observe concern rules rather than shortcuts. Give rise to means cause.

6. Question 6 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: A narrow account of the project counted transactions while overlooking what happened when a terminal failed. Treating every benefit as equivalent is too simplistic. A more 1___ assessment would distinguish short-term efficiency from long-term 2___. A service also needed to remain useful when an ordinary assumption about equipment, staffing or user experience no longer held.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. simplistic
   2. uncritical
   3. nuanced
   4. inaccurate

   Choices for blank 2

   1. resilient
   2. resiliently
   3. resilience
   4. resile
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   nuanced

   Blank 2

   resilience

   Nuanced recognises distinctions the simplistic account overlooks. Resilience is the noun for the ability to cope with disruption, not merely operate efficiently now.

   nuanced: Nuanced recognises distinctions the simplistic account overlooks. Resilience is the noun for the ability to cope with disruption, not merely operate efficiently now.

   resilience: Nuanced recognises distinctions the simplistic account overlooks. Resilience is the noun for the ability to cope with disruption, not merely operate efficiently now.

7. Question 7 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The review found real benefits alongside specific weaknesses, so the alternatives were more varied than complete acceptance or complete removal. The findings do not warrant 1___ the innovation altogether. They justify subjecting it 2___ closer scrutiny. Further investigation could identify which changes would preserve the useful parts of the new service.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. rejected
   2. rejecting
   3. reject
   4. to reject

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   rejecting

   Blank 2

   to

   Warrant takes an ing-clause for the action justified. Subject something to scrutiny means examine it closely.

   rejecting: Warrant takes an ing-clause for the action justified. Subject something to scrutiny means examine it closely.

   to: Warrant takes an ing-clause for the action justified. Subject something to scrutiny means examine it closely.

8. Question 8 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The library kept self-service borrowing while restoring a staffed option for users and requests that needed it. The aim is to retain benefits 1___ addressing weaknesses at the same time, rather than treat adoption as a 2___, all-or-nothing choice. The resulting arrangement treated innovation as something to evaluate and adapt rather than an object of automatic loyalty.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. while
   2. unless
   3. because of
   4. during

   Choices for blank 2

   1. incremental
   2. provisional
   3. qualified
   4. binary
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   while

   Blank 2

   binary

   While expresses simultaneous action. Binary means allowing only two exclusive alternatives; the paragraph instead supports adaptation between the extremes.

   while: While expresses simultaneous action. Binary means allowing only two exclusive alternatives; the paragraph instead supports adaptation between the extremes.

   binary: While expresses simultaneous action. Binary means allowing only two exclusive alternatives; the paragraph instead supports adaptation between the extremes.

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.