Rethinking an Established Convention

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

C2. 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 theatre reconsidered a casting convention introduced when most applicants belonged to a small circle known personally to its directors. A convention may have outlived its original 1___ without becoming entirely useless. Its present value should be assessed independently 2___ its history. The discussion asked what the arrangement contributed now, rather than assuming that either its age or its original purpose settled the question.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. rational
   2. rationale
   3. rationalise
   4. rationally

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   rationale

   Blank 2

   of

   Rationale is the noun for a reason; independently of marks separation.

2. Question 2 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: Supporters of reform argued that a procedure intended to recognise ability had gradually become a way of favouring familiarity. The reformers challenge the practice, not the principle it 1___ serves. Their claim is that the two have ceased to be 2___. Their objection was to the relationship between a stated aim and an actual practice, not necessarily to the aim of selecting skilled performers.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. obtusely
   2. ostensibly
   3. ostentatiously
   4. obstinately

   Choices for blank 2

   1. aligning
   2. align
   3. aligned
   4. alignment
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   ostensibly

   Blank 2

   aligned

   Ostensibly marks the stated purpose; aligned describes correspondence.

3. Question 3 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The debate became less useful when one side invoked continuity as sufficient justification and the other invoked change as sufficient proof of progress. Tradition alone does not 1___ a practice. Equally, novelty does not 2___ an improvement. A practical assessment needed to examine what either arrangement would actually enable or prevent.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. justified
   2. justify
   3. justification
   4. justifying

   Choices for blank 2

   1. guaranteed
   2. guarantee
   3. guarantees
   4. guaranteeing
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   justify

   Blank 2

   guarantee

   Both clauses need base verbs after does not.

4. Question 4 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: An exception had once allowed a director to select a performer without an audition during an unusually urgent replacement. The exception was narrowly 1___, applying to one unusual case. Treating it as the new rule would extend it 2___ its stated scope. Turning that limited case into an ordinary procedure would change the authority of the exception rather than merely apply it again.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. circumscribed
   2. indiscriminate
   3. unqualified
   4. unrestricted

   Choices for blank 2

   1. throughout
   2. within
   3. beyond
   4. inside
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   circumscribed

   Blank 2

   beyond

   Circumscribed marks a narrow bound; beyond would exceed it.

5. Question 5 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: Some participants saw no practical difference between a personal recommendation and the informal selection already taking place. Critics argue that the distinction is a 1___ without a difference. Supporters reply that it has tangible 2___. Others argued that a recorded recommendation could be examined and challenged in ways that an unexplained invitation could not.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. distinguish
   2. distinction
   3. division
   4. difference

   Choices for blank 2

   1. consequential
   2. consequentially
   3. consequences
   4. consequently
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   distinction

   Blank 2

   consequences

   A distinction without a difference alleges no substantive effect; consequences is the plural noun.

6. Question 6 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The reform group recognised that some familiar arrangements reflected useful experience rather than mere attachment to old habits. The argument is not that every convention is 1___, but that none is immune 2___ examination. It nevertheless wanted those arrangements to remain open to reasons and evidence instead of receiving an automatic exemption from assessment.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. arbitrariness
   2. arbitrary
   3. arbitrate
   4. arbitrarily

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   arbitrary

   Blank 2

   from

   Arbitrary is an adjective; immune from examination marks protection from scrutiny.

7. Question 7 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The theatre eventually kept a place for professional recommendations while requiring clearer criteria and a record of how they were used. Reform need not entail a wholesale 1___ of what preceded it. It may preserve the principle while revising its 2___. The compromise altered the way a principle operated without requiring the institution to abandon every value associated with its earlier practice.

   Choices for blank 1

   1. repudiation
   2. repudiated
   3. repudiate
   4. repudiating

   Choices for blank 2

   1. apply
   2. applicable
   3. applicably
   4. application
   Check answers and explanations

   Blank 1

   repudiation

   Blank 2

   application

   Repudiation and application are the required abstract nouns.

8. Question 8 · Cloze (dropdown)

   Choose the correct option for each blank.

   Choose the best option for each gap: The final account distinguished the theatre's commitment to artistic judgement from a particular procedure that had come to stand for that commitment. The aim is to distinguish what is essential 1___ what is merely habitual. That distinction cannot be settled by appeal 2___ familiarity alone. Familiarity could explain why the procedure felt natural, but could not alone establish that no other arrangement would preserve what mattered.

   Choices for blank 1

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

   Choices for blank 2

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

   Blank 1

   from

   Blank 2

   to

   Distinguish from separates the categories; appeal to identifies the invoked consideration.

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.