Gap-fill Reading Task 1

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

minor heritage sick critical reins cluster

massive within aspiring reservation prompter adopted

overcast bus saddle partially dubiously leathers

Later that afternoon I called Prasad, only to find that he had been admitted to
casualty and would be operated on. It wasn’t immediately clear what was wrong
His condition sounded serious, but not (0 critical. I decided that, come what
may, I would leave Bombay the next day and return to Delhi. Leave, that was, if
we could get seats on a train. It was necessary to make a (1)________________ as
trains were often fully booked several days ahead. I also needed to exchange
money, which meant going to a bank.

The next morning was (2) _________________, with low-lying cloud obscuring the
fort. However, it looked as though it would probably clear later. We breakfasted
early, then went to the station booking office to catch it as it opened. In India, away
from the major tourist towns, it could easily take all day to secure both a rail ticket
and change money at a bank. We were pleasantly surprised to be given tickets
(3) ______________________ the hour. They were for the afternoon train, at six
o’clock. We even had time for a cup of tea as we hurried to the State Bank of India
– the only bank that would cash travellers’ cheques – to be there when it opened at
ten.
We needn’t have rushed, for none of the employees turned up until ten thirty, and
it was after eleven before we were let in. The service itself was (4)
__________________ than usual. We were all finished at twelve thirty, fortunately
just before lunchtime, during which it would probably have been impossible to
collect all the necessary counter-signatures needed for my (5)
____________________ transaction. We emerged from the bank to find that the
cloud had (6) __________________ lifted. The seventeenth-century fort was
dappled in sunshine.

It was huge. The British had reinforced the already (7) ________________________
stone ramparts with enormous gun replacements. Other nineteenth- and
twentieth-century British additions filled the inside, nestling alongside the original
palace and temple. I felt sorry for the British soldiers garrisoning the (8)
_____________________ acquired fortress, who had been confined in that massive
suntrap. I saw a
(9) _________________________ of tourists around a notice on top of one of the
rampart, and went over to look. It was above a forty-foot drop on to steeply-sloped
earth. It was written in Hindi and English: ‘Rani Jhansi jumped from this place on
the horse back with her (10) _____________________ son.’

The Rani of Jhansi had been widowed in 1853. The British – then always looking
for ways to expand – had enacted a law by which Jhansi lapsed to them because
she had no natural son. This was despite her having, as had often been done by
rulers before, adopted a son. She was pensioned off, but came back in the ‘Mutiny’
to reclaim her (11) ______________________. Leading 500 warriors, she captured
the fortress. Thousands of British soldiers were killed. Eventually the British
managed to reclaim the fort. The rani escaped on horseback and ‘dressed like a
man … holding her sword two-handed and holding the (12)
________________________ of her horse in her teeth’ died in battle at Gwailor.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 2

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

swallowed mandarin yuppies doomed route resumption

complex denial complicate smuggling betrayal suit

supposition slaughtered banned gear animal lustre

The African elephant is the world's most awesome living wonder. It is the biggest
(0) ___animal___ on earth -- adult males can weigh 6000 kg. It is powerful, able
to uproot whole trees with ease. It is delicate, its remarkable trunk used for
caressing babies and picking up titbits. It is highly social, with researchers
increasingly amazed by discoveries about its (1) _______________ family patterns.

It is loved: by rich American and European men, who like to shoot it and put its
head on the walls of their homes; by international crooks, who like to kill it for its
magnificent ivory tusks, with their pearl-like (2) _____________________; and by
animal lovers, who believe not a single elephant should die at the hands of man.

It is at the heart of the debate about what mankind is doing to the environment.

It may, following last week's United Nations decision to permit a limited trade in
elephant products, be (3) _____________________.

'The UN's decision to allow legal sales will cause demand for ivory to rise and the
deaths of thousands of elephants,' said Allan Thornton, Chief of the EIA
(Environmental Investigation Authority). He claims growing demand for ivory in
the Far East was already fuelling a new surge in illegal (4)
_________________________ and elephant poaching before the Chile meeting.
China, Singapore and Hong Kong have this year recorded their biggest seizures of
illegal ivory since the trade was (5) __________________ in 1989. Ivory is so
popular in China that there is a whole range of ivory accessories for the mobile
telephones of Shanghai's (6) ________________________.

Thornton said that in July this year 6.2 tonnes of ivory -- the tusks of more than 600
elephants -- was found in a container ship in Singapore, en (7)
___________________ to China. The elephants had been illegally (8)
____________________ in Zambia and exported through a notorious wildlife
products smuggling route to the South African port of Durban, where they were
hidden in a container. 'So the facts are there,' he said, 'and the ivory trade
community is in (9) _________________.'

The EIA's outrage at the reopening of the ivory trade is shared by countries like
Kenya, Tanzania and India. They vigorously fought last week's Cites decision,
losing by only a narrow margin as a result of the last-minute decision of the US to
switch its vote from anti-trade to pro-trade and the EU's decision to abstain after
publicly declaring against a (10) ________________________ of trade.

Kenya was particularly disturbed. In the mid-1970s some 170,000 elephants

roamed its plains and forests, attracting droves of international tourists as well as
the rich hunters who were easy to spot at Nairobi Airport as they arrived in sleek
safari (11)________________________ designed in London or Houston. By 1989, the
year Cites imposed the international ban on ivory trading, there were fewer than
16,000 elephants in Kenya as a result of a wholesale onslaught by poaching
syndicates. Since the ban was imposed, the Kenyan herds have slowly recovered
and now number almost 27,000.

'Now we're going to see more poaching throughout Africa,' said Omar Bashir,
director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, after the decision. 'It's a very sad day .'

It is a highly emotive and at first reading apparently clear argument. But it ignores
historical facts, arguments and subtleties. While elephants have been dying in huge
numbers in eastern and central African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan
and the Congo, they have been slowly but (12) _______________________
increasing in southern African countries such as South Africa, Botswana and
Namibia.

Gap-fill Reading Task 3

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.
An example (0) has been done for you.

prison hardly understood attend truant ways

designed already crackdown baby stripped few

condoned offspring genuinely measure respect number

Parents could be (0) ___stripped___ of child benefit if their children repeatedly
play (1) __________________ or commit crime, under controversial plans being
considered by Tony Blair.

The draconian (2) ________________, which will infuriate many Labour MPs and is
understood to have divided the Cabinet, follows increasing concerns over teenage
offenders.

The plan to punish parents financially for their children's misdeeds is (3)
_______________________________ to have been discussed at Cabinet level for
three weeks.

'We are looking at other (4) __________________ of making sure parents face their
responsibilities,' a Downing Street spokeswoman said last night. 'This is one of a
(5) _________________________ of ideas.'

The Home Office is (6) ______________________ extending orders that compel

parents of troublesome teenagers to (7) __________________ classes in managing
them, while courts have long had power to (8) _______________________ adults for
failing to ensure their children attend school. However, critics argue these
measures penalise the poorest families, such as single mothers, whose (9)
_____________ may be beyond their control.

The Education Secretary is expected to announce a separate (10)

_______________________ on truancy this week. But the Prime Minister is said to
have been shocked by figures showing that 80 per cent of truants caught in a
sweep of shopping centres were accompanied by an adult, often a parent -
suggesting that they (11) _____________________ the child's behaviour.

But he is keen for any new law to exempt parents who have (12)
_______________________ tried to get their children to school.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 4

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

buckle heatwaves hotly intense temperatures sunnier

prolonged anticipated soar lucrative install await

approved lifestyles frequently cheers revisits heighten

The London of the future will see (0)___sunnier____ skies, more pavement cafes,

street theatre, outdoor music, barbecues and picnics. But before anyone (1)
__________________, the city is also expected to suffer serious regular flooding,
worse air pollution and sweltering (2) ________________________.

The first big report into the impacts of (3) _____________________ climate change
on the capital, commissioned by the Greater London Authority from leading
academic researchers, suggests Londoners will change their (4)
____________________, but that if the authorities do not learn to adapt fast the city
could be seriously disrupted more (5)______________________ and become less
attractive to live in or visit.

Over the next 50 years, when summer temperatures are expected to rise by up to
6C, demand for water is expected to (6) ____________________, parks and gardens
may wilt, and transport could become a nightmare with rails buckling in intense
(7) _________________________, says the report.

Almost all offices and homes can expect to (8) _____________________ air
conditioning as London summer temperatures match those of present day New
York.

The personal benefits and problems associated with future climate change are
reasonably matched, according to the report. People are expected to die because of
(9) ______________________ heat rather than cold weather, more tourists will visit,
but more Londoners will want to flee the city at weekends. And though commuter
trains are less likely to be disrupted by freezing points, searing temperatures could
(10) __________________________ rails and disrupt transport even more.
With winter rainfall expected to be far heavier and more (11)
____________________, and sea levels expected to rise, flooding is likely to become
frequent and serious. The reports suggests that the city may have to invest £4bn in
strengthening defences over the next 40 years.

The economic consequences of climate change over the next 40 years are also
mixed. The London insurance industry, one of the world's three largest global
centres, could be exposed to massive claims from wind storms and flood events.

But, says the report, a (12) __________________________ new market could emerge
to manage the financial risk of climate change.

The report is consistent with international models of climate change, in suggesting

that the poor of London will be the least able to adapt to the changing climate

Gap-fill Reading Task 5

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

thereafter inconsistent elbows calculated disguised disgusting

inclined signal twist generosity reclining shivering

interested sniff prevent bothered bark ankles

Police officers are trudging the streets of London (0) ___disguised___ as tramps,
accompanied by scruffy mongrel dogs. They are our new frontline combatants in
the war on terrorism. The dogs have been trained to (1) _______________
explosives from a distance of up to 30 yards. If one of them detects a suspicious
smell, it doesn't bark or move from the spot, but gives a secret (2)
_________________ to its handler, known only to the two of them. The "tramp"
then tips off other covert police officers - doubtless also in disguise - who set off in
pursuit of the putative bomber.

With the government warning that al-Qaida may be planning to bring terror to the
streets of London, one can only welcome any initiative designed to (3)
__________________ it. But it is bad news for beggars, because it will act as yet
another deterrent to our generosity. Not many people like giving their money
away as it is, but even fewer will be (4) __________________ to do so if there is a
risk that the pathetic creature crouching in a doorway is not a genuine social
outcast but a well-paid member of the Metropolitan police.

Like many people, I am (5) _______________________ in my response to beggars.

Whether I give them anything or not depends on how honest or sympathetic they
look to me, or the extent to which I'm feeling like a victim myself (for self-pity is
the enemy of (6) _________________________). But sometimes I am moved to part
with some money. I once spent a year in New York, where I was accosted outside
my flat by a very scruffy, thin man of indeterminate age who looked like an
impersonation of Fagin with a long overcoat almost down to his (7)
__________________.

"Look at me," he said. "I am (8) ________________, I am dirty. I don't want to be

like this. All I need is 20 bucks. Give me 20 bucks, and it will all be different. I will
shave. I will clean up. I will get new clothes. I will get a job. When you next see me,
I will be another man." So I gave him $20, and what happened? Nothing at all.
Almost every day (9) _________________, I would meet him in the street, and he
would make the same pitch. Every day, I would point out that I had already given
him $20 and was awaiting the promised transformation. He would seem bored and
puzzled and move on. He could never even be (10) _____________________ to try
to remember who I was.

The government, however, has been doing everything it can to discourage

spontaneous generosity. Two years ago, it launched an advertising campaign
advising people to give money not to beggars but to recognised charities instead. It
was a (11) _________________________ attempt to repress the already weakening
instinct of people to be of immediate assistance to their fellow human beings. It is
both callous and patronising of the government to tell them not to.

And, if this winter I see a ragged person (12) _____________________ in a London

doorway, I think I should do something to help as well - even at the risk of
contributing to the corruption of the Metropolitan police.

Gap-fill Reading Task 6

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

it something but entertainment plus everything

warnings sign letters protection space customers spotted

licence place spontaneous rose anything amusement

The pub owners tried everything to stop it including putting up (0) __signs___,
rearranging the furniture and even asking people to refrain. But it was all to no
avail: council officials diagnosed outbreaks of (1) _________________ dancing, and
the owners were fined £5,000.

Officials from Westminster city council initially (2) ___________________ four

people dancing to piped music at the Pitcher and Piano pubs in Soho, central
London. Later, as the rhythm took control, that figure (3) _______________ to five.
On another visit as many as 11 people were dancing. (4) _________________ had to
be done.

The council took action against Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, which
runs the two pubs, where (5) _____________________ had been spotted getting
down to the piped music.

With their patrons caught red-footed, the company pleaded guilty to not having a
proper (6) ___________________ which allows dancing.

It was fined £2,500 for each offence, (7) ___________________ costs of £1,600 at a
London magistrates court on Wednesday.

Derek Andrews, Wolverhampton and Dudley's managed house chief, said the
company had tried (8) ___________________ in its power to stop customers from
breaking into dance, even going so far as to turn the music off, but people still
continued to dance.

Council officials have also served two written (9) ____________________ on

another pub in Wardour Street, Soho, about people found "swaying", according to
the licensed trade's newspaper the Publican.

Under current law, dancing is only allowed if premises have been granted a public
(10) _______________________ licence.

Bob Currie, director of the community (11) ____________________ department at

Westminster council, said in a letter quoted in the Publican: "Dancing could be
described as the rhythmic moving of the legs, arms and body usually changing
positions within the floor (12) ______________________ available and whether or
not accompanied by musical support."

Gap-fill Reading Task 7

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

away status potential raw towns diplomas

that premises bitter dormant racial now

deprived asleep nightmare qualification house award

Life has never been easy in the Liverpool overspill (0) ___towns___ that make up

much of Merseyside. Back in the early 1960s, it could be a living (1)

_________________________ if you happened to be black - like Carol Evans's
family.

Evans was only five when police first knocked on the door to escort her to school
in Huyton, after her older brothers and sisters were victims of (2)
_____________________________ attacks.

She could have become (3) _________________, but memories of those dark days
spurred her on and, instead of turning her back on a community that had been so
hostile, she became a key member of it, helping unlock untapped (4)
________________________________.

Today, Evans is the chief executive of the Huyton Community Partnership (HCP),
a major player in the regeneration of one of England's most (5)
____________________________ districts.

It is a far cry from her council house kitchen where, in the early 1990s, like-minded
parents met to try to stop the rot eating (6) _________________________ at their
lives. Unemployment was three times the national average; three generations in
one family were often out of work; and many in the community had given up.

"I was a mother with young children and all I saw were desperate people trying to
cope with a (7) ______________________ deal," says Evans, now 43. "I realised that
my family was in the same predicament. I felt very strongly that something had to
be done.

One of the first moves was to invite the local council and agencies to send
representatives for a meeting with the community. From (8)
_______________________ came the HCP, a self-help group charged with giving
local people the knowledge and experience to manage projects, gain confidence
and develop their own entrepreneurial skills.
Seven years on, the HCP's purpose-built centre has Merseyside's largest take-up of
the government's Learning Direct scheme, with more than 11,000 people having
passed through. Hundreds of jobs have been created by projects initiated by the
community, in (9) ______________________ built and paid for by the partnership.
A £400,000-plus community centre has opened.

The local authority, Knowsley, has had an input - especially by providing an all-
important £9,000 that helped kick-start the HCP in 1995. Becoming a limited
company, and gaining charitable (10) ____________________, has enabled the
partnership to access millions of pounds in grant aid from here and the EU.

"We are now the first point of call for local people who want to build their
confidence and enter further education or employment," says Evans. She has also
benefited by gaining a (11) _________________________ in strategic management.

She applauds the government's much-quoted intention to empower people, and

believes her example can be followed by other communities. "The hardest part was
breaking down the parochial attitude," she says. "We were (12) ______________
and now we are alert and reacting positively.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 8
Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

else unidentified slip somehow common camels

forever replace magnetically taste round edible

manhandle biro tend precious habit fly

Shopping is an ingrained (0) _____habit_______, and when you're away on

holiday it tends to focus on the souvenir. Hours of shopping time can be dedicated
to finding something that will (1) ___________________ remind you of happy
carefree times in a foreign supermarket. Of course, the thing about souvenirs is
that they're different all over the world - you can get (2) _______________ from the
Middle East, sombreros from Mexico, and elephants from Thailand. The one thing
they have in (3) _________________________ is that they're all made in China.
When you take a holiday in the developed world, the souvenirs (4)
________________ to be things that we have at home but cheaper, for example CDs
from the United States, cigarettes from France and Ford Focus cars from Belgium.
In fact, with these kind of holidays we appear to have cut out everything (5)
________________ and just focused on the shopping.

In the less developed world, the one thing that's very developed is the craft
market. You can't take a coach trip to any tourist site without finding yourself (6)
____________________________ drawn into a craft hypermarket with serried ranks
of hand-carved elephants as far as the eye can see, and enough papyrus to
wallpaper the Houses of Parliament.

Ideally, souvenirs need to be small and unbreakable, because airport baggage-

handlers object to tourists taking out (7) ___________________ cultural artefacts,
and so tend to give the bags a good pounding. But there is always one person who
decides that they simply must have the 7ft, hand-carved giraffe. They then provide
fellow travellers with hours of entertainment as they (8) ______________________ it
through the airport. As a general rule, the cheaper the souvenir, the longer they
survive. For example, a (9) _______________________ with "Souvenir of Tintagel"
will write continuously for 50 years and do untold damage to the Cornish tourist
industry. Similarly, a miniature model of the Eiffel Tower/Taj Mahal/Statue of
Liberty will live in the back of a desk drawer for one full adult life.

The tricky thing with souvenirs these days is that everyone has seen them all;
every house in the country now has at least one straw donkey, a doll in traditional
French dress, plastic camel, gaily painted plate, tribal letter opener and bottle of
(10) ___________________________ foreign alcohol. So, instead of buying your
friends something, why not just film your holiday and then invite them (11)
_________________________ for the evening to watch you enjoying yourself.
There's a good chance that they'll enjoy themselves as much as you did, and you
can also serve up some of that weird alcohol they bought you on their holiday.
When they leave, you can always (12) _____________________ a plastic camel in to
their pocket.

Gap-fill Reading Task 9

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

consistency strategy prove straightforward misleading aches

extra sip hangover really evidence ideas

beyond supposed piling sources weighing addition

Do a few pints after work (0) __really___ help you to relax? Does drinking in

moderation actually make us any healthier? Well, the answers to both these
questions might not be what you think. 'The pharmacological effects of alcohol (1)
______________________ about half a pint of beer isn't relaxation,' says Barry Jones,
Professor of Psychology at Glasgow University who researches the effects of
moderate doses of alcohol on behaviour. 'It winds up your systems rather than
winds them down. There's a curious link between alcohol and relaxation, it's not
(2) ________________________________.

'What's massively overlooked is that alcohol is regarded as a peace drug and a

health drug. If you drink a couple of units a day, it's (3) ___________________ to
help improve cardiovascular health and there's a good deal of evidence that shows
that's the case, but the bottom line is a scary one.

'First of all, there's no good (4) _______________________ that these health benefits
apply to women. They only apply to men over 55 years of age. Somehow this fact
has been hi-jacked and applied to everybody. The second thing which has been
overlooked is that if you have high blood pressure, even a (5)
_____________________________ of alcohol is going to raise blood pressure. This
might not matter much, but it's going to kill some people.'

So advising that alcohol can have health benefits for everyone is at best, (6)
__________________________ and at worst, irresponsible. For otherwise healthy
over-55-year-old males it is the case. It is thought that in healthy people of most
ages drinking responsibly is beneficial because it wipes out the effects of some
harmful fats.

There are two sorts of (7) _____________________ of good health from drinking.
One is the molecule itself, ethyl alcohol (ethanol). The second thing is the presence
of additives which could provide additional benefits. Red wine is a good source of
anti-oxidants and flavanoids which help to maintain the (8)
______________________ of platelets (white blood cells involved in clotting). These
flavanoids play a similar role to aspirin, which help in 'thinning the blood'.

'But what you shouldn't be doing is going out and eating fish suppers and junk
food, driving to work every day or coming in on the bus and saying: 'Well, I'll be
all right because I'm drinking my glass and a half of red wine a day, that's going to
make me healthy.' You'd die early if you had that (9) ____________________' Jones
explains. 'In some of the red wines and malt whiskies there are other things which
might give you headaches. Congeners, which can give you a (10)
________________________, are by-products of the fermentation process, give the
drink its colour and flavour. In whisky there are other chemicals which give it its
taste that can be poisonous in high doses.'

Apart from the direct effects of alcohol, drinkers can also find themselves (11)
___________________________________ on the pounds, which is certainly
unhealthy. 'I'm surprised people do it,' Jones says. 'Four pints contains 1000
calories -- you probably won't even eat 1000 calories of food in a day. For women
who want to slim, the worst thing they can do is go out and booze -- if they really
want to drink they should stick to spirits without any mixers. There are about 100
calories in two whiskies, which is less than half the amount in beer. But if you add
one Red Bull that's an (12) ________________________ 500 calories.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 10
Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

including symptoms pressurise the to deteriorate

holding suffering one debilitating these as

link together this whose similar sickening

A powerful US investigation committee is (0) __holding___ a meeting in

Westminster where evidence is being heard on links between service people's
illnesses and the Gulf war. Campaigners hope it could (1) __________________ the
government into holding a public inquiry.

Compelling evidence that thousands of British troops who served during the Gulf
war are dying prematurely and suffering (2) ______________________ illnesses
because of exposure to a lethal cocktail of chemicals is to be put before a powerful
commission of inquiry where it will reportedly be claimed that there is now
enough evidence to make a direct (3) ____________________ between serving in the
Gulf and physical and mental disability.

Many of the men affected were involved in clean-up operations following Desert
Storm in 1991. Illnesses among more than 5,000 British veterans will also be linked
(4) _________________________ powerful immunisation tablets given to soldiers to
protect them from chemical attack, (5) ____________________ anthrax, and the use
of corrosive organophosphates to try to keep down disease.
The most common (6) ______________________ and illnesses cited as gulf war
syndrome include severe fatigue, nausea, fevers, muscle and joint complaints,
memory loss, mood swings including severe aggression, insomnia, swollen glands
and headaches. The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA)
claimed earlier this year that 70% of servicemen who have died since the 1991
conflict killed themselves. The organisation claims (7) ____________________
suicides account for 380 out of a total of 537 deaths.

A typical scenario, NGVFA says, is that the stress and illness leads many sufferers
to lose their jobs, their relationships (8) _______________ and they lose their homes
and then eventually take their own lives.

The MoD says official statistics record just 97 suicides among Gulf veterans, which
is slightly higher than the suicide rate in a (9) ____________________ group of
soldiers who did not fight in the war. The NGVFA says some deaths that were
recorded as accidental were actually suicides.

Shaun Rusling, a veteran, won a landmark ruling recently when a War Pensions
Agency tribunal officially recognised Gulf war syndrome (10) _________________ a
disease. But many other veterans have been turned down for army pensions
because the Ministry of Defence says there is no such disease.

Former US presidential candidate Ross Perot and three US Congressmen are

hearing UK war veterans give evidence in parliament on Gulf war syndrome. The
hearing is being hosted by the Royal British Legion and the UK Inter-
Parliamentary Gulf War Group who want the British government to launch a
public inquiry as a similar investigation into the syndrome to (11)
____________________ which is ongoing in the US.

The MoD will be present at the Congressional hearings but only as observers.
Yesterday Mr Perot, a Texan oil billionaire who has funded research into the
illness, told a Westminster press conference the UK was under an "enormous
obligation" to investigate (12) _______________________ syndrome.

Gap-fill Reading Task 11

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

crisps impact lugging occasions hate favourite

advisable serving choke single sugary about

position brake sweets condition sweet lucky

You can tell how serious a person is (0) ___about____ chocolate by how much

wrapping they're prepared to tolerate. Poncy continental chocolates nestling in a

sea of plastic don't have the same therapeutic (1) __________________ as a 1kg slab
in easy-rip wrapping. Remember, those lines on chocolate bars are (2)
________________________ suggestions only - you can actually eat the whole thing
and no one will be any the wiser.

Some people are given a box of chocolates at Christmas and will eat one on special
(3) ___________________ over the next year or so: they get as much pleasure from
browsing through the tin as they do from eating their (4) _________________
hazelnut dervish. Normal people view a tin of chocolates more like a nosebag -
once it has been opened, it has to be emptied and the fiddly wrappers are the only
(5) ______________________ on consumption.

Everyone has a (6) ____________________ in a box of chocolates. You're either a nut

person, a fudge person or a cream person. To have a long-term relationship, it's (7)
_______________________ to make sure you're not the same. Starting on the bottom
tray before the top layer has been finished is the devil's work. Even if the last one
on the top layer is a Praline Prepuce, you've got to (8) _______________ it down
before you can go for the Orange Cream downstairs.

If you're sitting down to a packet of (9) _____________________, it's often a good

idea to empty them out and order them by flavour. If you've got more strawberries
than lemons, you can then start with the strawberries until you have exactly the
same number of each. Then it's simply a case of eating one of each in turn, starting
with the ones you (10) ____________________ first.

When you have to share sweets, you can offer them first or eat one first, depending
on the exact (11) __________________ of the black one. Be careful not to give your
friend every yellow one in the pack, otherwise they'll think you're using them for
waste disposal purposes.

Pick'n'mix works on the basis that what you're picking looks so tiny that what you
end up with will be cheap. In reality, however, once you've taken a trowel-full of
everything you fancy, you end up (12) ______________________ the weight
equivalent of a bag of cement to the till.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 12

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

off smug scoff in decide up

determined option had budget amount to

tube by supper any starvation for

The first thing friends and colleagues said to me when I told them I would be
living (0) ___off____ £36.27 was: 'What? A day?'

Most students of course would (1) ______________ at that reaction. According to

the National Union of Students, after deducting average rents, 2002 students had
exactly this (2) ____________________ a week inside London and £34.85 per week
outside the capital left from their student loan to live on during 2001/02. Forty per
cent of undergraduates work an average of 15-20 hours a week to get (3)
____________________, but I wanted to see what a week in London might be like
without any extra income.

The experiment didn't get off to an easy start - it's never a good idea to begin a (4)
_______________________ on a Friday night. A cheap night out in London seemed
like a tall order, but one free photography exhibition and a £3.50 plate of pasta
later and I felt quite (5) ___________________.

I got the bus home instead of the (6) ___________________, which took
approximately 40 minutes longer but seemed worth it for the 90p saving.
The weekend loomed with the definite potential of boredom about it, but (7)
______________________ to prove you can still have a good time on a very small
amount of money, I went to look at some free museums, bypassed the temptation
of Oxford Street shopping and instead discovered a £2 pair of French Connection
trousers in a charity shop, lived off baked potatoes and managed to get a hangover
reminiscent of student days from a night (8) ________________ with friends.

By the end of the weekend, though, I was down to £20 and starting to fret about
the next five days. It was time for drastic action or possible (9) __________________
so I ditched Delia for my student cookbook, the one that every undergraduate is
given by well-meaning relatives and which tells you gems like how to cook baked
beans without burning the pan. Forced to ignore advice such as 'save money by
growing your own herbs', I followed a recipe (10) ________________ an enormous
lentil shepherd's pie and then lived off it every torturous lunchtime for the rest of
the week.

By mid-week I was struggling as I was down to my last £13 and I had agreed to go
to the cinema with a friend, an outing which would usually cost £10 a ticket. The
West End's only £3.50 a ticket cinema in London seemed like the best (11)
_________________, until we discovered the film showing that night starred
Richard Gere, so I walked for an hour from work to an alternative West End
cinema and got in using a student card for £5.50.

By the time Friday came round I was £2 over budget, hungry, relieved it was over,
and I hadn't even had to factor in the cost of books, stationery, bills, excessive
socialising and credit card debt.

If you ever miss being a student, I would advise (12) ___________________ trying
to remind yourself of what it's actually like.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 13 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

weapons melted elements armour lethal manifest

monitors ranges drill hatch liaison amicably

casualties ammo patrol attached internally movements

The tank in the hangar may have looked rusty, but it was still (0) __lethal___. Its

armour was dilapidated, but the carefully-maintained machinery inside the (1)
_______________ told another story.

The Soviet-era vehicle was one of a row in a hangar at Manjaca, home of the 116
Mechanised Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army (VRS). Every time the VRS
move weapons or equipment they have to apply for permission, with precise
details of (2)
_____________________. Everything is logged and inspected and (3)
_____________________ facilities are examined to ensure everything is safely
stored and detailed in the (4) _______________________.

There is no let-up on weapons inspections under the Dayton Agreement, so I

accompanied the British (5) __________________ officer on a routine inspection of
the Manjaca base. Some of the vehicles were in a shocking state, with flat tyres and
corroded metal and many of the ageing Soviet tanks lined up in one hangar were
missing (6) ___________________ which had been replaced by concrete. But their
dilapidated exteriors were deceptive because inspections had revealed that (7)
______________________ they were maintained to a high standard.

Officers were friendly and the commander welcomed the inspection team. He
explained that the (8) ____________________ were inherited from the old Yugoslav
Army. ‘We have soldiers who have attended international programmes. I went to
one in Germany and one of my officers is (9) ___________________ to security
forces in NATO.’

Thanks to a deal with the local military, SFOR troops train on the base’s extensive
(10) _________________________. ‘Now, we have joint activities and play sport
together. We meet every week either here or at SFOR. I must say that we are happy
with the British (11) ___________________ of SFOR. If there are any problems, we
normally resolve them (12) _____________________ and our relationship is good.’
 Gap-fill Reading Task 14 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

medals traumatic cordoned explosion wounded

tour significant postponed patrol deployed

infantry exercise transporter alongside ops

barracks medics capability defence injuring

A large (0) __explosion__ shook the buildings just after breakfast in Camp

Souter, Kabul. Twelve hours later, as the light faded, men and women of the
International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) knew that terrorism in
Afghanistan had taken a sinister turn.

A car carrying a 100-to-200kg bomb had driven (1)_________________ an Isaf bus

taking German troops to the airport for their journey home. It exploded, killing
four soldiers and (2) ___________________ twenty-nine.

Camp Souter, the British base, is not far from the Jalalabad road, where the attack
took place. It is used by hundreds of Isaf troops every day and is in the area of
responsibility of the (3) _________________ company provided by the 2 nd Battalion,
the Royal Anglican Regiment.

The (4) ______________________ immediately deployed to the scene, where medics

helped the multinational emergency crews while troops (5) ____________________
off the area.
The attack came at the end of A Coy’s three-month (6) _________________ and the
end of a year-and-a-half of overseas and operational work. The suicide bomb was
a distressing and (7) __________________ experience for all involved.

Two British ambulances (8)____________________. The seriously injured were

already being treated, so the medics took one injured patient to the German
hospital and were tasked by a Dutch doctor to take walking (9)
__________________ to the British Camp. The initial help involved more than three
hours of non-stop work for the small team of (10) _________________ and drivers.
They continued until early the following morning when the survivors were flown
home. In the absence of the doctor on compassionate leave, RAF aero-med nurse
Sqn Ldr Helen Stewart was in charge as the medical centre was tasked to look after
five injured German soldiers.

A German signaller working in the (11) ________________ room and a British

officer and corporal who spoke German interpreted and the medical centre’s
Afghan interpreter, a student doctor in Kabul, was pressed into service. The
multinational medical effort was key to saving lives and the British played a small
but (12) _______________________ part.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 15 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

augmented salvaged re-instate linked terrain

dehydration officers advance vehicle framework

field-glasses prompt reveille tolerance brigade

paratrooper routed tabbed temporary spanned

About 8km south-east of Basra lies the village of Hamdan. Until the Iraq conflict,
two sturdy bridges (0) __linked__ the two parts of the village, carrying local

daily traffic.

To delay the coalition (1) __________________, Iraqi militia destroyed both bridges
with explosives, leaving villagers with either a precarious balancing act across the
wreckage or a (2) __________________ journey of many kilometres.

Restoring Hamdan’s bridges was a task that needed (3) ______________ attention
and soldiers from 2 Headquarters Squadron RE spent several weeks labouring in
intense heat to (4) ___________________ the town’s vital links.

A (5) ____________________ crossing was placed over the northern bridge while
work began on removing the wreckage of the second. This was a Bailey-type
girder bridge, much of which was (6) ______________________ for re-use.
With the approach of the Iraqi summer and daytime temperatures above 40°C,

there was a risk of (7) ________________________ so the sappers took regular

breaks and drank several litres of water a day.

Troop commander 2nd Lt Rich Marsh said that although the gap could have been
(8) ________________________ in five minutes using one of the squadron’s
armoured bridge layers, the structure at Hamdan needed to be permanent and the
squadron would eventually want its bridge back.

Once the main (9) ____________________ of the bridge was complete it was
launched across rollers and towed into place by a large winch on the opposite
bank. Spr Dean Hudson, who was responsible for positioning and levelling the
rollers to a (10) _____________________ of four millimetres, described his
involvement with the project as ‘brilliant – what being an engineer is all about’.

The troop was (11) ___________________ by Kaleed, a local man, who had been
involved with the original bridge and had tried to dissuade the militia from
destroying it. Kaleed, a former Iraqi (12) ____________________, acted as
interpreter and ‘fixer’ for the squadron.

Today, thanks to the sappers of 2 HQ Squadron RE, life for the villagers of
Hamdan is getting back to normal.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 16 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

exploding armada invasion enemy setback

corps ordnance inaccessible landing bravery

frogging parade amphibious surrender retreated

foothold offensive shacko cavalry campaign

Liberating Italy cost 330,000 Allied and (0) __enemy__ lives, 44,750 of them

British and Commonwealth. The soldiers paid an enormous price for clearing the
Germans out of Europe’s underbelly.

The decision to open the front was taken at the Allied summit in Casablanca in
January 1943. It began with an (1) ___________________ operation to occupy Sicily,
expanding into an advance on the Italian mainland designed to knock Italy out of
the war and capture the Foggia airfields. From there, the Allies planned to attack
previously (2)____________________ areas of eastern and southern Germany.

The (3) ___________________ began on July 9, 1943, with the 5th US Army and the
British 8th Army landing in Sicily. After a hard-fought occupation, the (4)
____________________ of the mainland began on September 9. On the day Italy’s
government fell the 5th Army launched Operation Avalanche, (5)
__________________ at Salerno, south of Naples.

Countless acts of unrecorded (6) _________________ unfolded as British soldiers

fought alongside their American comrades to keep a (7) __________________ on
the enemy coastline. Soon, both armies had captured much of southern Italy,
including the Foggia airfields and the important port of Naples.

The Germans (8) ___________________ to natural fortresses along the Liri valley,
south of Rome. Up to 180,000 men were killed or wounded during this four-month
period.

On the Cassino front, the Americans suffered a (9) _________________ while trying
to cross the Rappido River. Making excellent use of the terrain, the Germans had
chosen their positions well to delay the advance. To relieve the pressure, II (10)
_____________________ landed farther to the north, behind enemy lines, at Anzio.
After three attacks had been repulsed, both fronts bogged down into stalemate.

With fresh troops, the Allies launched a spring (11) _______________ on May 11,
finally breaking through. By June 4, 1944, the Allies on the two fronts had linked
up and advanced into Rome. Barely 48 hours later the greatest (12)
____________________ ever assembled sailed under cover of night from ports
along Britain’s south coast.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 17 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

sustained cause cavalry overturn consecutive recruited

received militia conscription daggers morale casualties

guerrilla perished trenches incapacitated mechanised

followed respite bombed attacked revolt weaponry

In his new book, Gordon Corrigan, through cold-blooded analysis, seeks to (0)
__overturn__ a few ‘misconceptions’ of the Great War.

A just war? Most certainly affirms the author. (1) _______________? Undoubtedly
heavy, but proportionately, far fewer than those (2) ___________________ by the
French and the Germans. He points out that the percentage of British deaths of the
total population was low – 1.53 per cent, hardly amounting to the so-called lost
generation.

Because of the way the New Army was (3) ________________, numbers of deaths
appeared to be much higher in some areas than others. Groups of men enlisted
together, stayed together and often (4) __________________ together, whereas
some parts of the country escaped almost entirely, unlike the situation in France
where every tiny village has its war memorial. In France, (5) __________________
from the outset of the war meant that soldiers were drawn evenly from the whole
population.
Again and again, the author produces evidence to counter the popular image of
the Great War. Inadequate (6) ________________? By no means: some of it was still
in use in 1960. Too many horses? While there was little scope to use (7)
______________________, the horse was essential to military operations in 1914.
Only gradually were tanks and (8) _____________________ transport introduced as
technological advances occurred.

The trenches? Not the water-up-to-the waist nightmare of popular imagination.

Men were not permanently vermin-ridden and (9) _____________________ by
trench foot – hot baths and a change of clothes awaited them behind the lines and
thanks to efficient staff organisation, they hardly ever remained entrenched for
longer than four (10) ____________________ days. Besides, a good diet, nourishing
and plentiful if monotonous, ensured that many men had never been fed so well in
their lives.

The effects of gas and the barbarity of the Germans, claims the author, were
exaggerated and it has not been widely-recognized that the (11) ______________ of
the British Army never wavered, unlike that of the French forces which, because of
their inconsiderate treatment at the hands of uncaring leadership (too little leave,
dreadful food etc.) were in 1917 on the verge of open (12) ________________.

The author makes a plausible case for a less dismal view of the Great War and
reminds us that the men who took part in it believed they were fighting for a great
and worthy (13) _______________________. The book will provoke discussion, but
may have come too late to change (14) ____________________ opinion of the Great
War.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 18 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

reservists regroup defensive battalion repulsed soldiers

infantry recce bergens divisions truce mortars

surrounded remnants passing tank passed

surrounding shield outnumbered defending PoWs

The single most famous action fought by British (0) __soldiers__ during the
Korean War was the Battle of Imjin River in 1951.

Three (1) __________________ of the 63rd Chinese Army, numbering about 27,000
soldiers, mounted an attack on Seoul and found 29 Brigade in their way. (2)
______________________, ten-to-one, the British soldiers held their position on the
first night, but were forced to withdraw over the next two days. Only 67 of them
escaped the battlefield.

One of them who came through the battle was a young 2 nd lieutenant called David
Holdsworth. ‘I was a regular soldier, (3) ______________ out from Sandhurst in
1950,’ he recalled.

‘I was sent to Korea as part of 29 Brigade and arrived at the (4)

_____________________ just five weeks before the battle took place. The only
officers I knew were the people in my company. My platoon, 12 Platoon, were
mostly (5) __________________, aged 25 to 36 and many had fought in the Second
World War. Here was I, totally new, who knew nothing about fighting yet had to
command them.

When the attack came, the Chinese pushed us off our positions and, in the end, the
(6) ____________________ of the battalion went to the top of what is now Gloster
Hill. As night approached Chinese activity increased and we tried to scrape some
sort of (7) ________________________ positions with mess tins and knives. We
settled down for the night but were woken by our own machine guns blasting off
below.

In the early hours of the morning, the Chinese attacked up the main ridge. It was
(8) ___________________________, but after daybreak they came again. I saw a
group of Chinese carrying (9) _____________________ and machine guns to the
ridge we had vacated the night before and I remember thinking that our number
was up and there was a good chance I would be killed.

We were cut off and (10) __________________ by hordes of Chinese soldiers; there
wasn’t much chance at all. The order came to move out and we trooped down the
hill and into a little valley with a stream. I can’t recall when the first bursts of
machine-gun fire hit us. We dived into the river and eventually escaped when a
line of American tanks appeared and formed a (11) _________________ to protect
us from the Chinese gunfire’.

Crucially, the British brigade delayed the Chinese advance on Seoul long enough
for UN troops to (12) _________________ and repel the invaders.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 19 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

integrated foe engines cream shotgun

doubled incidents operational analyst theatre

enhanced kit secure anti-vibration battlefield

variant reinforced dismounted position cutting-edge

Helicopter (0) __engines__ throbbed as the aircraft made its way a few hundred

feet above the hills of Central Bosnia. Inside, the faces of soldiers from the 1 st
Battalion, The Highlanders and the attached 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles,
were obscured by cam (1) ______________. Alongside them a sister helicopter
occasionally bobbed into view, as did the two American Apaches riding (2)
___________________.

When the aircraft touched down the soldiers (3) ______________ down the rear
ramp and took up defensive positions. This time an attack would not come. The
landings at Manjaca training ranges south-west of Banja Luca were part of an
exercise so troops could hone their skills in the latest helicopter in (4)
__________________, the Merlin HC Mk 3.

While the Bosnia tour is the first (5) _________________ one for the RAF Merlins,
the Highlanders are no strangers to the aircraft, having trained on it for six months
at Otterburn before their tour began.
Lt Duncan MacKinnon, B Coy, 1 Hldrs, said their work had been (6)
___________________ because of the large training estates at Manjaca. ‘The Merlins
are the perfect bit of (7) ______________ to get us into somewhere quickly should
we be needed,’ he said. ‘They’ve already been used operationally when our
Sipovo-based reserve platoon was flown into a situation at short notice to (8)
_________________________ an area. The Merlin proved ideal for that’.

From the passenger’s perspective, the most noticeable thing is how quiet it is
compared with other military helicopters – ear defenders do not have to be worn.
It also provides a smooth ride, with its active (9) ____________________ system
ironing out most of the bumps.

‘People think that is a comfort thing, but it has a good military application,’ said
Sqn Ldr Kendall. ‘If you take troops two hours across a (10)
______________________ at low level, you don’t want them feeling sick, but fit to
fight at the end of it’.

The first batch of Merlins was for the Royal Navy and the RAF is taking delivery of
22. ‘The big difference between ours and the Navy (11) ___________________ is
that we have a ramp at the back and a (12) _________________ floor which will
take a Land Rover or similar small vehicle’ Kendall said. ‘Our sensor suite and
defensive aids are very advanced, and we have (13) __________________ for fitting
two general-purpose machine guns.

The Merlin is fantastic. It’s (14) ____________________ technology. It’s quiet,

smooth and goes a long way which is what you really need from a battlefield
helicopter’.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 20 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

grid recce pitch rusted buttons

tactical marines starboard surplus implement

authority bomber wreckage remains removed

intermittent gruelling holster airmen data

British soldiers have helped to solve the mystery of a Royal Air Force (0)
__bomber__ which went missing in Kenya during World War II.

The Blenheim, call sign Z-7763, and its young South African crew disappeared on
July 23, 1942 during a training flight. The (1) _______________ was never found
and the names of the four airmen on board were added to the 3,000 British and
Commonwealth (2) _________________ listed as missing in action on the war
memorial at El Alamein.

Last year, a logger came across what looked like the (3) ______________ of an
aircraft deep in bamboo forest on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya. His report
was passed to the British Army Training Liaison Staff in Kenya who, guided by the
logger, climbed the mountain to carry out their own (4) ________________ of the
crash site.

The party, led by WO2 Bobby Gillespie, 2 Royal Irish, was joined by John Romain,
a world (5) ____________________ on old aircraft. What they found revealed why
Z-7763’s fate remained a mystery for more than half a century.
The climb to the site was (6) _____________________. It took nine hours to cut a
narrow track through 4.7km of dense bamboo forest. Even with the help of GPS
and (7) ____________________ references it was one of the most difficult
navigational exercises the party had ever attempted. Landmarks disappeared in
seconds in swirls of cloud. Thin air and (8) ____________________ freezing rain
added to their problems.

The group finally reached the crash site an hour before darkness, just enough time
to find a patch of level ground in between the elephant tracks and trees to (9)
____________________ tents, build a fire and cook up rations. The soldiers took
turns throughout the night to stag on and guard against elephants.

At daybreak the team excavated the wreck. It was unremarkable, but no one forgot
it was the grave of four airmen virtually forgotten for more than 60 years. Much of
it was too (10) _________________ or damaged to be immediately recognisable, but
the party was able to salvage a pair of Browning machine-guns, rounds of
ammunition in belts, parachute clasps and the flare gun still in its (11)
_____________________ – evidence pointing to the fact that the crew had no time to
save themselves.

The impact of the crash was enormous. The searchers found a rudder pedal
moulded to the shape of the pilot’s foot and the (12) ________________ engine was
buried in vegetation 30m from the main bulk of the wreckage. They also found
shoes, (13) __________________, parachute silk and some bones which they bagged
up for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The names of the dead can now be (14) _________________ from the El Alamein
War Memorial for airmen listed as missing in action.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 21 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

space training combat protection reassure

infantry sanitation handed removal saying

reflect huge unmanned procurement infrastructure

presence security helicopter deployed transition

When 7 Armoured Brigade (0) __handed__ over command of the Basra province

to 19 Mechanised Brigade last month, the Desert Rats finally had the chance to (1)
__________________ on what they had achieved.

The Rats made a rapid (2) _____________________ from war fighting to peace
support operations, and battle-groups, some of which had played leading roles in
the fight for the city, moved quickly into a dismounted (3) ____________________
role. Soldiers provided force (4) __________________ to British military personnel
and bases, as well as guarding Basra’s (5) ____________________ and key
installations. Regular foot patrols were conducted to (6) __________________ the
local population, reduce crime, smuggling and tribal feuding and encourage the (7)
_______________________ of weapons from the streets.

Many of these static duties have now been handed over to locally-employed
security guards and the Iraqi police.

Maj Chris Parker, Chief of Staff, 7 Armd Bde, said: ’It’s been a (8)
_________________ effort and I don’t think there has ever been a time in history
when we have had a brigade move straight from war fighting into a peacekeeping
operation within the (9) _______________________ of a few months’.

Soldiers have worked hard in temperatures of over 50C to raise the standard of
living for the Iraqi people. Significant progress has been made in the areas of (10)
_______________________, law and order, water and food supply. Improvements
to (11) ________________________, health and education, and the electricity supply
are ongoing, as well as the maintenance of ports, airports and roads.

‘There is still a lot to so’ said Maj Parker. ‘And when the climate is right, the next
priority will be to start the process leading to democratic elections and self-
governance, but that will take time. As the (12) __________________ goes –
winning the peace is more complicated than winning the war’.
 Gap-fill Reading Task 22 (Military)

Fill in the gaps with any ONE suitable word from the box. Each word must be
used only once. Note that there are more words in the box than you need.

An example (0) has been done for you.

sealed briefing armoured missile digging

attachment cordon the submarine incriminating

gathering rugged forensic suspected elsewhere

racket technology drilled implicated signalling

Troops from the 1st Battalion, (0) __the___ Highlanders, moved in before dawn to
(1) ______________________ off a town near Banja Kuka after weeks of intelligence
(2) ____________________ had identified the probability of large caches of illegal
weapons in the area.

Well-armed mafia had been running a protection (3) ________________. For local
tradesmen and shopkeepers it was a question of pay up or be put out of business.
Police were either ineffective or (4) ___________________ so a covert team kept
watch for more than two months on the (5) ______________________ criminals.

Using back roads and farm tracks, 300 SFOR soldiers of different nationalities,
including American and German (6) __________________ experts, IT specialists,
document and dog search teams moved on the town to prevent anyone leaving.
While B Company searched an area of several miles, Gurkhas on (7)
____________________________ to 1 Hldrs, sealed off the town centre, taking a
local crime ring by surprise.
The security paid off when the Gurkhas broke down a (8) _________________ door
to expose box after box of hunting rifles, pistols, (9) ____________________
equipment and ammunition. There was also a quantity of explosives in dangerous
condition.

With enough evidence of non-compliance with the Dayton Peace Accord to widen
the search, the troops searched cellars and garages, in many cases (10)
__________________ up the floors of suspect rooms. The Gurkhas collected a
massive haul of weapons and ammunition with A Company accumulating nearly
15,000 rounds of ammunition, 30 guns, grenades and explosives by mid afternoon.
(11) ______________________, an anti-aircraft missile system was found.

Lt Col Tim Lai, CO of the 1st Battalion, The Highlanders commented: ‘We’ve
proven to the local community that where corruption rears its head, we will not let
it stand. These weapon finds, with a quantity of (12) _______________________
documents, will take these guys into court and out of business for a long time’.

Operations in the town are ongoing.