Topic 3: Grammar Cloze

There was a strict teacher who taught at a small school. She (1)___ smiled at her students, except when they did something impressive. She gave (2)___ praise either. If (3)___ answered a question wrongly, she would frown silently. Then that student would sit (4)___, feeling embarrassed in front of the class. New students were particularly nervous. Any student who wandered (5)___ her classroom late would be scolded sharply. One day, the teacher fell sick. She was (6)___ weak to even stand at the whiteboard. She could only sit there, coughing (7)___ discomfort. Suddenly she heard whispers from outside the staff room. A student was talking (8)___ another student. "Let's go, quickly, (9)___ she notices us," the student said. "We have been standing here for a while and she still has not told us off. Do you think something might be wrong with her?" the other student replied. They wanted to find out (10)___ was happening but were afraid to knock on the door. The teacher felt lonely. She realised that students feared her because of her cold manner. From then on, she decided to become a warmer teacher.

It was a bright morning. The sky was filled (1)___ fluffy white clouds. Birds on the fence were chirping cheerfully because of the gentle breeze. Some of the kites even seemed to be on the verge of soaring (2)___ the sky. Tree leaves were rustling softly and the kites were ready to fly. A perfect kite-flying day was certainly on its way. Mei was wondering (3)___ she should invite her friends over. She wanted to fly her new kite badly. The kite had been sitting in the cupboard (4)___ the week before. She was too busy studying to use it. She had waited (5)___ three weeks. She could not wait (6)___ longer. So she decided to head to the park despite the crowd (7)___ possible rain later. Mei carried her kite and cycled out. On her way to the park, the sun grew hotter. Mei was totally exhausted. The shade was no match (8)___ the heat. By the time she reached the park, not only was she tired, but the kite string was (9)___ tangled. To make things worse, she tripped and scraped her knee. It was (10)___ until her friends arrived did she feel better and ready to fly her kite. She would never rush out without checking the weather again.

Mia was staring at the envelope with her mouth wide open after the postman left. She was (1)___ in shock. Since when did she have a rich godmother? As far as she knew, there was (2)___ in her family who had travelled overseas. Her parents had (3)___ mentioned any relatives living in another country. So it came to her as a surprise when she received a letter from a bank a few days (4)___. It stated that Mia was the owner of a small shop in Australia. What puzzled her was (5)___ she was the only one named as the new owner of the shop. She had one elder brother and one younger brother, and (6)___ of them was mentioned in the letter. At first, Mia thought that it was (7)___ of her classmates playing a trick on her. (8)___, when her mother confirmed the letter was real, Mia realised it was true. Her mother advised her to write back (9)___ deciding what to do with the shop. (10)___ on the bus home, Mia thought to herself, "Am I really a shop owner now? I have no idea how to run one."