Traffic Jams are Nothing New

In the age before the motor car, what was traveling in London like? Photographs taken 100 years ago showing packed streets indicate that it was much the (1) …. as it is now. Commuters who choose the car to get to work probably travel at (2) …. average speed of 17 kph from their homes (3) …. the suburbs to offices in the center. (4) …. is virtually the same speed that they (5) …. have travelled at in a carriage a century ago.

As towns and cities grow, (6) …. does traffic, whether in the form of the horse and carriage (7) …. the modern motor car. It would seem that, wherever (8) …. are people who need to go somewhere, they would (9) …. be carried than walk or pedal. The photographs show that, in terms (10) …. congestion and speed, traffic in London hasn’t changed over the past 100 years. London has had traffic jams ever (11) …. it became a huge city. It is only the vehicles that have changed.
However, although London had traffic congestion long (12) …. the car came along, the age of the horse produced little unpleasantness apart (13) …. the congestion. Today, exhaust fumes create dangerous smogs that cause breathing problems (14)…. a great many people. Such problems could be reduced (15)…. many of us avoided jams by using bicycles or taking a brisk walk to school or work.

Task 2

For questions 16-25, read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each space.

On the other hand?

We left-handed people lack collective pride. We just try to get by, in our clumsy way. We make (16) ______ demands and we avoid a fuss. I used to say whenever someone watched me sign my name and remarked that he or she was also left-handed: “You and me and Leonardo da Vinci!” That was a weak joke, (17) ________ it contained my often unconscious desire to belong to Left Pride, a social movement that (18) _____ far doesn’t exist but I hope may one day come. There are many false stories about the left-handed (19) ______ circulation: for example, a few decades ago someone wrote that Picasso was left-handed, and others kept repeating it, but the proof is all (20) ______ the contrary. The great genius Einstein is often still claimed as one of ours, also (21) ____ proof. And sadly there is also no truth in the myth that the left-handed tend to be smarter and more creative.

(22) _____ the amount of research that has been carried out, researchers in the field still find it hard to decide precisely what we mean by left-handed. Apparently a third of those who write with their left hand throw a ball with their right. (23) ____, those using their right hand for writing rarely throw with their left. A difficult skill that becomes crucial at a most impressionable age, writing defines (24) _____ you will call yourself. I have never used scissors, baseball bat, hockey stick or computer mouse with anything but my right; (25) _____ so, I think I’m left-handed as does everyone else.