B2 Use of English Test 23 – multiple choice gaps

Mars on Earth

The centre of Antarctica, where winter temperatures frequently fall to (1)…………… 80 degrees centigrade and for four months each year there is (2)…………… darkness 24 hours a day, is one of the most extreme environments on Earth. It is also by (3)…………… the most similar place to the surface of Mars, which is why a (4)…………… of thirteen scientists from the European Space Agency have spent nine months at a base there.

They have been studying the physical and psychological (5)…………… on humans of living in extreme conditions, in order to obtain a better understanding of the difficulties humans will (6)…………… during the long flight to Mars and their stay there. Of course, space is (7)…………… Antarctica in that astronauts have to adapt to weightlessness, but the base is 3,200 metres above sea (8)…………… making it difficult to breathe there – as it can be on space flights. They have also, like space travellers, experienced strong feelings of being (9)…………… off from civilisation.

1   A   beneath      B   lower          C   minus             D   less

2   A   regular        B   constant     C   repeated       D   maintained

3   A   far                B   much          C   large               D   long

4   A   crew            B   cast             C   gang                D   team

5   A   results         B   effects        C   issues             D   risks

6   A   oppose       B   dare            C   challenge       D   face

7   A   unlike          B   contrary     C   unfamiliar      D   different

8   A   height         B   depth          C   depth              D   scale

9   A   broken        B   kept             C   kept                D   taken