IELTS gap fills essay

Complete the following sentences using appropriate words. Choose your answers from the options given in the brackets.

There are many reasons why the Titanic still ————————– (fascinates / eludes) us even 100 years ———————- (after / of) its sinking. There is the irresistible tendency to see it as a symbol of the ———————————- (gilded / jilted) pre WWI world heading ———————- (at / towards) disaster.  There are all the elements of wealth and class, heroism and cowardice that make ideal material for the many films made about it, ————————– (from / of) which James Cameron’s is just the most lavish. And there is the hubris of its builders who boasted it was unsinkable, and the particular pathos that it sank on its maiden voyage, leaving an eternal sense of incompleteness ———————— (about / with) it.

But Daniel Mendelsohn, who recently wrote in the New Yorker, points to an even more basic reason: because of the recent ———————- (invention / discovery) of wireless telegraphy it was ‘one of the first global news stories to be reported… ———————– (more or less / at least) simultaneously with the events’. The ship was, in fact, one of the first ever to send out an SOS alert. Harold McBride, the Titanic’s junior telegraph operator, who survived, told his senior officer: ‘Send SOS. It is the new call, and it may be your last chance ————————– (to send / sending) it.’

The ————————– (immediacy / urgency) of coverage can be seen in ————————- (how / what) The Times of India, almost exactly ———————— (on / in) the opposite side of the world reported events.

Answers

There are many reasons why the Titanic still fascinates us even 100 years after its sinking. There is the irresistible tendency to see it as a symbol of the gilded pre WWI world heading towards disaster.  There are all the elements of wealth and class, heroism and cowardice that make ideal material for the many films made about it, of which James Cameron’s is just the most lavish. And there is the hubris of its builders who boasted it was unsinkable, and the particular pathos that it sank on its maiden voyage, leaving an eternal sense of incompleteness about it.

But Daniel Mendelsohn, who recently wrote in the New Yorker, points to an even more basic reason: because of the recent invention of wireless telegraphy it was ‘one of the first global news stories to be reported… more or less simultaneously with the events’. The ship was, in fact, one of the first ever to send out an SOS alert. Harold McBride, the Titanic’s junior telegraph operator, who survived, told his senior officer: ‘Send SOS. It is the new call, and it may be your last chance to send it.’

The immediacy of coverage can be seen in how The Times of India, almost exactly on the opposite side of the world reported events.

This piece of text is taken from The Economic Times of April 16, 2012.

Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I'm Manjusha. This is my blog where I give IELTS preparation tips.

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