Light Pollution: Multiple Choice Vocabulary Test
Some years ago, when I was working as an astronomer at the Greenwich Observatory in London, I received a letter from an elderly lady living (0)_______ who said: 'When I was a girl, we could see so many stars, but they're not there any more. Have they faded?' Walking down the hill on which the observatory stands, I (1)_______ the truth of what she said. (2)_______ me were all the lights of London and above me was the orange glow they (3)_______ up into the night sky. But I could (4)_______ see any stars.
If light pollution - as this effect is known - continues to increase at its present (5)_______, our grandchildren will only (6)_______ the chance to see the stars if they visit an observatory (7)_______ the one in Greenwich. Light pollution is almost (8)_______ for granted in most cities, and it is fast spreading into rural areas too.
(9)_______ recent research, almost half of all Europeans and two-thirds of North Americans can no longer see the Milky Way. And this type of pollution doesn't only (10)_______ our view of the night sky, it also wastes money and causes environmental pollution. For example, a single light bulb, (11)_______ all year, releases around a quarter of a tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, (12)_______ global warming even worse.
A | B | C | D | |
0 | nearby | closely | vicinity | neighbourly |
1 | regarded | realised | remarked | reacted |
2 | Across | Between | Aside | Beneath |
3 | give | send | keep | fill |
4 | clearly | surely | hardly | faintly |
5 | case | rank | grade | rate |
6 | carry | draw | get | catch |
7 | like | similar | same | as |
8 | brought | taken | felt | passed |
9 | According to | Apart from | Instead of | In addition to |
10 | destroy | deny | defeat | delay |
11 | set off | put in | left on | joined up |
12 | letting | resulting | causing | making |
1.B; 2.D; 3.B; 4.C; 5.D; 6.C; 7.A; 8.B; 9.A; 10.A; 11.C; 12.D